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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.

Cleaning up with cheap technology: The perfectly clean coal-fired generator may lie far in the future, but technologies that would be excellent stopgaps already exist. The biggest obstacle appears to be the generating companies

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Humans

On the origin of races

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Chips with a life of their own: Designing silicon chips to mimic human organs sounds fanciful. But scientists have already built devices that process electrical signals in the way nerve cells do

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Cleaning up after the big chill: Thousands of rivers and streams are harmed by the de-icing chemicals that keep aircraft flying through the winter. Now airports are being forced to curb this damaging pollution

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Inventor with a diamond edge: For Ernest Nagy, inventions are there to be used. His simple technique for making thin films of diamond has astounded scientists, while his openness about it has shocked industrialists

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Mirage of the shifting sands: The UN is planning another counterattack against advancing deserts. But will it work? And is more land really becoming arid?

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Physics

Where planets boldly grow

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Physics

Why sales reps pose a hard problem

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When a reactor blows: A nuclear reactor not far from the south coast of France will undergo a core meltdown six times over the next six years. It will be no accident, but part of a unique experiment

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Humans

The great brain race

Over the past three million years the human brain has grown faster than those of most other animals. But its large size is not the only thing that makes it so powerful

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Radar explorers of the Solar System: What are asteroids made of? Is there ice on Mercury? Astronomers are turning to a technique devised to locate objects on Earth to find out more about the Solar System

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Raising a stink in Boston: One of the biggest civil engineering projects in America aims to stop Bostonians polluting their harbour. But the scheme could simply create a problem for someone else

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A sticky end for disease: While sticky molecules help hold our bodies together that may not be all they are good for. By manipulating their stickiness, scientists are hoping to develop new treatments for illnesses

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Time to shelve the library?: Who needs libraries now that the world’s information is accessible through computer networks? Soon only historians may be interested in these shrines to learning

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