Space Network attack inspires space junk clean-up THINKING about space junk in an entirely new way may have provided the crucial insight needed to tackle the problem. Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK claim that removing a few key pieces of space junk from orbit should dramatically reduce the amount of debris that is produced in future. The idea … News
Health Interview: The medicine man Paul Farmer What's your picture of a scientific hero? Craig Venter as played by George Clooney? Richard Dawkins by Harrison Ford? Self-deprecating Paul Farmer is not your everyday leading man, yet fresh out of college he set up a charity to provide free medical care to people in central Haiti, and has challenged and improved … Opinion
Life Tools maketh the monkey PIN is no ordinary monkey. If you stick out your tongue at her, she'll return the compliment. If you show her how to open a latched box, she'll rotate the box until she finds the latch, then open it herself. Place a piece of fruit just out of reach and she'll pick up a rake … Features
Review: Reinventing Knowledge by Ian F McNeely and Lisa Wolverton WHAT is knowledge? This sweeping history of the institutions that have created, organised and transmitted knowledge in the west argues that the answer to this question has changed radically six times – from treatises held in ancient Greek libraries to the scientific findings that dominate today. The authors are cautious about predicting the future and … Books & Arts
Feedback Ig Nobel prizes 2008 FEEDBACK'S favourite prizes, the Ig Nobels, were handed out on 2 October at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre. As promised by the organiser, Marc Abrahams, editor of Annals of Improbable Research , they made you laugh, then think – though you also may wonder what some of the recipients were thinking when … Regulars