High-precision hydrogen clock to hunt for new physics
An ultra-precise clock that ticks to the rhythm of hydrogen molecules could offer a way to probe particle masses and look for signs of odd behaviour
Will UK reshuffle boost science and environment?
New environment secretary Liz Truss may prove more eco-friendly than her predecessor. Meanwhile Greg Clark is made minister for universities and science
Spaceport UK: Locations for launch sites unveiled
The UK Space Agency has announced the eight possible locations for a spaceport to be built in the UK before 2018 – and six of them are in Scotland
Amphibians' swim stroke has lasted 270 million years
A newly discovered set of fossilised tracks in the Italian Alps suggests modern salamanders swim and walk much as their ancient cousins did
Detroit water shut-offs condemned as threat to health
Health professionals are speaking out against Detroit's policy of cutting off water to people with unpaid bills – warning of a disaster in the making
The earth eaters mining 'Europe's biggest hole'
Giant excavators at Germany's Hambach mine are churning out eye-watering amounts of lignite – aka brown coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel out there
Fighting fear, denial and death on Ebola frontline
Emergency nurse Anja Wolz, who is tending to the sick in West Africa, says medical staff can beat Ebola with more drugs and better health education
Rogue elements: What's wrong with the periodic table
Weights gone awry, elements changing position, the ructions of relativity – chemistry's iconic chart is far from stable, and no one knows where it will end
Reaping the whirlwind of Nazi eugenics
In the 1960s, eugenics was reinvented as behaviour genetics, but soon went back off the rails. Aaron Panofsky's Misbehaving Science explores what happened
World's most endangered seal seen wrestling octopus
An incredibly rare sighting of a Mediterranean monk seal shows how it captures an eight-legged lunch
First boron buckyballs roll out of the lab
Cage-shaped molecules made of 40 boron atoms may lead to new "wonder" materials with unique properties
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