Space Better to see the beautiful, ugly truth of the cosmos The assumption that the cosmos is symmetrical over large scales is an elegant one, but how far must evidence deviate from expectations before we rethink it? Opinion
Life Solving spider mysteries in the Peruvian Amazon In the Amazon rainforest, spiders are building spider-shaped decoys in their webs. New Scientist goes to the jungle to learn more about these strange critters News
Earth Time to kick cigarette butts – they're toxic trash Poisons leach from the 4 trillion cigarette filters that we chuck each year, harming health and environment alike. They should be banned Opinion
Earth How to cash in on cheap Earth-watching satellites Start-ups could use the flood of small, cheap satellites heading into orbit for everything from commercial data gathering to mining the waste in landfills News
A perfect negative crystal floating in space (Image: Danny Sanchez) MAGNESIUM aluminium oxide sure is a pretty mineral. It forms spinel, a gem coveted throughout history and whose red variant is sometimes confused with ruby. It was used in the Timur Ruby necklace made for Queen Victoria . And an egg-sized lump of the stuff, known as the Black Prince's Ruby, forms … Regulars
Life Crime mining: Hidden history emerges from court data (Image: Tim McDonagh) Data-mining the archives of London's oldest criminal court has uncovered an unguessed-at story of violence – and history will never be the same again Fire up the time machine, pop it in reverse and rewind 213 years. Mary Hall is standing in the dock at the Old Bailey, London's oldest court, as … Features
Earth Park the eco-apocalypse for a journey of hope From Kenya to Laos, the people and their stories take centre stage (Image: Jeff Rotman/Getty) Adventures in the Anthropocene: A journey to the heart of the planet we made by Gaia Vince is a story of optimism about how 10 billion people can live together THE aptly named Gaia Vince has wandered the world seeking the … CultureLab
Feedback: Gone to a better conference Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Gone to a better conference SADLY, Feedback must record the passing of a favourite academic author and faithful correspondent. Cleo Borzoi's copious output includes the classic "Harnessing angular kinetic energy from colossal cloned Rodentia : re-envisioning the hamster wheel model … Regulars