The Nobel chemistry prize goes for work that harnesses evolution
HALF of this year’s Nobel prize in chemistry has been awarded to Frances Arnold, “for the directed evolution of enzymes”….
How to fool infrared vision gear into thinking you are not there
ANIMALS have made use of camouflage to hide from one another for almost as long as eyes have been around to spot them. Humans,…
Evolution sometimes leads up blind alley
This picture is of an Edith’s checkerspot butterfly laying her eggs on some blue-eyed Mary, the plant usually eaten by its caterpillars….
The Nobel prize for physics goes for the invention of better lasers
PHYSICS has a reputation for being intimidating. But while the details can be devilish, the basic ideas are often quite simple….
Another’s wasted investment is as disturbing as one’s own
THAT human beings often continue to pour money into bad projects because they have already invested in them and cannot bring themselves…
Mixed surgical teams lead to less medical error
SURGEONS are people, and people are animals, and animals often fight. Which is why Frans de Waal, an expert on animal behaviour,…
A new species of gibbon is found in a 2,200-year-old tomb
ROYAL burials are just not what they used to be. While still a child, Qin Shihuang, who founded the Qin dynasty and unified China…
The Nobel prize for medicine is awarded for a new type of cancer treatment
THIS year’s Nobel prize for physiology or medicine goes to James Allison of the University of Texas, and Tasuku Honjo of the…
IVF may bring northern white rhinos back from the brink of extinction
SUDAN, the last male northern white rhinoceros on Earth, died in March. He is survived by two females, Najin and her daughter…