The Sense of an Endling
A piece examining endlings, the final members of species, and human attempts to progress with something that was previously only referred to in science fiction novels – “De-extinction”.
Urban Evolution
Evidence suggests that evolution can take place much more rapidly than Darwin anticipated – this piece explores the phenomenon by looking at animals living around us in cities.
In a Perpetual Present
A story examining the unusual case of a middle aged woman who experiences everything in the present. The difference between her and many people in a similar situation is that rather than having the agony of losing the ability to form and access memories, she has never had it. This study of a life experienced without memory is illuminating and surprising.
How Science Is Putting a New Face on Crime Solving
A wide ranging look at recent advances in criminal forensics, from using hair for DNA matches, to the value of teeth bite matches, fingerprinting, arson investigations and facial reconstruction.
Postpartum psychosis: “I’m afraid of how you’ll judge me, as a mother and as a person”
A piece on postpartum psychosis, by an author (and NHS Research Fellow) who experienced it herself after the birth of her daughter.
Why Earth’s History Appears So Miraculous
An ambitious piece looking at observer selection effect – where a data set’s composition or properties are correlated with the very existence of its observer. The first example the piece calls on is an analysis of planes returning from WWII bombing raids with the goal of identifying which areas of the fuselage to reinforce, but it rapidly expands in scope to extinction events for our world, and our universe.
The extraordinary life and death of the world’s oldest known spider
An obituary for a 43-year-old spider whose study was a career-spanning work for the zoologist that first found her. The spider was given a fitting epitaph in the scientific paper written after her death – “we can be inspired by an ancient mygalomorph spider and the rich biodiversity she embodied.”
This Armada of Saildrones Could Conquer the Ocean
A British man who previously spent ten years living in the desert off $10,000 a year in his effort to break the land sail speed record, has started an even more ambitious, and likely more lucrative endeavour. His company, armed with venture capital investment, is building unmanned saildrones that could have a huge impact on our understanding of the ocean, as well as myriad commercial and governmental applications.
ÔOur Saturn YearsÕ
A detailed look at the “insanely, wildly, beautifully successfulÓ Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn, which ended this month after nearly 20 years when its satellite made a planned plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere and burned up.