TOP COMMENT
It's too late to worry that the aliens will find us
A ban on messages to possible extraterrestrial societies smacks of paranoia. The fact is, we've already blown our cover, says Seth Shostak
LATEST
We need an energy sixth sense to fight global warming
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 00:00 15 December 2010
If we could see the energy we use we wouldn't be so wasteful. Technology can help, says Joseph Giacomin
Let's build Babbage's ultimate mechanical computer
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 00:00 15 December 2010
The 19th-century Analytical Engine computer, complete with CPU and a memory, remained unbuilt – time to put that right, says John Graham-Cumming
Time to democratise science
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 16:00 14 December 2010
Some of the taxpayers' money that pours into research should be directly allocated by the public, argues Dan Hind
Haiti: Epidemics of denial must end
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 16:25 07 December 2010 | 1 comment
Haiti's cholera outbreak is a depressing reminder that the first victim of an epidemic is often the truth, says Debora MacKenzie
MENTAL HEALTH
Stop giving antipsychotics to people with dementia
As we live longer, more of us face the horrors of Alzheimer's disease – and the very worst kind of treatment for it, says Irving Kirsch
MORE COMMENT AND ANALYSIS
Why space is the impossible frontier
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 15:22 16 November 2010 | 61 comments
Dreams of long-haul space travel or even colonisation ignore basic biological constraints that anchor us firmly to the Earth, argues Theunis Piersma
Why I set up an inventors' championship
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 13:59 09 November 2010
As a major driver of modern economies, science has to deliver, and soon. An unusual forum for investors can make sure it does, says Simon Schneider
Professional climate change deniers' crusade continues
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 17:24 02 November 2010 | 22 comments
In the media and the courts, the battle to undermine climate science and its researchers hasn't let up, warns climatologist Michael Mann
When big pharma breaks the law, prosecute the CEO
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 15:10 19 October 2010
Patient safety will remain at risk until big pharma's top executives are brought to book for their companies' actions, says Paul Thacker
ENVIRONMENT
How reputation could save the Earth
The power of reputation should be harnessed to stop selfish people from wrecking the planet, say David Rand and Martin Nowak