Crashing space station shows why China must start to collaborate in orbit
Sep 27, 2016 18:19 pm UTC| Science
China launched the second vehicle in its Tiangong (meaning Heavenly palace) programme to construct a space station in early September. Despite the success of the launch, the announcement was overshadowed by the...
Making space rocket fuel from water could drive a power revolution on Earth
Sep 27, 2016 15:55 pm UTC| Science
Researchers led by NASAs former chief technologist are hoping to launch a satellite carrying water as the source of its fuel. The team from Cornell University, guided by Mason Peck, want their device to become the first...
Science in crisis: from the sugar scam to Brexit, our faith in experts is fading
Sep 27, 2016 14:27 pm UTC| Science
This is a Foundation Essay for The Conversation Global. Our series of Foundation Essays provide an in-depth investigation of a particular global challenge. In this piece, Andrea Saltelli asks whats behind the worldwide...
How the smell of chickens repels the most common malaria carrying mosquito
Sep 25, 2016 15:52 pm UTC| Science
One of the worlds dominant malaria vectors is Anopheles arabiensis. Humans are its preferred blood meal although it also feeds on other livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep. But recent research shows that chickens are...
How do antibiotic-resistant bacteria get into the environment?
Sep 22, 2016 23:03 pm UTC| Science Nature
Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health problem. The United Nations recently acknowledged this as one of the biggest threats to modern medicine, dedicating a high-level meeting to the issue at the 2016 General...
Superbugs evolve in waste water, and could end up in our food
Sep 22, 2016 02:00 am UTC| Science
We are heading into a post-antibiotic era, where common infections could once again be deadly. A phenomenon known as antimicrobial resistance threatens the heart of modern medicine. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when...
Genetic studies reveal diversity of early human populations – and pin down when we left Africa
Sep 21, 2016 17:36 pm UTC| Science
Humans are a success story like no other. We are now living in the Anthropocene age, meaning much of what we see around us has been made or influenced by people. Amazingly, all humans alive today from the inhabitants of...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight