I’m going to start this issue with a question. What would you say is the cost of presenting results that go against scientific convention?

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have altered the way the caramel colour so distinctive of their drinks is produced, but are only changing the process in America – should we be worried in the UK?

A ship with giant towers pumping out white clouds to reflect the suns energy and hence act to alleviate warming across the Arctic – sounds like a child’s solution to the environmental issues of the day. It is in fact not a solution from a child, but rather a respected renewable energy expert speaking at a meeting in Westminster organised by the Arctic Methane Emergency Group.

Eureka moments are scarce in the business of combating disease. Finding a ‘cure’ is all too rare an event and more often than not the big successes come in the form of clever management and therapy of a condition. 

Celebrity endorsement is worth big bucks – it’s hard to watch TV without seeing a celebrity advertising the latest make up, sports equipment or holiday destination. But what happens when celebrities start endorsing unproven medical treatments?

If there is one thing that is consistent in this world, it is change. We may be fooled into a sense of constancy by the apparently stationary nature of Earth’s geological make-up, or the habitual motion of celestial bodies – but warp the lens of time a little and a maelstrom of transformation is revealed.

Industrial-grade silicon caused a global public-health scare – whose fault is it?

We know a lot about our celestial neighbourhood. The galaxy in which our solar system resides has been the focus of many outstanding minds for many generations.

The Montreal Protocol – which came into force in 1989 – banned or phased out CFCs and HCFCs because they damaged the ozone layer. However a new UN report has revealed that their replacements are themselves greenhouse gases and – although not at damaging levels yet – could be a cause for concern in the future

At the tail end of last year – a time that tends to be fairly quiet in terms of news worthy events in the science community ­– several momentous announcements came across the LN news desk. Those industrious particle pushers at CERN told the world that they are nipping at the heels of the elusive Higgs boson, the Government put its hand in its pocket as it promised to stump up some serious incentives for the life science sector – but most enticing of all, for me at least, was the news that the UK Biobank was revealing details of how researchers can get their hands on all that lovely data.