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A few French scientists are bringing astronomy to captive audiences, such as the terminally ill and the incarcerated. Alison Abbott joined a group of convicted murderers to learn about gravity.
Pakistan's traditional ways have blocked many women's careers in science. But, as Ehsan Masood discovers, women are now fighting for their rights, both in life and in research.
Mexican scientists now have the skills and technology to study their backlog of ancient bones. As this treasure trove begins to yield its secrets, Rex Dalton finds local scientists hoping to unravel the mysteries of the earliest settlers of America.
Quirin Schiermeier travels to Sri Lanka with a team of scientists in the wake of last month's tsunami. Together with locals they search through the damage for clues of where the wave hit hardest.
Since he took over as Harvard president in 2001, Larry Summers' style and vision have divided the university. As his plans for expansion step up a gear, Summers tells Helen Pearson why it is time for Cambridge to face up to the need for change.
Cave paintings and catacomb walls around Europe are decaying under microbial attack. Are nightclub lights and designer chemicals the answer? Federica Castellani finds out.
Having suffered heavily from avian influenza in 2004, Vietnam might now be brewing the next human flu pandemic. Yet, as Peter Aldhous discovers, local researchers don't have the resources to investigate the risk properly.
So far, string theory has defied experiments, but Nima Arkani-Hamed thinks he has found a way to put the idea to the test. Geoff Brumfiel finds out how.
The electronic behaviour of some forms of matter doesn't match theory. Geoff Brumfiel meets Senthil Todadri, a man who wants to change our view of how electrons behave.
Growing up on Einstein Street in Haifa, Israel, Dorit Aharonov was perhaps destined to study physics. But she pursued other interests before finally settling on quantum computation. Haim Watzman reports.