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 Opinion Future shockOn a clear and warm night years ago, looking up at the beauty of a full Moon rising, my grandmother confided in me: “You know, they didn’t really go to the Moon.”  Terminator Salvation: should we fear self-aware machines?The new instalment of the Terminator series continues the battle between humans and Skynet, the global computer network with its increasingly sophisticated fleet of terminators.  Why geeks can save the worldThe average person looks at the numbers of disease victims in Africa and goes numb. Bill Gates looks at them and runs a moral algorithm.  Swine flu: so far, so goodThe prospects of a severe global swine flu pandemic appear to be diminishing. Informed reporting can take some of the credit.  The era of complex scienceIn many fields, senior researchers have entered a new era, at last accessing the underlying complexity of the systems they study. This is both gratifying and extremely challenging.  Empty promisesA vast and profitable industry has been built on the premise that drugs can treat depression. But is it all a monumental deception?  Biofuels: still our best betWhen the kerfuffle about biofuels a couple of years ago finally died down, everyone was left a little confused. But it is still our best option, argues David Harries.  Out of the closetIf science is seen as obscure and unnatural – something we don't talk about at dinner parties or around the BBQ – how can we take it seriously as a career option for our kids?  Why more is lessIn the modern Internet age we increasingly seek out ideas that interest us and filter out all else. Is this dumbing down society and making us less knowledgeable?  The certainty principleFrom evolution to climate change, the real culture wars are about language, not science. To win these wars, science needs to change the way it talks about knowledge.  Darwin at 200: The importance of dangerous ideasIt took courage to challenge society, the certainties of life in Victorian England and his own faith: but Charles Darwin did it, however reluctantly, because he knew he had found a greater truth.  Phoenix mission: the verdictIt didn't get up and climb to the top of a hill, but Phoenix has done exactly what it was designed to do, and done it almost perfectly.  A heated debateAmidst doubters, hyperbole and impassioned talk of swindles, Robyn Williams suggests climate change sceptics are asking the wrong questions to start with.  GM crops: solution to world food crisis?Genetically modified crops offer massive benefits to the Third World, and we have an ethical obligation to consider developing them to combat the world food crisis.  Nothing to fear but fear itselfThe greatest danger facing humanity isn't climate change. It's the misguided belief that there's nothing we can do about it. 
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