Topic: Science

Slaves to the algorithm

Computers could take some tough choices out of our hands, if we let them. Is there still a place for human judgement?

Spaced out

Living in space was meant to be our next evolutionary step. What happened to the dream of the final frontier?

Things genes can’t do

Simplistic ideas of how genes ‘cause’ traits are no longer viable: life is an orderly collection of uncertainties

Beyond belief

Unreason, like the poor, will always be with us. But why does quackery survive when science is making life better?

Nest of spies

The cuckoo is both an icon of Englishness and a symbol of suspicion and deceit — a perfect pet for an MI5 officer, then

Earth's holy fool?

Some scientists think that James Lovelock's Gaia theory is nuts, but the public love it. Could both sides be right?

Is there life on Mars?

Our curiosity about the Red Planet has always been tinged with fantasy – but wishful thinking needn’t be mistaken

Science fictions

Is the scientific endeavour always a bold and noble quest for truth? Not when it is writing its own history

Who knows what

For decades the sciences and the humanities have fought for knowledge supremacy. Both sides are wrong-headed