Science

Robyn Arianrhod on how Enlightenment android-builders and modern biologists shaped the sciences of life and artificial intelligence

Book of the week: In an extraordinary voice, a neurosurgeon wrestles with his looming untimely death, says Jennifer Rohn

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the national press

From the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to special needs education in the UK, more mid-career professionals are taking professional doctorates

Researcher recommends reassessing selection criteria for PhD funding as several great scientists did not gain a first or a 2:1

The House of Representatives approves legislation that dictates NSF grants can be awarded only to projects in the ‘national interest’

Biology lecturer Anne Osterrieder reflects on the importance of solitude for academics

From Mrs Roentgen’s ring to Fukushima fears: Richard Joyner on an informative popular history

Luna Centifanti on the important role that emotions play in our ability to assimilate knowledge

Cait MacPhee on back-of-envelope calculations and other tools to assess value and assumptions

Book of the week: Exquisite images trigger the sensations of terror and wonder that nature inspires, says Philip Hoare

Broader-based education addresses concerns over graduate skills, conference hears

Baroness Vadera explains how Santander hopes to encourage entrepreneurialism in graduates

Drug company hopes to provide a new home for studies that try to replicate previous experimental results

A focus on basic cell biology and statistical population health studies means that understanding how living systems operate has been neglected, they claim

Kingston study finds that less affluent learners are more concerned about debt, and unlikely to be able to rely on their parents for support

Chief scientist at UK arm of French electronics giant Thales says big business is frustrated at retention rates for such students

Giulia Miller on a study of anti-Semitism in the academy and the struggle of displaced scholars

Inga Zeisset on an engaging, beautiful and absorbing collection of tales

Committee of MPs hears that effort to conduct vaccine and treatment trials during outbreak in West Africa was ‘uncoordinated’

Louis Rivoire explains why he shunned the research giants in favour of a more intimate setting

Egyptian government also provides details of higher education reforms

Warning comes after stories about Coca-Cola’s spending on science hit the headlines last year

Tiffany Taylor on a thought-provoking view of the forces acting to ensure survival

Book of the week: An invisible force causes extinctions – science or sci-fi? Nature will decide, says Marcus Chown

Authors argue this means universities should spend less on senior academics and give promising younger scholars more of a chance

After a man dies following a clinical trial in France, Christopher Roy-Toole asks whether lessons were learned after a similar incident in the UK

But higher education was mentioned only briefly in the US president’s speech, finds Ellie Bothwell

Analysis of seven prominent medical journals finds randomised controlled trials are far less likely to receive a press release than weaker observational studies

Plos Biology launches new section looking at how experiments are run and incentive systems for scientists

We talk to the Princeton research scholar about being a fighter pilot, mindfulness and the existence of little green men

Major survey looks at experiences of 72,000 UK postgraduates

Simon Underdown relishes an engaging study of evolution that delights in breaking the fourth wall

The former university rector has been praised as one of the country’s most effective politicians for driving his ambitious reform programme forward

People are less able to see and name natural elements of their surroundings, says Philip Hoare

Prosecutors accuse academics of colluding with publishers to boost their standing and sell more books

Investment pays off for the economy, finds groundbreaking US study

The work of a medical pioneer is painted on a canvas rich in domestic detail, says Helen Bynum

Responses of more than 24,000 undergraduates indicate limited development in areas such as creativity and citizenship over course of degree

Life sciences PhD candidates believe they are owed money for teaching undergraduates as a condition of funding

Key predictions from the Open University and SRI International report

Senior figures in UK science fear that culture leading to research misconduct has not been changed

'Confrontational policies' will have long-term consequences on universities' international collaborations, claims academic

A qualified welcome for George Osborne’s real-terms protection of research, but uncertainty over how new overseas aid spending will operate

Marianne Franklin on a guide to help people escape the attentions of public and private bodies capturing and capitalising on our online actions

Wageningen University president and author of Hamburgers in Paradise: The Stories Behind the Food We Eat on her appetite for good books, from Primo Levi to Claudia Roden.

Survey also finds that women do more work with the general public than male researchers

Steven Yearley finds merit but not proven mileage in putting CO₂ on ice to arrest global warming

Global Challenges Fund could be enabler of world-class science tackling global issues, says Malcolm von Schantz

Vice-chancellors say funding should be redirected to means-tested maintenance grants

Matthew Reisz is startled by the abusive responses to one of his articles

The rich case study detail is akin to an engrossing chat with a psychiatrist friend, says Amy L. Milton

Book of the week: Ethics aside, no useful information is to be gained from ‘coercive questioning’, says Steven Rose

Preparing to launch its multidisciplinary degree, institution bids others across Europe to follow suit

Blurring the lines between supervisor and friend can cause difficulties for academics and students alike, says study by Finnish researchers

Government relaxes student loan eligibility rules but confirms plan to freeze repayment threshold, as student opportunity funding also targeted

Landmark gift from foundation started by Irish-American billionaire will fund work in US and Ireland

President of US campus also seeks to aid the local economy and forge global partnerships

Scary puddings, the art of succinctness and First World War myth-making: perspectives from the author of Have Bacteria Won?

Cait MacPhee on personal accounts of gender trouble in the sciences