Wireless devices: a health threat during pregnancy?
A new campaign in the US says cellphones and wireless equipment risk the health of developing babies. David Coggon examines the claims
The idyllic tropical island – now covered in concrete
Carpeting this barren volcanic rock with plants was Darwin's brainchild – but thirsty British marines sacrificed greenery for concrete
No Skynet: Turing test 'success' isn't all it seems
The success of chatbot Eugene Goostman in passing the Turing test is all over the media today. It's clever, but the truth is murkier and more complicated
NASA 'dream fund' selects submarine for Saturn moon
A submarine on Titan, a greenhouse on the Red Planet, and a space cowboy hitching a ride to Pluto on a comet top NASA's wild wish list
How I conjure a social illusion with ventriloquism
Your brain's system for directing attention is what makes you think a puppet has a mind of its own, argues ventriloquist and neuroscientist Michael Graziano
Race to read the H-bomb timestamp that marks all cells
Cold war nuclear bomb tests let us pinpoint the age of murder victims and individual brain cells – but thanks to the test ban, we're running out of fallout
Robots can grip anything thanks to hands that can see
A robotic hand working with a Kinect depth-sensing camera can adjust its fingers to grasp any object it is presented with, from a lightbulb to a copy of New Scientist
Fingertips and forehead are most sensitive to pain
Our ability to feel pain varies throughout the surface of our body, a finding that could help people with long-term chronic pain
3D-printed handles for flint-knapped hand axes
The definitive human tool gets a 21st-century upgrade with 3D-printed handles that artfully highlight the hand axe's sheer range of uses
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