Gut bugs serve up vitamin A the carrot-free way
Childhood blindness could be prevented using engineered gut bacteria that supply carrots' orange pigment, which the body can convert into vitamin A
Don't rage against parents for Disney measles outbreak
Amid the worst US measles outbreak in years, a tide of rage against parents who fail to vaccinate children is likely to harden attitudes, warns Phil Plait
Lilac and turquoise are as basic as red and orange
Could you identify turquoise if you saw it? A colour test suggests this shade, and lilac, are recognised universally. You can try the test yourself
The computer that crunches cloud data to heat your home
Project Exergy is a domestic heater-cum-server that exploits the waste heat from cloud data processing – while handling your home computing needs too
New one-in-two cancer figure sounds scarier than it is
One in two people in the UK can expect to get cancer at some point – up from a previous one-in-three estimate, but it's not down to a sudden increase in cases
Twin moves on Arctic drilling stir environmental debate
As the White House announces that it wants to ban drilling for oil in parts of Alaska, Shell says it is reviving plans to drill in the Chukchi Sea
Great Barrier Reef set for surprise electoral win
A shock electoral result in Queensland, Australia, looks set to improve the Great Barrier Reef's chances of recovery
Cosmic inflation's 'smoking gun' goes up in smoke
Last March, cosmologists celebrated what seemed like evidence of gravitational waves. But 11 months later, they're nursing a hangover
The maths drive is like the sex drive
What urges mathematicians to spend years in pursuit of solutions? Manya Raman Sundström thinks it's because we can't help seeking beauty
See how sound radiates around a recorder
Videos are revealing how sound propagates around a recorder to help designers optimise the sound quality of musical instruments
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