Cosmos
The Genius of Geometry
David Brooks is political flavour of the month this side of the Atlantic, so in thrall is Westminster to Barack Obama
Hullabaloo in the Great Karoo
South Africa’s desert is a battleground between astronomers and gas companies
What Is It Like To Be Conscious?
Our minds evolved to make life worth living, a new theory claims
From Big Bang to Eternal Inflation
Recent research into cosmic expansion is finally enabling scientists to grasp the infinite
Topping and Tailing
Embryonic stem cells and assisted dying terminate opposite ends of life, but have common themes
Sex in the Flower Beds
We over-humanise animals while underestimating plants. But it’s the latter that do all the work for us
Busy Old Foolery
With advances in technology, we are learning more and more about the way the Sun is developing
Did the Earth Move for Galileo?
New books on the great Italian reveal him to have been wiser than many modern scientists
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The Bletchley Park cryptographers were a rum bunch. Their successors are keeping up the good work
Life, Synthia, But Not as we Know It
The latest work on synthetic cell creation by Craig Venter raises serious questions about bioethics
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal