Health-conscious concrete
23 March 2015Roads that self-repair, bridges filled with first-aid bubbles, buildings with arteries… not some futuristic fantasy but a very real possibility with ‘smart’ concrete.
The real corporate tax scandal
23 March 2015Western governments have finally begun to pay close attention to tax avoidance by multinational corporations in rich countries. But where, Cambridge Judge Business School’s Professor...
Poisons, plants and Palaeolithic hunters
21 March 2015Dozens of common plants are toxic. Archaeologists have long suspected that our Palaeolithic ancestors used plant poisons to make their hunting weapons more lethal. Now...
'Extreme sleepover #15' – keeping the lights on in rural Uganda
20 March 2015Stephanie Hirmer travelled to Moyo in northern Uganda to ask which possessions the villagers most value and why. The results will be used to help...
Scientists grow ‘mini-lungs’ to aid the study of cystic fibrosis
20 March 2015Scientists at the University of Cambridge have successfully created ‘mini-lungs’ using stem cells derived from skin cells of patients with cystic fibrosis, and have shown...
How we fell in love with shopping
20 March 2015An exhibition of ‘treasured possessions’ from the 15th to the 18th centuries reveals how we first fell in love with shopping, and takes us back...
Colour-morphing reef fish is a 'wolf in sheep's clothing'
19 March 2015The dottyback changes its colour to match surrounding damselfish species, enabling it to counter the defences of its damselfish prey by disguising itself as a...
Sir Venki Ramakrishnan confirmed as President Elect of the Royal Society
19 March 2015Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman (Venki) Ramakrishnan has been confirmed as President Elect of the Royal Society.
Human parasites found in medieval cesspit reveal links between Middle East and Europe
19 March 2015Analysis of a latrine in Jerusalem that dates back over 500 years finds human parasites common in northern Europe yet very rare in Middle East...
Should breast implants come with a health warning?
18 March 2015Newspaper reports suggest that France may be considering health warnings – or even an outright ban – on breast implants, following a cancer scare. Should...