- + Why is black rain falling on Iran and how dangerous is it?—US-Israeli strikes on oil facilities have caused black rain to fall on Tehran, but the black smoke filling the air is likely to be a bigger health ris...
- + A daily multivitamin may slightly slow rates of ageing—Taking a multivitamin every day might slightly slow the rate of ageing, but the extent to which this is relevant to our health is unclear
- + 'Singing' dogs may show the evolutionary roots of musicality—Some Samoyeds adjust the pitch of their howls depending on the music being played, showing a form of vocal ability they might have inherited from thei...
- + The first apes to walk upright may have evolved in Europe—A single femur found in Bulgaria appears to represent an ape or early hominin that walked on two legs before any known African hominin, but the eviden...
- + SETI may have missed alien signals because of space weather—SETI has spent decades listening for a sharp, well-defined radio signal that could indicate it was sent by distant intelligent life. Now researchers b...
- + Ancient 'weirdo' reptile graduated from 4 legs to 2 in adolescence—Sonselasuchus cedrus, discovered in fossils from Arizona, was a crocodile relative from the Triassic period that grew into an ostrich-like adult
- + How an intern helped build the AI that shook the world—Chris Maddison was just an intern when he started working on the Go-playing AI that would eventually become AlphaGo. A decade later, he talks about th...
- + The moment that kicked off the AI revolution—It's been 10 years since Go champion Lee Sedol lost to DeepMind's AlphaGo. Has the technology lived up to its potential?
- + NASA changed an asteroid's orbit around the sun for the first time—NASA’s DART mission slammed into the small asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, and the impact slowed its orbit around the larger Didymos – and also the pair’s...
- + Chemistry clues could detect aliens unlike any life on Earth—Looking for molecular evidence of life on other worlds is tricky, but a test based on the reactivity of carbon compounds could be a useful indicator
- + Inflammation might cause Alzheimer's – here's how to reduce it—Persistent inflammation in the gut, lungs and skin might lead to Alzheimer's disease, but lifestyle choices - from getting vaccinated to eating well -...
- + Shift in the Gulf Stream could signal ocean current collapse—Models show that as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation gets weaker, the Gulf Stream will drift northwards. There are signs that this is a...
- + Earth is now heating up twice as fast as in previous decades—Since 2014, the planet has been warming by about 0.36°C per decade, according to an analysis of five temperature datasets, raising fears that climate ...
- + Möbius strip-like molecule has an entirely new and bizarre shape—A ring of 13 carbon atoms and two chlorine atoms has a remarkable molecular structure that means you would have to go around the loop four times to re...
- + Just one dose of psilocybin relieves symptoms of OCD for months—Taking psilocybin – the psychedelic component of magic mushrooms – eased symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder among people who did not respond to...
- + Two marsupials believed extinct for 6000 years found alive—Indigenous people in Papua, Indonesia, have helped scientists track down two animals that were thought to have gone extinct thousands of years ago: a ...
- + Alzheimer’s may start with inflammation in the skin, lungs or gut—The Alzheimer’s field is being turned on its head as mounting evidence points to the disease beginning outside the brain many years before symptoms st...
- + The secret of how cats twist in mid-air to land on their feet—An exceptionally flexible region of the spine enables falling cats to twist the front and back halves of their body sequentially to ensure a safe land...
- + Sea levels around the world are much higher than we thought—Most coastal risk assessments have underestimated current sea levels, meaning tens of millions of people face losing their homes to rising waters earl...
- + Top predators still prowled the seas after the biggest mass extinction—The end-Permian extinction 252 million years ago wiped out over 80 per cent of marine species, but many ecosystems still had complex food webs despite...
- + We must close the 'shocking' knowledge gap in women's health—This International Women's Day, we should prioritise groundbreaking research into women's health, such as strengthening the reproductive system's natu...
- + Claude AI: Why are there so many internet outages?—AI chatbot Claude going down is just one example of a recent IT outage. One of the main vulnerabilities of the modern internet is to blame for the gro...
- + How worried should you be about microplastics?—Microplastics have been found accumulating everywhere from our water to our body tissues, but many of the claims have come under fresh scrutiny. Chels...
- + Phantom codes could help quantum computers avoid errors—A method for making quantum computers less error-prone could let them run complex programs such as simulations of materials more efficiently, thus mak...
- + Rare family has had many more sons than daughters for generations—Analysing the births of a Utah family over seven generations has revealed that their disproportionate number of boys could be caused by a selfish Y ch...
