Sanne De Wilde’s best photograph: the island of the colour blind

‘It’s the most colour-blind place on Earth. It took me four flights to get there. I wanted to celebrate the islanders’ unique way of seeing the world’

Speculative biology: understanding the past and predicting our future

A new edition of After Man by Dougal Dixon, a landmark piece of speculative biology which influenced a generation of palaeontologists, has been released

Teenagers’ brains not ready for GCSEs, says neuroscientist

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore opposes timing of exams in a period of major cognitive change

From pregnancy to eating disorders: Gavin Francis picks five books on human transformation

The doctor and author recommends some of his favourite books that provide personal and profound insights into pregnancy, the menopause and gender

What would a 19th-century science hero make of today’s policy world?

John Tyndall – the man who explained why the sky is blue – would be baffled by the idea of democratic discussion of the direction of research and innovation

Publishing Anne Frank’s ‘dirty’ jokes demeans the human who wrote them

There is no justification for publicising material she had hidden – it dehumanises her and diminishes the facts of the Holocaust, says the freelance writer Tanya Gold

Charles Dickens’ contribution to medicine highlighted in London exhibition

Author’s startlingly accurate descriptions of illnesses may have assisted advances in medicine, curators say

Cringeworthy by Melissa Dahl review – why feeling awkward is good for us

This lively study explains how embracing embarrassing conversations or exposing situations can improve your life

Did Tom Wolfe’s bold predictions about human nature come true?

Twenty years ago, Tom Wolfe predicted that advances in neuroscience would transform our understanding. So, how much did he get right?

‘When I think of Matt Damon, I think of gene editing’: scientists on their favourite sci-fi

Speculative fiction and real research have long fed into each other. Here, five leading scientists tell us about books and films that inspire them

Revealed: the surprising scientific passion of Charles Dickens

New exhibition shows how the writer used his medical knowledge to help change Victorian attitudes

Michael Pollan: ‘I was a very reluctant psychonaut’

The bestselling author and activist has been exploring the use of psychedelic drugs in medical research for his book How to Change Your Mind. And yes, he had to try them for himself

Fourth most published book in English language to go online

Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789) by Rev Gilbert White inspired generations of naturalists including Darwin

Exploration of transhumanism movement wins Wellcome book prize

Mark O’Connell’s To Be a Machine, about humanity’s attempts to conquer death through technology, wins £30,000 prize

Dean Burnett: ‘Happiness shouldn’t be the default state in the human brain’

The neuroscientist and author of The Idiot Brain on the difficulty of trying to explain happiness and what he learned from Charlotte Church