New Scientist - Science in Society

Darwin missed 'earliest' Galapagos species

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:58:00 GMT

A bizarre-looking yet ignored species of land iguana might be one of the earliest examples of species diversification in the Galapagos

Comment: Why kids are natural-born scientists

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:30:00 GMT

TV presenter asks why so many children get turned off science at school – and what we can do to rekindle their excitement

Review: Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:16:00 GMT

Creationism is like a roly-poly clown that pops back up when you punch it, and Jerry Coyne's new book aims to keep it down

Review: Why evolution is true

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:16:00 GMT

Creationism is like a roly-poly clown that pops back up when you punch it, and Jerry Coyne's new book aims to keep it down

Review: Why evolution is true

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Creationism is like a roly-poly clown that pops back up when you punch it, and Jerry Coyne's new book aims to keep it down

What killed Dr Granville's mummy?

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:55:00 GMT

Augustus Granville made a famous study of an Egyptian mummy in 1821 – but how much did he get right?

Gallery: Most stunning images of 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:51:00 GMT

See a selection of the most stunning science images from our galleries this year including the propagation and reflection of a blast wave, a planetary nebula and a baby kangaroo suckling in a pouch...

Commentary: Reasons to be jolly about 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:01:00 GMT

After a year in which the much-anticipated Large Hadron Collider has been delayed, you might think particle physicists don't have much to be jolly about – not so...

Radical alternatives proposed for cannabis controls

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Cannabis is the world's most widely used illegal drug – now a team of experts says governments should rethink how they control it

How your friends' friends can affect your mood

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Your behaviour is influenced by others far more strongly than you might think, even if you've never met them, says

How to knit a brain

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:02:00 GMT

After seeing her first colourful images of the brain, psychologist and textile artist Marjorie Taylor was spellbound – and so was born a new genre of visual art: scientifically accurate fabric brains

Weapons technology: Top 10 articles from 2008

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:30:00 GMT

It's the stuff of science fiction: killer robots, deadly laser weapons and ray guns that can be set to stun – but this year saw these technologies being put forward in deadly earnest

News review 08: China quakes, but the dams don't break

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Some 80,000 people died in the Sichuan earthquake, yet it could have been so much worse – engineers are astounded that none of the 390 hydroelectric dams collapsed

News review 2008: Reality returns to the White House

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:30:00 GMT

Barack Obama may have an impossible burden of expectation on his shoulders, but one fervent wish of many US scientists should be easy to fulfil: lead the nation back into the "reality-based community"

Bye-bye boojums: Scientific names lose their sparkle

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Will we ever see the like of MACHOs and WIMPs, cheap date and Sonic hedgehog again? investigates

News review 2008: Asia's space race takes off

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 12:15:00 GMT

China carried out its first space walk, while India's launch of its first moon probe heralded a new era in space

A year in the quantum world

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:46:00 GMT

The quantum world is now one of the most closely scrutinised areas of science, and throughout 2008 new discoveries have poured in

News review 2008: The year NASA's star began to wane

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:12:00 GMT

It's been a turbulent 50th anniversary year for the space agency, with its successes marred by uncertainty over the shuttle's replacement, problems with Hubble, and serious budget woes

The return of Elektro, the first celebrity robot

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:40:00 GMT

Sixty-six years ago he played with a giant robot in his basement – now 's mission is to rebuild his old friend

How kangaroo burgers could save the planet

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:25:00 GMT

Cows, sheep and goats may seem like innocent victims of humanity's appetite for meat, but when it comes to climate change they have a dark secret...

Feel festive with these decorations from nature

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:01:00 GMT

See stunning microscope images that resemble festive decorations – from the tongue of a snail to the glowing brain cells of a zebrafish

Genetics: Top 10 articles from 2008

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:05:00 GMT

2008 was all about the genome – or rather, how companies could make money out of it – but geneticists are also shining new light on how life may have evolved in the first place

US police could get 'pain beam' weapons

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:11:00 GMT

Two portable weapons that inflict pain from a distance are being developed by the Department of Justice's research arm, and may end up in the hands of police

Magicology: Casting a spell on the mind

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

If you really want to know how the human brain works, ask somebody who knows how to tie it in knots

The lack of female Einsteins is all down to numbers

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:01:00 GMT

The absence of women at the top levels of science and engineering can be explained by simple statistics rather than any difference in ability compared to men