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Phone-hacking: new technology, ancient psychology

Editorial p3

Social psychologists have known for decades that ordinary people can behave extraordinarily badly when their culture says it is OK for them to do so

The rise of the splinternet

Editorial p3

North Korea has much to teach us about the future of the internet

US stem cell research in robust health

Editorial p3

Despite the best efforts of George W. Bush to stymie research into human embryonic stem cells, the US still dominates the field

Congress proposes nixing flagship telescope

News > Upfront p4

The James Webb Space Telescope would watch galaxies forming at the dawn of universe but has become a money sink

Earthly cargo lofted to orbit on shuttle's final flight

News > Upfront p4

On Sunday, the shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station, carrying utilitarian items like a new tank for a urine recycling system

Plenty more fish in the sea? Not for much longer

News > Upfront p4

Overfishing is damaging the genetic diversity of fish to a greater degree than expected, leaving at-risk species vulnerable

World's first double leg transplant performed in Spain

News > Upfront p4

Doctors have transplanted two legs from a cadaver to a young man who lost his own limbs in an accident

60 Seconds

News > 60 Seconds p5

Most recent dino yet, modern mass extinction certain, moulds infesting human genome records, and more

Newspaper phone-hacking scandal goes beyond voicemail

News > Upfront p5

The scandal engulfing News International is not going away, amid new claims that other technologies were also used to get stories for the firm's papers

Superbug gonorrhoea found in Japan

News > Upfront p5

A drug-resistant strain of gonorrhoea, proof against all existing antibiotics, could go global in 10 years

US pollution rules could save $280 billion a year

News > Upfront p5

Money saved from health gains should outweigh the costs of implementing the US Environmental Protection Agency's cross-state air pollution rules

Hologram revolution: The theory changing all physics

News > This Week pp6-7

From pre-big bang physics to the origins of mass, there may be no limit to holography's reach

Stem cell therapies move into the real world

News > This Week pp8-9

After years of hype, controversy and disappointment, stem cell treatments may finally be poised to reach masses of patients

Artificially grown tooth transplanted into mouse

News > This Week p9

A tooth grown from embryonic cells has been successfully transplanted into the jaw of a mouse

Crop disease to add to east Africa's woes

News > This Week p10

While those experiencing drought hope for rain, it could bring a worse problem with it: an aggressive strain of the fungal crop disease yellow rust

Women with cancer can keep their ovaries

News > This Week p10

Many women undergoing chemotherapy have their ovaries removed and frozen so they can have children later. But this invasive practice might not be needed

Quantum quirk makes carbon dating possible

News > This Week p11

Carbon-14 is used to decode objects' ages, but the isotope has steadfastly refused to divulge the key to its own unusual longevity – until now

Sluggish movement at altitude is partly a brain effect

News > This Week p11

The brain limits our ability to move at altitude, possibly to prevent damaging overexertion

Australia's shiny new carbon tax is an empty promise

News > This Week p12

The carbon tax is unlikely to change the country's status as the largest per-capita emitter of greenhouse gases in the developed world

Human history recorded in a single genome

News > This Week p12

It seems every one of us carries in our genes a million-year record of past human population size

Dark-energy fingerprints found in ancient radiation

News > In Brief p14

The measurement doesn't break any records for accuracy, but it bolsters the case for dark energy's existence

Pain molecule find could take the sting out of sunburn

News > In Brief p14

A molecule responsible for sunburn pain has been identified, which could lead to better drugs for chronic pain

Second world war bombers changed the weather

News > In Brief p14

Allied bombing raids inadvertently experimented on the weather by producing huge contrails that affected local temperatures

Smart lizard solves a problem it's never seen before

News > In Brief p14

Clever lizards have worked out how to unplug holes to get to hidden food, suggesting they can solve novel problems

Kinky genes: Biophysics of DNA affects how it works

News > In Brief p15

Some DNA sequences are kinkier than others, which could explain why certain genes cause disease in some people and not others

Low-energy pulses mean safer heart defibrillation

News > In Brief p15

Normal heartbeat can be restored using a fraction of the energy of standard "brute force" defibrillators

Newts able to regenerate body parts indefinitely

News > In Brief p15

The lenses in newts' eyes were able to regenerate after being removed – 18 times

Salt or cocaine, a fix is a basic instinct

News > In Brief p15

The genes activated when salt-starved rats consume salt are the same as those activated in drug addicts when their craving has been satisfied

Augmented instruments add virtual input to live music

Technology > News p17

Modified traditional instruments can essentially play themselves, while also allowing a person to control them

Twitter to track dengue fever outbreaks in Brazil

Technology > News p18

Tracing disease outbreaks down to individual cities via social networking could help track dengue's spread

Computers understand hand-waving descriptions

Technology > News p19

A system called Data Miming uses a Kinect motion sensor to let people describe objects just by gesturing with their hands

One Per Cent

Technology > News p19

Gloves let singer compose with a wave, a future for an all-electric Formula 1? and cash for answers with Google