- + Selfish Y chromosome may explain why some families mostly have sons—A family in Utah with a disproportionate number of boys has been traced back over hundreds of years, revealing that its lack of female members is prob...
- + Your microbiome may determine your risk of a severe allergic reaction—The microbes that live in our mouth and gut may influence whether an allergic reaction to peanuts is mild or life-threatening, and could be harnessed ...
- + Why the US is using a cheap Iranian drone against the country itself—The US and Iran are trading blows in the Gulf with a simple drone that costs as little as $50,000 to make. But why is a slow, cheap and relatively pri...
- + First drone passengers may be combat casualties and criminals—Drones aren't yet licensed to carry passengers, but some may already be airlifting wounded personnel off the battlefield and could be employed for smu...
- + Spreading crushed rock on farms could absorb 1 billion tonnes of CO2—Putting silicate rocks from mine waste on fields could improve crops and limit global warming, but some researchers question where all that rock is go...
- + Ants capture carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into armour—Fungus-farming ants have evolved a remarkable solution to the danger of excess carbon dioxide inside their nests – which could inspire ways for humans...
- + People who eat a lot of fibre spend more time in deep sleep—The most comprehensive study to date has revealed what we need to eat throughout the day to sleep well that night
- + Inside the company selling quantum entanglement—Cables underneath New York City are teeming with entangled quantum particles of light thanks to Qunnect, a company that has spent a decade working on ...
- + NASA’s Artemis moon exploration programme is getting a major makeover—As it faces yet another set of delays, NASA’s Artemis programme is being shaken up, delaying an actual moon landing in favour of smaller, faster steps...
- + Frailty can be eased with an infusion of stem cells from young people—Frailty can typically only be lessened through lifestyle changes, but a stem cell therapy seems to target the underlying causes of the condition, boos...
- + Human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom in a week—Neuron-powered computer chips can now be easily programmed to play a first-person shooter game, bringing biological computers a step closer to useful ...
- + Ocean geoengineering trial finds no evidence of harm to marine life—Pouring 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine removed up to 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without harming wildlif...
- + How worried should you be about an asteroid smashing into Earth?—The dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid, but does that mean we risk suffering the same fate - and should you be worried about the possibility? Lea...
- + We all harbour 9 secrets and they are eating us up inside—Secret-keeping evolved to maintain social harmony, but it can weigh heavily on us when we can’t stop thinking about them. So, what is the best way to ...
- + Stem cell patch reverses brain damage in fetuses with spina bifida—The congenital condition spina bifida is often treated surgically in the womb, but many children still go on to have mobility issues. The addition of ...
- + When we interbred with Neanderthals, they were usually the fathers—Genetic evidence hints that there was a strong bias for male Neanderthals and female humans to mate, rather than any other combination
- + Banning children from VPNs and social media will erode adults' privacy—Legislation working its way through the UK parliament would ban children from using social media and virtual private networks – but the proposals woul...
- + How to see six planets in the sky at once in rare celestial alignment—Nearly all of the solar system’s planets are about to file across the night sky in a planetary alignment, and it will be visible from anywhere on Eart...
- + Is geothermal energy on the cusp of a worldwide renaissance?—The UK's first geothermal plant in Cornwall is part of a wave of projects aiming to meet growing electricity demand, some of them enabled by technolog...
- + SpaceX's 1 million satellites could avoid environmental checks—The environmental impact of SpaceX's planned gargantuan mega-constellation is still being grappled with, but the FCC isn’t required to study it
- + Tiny predatory dinosaur weighed less than a chicken—The alvarezsaurs were thought to have evolved a smaller stature because of their diet of ants and termites, but a new fossil found in Argentina casts ...
- + Breaking encryption with a quantum computer just got 10 times easier—The commonly used RSA encryption algorithm can now be cracked by a quantum computer with only 100,000 qubits, but the technical challenges to building...
- + AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations—Leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases
- + Rapamycin can add years to your life, or none at all – it’s a lottery—The drug rapamycin has been held up for its life-extending properties, but whether this treatment – or fasting – actually adds years to your life isn'...
- + Cannibalism may explain why some orcas stay in family groups—Fins washing up in the North Pacific suggest that orcas from one subspecies are snacking on other orcas, and researchers think that may explain their ...
- + Landmark vitiligo cream targets immune cells that disrupt pigmentation—A cream that directly disrupts the underlying causes of the skin patches seen in the condition vitiligo will be made available on the NHS
- + Loophole found that makes quantum cloning possible—Duplicating the information held in quantum computers was thought to be impossible thanks to the no-cloning theorem, but researchers have now found a ...
