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Editor's picks

Strange Times

Time’s arrow

Here comes hypertime – Want to sidestep your future or rearrange your past? An extra time dimension could be all you need, says Gabrielle Walker, and it might even be the key to the theory of everything

Countdown to chaos – Time signals keep the world in step. Tweak them just a little, and life as we know it will quickly grind to a halt, says David Kestenbaum

In the blink of an atom

When a second lasts forever – It’s not just in the movies that moments of crisis seem to pass in slow motion. John McCrone investigates the tricks our minds play with time

Table of contents

News

Call for a spin doctor – Engineered plants are blamed for ailing ladybirds and hybrid radishes. Experts say don’t worry, but the public won’t be happy

Monsanto’s cotton gets the Mississippi blues

The heat is on – Clinton’s policy dooms us all to a warmer world

Set phasers to shock . . .

Bay wash – How to make cheap wave power

White, with a hint of potato

Dummy does the legwork – Synthetic flesh and bone is ideal for studying the effects of land mines

How nature takes sides – The machinery that puts organs on the correct side of the body is coming to light

Space

Earthly world

A bigger splash – The Geological Society of America heard that when an asteroid hit Earth, life forms hurtled across the globe鈥攁nd the young Mars was not so unlike home. Jeff Hecht reports from Salt Lake City

The rot sets in – To keep forests healthy, trees must suffer a little

Beached whaling

Patents : Flash-bang wallop

Patents : On-bike computer

Patents : Keep on trucking

At last鈥he truth about Area 51

A painful dilemma – Experts remain divided over fetal suffering

Incurable TB threatens millennium

Russia’s real drink problem

The morning after – Need a reckless one-night stand lead to AIDS?

Technofile : Efficient hybrid

Technofile : Green machine

Technofile : Tumour telescope

Technofile : Can’t kill, won’t kill

Why some males choose monogamy

A highly irregular matter – Images of a distant cloud hint that the big bang was more “lumpy” than anyone thought

Sober gene keeps a clear head

Dinosaur theory put to flight – Birds may not be descended from the ancient reptiles after all

Focus : The price of prejudice – The world may miss out because the fruits of research in developing countries seldom make it to the pages of top journals

Netropolitan : A hanging offence

Netropolitan :

Butter spreads the secret of long life

Slip-sliding away – There are ways of predicting the landslides that kill thousands in the Andes

Take aim, fire – Can magic bullets finally live up to their promise as a deadly weapon against cancer?

Wheeled mouse is a fast mover

Newswire : Not with a bang

Newswire : Satellite hit

Newswire : Drugs feel the heat

Looks good on paper – You can use a pen and ink to enter data into a computer

Newswire : Talking about sex

In brief : Stellar palpitations

In brief : See-through chips

In brief : Who needs insulin?

In brief : Rolling stones

In brief : Cowardly genes

In brief : There’s no place like comb

Opinion

Editorial : It’s not what you know – If there are biases in scientific publication editors must take the blame

Features

Strange Times

Time’s arrow

Here comes hypertime – Want to sidestep your future or rearrange your past? An extra time dimension could be all you need, says Gabrielle Walker, and it might even be the key to the theory of everything

Countdown to chaos – Time signals keep the world in step. Tweak them just a little, and life as we know it will quickly grind to a halt, says David Kestenbaum

In the blink of an atom

When a second lasts forever – It’s not just in the movies that moments of crisis seem to pass in slow motion. John McCrone investigates the tricks our minds play with time

More

Antipodes : What Melburnians breathe – Ian Lowe examines a report on air quality

Review : Temporary hero

Review : Age d’or

Review : UsefulNet

Review : Imperfect beings

Review : Starter kit

Review : Assaying the past

Review : Worth the weight

Review : Glamour guy

Review : Eureka!

Review : Collected works – Wendy Grossman on spies, smog and bots on the Net

Bestsellers : from Washington

Forum : Secret life of the shrimp – What goes on in the depths when our backs are turned, asks Jon Copley

Forum : A clean break – Conservation and genetics make bad bed fellows, says Martin Brookes

Thistle diary : – More comment from Westminster by Tam Dalyell

Regulars

The last word

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