Record-breaking cable car for La Paz's crazy commutes
Commuting is a nightmare in the crowded canyon where Bolivia's capital lies. An 11-kilometre-long cable car system is the answer to the citizens' prayers
Ringed asteroid will make a star blink out over Africa
The first known asteroid with Saturn-like rings will cross in front of a star this month, perhaps revealing clues to how the thin rings stay in shape
A smart way to get personal with the future
The FutureEverything festival brought together art, ideas and innovation to reveal how people can take control of data about them and their surroundings
Parental guidance advised over virtual embryos
The ability to create simulations of unconceived children by virtually shuffling the prospective parents' genomes poses questions for us all
NASA 'flying saucer' for Mars to land in Hawaii
The test flight will use an inflatable system designed to get heavy loads – and perhaps people – safely on the Martian surface
Zoologger: Cannibal tadpoles eat the competition
Wood frog tadpoles often attack and eat each other, even though tadpole flesh isn't very nutritious. Extreme sibling rivalry may eliminate the competition
The fourth state of matter: Consciousness
Solid, liquid, gas, mind: it's all about how you arrange the atoms, says renowned physicist Max Tegmark
Dark matter hunters turn to nano-blasts and enzyme ice
Smaller, cheaper detectors inspired by biomaterials and grenade chemistry could provide clear signs of dark matter particle strikes
Human 'missing link' fossils may be jumble of species
The extinct Australopithecus sediba is hailed as a transitional form between ape-like australopithecines and early humans, but it may actually be two species
Meet your unborn child – before it's even conceived
A service that creates digital embryos by virtually mixing two people's DNA will allow parents to screen out genetic disorders – and perhaps much more
Shared trial data may identify at-risk cancer patients
An initiative to share the control group data from 34 clinical trials of cancer drugs could lead to more efficient trials and better outcomes for patients
Dysentery parasite attacks gut by eating cells alive
The amoeba that causes dysentery has a unique and gruesome way of attacking the gut: it gnaws away at the walls, ripping off chunks of living cells
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