News Feature in 2013

By studying disadvantaged children, Richard Tremblay has traced the roots of chronic aggressive behaviour back as far as infancy. Now he hopes to go back further.

Ten people who mattered this year.

With a serious shortage of medical isotopes looming, innovative companies are exploring ways to make them without nuclear reactors.

Geophysicists are scouring the globe for evidence of mantle plumes — the presumed source of some mega-eruptions.

What researchers are learning from an unprecedented survey of mortality in India.

A billion years ago, a huge rift nearly cleaved North America down the middle. And then it failed. Researchers may be getting close to finding out why.

Researchers have struggled to identify how certain states of mind influence physical health. One biologist thinks he has an answer.

Reporting suspicions of scientific fraud is rarely easy, but some paths are more effective than others.

Human papillomavirus is causing a new form of head and neck cancer— leaving researchers scrambling to understand risk factors, tests and treatments.

Graphene's dazzling properties promise a technological revolution, but Europe may have to spend a billion euros to overcome some fundamental problems.

To combat the spread of HIV, health officials plan to circumcise 20 million men in Africa, but some have concerns about the aftermath.

Several African nations could strike a major blow against malaria by sacrificing the efficacy of some older drugs. Can they make it work?

Technologies that probe neural circuitry could greatly advance the study of human cognition.

Barack Obama announced his BRAIN Initiative on 2 April. Ever since, neuroscientists have been scrambling to work out what it actually is.

Computer chips inspired by human neurons can do more with less power.

Diane Orihel set her PhD aside to lead a massive protest when Canada tried to shut down its unique Experimental Lakes Area.

Can the Southern African Large Telescope live up to its potential?

Even one of the best known dinosaurs has kept some secrets. Here is what palaeontologists most want to know about the famous tyrant.

By scanning blobs of brain activity, scientists may be able to decode people's thoughts, their dreams and even their intentions.

Evaluating research output and judging which work to fund is getting harder.