Miners' health may be the cost of a nuclear future
As the world gears up to build new nuclear reactors the human cost of uranium mining is often forgotten

Trials for drug that leaves HIV defenceless
The drug could help overcome the virus's growing resistance to existing drugs by disrupting the protein shield that protects its RNA

How NASA will avoid repeating Hubble debacle
Only after its launch was the Hubble Space Telescope found to have an embarrassing vision defect - the agency is anxious not to make the same mistakes with its successor

Artificial chromosomes correct a genetic deficit
The technique could be the future of gene therapy as it allows large amounts of DNA to be introduced into a cell without disrupting the existing genome

Ozone might choke our arteries as well as our cities
Molecules formed when naturally produced ozone reacts with cholesterol appear to contribute to the narrowing of arteries

Plants predict where rumbling volcanoes will blow
They grow tallest and greenest along stripes where the volcanoes will eventually rupture, giving up to two years' early warning

Physicists create great balls of fire
Luminous clouds of ball lightning up to 20 centimetres across and lasting up to half a second are made in the lab

Star's dusty disc could create exotic worlds
The carbon-rich disc of Beta Pictoris will either evolve into a planetary system like our own or seed freakish planets with diamond mountains and methane skies

New outbreak as polio refuses to go quietly
Namibia is the location of the latest setback in a campaign to eradicate the disease from the world by the end of 2006

Translator lets computers "understand" experiments
The software could revolutionise the way research papers are written and help scientists to make creative leaps

Images help solve mystery of Titan's missing craters
Radar images from the Cassini spacecraft suggest most impact craters on the moon of Saturn are erased by a combination of volcanic activity, rain and soot

Huntington's disease meets its match
Lab tests suggest a technique called RNA interference could be used to target the faulty gene that causes this ultimately fatal condition

AND FINALLY ...
This week's Feedback column brings you five-dimensional CDs, a cardboard cube in which to store all your nuclear waste and krill that bite back...MORE