In Short

Brian Clegg introduces a compound steeped in faded Victorian glamour – acetylene

How genetic sequencing makes modern science tick.

Genetically modify me: the science and safety of genetic modification

How genetics coordinates embryonic development.

Men tend to donate competitively on webs pages run by attractive female fundraisers

Simon Cotton examines a compound banned in warfare but still used by police to disperse crowds: CS gas

Western societies are missing important gut bacteria due to modern sanitation practices.

How does your brain interpret a noise?

GM Salmonella can be used to combat cancer

The elusive substance could be interacting with itself, massive galaxy collision reveals.

It's the strongest known biological material and one of the earliest pigments - Helen Scales discovers goethite

The Moon's origins are mysterious, but new evidence has shed some light on the matter...

A relative of T. rex has been shown to have exhibited cannibalism.

Brian Clegg discusses the vitamin found in both breakfast cereal and meteorites: Niacin

What is it about yeast which makes it so useful in bread making?

Start your engines! Simon Cotton looks into one of the few chemical names known well to the public: Octane

Scientists have discovered how bats avoid collisions using a simple set of rules...

Sensible approach to dental rot or sinister communist plot? Brian Clegg examines the much-maligned fluorides

Simon Cotton introduces the first of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants: Prozac

Scientists have come up with a new technology that uses the room lighting to transmit data

When did humans begin to change the world beyond recognition?

Once thought to extract the truth and now used to enact the ultimate punishment, this week's compound is sodium...

People in the Andes have adapted to the high levels of arsenic in their surroundings.

Dr Kat Arney meets Sophie the Stegosaurus, and her researcher Charlotte Brassey