Being Human

The Personal Genome Project eventually aims to get 100,000 volunteers to publish their genes and medical histories online in the name of medical science (full text available to subscribers)

Children brought up on black-and-white films are more likely to dream in greyscale, researchers say

Athletes burn more energy even when their muscles are not working – the discovery might point the way to new treatments for diabetes

Communicating on an instant messenger can reveal as much about your emotions as talking in person, studies suggest

Is consciousness necessary to explain human behaviour? This book presents ample evidence that we may not be as in control of our destinies as we like to think (full text available to subscribers)

Fire alarms with a lower-pitched signal would save more lives by stirring people when they are most fast sleep, researchers say

A mathematical model of the leg has revealed that heel length could affect athletes' ability to keep on running

Whether people act on news of their genetic predisposition to disease, or simply ignore it, has prompted a lengthy study of 10,000 Americans

Breaking our dependence on profits and growth would make our lives better, not worse, says philosopher (full text available to subscribers)

A gambling experiment suggests that people with autism are less prone to letting emotional bias cloud their judgement

Fire alarms would wake more people from their deepest sleep if they had a lower-pitched signal

Claims that we are chronically sleep-deprived are lazy and irresponsible, says sleep researcher

Mental shortcuts that we use to make sense of the world may explain why we so often let politicians pull the wool over our eyes

An expert panel has ruled that the researcher did publish false results, after questioned her work (full text available to subscribers)

Whether a woman wants a quick fling or a long-term relationship, she's still likely to pick brains over brawn

Larger cities generate innovation as they increase social networking between very different types of people

The fascinating secrets of the human placenta are the subject of the winning entry (by Katherine Robertson) in New Scientist/Wellcome Trust 2008 essay competition. But she draws the line at eating it (full text available to subscribers)

As lovers and mourners know, a bunch of flowers speaks volumes – the way the brain makes sense of such gestures may explain why

Mental shortcuts that we use to make sense of the world may explain why we so often let politicians pull the wool over our eyes

With the US facing economic crisis and the shuttle on the brink of retirement, how will NASA's space programme fare under the next president?