- or we shall never be rid of it

George Bush's recent defence of waterboarding as a legitimate interrogation technique has rekindled discussion about what constitutes torture and whether such methods are ever justified.

Research is starting to provide evidence that people who speak differently, think differently. It seems that language conditions the way we view the world, and even the way we act.

This year, 2010, marks the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society of London. From small beginnings it pioneered experimental research, scientific publishing, the critical review of research papers, and advice offered to industry.

Why political misperceptions persist, even against the evidence

Every few years, people in democratic countries get the chance to vote and elect a new government. Voters must decide which of several different policy approaches they agree with.

Imagine you are taking part in a TV game show. The games master shows you three, closed doors. Behind one of them is the prize of a brand new car; behind each of the other two, a goat. The games master asks you to choose one of the doors, but before he allows you to open it, he, knowing where the car is, opens one of the un-chosen doors revealing a goat. He then gives you the opportunity to change your mind. You can either stay with your original choice or switch to choose the other closed door.

According to a dictionary definition, the placebo effect occurs when a patient feels better, or is relieved of pain, after having had a dummy treatment or intervention -that is, after having been given something like a sugar pill or saline injection which should not influence their illness.

It is easy to do bad science. There's a lot of it around. Many of the so-called science stories we read in the press are based on bad science (or no science at all). They catch the eye because they often claim startling breakthroughs and discoveries, usually about cancer, or ageing, or pain relief, or weight control.

Human beings seem to have an innate fear of invisible forces. We read our horoscopes, wear good-luck charms, touch wood and cross our fingers. A popular souvenir bought by tourists in Turkey is a glass eye, or "nazar", which is a talisman to ward off the evil eye.

When the news media describe torture and brutality carried out in prisons such as Abu Ghraib, we wonder what type of people would be capable of committing such atrocities. Are they depraved, cruel and masochistic? Not necessarily.

or why it is OK for me to park on the pavement - but not for you
Imagine that you have just parked your car. A passer by approaches and politely points out that you have parked on the pavement and on the yellow line, and that this is both illegal and wrong. Firstly how would you feel? And secondly how would you respond?

"We must guarantee the flow of stable and sustainable energies. We now know that energy resources are limited and that we have to think of the future". With these words, the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, synthesized the conclusions of the intense work sessions carried out during the "II Euro-Mediterranean Encounter: Energy supplies and regional development: a necessary debate" that was held in Jávea this weekend.

We encounter simple tipping points in our daily lives. Every cook knows not to whip cream for too long, or it will suddenly and irreversibly turn into butter. Every sailor knows not to sail too close to the wind, or the smooth flow of air will suddenly break, the sail will flap, and its power will be lost.

Classical science is all about hard facts. The speed of sound is 340.29 m/s; the formula for water is H₂O; the Latin name for a tiger is Panthera tigris; water circulates through the environment via the hydrological cycle, and carbon circulates via the carbon cycle. Classical science is optimistic and has a confidence that with technological progress we will eventually come to understand the truth about nature. There is predictability in ecological cycles; they seem to rotate endlessly, just as do the seasons.