The Daily MatterSunday Science

This Sunday: 

• Martin Williams asks whether face masks and air filters truly help people breathe in polluted cities.
•  Paul Davies tells us how cancer can teach us about life's evolution. 
• European Space Agency chief Jean-Jacques Dordian says 2013 will be a bumper year for space science. 
• In Short Science: The US National Institute of Health stops funding research using chimps, dung beetles are found to navigate by the stars, and in the ultimate symbiosis, researchers in Sweden have found that a genetic switch made it possible for dogs to go from meat-munching wolves to man's leftover-loving best friend.