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Explore the most exciting new ideas and emerging concepts in science, health, technology and the environment with Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s exclusive in-depth articles, interviews and long reads.

Hi-fi cells at the heart of the ear

How do we distinguish between sounds separated by just a twentieth of a tone? The answer is now known to lie in the extraordinary behaviour of cells buried deep within the ear

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I process therefore I am: Artifical intelligence researchers are still divided over the best way to build machines that think. But two of the field’s leading players at least agree that machines could soon be conscious of their thoughts and actions

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Fear and laughter in the Kremlin: Soviet strategists dismissed Star Wars as technical nonsense, but they knew it could undermine delicate negotiations to control the spread of nuclear weapons

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The man who promised the earth: James Ionson set out to persuade the world that the biggest ever military research project would deliver enormous commercial benefits. He now admits he was exaggerating

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Blinded by the light: Because lasers were at the heart of the plan to build an impregnable shield for the planet, billions of dollars were thrown at the technology over a short period. Could that windfall have been better spent?

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What’s harder than diamond?: Burgeoning research effortsshow that the potential rewards for making a ‘superhard’ substance are huge- but attempts to win carbon’s crown have met some setbacks

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Careers: In waters deep and shallow – As an island, Britain has a special interest in what inhabits its coastal, territorial and inland waters

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Why must I be a teenager at all?: No one knows for sure why adolescence is unique to humans. But it could buy teenagers time to practise the complex social skills we need to become effective parents

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2010: America’s nuclear waste odyssey – The US has spent billions of dollars studying a site planned to be the permanent home for its nuclear waste. As the deadline for a decision approaches, supporters and opponents are still wrangling about what the da

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Watch out for the videophones: After 30 years of promises, we can now buy telephones that transmit pictures. But the problems caused by out-of-date technology may put us off them for life

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Pouring cold water on Lorenzo’s oil

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Last words of a quantum heretic: Just before he died, the physicist David Bohm explained his life-long quest to understand the Universe and how he developed his alternative view of the quantum world

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The atomic age of cave art

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How Britain hides its acid soil: Environmentalists are accusing Britain of fixing the figures as European countries start fresh talks that aim to make the land, lakes and rivers safe from acid rain

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