Life
All spruced up: Breeding a better Christmas tree
If you're pining for a real tree but not for its needles in your carpet – or green just isn't your colour – Andy Coghlan has glad tidings for you
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Earth
The great white lie: What snowflakes really look like
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Humans
Rude awakenings: How swearing made us human
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Physics
Improvise! Shoestring solutions to big physics
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Technology
Wired Wild West: Cowpokes chatted on fence-wire phones
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All present: Our pick of the best science gifts
Culture
Gift guide: Our pick of the best science books
Culture
Life
Prehistoric cinema: A silver screen on the cave wall
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Humans
Three gods: The hardest logic puzzle ever
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Roll up, roll up…
Fancy a trip to the flea circus? A visit to the prehistoric movies? How about training your brain with the world's hardest puzzle, or planning your next culinary coup the scientific way? All this awaits you – along with curious tales of bad animal romance, misunderstood mistletoe, battleships made of ice, the lab where it is always winter and much, much more. Come on in for a festive show of delights!
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Humans
Dangerous liaisons: Fatal animal attractions
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Life
Fleadom or death: Reviving the glorious flea circus
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Humans
Superdoodles: The science of scribbling
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Health
Skidology: Winter research that lets things slide
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