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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.

The mathematics of symmetry

Group theory is not just an esoteric branch of pure mathematics, it is an invaluable interpretive tool in scientific theory. Chemists use group theory to understand molecular structure, and physicists use it to...

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Ozone, the burden of proof: Action to protect the ozone layer began long before scientists knew that there had been any damage. What proof do we need to write international treaties protecting the environment?

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Fungal warfare in the medicine chest

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Signs of change: A century of attempts to teach deaf children to speak has forced a living language underground. Now it is making a comeback

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Confused over personal communications: Industry’s eagerness to meet the demand for mobile telephones has led to incompatible technologies and frustrated subscribers. As they prepare to launch the next genertion of services, telecommunications companies h

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Up in the air: Two new families of chemicals, the HFCs and the HCFCs, are being introduced as benign replacements for ozone-damaging CFCs. But scientists are still unsure of what the substitutes might do to the terrestrial environment

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The hidden museums of the Mediterranean: Despite decades of plundering, the sea bed of the Mediterranen remains the last great repository of archaeological knowledge from the ancient world. Now underwater archaeologists are revealing its secrets

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Tuatara sheds its fossil image

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If rabies comes to Britain: European scientists are vaccinating foxes to try to halt the spread of rabies. But culling may be the only effective strategy for Britain, should rabies cross the Channel

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Do people make deserts?: The drylands of the Earth have bloomed under humid climates in the past. Perhaps the desert dwellers have lessons for us about utilising drylands and adapting to a hostile climate

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The junkyard in the sky: Space is full of rubbish. From tiny flecks of paint to the broken remains of old satellites and rockets, the debris orbiting the Earth could mean the end of spaceflight within decades

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New directions for science on TV: Three out of Britain’s five regular television programmes about science have new editors. Their programmes are watched by about 15 million people. What are their views on TV’s contribution to the public understanding of

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New life for old forest: As loggers and environmentalists battle over North America’s ancient forests, a new philosophy is emerging. Canadian scientists are rewriting the ecological rules, with far-reaching consequences for the forestry of the future

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Getting around by common design: You can’t pedal a deck chair, but its design is based on the tried and tested shape of the bicycle. Or so says the curator of London’s latest transport museum

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