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A new transparent wood becomes cloudier (right) upon the release of stored heat.

Windows made of transparent wood could help keep buildings warm

3 April 2019

Transparent wood could be used for windows. The material retains more heat than double glazing, but cannot yet be made entirely see-through


Article 13 protest

Article 13: A guide to the new EU copyright rules and the ban on memes

27 March 2019

What is Article 13? How does it affect the way you use the internet? Should you be worried? Your questions answered about the EU's new copyright rules


A hand up close

The pigment in our skin could be used to make electrical body implants

26 March 2019

Melanin’s electrical conductivity can be boosted a billion-fold using heat and the result could be used to make body-friendly electrical implants


Bill Gates’s pancake problem – and three more pancakes in science

Bill Gates’s pancake problem – and three more pancakes in science

4 March 2019

Sorting a stack of pancakes by size is a vexing challenge for mathematicians, but Microsoft's Bill Gates came up with an enduring solution.


A person looks at a computer

Wikipedia’s civil wars show how we can heal ideological divides online

4 March 2019

When people on different sides of the political spectrum work together to edit Wikipedia articles, the results are better than when everyone agrees


mako shark

World's fastest shark gets a burst of speed from shape-shifting skin

4 March 2019

Highly flexible denticles reduce the drag experienced by the mako shark’s skin, and could inspire a new generation of materials for fighter jets and helicopters


Suckers

Squid teeth could help make bioplastics and self-repairing clothes

21 February 2019

A protein found in the suckered arms of squid could help make biodegradable plastics and clothes that repair themselves


Reddit’s megapixel masterpiece illustrates how culture evolves

Reddit’s megapixel masterpiece illustrates how culture evolves

5 September 2018

Over a million users battled for control over a virtual canvas, one pixel at a time. Now, researchers are studying the process to examine the forces that shape cultures  


The ultraclean icicle and the droplet, after melting.

World’s cleanest drop of water reveals why nothing is ever truly clean

23 August 2018

A thin film of molecular dirt coats everything the air touches. But until now, nobody knew what it was, or where it came from


A man with a fog net

Nanofibre net draws drinking water from the air for drought-hit people

21 August 2018

A new material made from nanofibres can capture hundreds of litres of drinking water from the air and could help drought-hit communities


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