A Canadian lake could mark the start of humanity’s geological epoch
Plutonium, carbon and plastic mark a new phase in Earth’s history
One way to view the history of science is as a repeated puncturing of humanity’s claims to be special. In scientific terms Homo sapiens is an oddly hairless species of ape that has existed for 200,000 years—an eyeblink in Earth’s 4.5bn-year history.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Choosing a fingerprint”
From the July 15th 2023 edition
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They won’t hurt. Actually they might, a bit
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Professional cycling is debating whether to ban the poisonous gas
A sophisticated civilisation once flourished in the Amazon basin
How the Casarabe died out remains a mystery
Heritable Agriculture, a Google spinout, is bringing AI to crop breeding
By reducing the cost of breeding, the firm hopes to improve yields and other properties for an array of important crops
Could supersonic air travel make a comeback?
Boom Supersonic’s demonstrator jet exceeds Mach 1
Should you worry about microplastics?
Little is known about the effects on humans—but limiting exposure to them seems prudent