- + Saturn’s rings may have formed after a huge collision with Titan—Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, may have been even more instrumental to the system’s evolution than we thought, forming its rings, shaping its moon...
- + Stone Age symbols may push back the earliest form of writing—Mysterious signs engraved on objects reveal that a form of proto-writing may have been used in Europe 40,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years bef...
- + Birdwatching may reshape the brain and build its buffer against ageing—Expert birdwatchers have changes in their brain structure compared with novices, which probably help them better identify birds and may even protect a...
- + Brutal Iron Age massacre may have targeted women and children—An examination of bones has revealed one of the largest prehistoric mass killings known in Europe, with women, adolescents and children making up most...
- + Everyone's a queen: The ant species with no males or workers—Temnothorax kinomurai, a parasitic ant species found in Japan, reproduces asexually and all of its young develop into queens that try to take over oth...
- + A horse's whinny is unlike any other sound in nature—Horses use their larynx to make two sounds simultaneously, so they are effectively singing and whistling at the same time
- + Fish-based pet food may expose cats and dogs to forever chemicals—A survey of 100 commercial foods for dogs and cats revealed that PFAS chemicals appear in numerous brands and types, with fish-based products among th...
- + We've spotted the strongest microwave laser in the known universe—Colliding galaxies can create a beam of focused microwave radiation known as a maser, and astronomers have discovered the brightest one ever seen
- + Fresh understanding of the causes of migraine reveals new drug targets—New insights into the causes of migraine are prompting a fresh look at a drug target that was sidelined 25 years ago
- + Search for radio signals finds no hint of alien civilisation on K2-18b—Planet K2-18b, an apparent water world 124 light years away, has been seen as a promising location in the search for aliens, but telescopes on Earth f...
- + New fossils may settle debate over mysterious sail-backed spinosaurs—Spinosaurs have sometimes been portrayed as swimmers or divers, but a new species of these dinosaurs bolsters the idea that they were more like gigant...
- + Atmospheric pollution caused by space junk could be a huge problem—After a Falcon 9 rocket stage burned up in the atmosphere, vaporised lithium and other metals drifted over Europe. This growing type of pollution coul...
- + Is our galaxy’s black hole actually made of dark matter?—An exotic type of dark matter could explain some of the characteristics of our galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, but many cosmologists are lee...
- + Microbe with the smallest genome yet pushes the boundaries of life—Symbiotic bacteria living inside insect cells have lost much of their DNA over hundreds of millions of years, much like the ancient microbes that evol...
- + More dog breeds found to have high risk of breathing condition—An assessment of nearly 900 dogs has identified 12 breeds prone to brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, which can affect dogs' ability to sleep...
- + Paediatricians’ blood used to make new treatments for RSV and colds—Antibodies harvested from the blood of paediatricians are up to 25 times better at protecting against the common respiratory infection RSV than existi...
- + Why some people cannot move on from the death of a loved one—Prolonged grief disorder affects around 1 in 20 people, and we're starting to understand the neuroscience behind it
- + Data centres could store information in glass for thousands of years—Microsoft researchers have developed a technology that writes data into glass with lasers, raising the prospect of robotic libraries full of glass tab...
- + How baby microbiomes in the West differ from those everywhere else—Babies in the West commonly lack a gut microbe that is found in infants in other parts of the world, which may be due to differences in their mothers'...
- + Ultramarathons could be bad for your blood—Running 170 kilometres over mountainous terrain caused people's red blood cells to accumulate more age-related damage than those of less ambitious ath...
- + Did a cloud-seeding start-up really increase snowfall in part of Utah?—A technology that uses a coiled wire to electrify aerosols has boosted snowfall amid a drought in the western US, according to the company developing ...
- + Scientists want to put a super laser on the moon—An ultrastable laser could enable extremely precise timing and navigation on the moon, and the cold, dark craters near the lunar poles would be the id...
- + Giant viruses may be more alive than we thought—A giant virus encodes part of the protein-making toolkit of cells that gives it greater control over its amoeba host, raising questions about how it e...
- + Dream hacking helps people solve complex problems in their sleep—Hearing a sound while working on a complex puzzle, and then hearing it again during sleep, helped lucid dreamers better tackle the problem the next da...
- + The mystery of nuclear 'magic numbers' has finally been resolved—A mathematical equivalent of a microscope with variable resolution has shed light on why some atoms are exceptionally stable, a riddle that has persis...
- + Psychedelic reduces depression symptoms after just one dose—The psychedelic DMT has been linked to improved mental health outcomes before, but now, scientists have shown it reduces depression symptoms more than...
