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Editor's picks

Humans

Only you: 11 things that make each of us a one-off

Physics

Ghosts in the atom: Unmasking the quantum phantom

Table of contents

News

Earth

Human error blamed for Fukushima meltdown

The main cause of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was not last year's earthquake but a failure to prepare for large-scale emergencies

Health

Pakistan polio drive hit by murder of health worker

Health

Europe’s first gene therapy approval anticipated

Earth

No charges to be brought over climategate hack

60 Seconds

Health

Syria acknowledges its chemical weapons

Health

HIV pioneers unite to stamp out the virus for good

Space

Kepler glitch may lower odds of finding Earth’s twin

Physics

Chemical internet discovers new ways to make drugs

Earth

Fungus-powered superplants may beat the heat

Earth

Sumatran zig-zag earthquake answers seismology puzzle

Earth

Hardy polar bears have survived past global warming

Health

Sperm sequencing could help fight infertility

Physics

Higgs-spotting is much easier in Flatland

Space

Tidy close-match star system holds planetary pinball clue

Health

Fat lab lock-in: Can spicy pills help you lose weight?

Health

Three-in-one drug wipes the floor with TB

Earth

Heatwave transformed Australian marine life

Health

Liposuction used to create blood vessels for bypass

Tracking the most popular words in written English

Earth

River diversion created new land in Mississippi Delta

Humans

Neanderthal dental tartar reveals evidence of medicine

Environment

Chimps catch yawns from dominant males

Space

Flaring black holes may solve cosmic ray puzzle

Environment

Monkey manoeuvres reveal how the brain spurs actions

Physics

Chemical bond discovered that only exists in space

Life

Heart muscle helps cyborg jellyfish come alive

Earth

Robots move into the mining business

Technology

Why Japan finally fell for Facebook

Technology

Chirp lets you send a weblink with a tune

Opinion

An appeal for fairness in society

To tackle inequality we must first overcome our own biased belief that people deserve their position on the social ladder

Humans

The battle of freedom and control in a networked world

Earth

‘We need to maintain a human presence under the sea’

Inequality: Who are the 1 per cent?

Humans

Inequality: Why egalitarian societies died out

Humans

Inequality: The more money, the merrier?

Physics

Inequality: The physics of our finances

Health

Inequality: Of wealth and health

Earth

Inequality: Why it helps the planet

Aperture

Gaia camera gears up to photograph the heavens

The European Space Agency's newly assembled, billion-pixel camera will provide a 3D map of the Milky Way when it launches with the Gaia spacecraft next year

Features

Physics

Ghosts in the atom: Unmasking the quantum phantom

The wave function of quantum theory has always been accepted as an abstract mathematical device – but could this cipher actually be real?

Humans

Only you: 11 things that make each of us a one-off

Culture

High-tech clothes let fashionistas bare all

See more: An illustrated version of this article will be published within the next two weeks on our CultureLab books and arts blog

Should we just let the Mississippi flood?

Tales of the first seafarers

The simple cells that came before everything

More

Enigma Number 1708

Regulars

Feedback: Isaac Newton, action and reaction hero

Physics in development hell, Alan Turing meets the call-centre operative, algorithm-free software, and more

This Week’s Letters

Beach circles

Bass instincts

Salt harsh

Ear ear

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