The quest to understand life may have been missing an ingredient: the flow of ‘information’ through living organisms

Three books that explore this dark and difficult territory

America’s opioid epidemic — a tale of greed, individual suffering and official incompetence — will blight the country for years to come

An astronomer lends gravity to this skilfully told history of the quest to find black holes

We still have a lot to learn about decision-making, and while organisations could learn a lot from military strategy — individuals may struggle to follow

The cabin of an airliner is the setting for a surprising study of the liquids that surround us

Cosmologist Martin Rees argues we must be guided by values beyond science if we are to thrive in a world of AI

Kai-Fu Lee’s book AI Superpowers challenges the conventional wisdom on US artificial intelligence supremacy

With so much potential for change looming, three books evaluate the body that nature has left us with

How a mother and daughter reduced our personalities to just four letters

In Inventing Ourselves, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore argues that adolescence is natural, and it exists for a reason

Our columnist finds that racing through novels solves the problems of time and willpower

A welcome dose of scepticism on the techniques used by firms such as Cambridge Analytica

James Le Fanu’s warning on preventive drug-taking is a welcome antidote to the mass ‘medicalisation’ of millions

With the advent of the space entrepreneur, the rest of the universe looks closer than ever. But will we get off this planet in time?

Margin-rich business model of scientific journals is under scrutiny from European academics

How ancient DNA is showing early human migrations to be more complex than once thought

A celebrated sociologist’s manifesto for open, tolerant 21st-century cities

An eye-opening study of the animals living — and thriving — in urban environments

People infected by spores develop a hive-mind mentality in this pacy SF thriller

Joseph E Aoun’s ‘Robot-Proof’ explores how AI will affect the way we work

Clive Cookson selects his must-read titles

A humanist technology manifesto seeks to make the case for VR as a liberating force