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Explore the most exciting new ideas and emerging concepts in science, health, technology and the environment with New 杏吧原创鈥檚 exclusive in-depth articles, interviews and long reads.

Faithless female seeks better genes

Many species of birds are socially monogamous but sexually promiscuous. This curious behaviour suggests that females may get more out of adultery than meets the eye

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Fickle constants of physics: Fundamental constants turn up in all sorts of equations. There may be nothing fundamental about them at all, and science may not need them

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A winning formula for Mansell: On Sunday, Nigel Mansell is expected to win the French Grand Prix. Should the credit go to him or to his car?

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Smart ways to treat materials: Will artificial materials ever be smart enough to respond as if they were part of a living organism? It could mean tissue healing more quickly and aircraft flying more safely

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Will machines ever think?: Love or hate the idea of an intelligent machine, the prospect of building one remains remote. Researchers have reckoned without the complexity of the rules that govern thought

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Measuring the monsoon

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The Dutch way of death: Doctors and nurses in the Netherlands can practise euthanasia if they stick to certain guidelines. Yet many patients receive lethal injections without giving their consent

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Dying rites: the ethics of euthanasia – Most philosophers argue that euthanasia is justified when a patient is dying and suffering intractable pain. But would legalising it cast doctors and nurses as executioners?

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Making green labels stick: Shoppers will soon have some help in picking environmentally friendly products. An official label will distinguish the greenest goods

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Starry signposts to the Universe: Astronomers have new and accurate methods for measuring distances to the nearest galaxies. But these measurements also suggest that the Universe may be younger than its oldest stars

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Raising rice in Cambodia’s ruins: Pol Pot’s regime and its aftermath have devastated the once bountiful paddy fields of Cambodia. As the refugees return, what will they find?

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The first billion years of the British Isles: Studying the

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Dangerous dance of the dividing cell: Most cells divide at just the right moment, and in just the right place. Discovering the molecules that control this timing may help us to understand cancer

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How AIDS made patients act up

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