The hardest thing about robots? Teaching them to cope with us
7 August 2019
Humans are spectacularly weird and unpredictable. Computer scientist Anca Dragan is working on helpful robots that understand how we get things wrong
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This week’s new questions
7 August 2019
Why does lightning make the air sizzle and bulbs light up? And why is there no requirement for alkaline batteries to show how much power they can generate?
Future fossils: Will new coal and oil reserves form once we're gone?
7 August 2019
The answer relies on knowing how existing fossil fuels were made, as one reader explains – but nothing precludes a second industrial revolution far in the future
Schrödinger's scissors: Why can't we see things right in front of us?
7 August 2019
Why can't you see something even though it's right there in front of you? A cognitive neuroscientist responds with a variety of reasons
How many Boris Johnsons does a Saturn V rocket weigh?
7 August 2019
Measuring mass in Boris Johnsons, plus frictionless trade, well-read nematodes and Jacob Rees-Mogg’s metric problems in Feedback’s weekly weird round-up
Puzzle #16: Clever code
7 August 2019
Can you solve the conundrum of what digits go where to make these unique numerical codes? Plus the quick quiz and solution to puzzle #15
Cryptic Crossword #12
7 August 2019
The science-themed cryptic crossword, set by Wingding. Plus, answers to quick crossword #37
How to build your own intruder alarm with basic electronics
7 August 2019
Worried about unwanted visitors in your garden? Here's how to build a simple alarm system with basic electronics, a plastic folder, kitchen foil and a sponge
Meet Kuimba, the French-born gorilla released into Gabon's rainforest
7 August 2019
Kuimba, a western lowland gorilla, adapts to her island home in Gabon after she was flown from a French zoo in a new project to save the endangered subspecies
Why genetically modified 'golden rice' failed to conquer the world
7 August 2019
20 years ago, genetically engineered rice with its increased nutritional content seemed a sure-fire win – but that reckoned without implacable critics
