Latest Stories
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Forecast: too hot for Wimbledon by 2050
Should ecocide be treated like genocide? Today, tennis fans in London are likely to be huddling under umbrellas. But scientists have warned that it may soon be extreme heat that stops play.
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Ace in the hole: how poker boosts your brain
Can a card game teach us the truth about life? Today, the online poker world is looking forward to a landmark match. But some believe that games offer much more than short-term thrills.
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Why a single whale could be worth $2m
Should everything have an eco-value as well as a financial one? A new report into the economics of biodiversity argues we should include impacts on nature in the costs of doing business.
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GameStop rebels take on wolves of Wall Street
Will the GameStop revolutionaries win in the end? Activist small investors have beaten the big hedge funds at their own game. But some say the share-buying frenzy will end in tears.
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Parallel universe that moves backwards in time
Would it matter if there were multiple universes? Recent experiments involving subatomic particles called “neutrinos” have shone a light on mind-bending debates between physicists.
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Zero: the idea that changed the world
Has the number “zero” done more to advance humanity than any other idea? Many mathematicians think so – for, without zero, we could not ponder either the concepts of the void or the infinite.
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Probable number of alien civilisations is 36
Would the discovery of alien life change anything? A philosopher says it would have huge implications for us and for our ideas of morality, and that aliens may have kept quiet for a reason.
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Past the peak…but still the worst in Europe
How well – or not – has Britain done? With the UK set to be the European nation worst affected by Covid-19, we take a forensic look at the numbers behind the coronavirus catastrophe.
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Germany: England’s spot-kick curse is a myth
Do we focus too much on the negative? For 30 years, England’s national football team has been losing penalty shootouts. But new research shows English players are far better than we think.
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How to tell a black swan from a red herring
Is Nassim Nicholas Taleb a modern-day prophet? The Lebanese-American statistician, author, and philosopher predicted the 2008 financial crash – and the current coronavirus pandemic.
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Virus may last a year and put 8m in hospital
Are you a delayer or a container? What’s your pandemic strategy? As Europe launches a wartime clampdown, the UK’s more relaxed coronavirus strategy is under fire from some scientists.
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Cometh the hour, cometh the British boffin
Should we put the boffins in charge? As the emergency spreads, brainboxes such as Chris Whitty, the medical voice of calm, and Rishi Sunak, the Star Wars-loving chancellor, are on the rise.
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Coronavirus: the maths behind the panic
How worried should we be? The headlines shout: “killer virus”, “crisis”, and “confusion”. Italy accuses misleading media of creating an “infodemic”. But what do the numbers say?
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Site of Earth’s oldest asteroid discovered
Should we embrace randomness? As scientists discover more evidence that we are the product of many million-to-one chances, perhaps we should give up trying to plan our lives so much.
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China shuts down as new virus goes global
Can the coronavirus be contained? As the number of infected rises, the world is racing to isolate the disease and prevent a global pandemic. But some experts believe it is already too late.