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Table of contents

Leaders

Space

There may not be life on Venus after all but we shouldn't despair

LAST month, the world of planetary science blew up after the news that phosphine gas had been observed in Venus's atmosphere, which could potentially be a sign of life. The team that spotted the phosphine, led by Jane Greaves at Cardiff University in the UK, couldn't find any mechanism for forming enough phosphine on Venus …

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CRISPR turns normal body fat into a type that burns energy

Gene editing can transform normal fat cells into a type of fat that burns energy Metabolic conditions linked to obesity could be treated by removing fat from a person, turning it into energy-burning "beige fat" using CRISPR gene editing and then implanting the altered fat back into the body, animal studies suggest. “It would be …

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Cats cost Australia A$6 billion a year by spreading diseases

News

Life

The first flying dinosaurs were a failed evolutionary experiment

News

Life

Near-uncrushable beetle's exoskeleton could inspire tough structures

News

Space

More doubts cast on potential signs of life on Venus

News

Environment

Colorado River drought can be predicted by warming in the ocean

News

Humans

Llamas may have been buried alive in ritual sacrifice by the Incas

News

Life

Dinosaur fossil with preserved genital orifice hints how they mated

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CRISPR weapon spread by bacterial sex could destroy deadly superbugs

News

Environment

China's cuts to air pollution may have saved 150,000 lives each year

News

Space

Mathematicians have found the shortest route to visit 2 million stars

News

Space

NASA confirms there is water on the moon that astronauts could use

News

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Melbourne lockdown lifts as second wave of covid-19 is eliminated

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How the US response to covid-19 broke its world-class health agencies

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Long covid: Why are some people sick months after catching the virus?

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Analysis

Environment

Should Japan dump radioactive water from Fukushima into the ocean?

Water storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan Around 1.2 million tonnes of water contaminated by radioactive substances from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster will be dumped in the Pacific Ocean, as part of a plan expected to be approved by the Japanese government within weeks. The water is sitting in around …

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Record $8 billion payout won’t turn back the clock on US opioid crisis

News

Humans

Why you probably aren't as moral as you think you are

News

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Do potatoes and tomatoes make rheumatoid arthritis worse?

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Aperture

Life

Exquisite plant portraits created using Victorian photography method

These intricate plant images are a nod to Victorian botanical techniques, which used silver to expose the inner beauty of plants – here collected by photographer William Arnold on country walks

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Features

Environment

The secret weapon in the war between pet cats and wildlife

To stop cats killing billions of birds and small mammals every year, we must enlist the help of people who love them, which means getting inside the minds of cat owners

Features

Space

We can harness the solar wind to sail to the farthest corners of space

Features

Humans

How to build a fair and green economic system after covid-19

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Culture

Space

Carlo Rovelli: Where does the stuff that falls into a black hole go?

What happens to matter in a black hole? The question has spawned many paradoxes, and in an extract from his latest book, physics superstar Carlo Rovelli proposes an answer

Culture

Space

Carlo Rovelli’s new book: Eclectic essays on physics, history and more

Culture

Humans

Old books bound in human skin make for spooky Halloween reading

Culture

Don't Miss: Quiz codebreakers on a virtual tour of a computing museum

Culture

Humans

Star Wars: Squadrons shows the Force is still with us

Culture

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More

Humans

How to use smart soil science to colour your hydrangea bush

Always wanted a garden full of blue, pink or red hydrangeas? All you have to do is tap into cunning garden science that exploits an unusual pigment in their flowers, says Clare Wilson

Regulars

Puzzle #83: Albatross

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Tom Gauld attends the Annual Conference of Vampire Scientists

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Twisteddoodles imagines a ghost giving a conference speech

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Life

The baffling problem of why cows prefer sleeping on their left side

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

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Letters

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The last word