The Conversation

Knowing your DNA will is not a panacea. Credit: PA/Harvard UniversityBy Walter Gilbert, Harvard UniversityWalter Gilbert won the Nobel Prize in 1980 in Chemistry for his contribution to sequence DNA, or “determination of base sequences in a nucleic acid”. Mohit Kumar Jolly, researcher at Rice University and contributor to The Conversation, interviewed him at the 2014 Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting.

Head and neck cancer underway. Credit: Akira Kouchiyama, CC BY-SABy Emma King, University of Southampton and Christian Ottensmeier, University of Southampton

A glimpse of wild brumbies in the Snowy Mountains. Credit: Michael Tristram/Flickr, CC BY-NC-NDBy Don Driscoll, Australian National University and Sam Banks, Australian National University

BedZED in Hackbridge, London. Credit: Tom Chance, CC BY-SABy Melissa C. Lott, University College LondonThe primary goal of home energy efficiency initiatives might be to reduce total energy consumption, but these projects could have a negative impact on public health if we do not take care.

Planck telescope and the Cosmic microwave background. ESA and Planck, CC BYBy Robert Crittenden, University of Portsmouth

But which words will lead to action? Credit: EPABy James Painter, University of OxfordEach of the 125 leaders attending the New York climate summit this week has been given four minutes to speak to the world. They (or their aides) may well have dipped into the climate literature to add scientific ballast to their speeches. But they may not be as familiar with the vast array of academic studies on effective communication about climate change.

Climate March, New York CityBy Alessandro R Demaio, Harvard University

US Army scientists analyze unknown samples to determine whether hazardous. That's typical of research trying to understand the unknowns and expand on our knowledge. Credit: Flickr/US Army RDECOM, CC BYBy Tim DeanUNDERSTANDING RESEARCH: What do we actually mean by research and how does it help inform our understanding of things? We begin today by looking at the origins of research.

Sarkeesian has been the focus of much online hatred since she started her website Feminist Frequency in 2009. Credit: Anita SarkeesianBy Jessamy Gleeson, Swinburne University of TechnologyThree weeks ago, well-known feminist gaming critic Anita Sarkeesian was forced to leave her San Francisco home due to an ongoing tirade of abuse and threats. Members of a vocal minority of online trolls had threatened to kill her parents, drink her blood, and rape her – all while publishing her personal details online.

Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel and cement production. Source: CDIAC, Friedlingstein et al. 2014, Global Carbon Project 2014By Pep Canadell, CSIRO and Michael Raupach, Australian National University

Does this count as homework? Credit: Rob Boudon, CC BYBy Mark Banks, University of Leicester

Is protest pointless or productive? Credit: EPABy Olaf Corry, The Open UniversityIt is set to be one of the largest ever coordinated protests. The People’s Climate March is due to take place in cities all over the world this weekend to try and influence the UN climate summit that follows on September 23. The marches promise to be a major global event, billed by organizers as an “unprecedented mobilization”.