Healthy grey whales are four times more likely to become stranded when solar activity produces lots of radio noise, suggesting solar storms may be blinding their ability to sense magnetic fields | Continue reading
People with severe brain injuries can be unable to communicate. Now brain scanners are being used to see if some can tell doctors what kind of care they want | Continue reading
Durian fruits, famous for their bad smell, could be used to make electrodes in ultra-fast chargers for electric cars and gadgets | Continue reading
Around 60,000 new seeds are being safeguarded in an Arctic vault, including sacred corn from the Cherokee Nation, Brazilian onions, and European crab apples | Continue reading
Around 60,000 new seeds are being safeguarded in an Arctic vault, including sacred corn from the Cherokee Nation, Brazilian onions, and European crab apples | Continue reading
A woman was denied a liver transplant after repeatedly failing alcohol tests – but she hadn’t been drinking. It turns out that yeast in her bladder was to blame | Continue reading
Researchers have finally demonstrated that cloud seeding leads to a measurable increase in precipitation, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is worth doing | Continue reading
It was thought all animals needed oxygen to survive, but a parasite that infects fish has completely lost the ability to use oxygen to generate energy | Continue reading
Using the word ‘pandemic’ to describe the novel coronavirus outbreak could cause fear, according to Tedros Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization | Continue reading
Australia’s recent extreme wildfires burned 5.8 million hectares of forest, destroying about one fifth of the forest biome in eastern Australia over four months | Continue reading
The Good Place, a sitcom on Netflix about an afterlife with characters who represent me at my worst – and best – is over, but I can’t stop rewatching the show, says Chelsea Whyte | Continue reading
Healthy grey whales are four times more likely to become stranded when solar activity produces lots of radio noise, suggesting solar storms may be blinding their ability to sense magnetic fields | Continue reading
NASA’s InSight lander has been on the surface of Mars for over a year now – here are five of its strangest and most fascinating discoveries from the Red Planet | Continue reading
Green seaweed fossils found in a billion-year-old rock are the oldest complex plants discovered, and may have given rise to plants that evolved to live on land | Continue reading
We don’t know the sources of many of the covid-19 cases in South Korea and Italy, suggesting the virus is now spreading untraceably among communities | Continue reading
A study of 13,000 people suggests that genetics strongly shapes how likely you are to contract HIV if you are exposed to the virus | Continue reading
Some conservationists have criticised fundraising efforts that focus on "flagship" species like pandas or tigers, warning this could harm less well-known species, but that turns out not to be the case | Continue reading
Stars like our sun formed in a dense cluster with thousands of others, during which time they may have swapped planets | Continue reading
Stars like our sun formed in a dense cluster with thousands of others, during which time they may have swapped planets | Continue reading
We’ve spotted strange blasts of radio waves from space in a pattern that may be produced by a magnetised neutron star wobbling as it spins | Continue reading
A genetic tweak can make cells self-destruct in the presence of CRISPR and could be used to make cells tamper-proof or shut them down if they go wrong | Continue reading
Robots are replacing manufacturing workers in France, making companies more productive and reducing employment across the industry | Continue reading
A brain cell image has won the Institute of Cancer Research Science and Medical Imaging Competition, with images of melanoma cells and cancer-halting microparticles among other notable entries | Continue reading
There are a number of open questions as to how the covid-19 coronavirus spread on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where passengers were quarantined since 3 February | Continue reading
There’s nothing like crash-landing on an alien planet. Journey to the Savage Planet doesn't always get it right, but it has echoes of classic Metroid Prime, says Jacob Aron | Continue reading
A number of ant species produce acid in a poison gland in their abdomen to spray at enemies, and now it seems they also drink it to kill pathogens in their food | Continue reading
Cleaning and cooking can produce potentially harmful chemicals that stay in the air, and now researchers have found that briefly opening a window doesn't help as these substances also stick to surfaces | Continue reading
A brain cell image has won the Institute of Cancer Research Science and Medical Imaging Competition, with images of melanoma cells and cancer-halting microparticles among other notable entries | Continue reading
Blue tits and great tits don’t need to taste unpleasant foods to avoid them – they can learn not to try them by seeing another bird’s disgusted response, even if it’s only on video | Continue reading
Eating like your ancestors did 5000 years ago is a fad on the rise. James Wong wonders if following the "ancestral diet" means he should eat pangolins or live a life of abject poverty | Continue reading
Amber from the Cretaceous period trapped a leaf-footed bug with extremely long and wide antennae, which may have helped disguise the insect or confuse predators | Continue reading
As a changing climate dried out the Sahara desert, ancient humans transitioned from eating lots of tilapia and catfish to more mammal-heavy meals | Continue reading
This AI search engine takes one tenth of a second to search more than 2 billion satellite images, identifying similar natural or built features such as forests or military bases | Continue reading
This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles | Continue reading
Eating like your ancestors did 5000 years ago is a fad on the rise. James Wong wonders if following the "ancestral diet" means he should eat pangolins or live a life of abject poverty | Continue reading
Forget fake steaks, the first cultured meat we're likely to eat will be shrimp. How will it compare to the real thing? Will it be better for the environment? And will people eat it? | Continue reading
This pancake batter recipe uses scientific principles to help you make amazingly fluffy, golden and tasty pancakes | Continue reading
As the world gets warmer, animals whose sex is determined by temperature are finding cool ways to control their own fate. But can they adapt in time? | Continue reading
To find subjects to photograph, Kacper Kowalski takes to the air in a paramotor or gyrocopter, barely steering to allow the wind to dictate the direction | Continue reading
When the Soviet Union lands on the moon first people in the US are shocked. But For All Mankind provides an even bigger surprise when one cosmonaut's identity is revealed, says Emily Wilson | Continue reading
Many classic psychology experiments have found humans to be pretty gullible. But book Not Born Yesterday argues that such a trait runs against the logic of natural selection | Continue reading
After cows start dying and people get sick, a corporate lawyer in the film Dark Waters decides to switch sides and take on chemicals Goliath DuPont | Continue reading
Elisabeth Bik is on a mission to detect duplicate images in scientific papers, exposing either genuine mistakes or signs of fraud. But her work isn't always appreciated, she says | Continue reading
Artificial intelligence is helping optimise the recharging batteries in electric vehicles, balancing speed while maximising lifespan | Continue reading
A difference in the properties of matter and antimatter could help explain our universe – but a property called the Lamb shift is similar in particles of both | Continue reading
Electric cars depend on cobalt as a key ingredient in their batteries, but a new analysis reveals we may run out by 2030, while car firm Tesla is moving to other types of battery in China | Continue reading
QR codes, tracking apps and drones at toll booths are just some of the tech tools China is deploying to monitor the spread of the new coronavirus | Continue reading
Studies of the world's most unflappable people point to ways we can all better manage stress – and are even inspiring the first stress vaccine | Continue reading