Horse sense
Are zebra stripes just an elaborate insect repellent?(16)
Saturday February 11th 2012
Evolution and coat colour
Internet dating
The modern matchmakers
Internet dating sites claim to have brought science to the age-old question of how to pair off successfully. But have they?(18)
Synaesthesia
Smells like Beethoven
Using the word “note” to describe an odour may be more than just metaphor(18)
Biomimetics
Not a scratch
Scorpions may have lessons to teach aircraft designers(31)
Pollution in China
Man-made and visible from space
Satellite data reveal the true scope of China’s pollution problem(322)
Fuel economy
Difference engine: Going along for the ride
People say they want more fuel-efficient cars, but few actually buy them(72)
Scientific publishing
The price of information
Academics are starting to boycott a big publisher of journals(113)
Internet insecurity
Once more unto the breach
VeriSign, the Rolls-Royce of internet security, catches a flat(13)
The nature of humanity
What’s a man?
Studies of brain genetics are starting to reveal what makes humans human(51)
Crowd dynamics
Walk this way
Urban planners are increasingly putting the needs of pedestrians before those of motorists(48)
- Also on this channel
-
Recycling water
Difference engine: Waste not, want notWith demand outstripping supply, people will have to start drinking waste-water (65)
-
Polio
A Rotary engineCan a businessmen’s club eradicate polio from the world? (34)
-
Military technology
Magic bulletsSmart ammunition is about to make things a lot more dangerous for guerrillas fighting regular troops (57)
-
Power from the sea
Second time around…Ocean heat may be used to generate electricity (44)
Feature
Eavesdropping technology
Satellite spy
Researchers crack the encryption used in popular satellite phones—and make their findings public
Virtual devices
Gestures of intent
Soon, merely holding your hand to your ear may start a telephone call
Babbage
Our science and technology blog pores over Google's new privacy policy, Kickstarter's latest figures and confusing web statistics
Babbage podcast
In our weekly Babbage podcast we discuss Europe's proposed anti-counterfeiting legislation, Google's new glasses and a new computer called Raspberry Pi
Peer review
Other stories from the scientific press
Digital notebooks and lab-management software is here to stay
Nature
But the searchers must first find more cash
New York Times
The siren call of logical positivism
For every problem, there is a simple solution: neat, plausible and wrong
Quantum Diaries
BizTech
Business stories with a technological dimension
What a telecoms scandal says about government and business in India
China objects to European efforts to curb its airlines’ emissions
Japan's troubled electricity utility is to be as good as nationalised
Sciences Po
Political stories with a scientific dimension
Protests across Europe may kill an anti-piracy treaty
Scientists are already helping to shape the Obama campaign. Here is the short version
Some North Koreans get better connected
Highlights
Virtual devices
Gestures of intent
Soon, merely holding your hand to your ear may start a telephone call
Surveillance technology
Transparency above all
The latest spat over the use of terahertz body scanners
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