Â鶹´«Ã½

Features

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.

What makes faces familiar?:

Brain damage can leave a person unable to recognise a human face while other visual skills remain intact. Somehow, the mechanisms in the brain for recognising faces become cut off from conscious awareness

Features

A second chance for targeted designer antibodies

Features

Life after death for empty shells: Crustacean fisheries create a mountain of waste shells, made of a strong natural polymer, chitin. Now chemists are helping to put this waste to some surprising uses

Features

The plant anatomy light show: With chemicals from washing powders and fluorescence microscope, even novice anatomists can explore the intricacies of living plants

Features

Full steam ahead for ferry safety: Researchers studying the Zeebrugge tragedy have pinpointed the fatal flaws of roll-on roll-off ferries. Now the British government is pressing for safer designs

Features

Life

The sponges that spanned Europe

Features

Green technology comes of age: The eco-boom of the past few years has transformed the fortunes of a community of alternative technologists living and working in the Welsh hills. The public can now buy a stake in the centre’s future – and help to finance

Features

On the roof of the rainforest: Biologists in an airship have settled on the top of a South American rainforest to explore the unique habitat of the canopy

Features

Female circumcision: Fighting a cruel tradition

Features

Earth

A sea change in the Sahel

Climate researchers can now predict African drought in most years, but that doesn't mean they know why it is happening

Features

Mysteries of the malt: Robert Burns knew all about whisky, he worked as an exciseman. As Scots drink a toast to their most famous poet, chemists are sampling the secrets of Scotland’s most famous drink

Features

Japan’s quest for the brainy computer: Western computer manufacturers have shown little interest in the concept of neural networks-devices that perform like the human brain. Japan, meanwhile, is preparing for a 10-year programme of development

Features

The dam that should not be built: India is building the largest dam in Asia in a valley beset by earthquakes and landslips. Seismologists say the site is too dangerous, but engineers are using discredited data to push ahead with construction

Features

Hooked on horoscopes: We may not be able to persuade people that astrology and graphology are nonsense. But psychology, with the help of a showman, reveals why they are so popular

Features