杏吧原创

Maps that shape the world: Like a huge piece of orange peel

A better recipe for making materials: In the industrial kitchens where materials are made, smart sensors and mathematical models are replacing rules of thumb and trial and error

Did Tibet cool the world?: When India and Asia collided more

No way to treat a body: Ten thousand people in Britain alone injure themselves deliberately and regularly. Why do they do it and how can they stop?

Environment

Real Monkeys don’t drink water: A remarkable troop of southern African baboons has learnt how to survive in a desert unfit for primate life. But their days could be numbered

Greenprint for rescuing the Rhine: Orthodox methods for cleaning up the Rhine have been only partially successful. Now the nations responsible are starting to back the ecologists’ vision of a river fit for salmon

The trouble with implants: For thirty years plastic surgeons said silicone implants were safe. Now women are rushing to have them removed as researchers explore the links with disease

Raising rice in the savannas: Few farmers once bothered with the savannas of South America for anything other than cattle raising. Now they have begun to grow rice on the continent’s grassy plains

The man who made computers personal: Alan Kay may not be a household name but he has revolutionised our lifestyles. Since his student days, he has pioneered the creation of computers that can be used by anyone – a vision that has remained undimmed afte

The big bang strikes back

Challenge for the big bang: Results from the COBE probe ruled out key elements in the conventional explanation of how the Universe began. Is it time for an alternative theory?

Alzheimer’s disease: arthritis of the brain?

The perils of green pessimism: We have no business advising on environmental policy until all the evidence is in. If we do, we risk undermining the best scientific practice

When electrons go with the flow: Remove the obstacles that create electrical resistance, and you get ballistic electrons and a quantum surprise