Polymer sandwich harvests electricity from waste heat

Technology > News p20

Turning waste heat into pyroelectricity could make solar cells and power stations more efficient

Vibrating touchscreens that give you a push back

Technology > News p20

Force fields beneath your finger could create the sensation of dips and hollows on flat tablet computers

Howling haboob smothers Phoenix

Aperture pp22-23

See the wall of dust and debris that advanced through Arizona earlier this month, inundating the city of Phoenix

The human paradox that is common sense

Comment and Analysis pp24-25

Even as common sense helps us make sense of human behaviour, it can undermine our ability to understand it, argues Duncan Watts

Why South Africa wants Earth's biggest radio telescope

Opinion > Interview p25

Hosting the planned Square Kilometre Array could help South Africa develop world-class research, says Naledi Pandor, the country's science minister

The high cost of being a woman in science

Opinion > The Big Idea pp26-27

What can we do to stop women leaving science? Use evolutionary biology to explain the problem for a start, say Seirian Sumner and Nathalie Pettorelli

Childhood advice

Letters p28

Anyone working with children needs to heed Jon Ronson's article on misdiagnosis of childhood bipolar disorder (4 June, p 44...

Irradiation debate

Letters p28

As Dominic Dyer made clear in "Kill all known germs" (25 June, p 28), there is no evidence that certified organic products are more likely...

Yeast harmony

Letters p28

Some crucial steps in the journey of single-celled yeasts to multicellular form occur very quickly, far quicker than the 350 generations over 60 days...

Enigma Number 1655

Opinion > Enigma p28

Code breaker

Letters pp28-29

The idea of using Google Search for sending hidden messages (18 June, p 26) was less than convincing for several reasons...

Bird brains

Letters p29

The reference to crows sharing information on humans regarded as a threat (2 July, p 5) reminded me of noted zoologist Konrad Lorenz's 1966...

Cetacean translation

Letters p29

Using a cryptographic approach to crack foreign languages is a nice, fresh approach to machine translation (18 June, p 23...

Divine digits

Letters p29

I thought it was eccentric to have a favourite number until I read your interview with Alex Bellos (25 June, p 29). Mine is 23...

Double trouble

Letters p29

I hesitated to write, but in the interests of science here goes. In "Lopsided love" (18 June, p 42) Menno Schilthuizen mentioned the anatomical oddity...

For the record

Letters p29

•The diagram in "Creature contacts" (28 May, p 32) gave the impression that dogs originated in East Africa 32,000 years ago. While it is...

Sideways look

Letters p29

Looking at the diagrams with a hidden message in the article on understanding risk (25 June, p 31) reminded me of how sonar operators used...

Spider tales

Letters p29

The diving-bell spider's use of a web bubble as a gill came as no surprise (18 June, p 20). I refer you to...

What goes up…

Letters p29

With reference to the cover line "Sky's the limit: gliders that never have to land" (25 June), in aviation the sky is not the...

Kiki or bouba? In search of language's missing link

Features > Cover Story pp30-33

Some words just sound right, whatever language you speak – which might mean humankind's first language is still etched into our brains. David Robson reports

The children who grow old before they grow up

Features > Feature pp34-37

A bizarre genetic disease that seems to accelerate ageing could hold the key to longer lives for everyone, discovers Shaoni Bhattacharya

Not so simple: Bacteria with backbone

Features > Feature p39

The textbook bacterium has a thick wall and not much else to give it structure – but it turns out that protein skeletons and compartments are common

Not so simple: Big beasts of the bacterial jungle

Features > Feature p40

Some species of bacteria grow big enough to be seen without a microscope

Not so simple: Bugs that hunt in packs

Features > Feature pp40-41

Bacteria can launch collective action, pooling their resources to produce light, to hunt or to survive in hostile conditions via an electricity grid

Not so simple: Gulping bugs with the nuclear option

Features > Feature p41

One bacterium breaks two rules: it's got something like a nucleus, and it swallows its food

Not so simple: The good of the many bacteria

Features > Feature p41

So they can be socially complex. But surely bacteria are single-celled, aren't they? Wrong again

Welcome to the age of the splinternet

Features > Feature pp42-45

Openness is the internet's great strength – and weakness. With powerful forces carving it up, is its golden age coming to an end? Anil Ananthaswamy reports

Best robot in a lead role goes to…

Opinion > CultureLab p46

Roboticist Heather Knight has founded a film festival for robots and says art has a central role in shaping their future

Doctoring under the influence

Opinion > CultureLab p47

Cocaine played a big part in the lives and medical careers of Sigmund Freud and William Halsted according to Howard Markel in An Anatomy of Addiction

Revealing the secrets of the sun

Opinion > CultureLab p47

Bob Berman's funny and fascinating tales cast light on the unknown life of our favourite star in The Sun's Heartbeat

The fact and fiction of discovery

Opinion > CultureLab p47

Litmus, edited by Ra Page, seamlessly combines short stories with essays from eminent scientists to give an historical look at scientific discoveries