Brainstorm | Opinion, Analysis, Reports, Features

A zebrafish shows off its go-faster stripes. Photo:Ian Grainger/Shutterstock

How animals got their spots and stripes

Analysis: working out how animals obtained their distinctive skin patterns involves joining the dots between Alan Turing and chasing cells

Nature • 02 Nov 17

At least one of the above trio is "scientifically sociable". Illustration: N. Elmehed/NobelPrize.org/CC BY-SA

Meet the scientists who won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics

Who are the scientists behind the discovery of ripples in the fabric of space and time known as gravitational waves? At least one of them is fun on the dancefloor

Science • 02 Nov 17

Going electric? The car of the future may be electric, but there's a long way to go yet

Are electric vehicles the answer to issues around air pollution?

Opinion: the main reason we should favour electric vehicles over cars that run on petrol or diesel has to do with health advantages rather than climate change or traffic jams

Electric vehicles • 20 Dec 17

Going driverless in the country. Illustration: BreezyInt/Shutterstock

How driverless cars may change the countryside

The efficiency of driverless cars poses a challenge for planners and conservationists in the form of an unchecked increase in low-density urbanisation

Brainstorm Ideas • 27 Sep 17

Did this really happen? Photo: Wikipedia

Why people believe in conspiracy theories

Our desire to impose structure on the world, social influence and confirmation bias are some of the reasons why conspiracy theories spring up with such regularity

Conspiracy theories • 25 Sep 17

Caution: robots at work. Photo: Shutterstock

Robots can be an opportunity rather than a threat

While much of the coverage around robotics and artificial intelligence to date has focused on threats to jobs, such technical innovation brings many possibilities and opportunities

Brainstorm Ideas • 25 Sep 17

Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. Photo: 準建築人手札網站 Forgemind ArchiMedia https://www.flickr.com/photos/eager/

Is anyone asking what people want from future smart cities?

The people living in cities are disconnected from the plans being made by companies and governments on their behalf about what those cities should look like in the future

cities • 25 Sep 17

Where in the world? Photo: Slava Bowman/Unsplash

How does a country become a country?

Becoming an internationally recognised sovereign country is not a clear or straightforward process, as the people of Catalonia and Kurdistan may discover if future referendums result in declarations of independence

Brainstorm Ideas • 25 Sep 17

Should robot artists be given copyright protection?

There's a growing body of art from music to visual art generated by computers, but who exactly owns the copyright on the work created by artificial intelligence without human input or intervention?

Brainstorm Ideas • 25 Sep 17

Brainstorm Ideas

How animals got their spots and stripes

Meet the scientists who won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics

Are electric vehicles the answer to issues around air pollution?

How driverless cars may change the countryside

Why people believe in conspiracy theories

Robots can be an opportunity rather than a threat

Is anyone asking what people want from future smart cities?

How does a country become a country?

Should robot artists be given copyright protection?

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