Corporate money men fill the political void at Rio+20

It may have been a damp squib politically, but business leaders at the Earth Summit in Rio were on hand to commit cash for UN green initiatives

In Why Does the World Exist? Jim Holt spans physics, philosophy and literature to examine the mystery of why there is something rather than nothing

Ferrofluids - a mix of oil and nano-sized iron particles - are normally used in computer hard drives, but their weird properties can make for great liquid art

Twisting individual beams of light in different ways allows more data to be transmitted in the same signal

A swallowable ultrasound device called uPill could end the need for painful daily injections

If life arises wherever conditions are right, why haven't we heard from aliens yet? Biochemist Nick Lane thinks he might have an answer

The Atlantic coast of North America is a hotspot of sea level rise, suggesting that a major Atlantic current is slowing down

Which is more likely to derail the decades-long battle to rid the world of polio? The Taliban, or the financial crisis?

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Today on New Scientist: 25 June 2012