Artificial genes show life does not have to be based on DNA
Two modified versions of DNA add different “letters” to life’s genetic code but still work just as well as the original
A third of us would go one-way to Mars – but it may shrink your brain
New Scientist Asks the Public has revealed that 40 per cent of men want to go to Mars, but new evidence suggests the lengthy trip may be bad for your brain
Why wouldn’t you want to live forever? New Scientist editors debate
More than half of UK adults would turn down an offer of immortality. Emily Wilson doesn’t understand why – but Richard Webb certainly does
Only one in five UK adults would choose to live forever if they could
New Scientist Asks the Public has revealed that only 21 per cent of people would be keen to become immortal, should it ever become scientifically possible
Honeybee swarms act like superorganisms to stay together in high winds
A honeybee swarm behaves like a superorganism by changing shape in response to physical stress – although doing so means individuals take on a greater burden
Skin genetically engineered to destroy cocaine could prevent addiction
Engineered skin cells inserted beneath the skin of mice help destroy cocaine in the blood before it reaches the brain – and the therapy might work in people too
The Higgs hunter has just turned 10. Why is nobody celebrating?
The Large Hadron Collider unleashed unprecedented euphoria when it switched on, but the search for the true nature of reality has proved harder than we thought
Hydrogen can form ‘ghost bonds’ with something that isn’t even there
Chemists have worked out how to trick hydrogen into making a distant bond with nothing but thin air
Why a rake on the moon messed up our theories of life on Earth
We may have overestimated how many meteorites have hit the moon and Earth in the last 500 million years because Apollo astronauts didn’t dig deep enough
Heart-tugging tales of crowdfunded cancer ‘cures’ fuel quack medicine
Media stories about people with cancer seeking controversial cures are unwittingly bolstering unscientific and potentially harmful treatments, says Michael Marshall