- + Humans are the only primates with a chin – now we finally know why—Biologists have debated the reason why Homo sapiens evolved a prominent lower jaw, but this unique feature may actually be a by-product of other trait...
- + Backwards heat shows laws of thermodynamics may need a quantum update—We are used to heat flowing from hot objects to cool ones, and never the other way round, but now researchers have found it is possible to pull off th...
- + Intermittent fasting probably doesn’t help with weight loss—Intermittent fasting appears to be no better than doing nothing when it comes to helping people who are overweight or have obesity lose weight
- + These 5 diets could add years to your life even if you have bad genes—Five dietary patterns that involve eating lots of plants have been linked with living up to three years longer, even among people who are genetically ...
- + World’s oldest cold virus found in 18th-century woman's lungs—Finding rhinoviruses, which cause the common cold, in preserved medical specimens and analysing their RNA genome could let us trace the evolution of h...
- + Huge hot blobs inside Earth may have made its magnetic field wonky—Simulations suggest that two enormous masses of hot rock have been involved in generating Earth’s magnetic field and giving it an irregular shape
- + Accidental discovery hints at mystery structures within our brain—Scientists may have stumbled across a network of vessels in the brain that helps clear out waste fluid – a discovery that could "represent a paradigm ...
- + CAR T-cell therapy may slow neurodegenerative conditions like ALS—Immune cells in the brain that go rogue contribute to the death of neurons, so getting rid of them may slow the progression of neurodegenerative condi...
- + RNA strand that can almost self-replicate may be key to life's origins—Life may have begun when RNA molecules began to replicate themselves, and now we’ve finally found an RNA molecule that is very close to being able to ...
- + Weird inside-out planet system may have formed one world at a time—The planets around a nearby star seem to be in the wrong order, hinting that they formed through a different mechanism than the familiar one by which ...
- + Endurance brain cells may determine how long you can run for—The activity of certain neurons may influence our endurance for exercise, and these could be targeted to help us run faster for longer
- + Gene editing that spreads within the body could cure more diseases—The idea of self-amplifying gene editing is to get cells to pass on packages of CRISPR machinery to their neighbours, boosting the effect
- + Royal Navy returns to wind power with trial of robotic sailboats—A fleet of wind-propelled robot boats could act as a sensor network covering a wide area and relay acoustic signals from a submarine
- + Nepal and Northern India are not overdue for a huge earthquake—Many researchers thought that earthquakes in the Himalayas recur at regular intervals – but an analysis of sediment cores has shown they are largely r...
- + Ancient Peruvian civilisation grew mighty by harvesting guano—The Chincha Kingdom was transporting seabird excrement from islands to valleys as early as the 13th century, and this powerful fertiliser may have bee...
- + The surprising origins of Britain's Bronze Age immigrants revealed—About 4600 years ago, the population of Britain was replaced by a people who brought Bell Beaker pottery with them. Now, ancient DNA has uncovered the...
- + First ever inhalable gene therapy for cancer gets fast-tracked by FDA—A gene therapy that patients breathe in has been found to shrink lung tumours by inserting immune-boosting genes into surrounding cells
- + This state’s power prices are plummeting as it nears 100% renewables—South Australia is proving to the world that relying largely on wind and solar energy with battery back-up is incredibly cheap, with electricity price...
- + Newborn marsupials seen crawling to mother's pouch for the first time—Scientists have captured remarkable footage of the young of a mouse-sized marsupial, called a fat-tailed dunnart, making their way to their mother’s p...
- + Which humans first made tools or art – and how do we know?—Building the human story based on a few artefacts is tricky – particularly for wooden tools that don’t preserve well, or cave art that we don’t have t...
- + Time crystals could be used to build accurate quantum clocks—Once considered an oddity of quantum physics, time crystals could be a good building block for accurate clocks and sensors, according to new calculati...
- + Old EV batteries could meet most of China's energy storage needs—Electric vehicle batteries are typically retired once they reach about 80 per cent of their original capacity, but they could be repurposed in electri...
- + Why 1.5°C failed and setting a new limit would make things worse—Setting a limit for global warming didn't succeed in galvanising climate action quickly enough – now we should focus on making the annual average temp...
- + Is this carved rock an ancient Roman board game?—The lines worn into an engraved limestone object from the Netherlands are consistent with the idea that it was a Roman game board, according to an AI ...
- + Gravitational wave signal proves Einstein was right about relativity—Ripples in space-time from a pair of merging black holes have been recorded in unprecedented detail, enabling physicists to test predictions of genera...
