The space shuttle

• Into the sunset
  

  The final launch of the space shuttle brings to an end the dreams of the Apollo era (2)

• • • Leader: The end of the Space Age
    • (90)
  • • From the archive: America's shuttle shuffles towards launch
    • Babbage
  • • Topic page: Space shuttle

Solar power from space

• 
  Beam it down, Scotty

  Harvesting solar power in space, for use on Earth, comes a step closer to reality (26)

• • • Laser beams can now deliver energy to machines through thin air (Jan 2011)
    • (9)
  • • Will beaming solar power to Earth move out of the realm of science fiction? (Dec 2008)
    • (12)
  • • Topic page: Solar energy

LSD

• 
  Acid tests

  Research into hallucinogenic drugs begins to shake off decades of taboo (16)

• • • Why tourists in the Netherlands may have to stop smoking pot
    • (14)
  • • The narcotics business is changing from an international trade to a local affair
    • (5)
  • • It may be possible to vaccinate people against addictive drugs (May 2011)
    • (24)

Seaborne telemetry

• 
  Formula 1 goes sailing

  Racing-car technology takes to the water (11)

• • • Telemetry is enabling oil companies to detect and recover offshore oil in ever more difficult places (Mar 2010)
    • (3)
  • • Tapping remotely into a car’s data systems provides lots of useful services (Nov 2009)
    • (22)
  • • Topic page: Automotive technology

Biofuels

• 
  The Difference Engine: The beef about corn

  Why America is no longer betting the farm on corn-based ethanol - Babbage (27)

• • • A bipartisan vote to end ethanol subsidies is a small but heartening sign
    • (11)
  • • A special report on feeding the world: Biofuels are an example of what not to do (Feb 2011)
    • (14)
  • • Topic page: Biofuels

Fundamental physics

• 
  Delta force

  A study of neutrinos may explain why things are made of matter, not antimatter (13)

• • • An American neutrino experiment lends credence to the recent Japanese result
    • (5)
  • • Researchers at CERN have held on to anti-atoms for a full quarter of an hour
    • (23)
  • • Physicists have measured the shape of the electron with unprecedented accuracy: it is round
    • (24)
  • • Topic page: Physics

Art and technology

• 
  Knocking heads together

  A conference designed to get artists and technologists working has partners (2)

• • • A classical composer who is not afraid of YouTube
    • (4)
  • • Why do people like apps which make a high-quality photo into something inferior?
    • (5)

Mental well-being

• 
  A New York state of mind

  Urban brains behave differently from rural ones (19)

• • • Alternative medical treatments rarely work. But the placebo effect they induce sometimes does (May 2011)
    • (75)
  • • The reason loneliness could be bad for your health (Feb 2011)
    • (15)
  • • Topic page: Psychology

Cancer therapy

• 
  Particle physic

  Using a natural signalling system delivers cancer drugs more accurately (5)

• • • If personalised medicine is to achieve its full potential, it should be used earlier on in clinical trials
    • (9)
  • • Controversies over whether or not screening for cancer is a good idea
    • Babbage
    • (5)
  • • Topic page: Cancer

• Also on this channel

• Solar physics

  Sun down

  Several lines of evidence suggest that the sun is about to go quiet (25)

• Food poisoning

  The Difference Engine: Gut feeling

  Irradiation is the only way to make food really safe (33)

• Quantum-dot displays

  Dotting the eyes

  How tiny crystals can improve picture quality (6)

• The Neolithic

  Boom-time machine

  A new technique lets archaeologists reconstruct the past in greater detail (7)