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Ready, aim, throw! Lobbing rocks key to meat-eating

The ability to throw stones quickly and accurately may have been a crucial step in our evolution, because it allowed us to hunt big game


Erosion helps keep mountains standing tall

Some of the world's mountain ranges are much taller than expected. It seems erosion, which should wear them away, keeps them high and mighty


Oldest animal genome is sequenced from horse bone

A 700,000-year-old bone from permafrost has yielded the oldest verbetrate genome, hinting that extinct polar creatures and hominins could be sequenced too


Genetic medicine hints at bloodletting for astronauts

Iron-sapping treatments and folate pills may be future health regimes for space travellers in the age of genomics


A sick world in gorgeous close-up

A painted map of the world on show in London next week combines the beauty of microscopy with the geography of disease


Jumbo challenge: How elephants keep their cool

Keeping cool is tough for the biggest land animal, but elephants have evolved some clever tricks. By Jessica Hamzelou


Brazil uprising points to rise of leaderless networks

Recent riots in places like Brazil and Turkey behave like a contagious disease – and conditions are perfect for their spread


How to grow human spare organs inside pigs

Groundbreaking experiments are starting to make it possible to grow personalised organs in a host animal


Go green to profit from environmental change

Companies that adapt quickest to environmental change will thrive, by expanding into new areas and gaining green-minded customers


Nudge: How the subtle revolution is improving society

Cass Sunstein, nudge inventor and former White House official, explains how his nudges have helped Americans save for retirement and eat better


Expectation alone turns a rubber hand into a 'real' one

A rubber hand where your hand might be, plus the expectation that someone is about to touch it, is enough to trigger the famous rubber hand illusion


Obama launches plan to fight climate change in US

The long-awaited move could help the country meet emissions targets and strengthen its standing in upcoming climate negotiations


Nerve grafts let paralysed rats pee again

The ability to urinate normally is something that paralysed people often say would improve their lives – new work offers some hope


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