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Table of contents

Leaders

Health

Weeding out Olympic doping cheats won't actually end inequity in sport

Of course the games should go after those who use performance-enhancing drugs to gain an advantage, but stamping out such abuses won't create a truly level playing field

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Humans

Bronze Age hoards hint that market economies arose surprisingly early

An analysis of 20,000 metal objects from Bronze Age Europe suggests human economic behaviour may not have changed much over the past 3500 years

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Technology

AI can predict tipping points for systems from forests to power grids

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Chemistry

Physicists may now have a way to make element 120 – the heaviest ever

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Health

How diseases like smallpox survived long ocean voyages

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Humans

Neanderthal cooking skills put to the test with birds and stone tools

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Environment

Biodegradable microplastics may actually be worse for soil and plants

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Space

Space travel may make muscles age extremely quickly

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Environment

Trees have an extra climate benefit thanks to methane-eating microbes

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Life

Komodo dragons have teeth capped with a layer of iron

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Space

Moon bases will need to be 3 metres underground to avoid radiation

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Health

Why many studies wrongly claim it’s healthy to drink a little alcohol

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Physics

We may finally know what caused the biggest cosmic explosion ever seen

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Technology

DeepMind AI gets silver medal at International Mathematical Olympiad

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Technology

Social media companies change their policies in the wake of bad press

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Space

Mars rover found a rock with possible signs of ancient life

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Life

Oldest rocks on Earth may contain strange and ancient life forms

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Health

How does the Olympics test for doping and is it good enough?

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Analysis

Health

The truth about the new class of Alzheimer’s drugs

Three drugs approved for Alzheimer’s disease have been hailed as a breakthrough in treating the condition – how effective are they, and what risks and side effects do they come with?

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Aperture

Environment

Photos of an island paradise reveal plastic threat for bird population

Neal Haddaway's photographs show how flesh-footed shearwater chicks on a beautiful island in the Tasman Sea are in danger from mounting marine plastic pollution

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Features

Space

Why we might finally be about to see the first stars in the universe

The first generation of stars changed the course of cosmic history. Now, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, we have a real chance of spotting them

Features

Humans

What made us human? The fossils redefining our evolutionary origins

Features

Technology

Will implants that meld minds with machines enhance human abilities?

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Culture

Health

Discover RNA's irresistible ascent from humble molecule to CRISPR star

The amazing rise of RNA to delivering precise gene editing and its potential to unlock life's biggest secrets is told in The Catalyst by Nobel prizewinner Thomas Cech, who was a big part of the story

Culture

Life

The inside story of heroic efforts to save three bird species

Culture

Society

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ recommends: Rutger Bregman's Humankind

Culture

Physics

Time travel sci-fi novel is a rip-roaringly good thought experiment

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More

Environment

Pen Hadow: Climate change is making my epic Arctic crossing impossible

The Arctic Ocean I trekked across 21 years ago is melting fast, becoming a potential shipping super-highway. That should worry us all, says the explorer and ocean conservationist

Comment

Society

Voters everywhere back green policies. Politicians should take note

Comment

Space

Get ready to watch the dazzling Perseid meteor shower in August

Regulars

BrainTwister #31: Fold and cut

Regulars

Tom Gauld ponders how to communicate with extraterrestrials

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on a new way to come up with research ideas

Regulars

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Regulars

Can we live on worms alone? Probably not, find scientists

Feedback digs into a study on whether earthworms might provide the nutritional answer in the case of a global famine, and discovers a can of worms

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word