杏吧原创

Is the Solar System stable? You might be surprised to learn that the Earth’s orbit round the Sun, like those of other planets, is chaotic. What does this mean for the future of the Solar System?

A stirring tale of crystals and currents: Fingers and fountains of salt in the seas have given geologists a new perspective: fluid dynamics is the vital ingredient in the recipe to stir magma and crystallise rocks

Thailand’s million-dollar moth: Traditional silk from Thailand is unlike the mass-produced fabrics of China and India. If the country is to revive its silk industry, it must look to its misshapen native silk worm for support

How safe will the Channel Tunnel be? Money is tight on the project to build a tunnel under the Channel that separates England and France. Some experts fear that this financial crisis, and the secrecy it has engendered, means that safety standards for tra

The cost of keeping up with the competition

One last chance for Britain’s lead in light: Research into harnessing optics to electronics has been hauled back from the brink. But industry fears that the government could let the opportunity to exploit optoelectronics slip away

Tumours in the neutron trap: Since the 1930s, medicalresearchers have struggled to find a successful way of treating cancer withneutrons. A technique that uses boron compounds to capture neutrons insidebrain tumours could be the answer they’ve been waitin

Prescribing all the way to the bank: Hard science and high capitalism meet in the pharmaceuticals industry – creating a heady mix of high-powered research, sophisticated sales techniques, creative accountancy and takeover deals

Recipes for fish with rice: Thai farmers who are too poor to buy pesticides and fertilisers find that fish thrive in their uncontaminated rice fields, and help to increase the yield of rice

Jungle law in Thailand’s forests

Thailand is brimming with parks and sanctuaries and logging is illegal. But clearance of the rainforest continues in spite of the law

The chaotic rhythms of life: In the 1970s, populationbiologists helped to launch the theory of chaos. Now it seems that manyaspects of life are probably chaotic. But the problem is that they are alsodifficult to study

Chaos and high winds across the planet

A weather eye on unpredictability: Much of chaos theory came from trying to understand how the Earth’s atmosphere behaves. Now, meteorologists are using chaos to assess how reliable climate and weather forecasts are

Turbulent times for fluids