The Charlie Gard case serves as a reminder that any advance is an act of defiance

Scientists’ efforts to emulate the process of photosynthesis are flourishing

Using intuition is a rational response to cognitive overload but leaves us exposed

New discoveries are making our species’ family tree ever more tangled

Research has uncovered an additional public health risk from a warming planet

Scientific evidence challenges assumptions of madness and theories of radicalisation

Workers in the fast-growing gig economy are vulnerable to illness

Optimism that research can outsmart disease-carriers hits a setback

How experiments are recreating images of reality by reading our thoughts

More men delay fatherhood to focus on careers but science suggests there are risks

The challenge is to keep treatments affordable but still encourage innovation

Givers have been criticised for wielding disproportionate power over public life

Sometimes it is right for researchers to go public

Behaviour, homework and exam revision: here are the strategies that work

Studies with dubious standards are diluting the integrity of research

The serious consequences of the Brexit vote put decision-making in the spotlight

Here’s how to make sense of advice on fruit and vegetables

Our ability to shift rock, sediment and minerals now rivals the power of glaciers

The world’s oldest fossils challenge the popular notion of a primordial soup

Studies serve up evidence that well-designed diet regimes are beneficial

An ultra-cool dwarf star carries the whiff of a jackpot of extraterrestrial life

Reports are conflicting but the science is clear