Today on New Scientist: 27 June 2012

Rio Summit? More like the absolute nadir

Rio +20 revealed a shocking deficit of political will, but there are reasons to cling on to optimism, says Fred Pearce

Earth Summit signals move to give nature a price tag

UN environmental diplomacy hit the buffers in Rio de Janeiro. In future, green action will come about through economic self-interest or not at all

Universal speech translator app ready for Olympics

The app lets users speak to foreigners in their own language, which will help London tourists during the 2012 Olympics next month

Conversing computers trip up on pop

If you want to work out if you're chatting to a bot, ask about Star Wars and the Rolling Stones. Dan Falk reports on judging the Turing test

First synthetic larynx part transplanted

A synthetic windpipe attached to base of voicebox is successfully transplanted into two patients in Russia

First full universe simulation zooms in on dark matter

See what the structure of dark matter might look like thanks to the largest and most detailed universe simulation to date

Freicoin: Occupy's online currency for the 99 per cent

Freicoin, a version of the online currency Bitcoin, would make it impossible for the 1 per cent to hoard cash

Future-predicting system cuts app loading time

A system called predictive caching guesses which app you are about to use then preloads it so that it boots faster

Cruel cuts: Is all breast cancer surgery necessary?

Efforts to catch breast cancer early mean some women could be having surgery for lumps that would never become deadly, says Tiffany O'Callaghan

Summer ice clouds shine high above the Earth

You don't have to be a druid to have a mystical experience around the summer solstice - see the immaterial appeal of polar noctilucent clouds seen from orbit

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