- + 'Hidden' group of gut bacteria may be essential to good health—Scientists have pinpointed a group of bacteria that consistently appear in high numbers in healthy people, suggesting that these could one day be targ...
- + Specific cognitive training has 'astonishing' effect on dementia risk—A type of cognitive training that tests people's quick recall seems to reduce the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease
- + Physicists can now take control of 'hidden' friction in devices—One type of friction can waste energy even when two perfectly smooth surfaces move against each other, but researchers are getting a handle on how to ...
- + Seafarers were visiting remote Arctic islands over 4000 years ago—The first people to reach the Kitsissut Islands off the north-west coast of Greenland were Indigenous peoples, who crossed over 50 kilometres of treac...
- + Weakening ice shelf has caused crucial Antarctic glacier to accelerate—The flow of ice at Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica has sped up dramatically due to the disintegration of the ice shelf in front of it, and this...
- + Physicists warn of 'catastrophic' impact from UK science cuts—Science funding cuts in the UK are expected to be a "devastasting blow" for physics research, affecting international projects such as particle detect...
- + Why exercise isn't much help if you are trying to lose weight—When we exercise more, our bodies may compensate by using less energy for other things – especially if we eat less too
- + Synchronised volcanic eruptions on Io hint at a spongy interior—Five volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io erupted simultaneously, spewing a mind-boggling amount of lava onto the surface and giving us clues to what may li...
- + Moving inductions to early morning could shorten labour by 6 hours—By matching uterine contractions up with the body’s natural circadian rhythms, inducing labour in the early morning is linked to shorter labour and fe...
- + Statins don't cause most of the side effects listed on their labels—A review of the evidence suggests that statins are no more likely than a placebo to cause most of the side effects listed on their labels
- + The toxic burden of pesticides is growing all around the world—Pesticides are becoming more toxic and just about every country is using more of them year after year, despite a UN target to halve the overall risk b...
- + Methane surge in 2020 was linked to lower pollution during lockdowns—A change in atmospheric chemistry during the covid pandemic resulted in methane concentrations spiking, raising concerns that cleaning up pollution co...
- + Bonobo's pretend tea party shows capacity for imagination—Kanzi, a bonobo with exceptional language skills, took part in a make-believe tea party that demonstrated cognitive abilities never seen before in non...
- + Fast-charging quantum battery built inside a quantum computer—An experiment with superconducting qubits opens the door to determining whether quantum devices could be less energetically costly if they are powered...
- + Vegan toddlers can grow at the same rate as omnivores—Two-year-olds raised in vegan or vegetarian households don't necessarily have restricted growth, according to a study of 1.2 million children
- + Nasal spray could prevent infections from any flu strain—An antibody that has the power to neutralise any influenza strain could be widely administered in the form of a nasal spray if a flu pandemic emerges
- + Psychedelic causes similar brain state to meditation—The psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT seemed to induce similar patterns of brain activity in a lama - a revered spiritual teacher in Tibetan Buddhism - as meditat...
- + Record-breaking quantum simulator could unlock new materials—An array of 15,000 qubits made from phosphorus and silicon offers an unprecedentedly large platform for simulating quantum materials such as perfect c...
- + A social network for AI looks disturbing, but it's not what you think—A social network where humans are banned and AI models talk openly of world domination has led to claims that the "singularity" has begun, but the tru...
- + Forever chemical TFA has tripled due to ozone-preserving refrigerants—Chemicals used in refrigeration break down in the atmosphere to produce trifluoroacetic acid, a persistent pollutant that could be harmful to humans a...
- + Dutch air force reads pilots' brainwaves to make training harder—While pilots are flying in a VR simulation, their brainwave patterns can be fed into an AI model that assesses how challenging they are finding a task...
- + Why did SpaceX just apply to launch 1 million satellites?—SpaceX says it wants to deploy an astronomical number of data centres in orbit to supply power for artificial intelligence, but the proposal might not...
- + How to live a meaningful life, according to science—The meaning of life has puzzled philosophers for millennia, but new research suggests it could be as simple as lending a helping hand
- + Ants attack their nest-mates because pollution changes their smell—Ants rely on scent to recognise their comrades, and when they are exposed to common air pollutants, other members of their colony react as if they are...
- + Treating cancer before 3pm could help patients live longer—The most robust evidence to date shows that people with a type of lung cancer lived longer if they received immunotherapy before 3pm
- + Neanderthals and early humans may have interbred over a vast area—We are getting a clearer sense of where and how often Homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred, and it turns out the behaviour was much more common tha...
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