First chemists ANCIENT Egyptians pioneered the art of synthetic "wet" chemistry up to 4000 years ago, say forensic chemists at the Research Laboratory for the Museums of France. Philippe Walter and his colleagues in Paris discovered that Egyptian cosmetic powders held by the Louvre contained ingredients which were so rare they could only have been synthesised (Nature, … News
The great divide? If you want to give rights to animals, you'd better do some clear thinking PICTURE the war-torn face of an orphaned child in Kosovo. Now imagine the face of a baby chimpanzee in Africa whose mother has just been slaughtered for bushmeat. Both are compelling images of vulnerability amid violence, but if you had to … Opinion
Cosmic crystal IN THE beginning, space was filled with a liquid hovering below its normal freezing point. Supercooled liquids like this are on a hair-trigger: the merest nudge is enough to set off a runaway frenzy of freezing. That nudge might be provided by a dust-like impurity in the liquid or perhaps by a small region which … Features
Mind's I THEY had it easy in the 17th century, says philosopher Mary Midgley. Then, the pioneers of modern science deliberately chose to confine their attention to the physical world of perceived reality, evading what Midgley calls "the problem...that each of us has in trying to relate our own individual experience sensibly to that of others and … Books & Arts
Feedback NOT THAT we're paranoid or anything, but ... In a bid to win digital satellite subscribers, Rupert Murdoch's Sky and partners are offering receivers at half price. But to qualify for the discount, subscribers must agree to have the receiver—the so-called Digibox—permanently connected to a phone line, so that it can communicate with a central … Regulars