Our gut bugs evolved with us as we split from chimps
Humans harbour different, less diverse gut flora than our nearest relatives, which makes sense in light of our diet but could have a health downside
Spy chief: US tech firms make it easy for terrorists
Boss of UK spy agency GCHQ censures US tech companies for facilitating terrorists with their social networks – but others say encryption is good for everyone
Phone thwarts thieves by learning its owner's habits
An app watches when, where and how you use your smartphone, then locks up if things suddenly change
'Is that a rift in space-time, daddy, or just a cloud?'
Australian storm-chasing photographer Nick Moir threw the kids in the car and tore off to catch this shot of squall line hitting Sydney
Thrush's song fits human musical scales
The maths that underlies human scales also appears to describe the notes sung by the hermit thrush, reopening the debate of whether animals have music
TTIP: Free trade should be freely discussed
There may be an economic argument for rethinking measures designed to protect health and the environment – if so, we should be free to discuss it
Methane cuts won't buy us time on climate change
Slashing carbon dioxide emissions is the only way to avoid dangerous climate change – targeting other greenhouse gases just won't cut it
Weird wet worlds: Why Earth is lucky to have oceans
Many planets and moons harbour bizarre bodies of water – but that alone won't make them as life-friendly as Earth, say two planetary scientists
We don't need no education to weigh up chance
Adults from rural Guatemala can accurately assess probability without learning about it in school, suggesting that we may be natural bookies
Copyrights and wrongs in the battle for ownership
There's more than one way to handle authorship and copyright in the digital age, according to The Copyright Wars by Peter Baldwin
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