Robot face lets slime mould show its emotional side
Electrical signals produced when a yellow slime mould moves eagerly towards food or is repulsed by light are used to power a human-like robot face
Forget doggy paddle – apes prefer breaststroke
The first detailed observations of swimming chimpanzees and orang-utans show they take to the water in the same way humans do
Meshnet activists rebuilding the internet from scratch
Worried about the NSA snooping on your email? Maybe you need to start creating your own personal internet
Technical tweaks won't stop online abuse
There are no quick technical fixes for trolling – the answers lie in more challenging changes to online culture
Frack on or frack off: Can shale gas save the planet?
Optimists see the new resource as a cheap, clean "bridging fuel" to a low-carbon future. The true picture might not be so simple, says Michael Brooks
Cooling it: How molten rock takes on strange new forms
From rivers of rock to ribbons of glass, lava can take on surprising forms
Headbanging termite drummers sound the alarm
The drums! The drums! Humans aren't the only animals that send long-distance messages via percussion – termites do the same to warn of approaching aardvarks
Sense of smell has a genetic flavour
Researchers have identified the first signs of a genetic basis to the differences in people's odour perception
Keep tags on your stuff and never lose it again
Can't find your wallet? Ask the search engine FindMyStuff and it will use a system of remote sensors to check behind the sofa for you
Space station poised to launch open-source satellites
For the first time, twin microsatellites will let budget-conscious people on Earth design and program their own space experiments
Henrietta Lacks' genome to be open to all
Researchers will have access to the infamous HeLa genome if they are approved by a committee and they credit Lacks and her family in published material
Ability to perceive minds of others emerges in robot
iCub robot demonstrates that intelligent behaviour can spontaneously develop if we build machines based on living brains
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