Health We need transparent trials to keep confidence in medicine Controversies about the safety of medicines given to millions of people can’t be settled unless data is made more freely available News
Space Tiny spacecraft could brake at exoplanet using alien starlight It’s all very well dreaming up technologies that will let us travel quickly to other star systems, but how do we apply the brakes on arrival? Rene Heller of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and independent space researcher Michael Hippke now have an answer: we can slow down a solar sail-powered craft … News
Space Time to make sure Europe's troubled satnav system really flies Europe's costly Galileo satnav network has been branded a vanity project. In an isolationist world, it now seems a wise insurance policy, says Paul Marks News
Humans Seeking refuge in the heat of the night Irish photographer Richard Mosse has come up with a novel way to inspire compassion for refugees. He presents them as drones might see them – as detailed heat maps, often shorn of expression, skin tone, and even clues to age and sex. Mosse's subjects, captured in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, don't look … Regulars
Health Cholesterol wars: Does a pill a day keep heart attacks away? Statins lower cholesterol, which lowers heart-disease risk. The official line justifies many people popping these pills – but the evidence is not so clear-cut Features
Technology The great VR Science Challenge Science from all angles Explaining science is vital work, and it's something we can all enjoy. Recently we explored the rise of "explainers" on YouTube , which help us grasp how all sorts of things work, from simple school experiments (usually involving explosions) to animations of really big ideas like cosmic inflation. Now we’re promoting … Culture
Life Plant keeps moths captive inside its fruits for almost a year Zoologger is our weekly column highlighting extraordinary animals – and occasionally other organisms – from around the world Regulars
Feedback: Astral-nauts once performed a psychic probe of Jupiter Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Regulars