News Feature in 2007

Updating the tree of life needs both the skills of evolutionary biologists and the data from genome-crunchers — the two ignore each other at their peril. John Whitfield reports.

The rocks of Antarctica are obscured literally, and sometimes scientifically, by its ice. But drilling efforts are now showing what we can learn from the hard stuff. Alexandra Witze reports.

Every summer the Arctic Ocean loses more ice — and it could all be gone within decades. Quirin Schiermeier looks at how the vanishing summer ice affects those living in the north.

Air bubbles trapped in the Antarctic ice sheet could yield precious information about Earth's climate more than a million years ago. But to access this record, scientists first have to climb one of the coldest peaks on Earth. Nicola Jones reports.

From a New Jersey beauty parlour to cutting-edge genetics by way of her own alopecia, Angela Christiano's life has all been tied up with hair. Helen Pearson meets a woman whose head is full of the stuff that covers it.

Physicists are planning lasers powerful enough to rip apart the fabric of space and time. Ed Gerstner is impressed.

An Italian scientist revived the hunt for the mafia's boss of bosses. Declan Butler reports.

Hundreds of orchid species lure their pollinators with the promise of sex, only to send them away unfulfilled. Heidi Ledford looks at how dishonesty gives them the evolutionary edge.

How did a mud volcano come to destroy an Indonesian town? David Cyranoski reports from Sidoarjo.

One half of a physics couple that met online, Jennifer Ouellette seeks some advice from married scientists on how to handle both long-distance and up-close relationships, while juggling career and family. Can love survive?

How often does independent research change laws as well as minds? A lobby group in Delhi is forcing the Indian government into new regulations. Apoorva Mandavilli meets its leader.

Could a change in the dining habits of orcas crash an ecosystem? Mark Schrope reports on a mystery that reveals how little we know of the oceans.

Energy efficiency is one of the least flashy but most promising ways to cut carbon dioxide emissions. In the first of two features, Declan Butler explores the energy-saving possibilities of an intelligent electrical grid. In the second, Zoë Corbyn looks at how labs can cut their energy use.

Rising carbon dioxide levels should increase crop yields. But what if their effect on the nutritional value of our food is less benign, asks Ned Stafford.

Extracting a cell from a budding human embryo can expose genetic defects, but does it actually help generate more healthy babies? Bruce Goldman investigates.

Three years ago, President George W. Bush told NASA to return American astronauts to the Moon. Geoff Brumfiel reports on how far they have got.

Is parachuting into the Amazonian jungle any way to save an ecosystem? One team of biologists thinks so. Thomas Hayden joined them on a trip to Peru to find out what they do.

By 2020 the semiconductor industry wants a memory device that can store a trillion bits of information in an area the size of a postage stamp. As companies race towards this goal, chemists are coming up with an unusual approach. Philip Ball reports.