Recording the electrical activity of the fine branches of human neurons has revealed that our brain cells are much more sophisticated than those of other animals | Continue reading
The next generation of geothermal plants will unlock more of Earth's bountiful, underground energy and could allow the technology to finally fulfil its promise | Continue reading
Artificial intelligence is being trained to spot cyberbullying on social media so that hurtful posts can be removed before they reach vulnerable teens | Continue reading
Astronomers are scratching their heads over extremely fast radio bursts. Now they're making a list of all the theories for what - or who - is making them | Continue reading
The more experienced bees in a colony sometimes run around the honeycomb drumming with their bodies - which seems to energise younger colony members | Continue reading
To head off climate disaster requires difficult changes to our lifestyles, says Adam Corner, and politicians must not be afraid to say so | Continue reading
Recording the electrical activity of the fine branches of human neurons has revealed that our brain cells are much more sophisticated than those of other animals | Continue reading
The mantis shrimp has an incredibly fast punch, and it’s because of a structure called a saddle that stores energy and then releases it like an archer's bow | Continue reading
A study has found links between a person's genes and university. But intelligence and other complex traits are shaped by both genetics and environment | Continue reading
On 20 October, the BepiColombo spacecraft will begin a 7-year journey to Mercury, where it will orbit and investigate the many mysteries Mercury | Continue reading
Fasting diets are getting ever more popular, amid promises of weight loss and better health, but does the science stand up? We put the latest one to the test | Continue reading
Genes that alter their expression during healthy pregnancies have been identified for the first time, potentially helping us to predict at-risk pregnancies | Continue reading
In 2016, researchers unveiled 3.7-billion-year-old fossils – a reassessment suggests the ‘fossils’ are actually physical scars left when the rocks were deformed | Continue reading
Health bodies and politicians are aiming for zero suicides, but doctors are warning this ambitious goal is simply unrealistic | Continue reading
A gigantic supercluster of galaxies that existed just two billion years after the big bang could tell us how much dark matter was around in the early universe | Continue reading
Silicon valley’s Breakthrough Prize reveals the 21 scientists who have been recognized this year for work in drug design, biology, astrophysics, and mathematics | Continue reading
The placenta is usually discarded after childbirth but it's a source of mesenchymal stem cells – and they help people regain muscle strength after hip surgery | Continue reading
When two black holes orbit one another, they create a swirling vortex of gravitational waves that could trap any nearby objects like a sci-fi tractor beam | Continue reading
On the publication of Stephen Hawking's final book, his daughter Lucy Hawking reflects on their shared experiences and coming to terms with his death | Continue reading
Do black holes eat information or do zero-energy particles nicknamed "hairs" somehow store it instead? Before he died, Stephen Hawking was working on new ideas, as this exclusive extract shows | Continue reading
A polymer coating turns condoms slippery once it comes in contact with body fluids – and it doesn’t dry out | Continue reading
The prettier the bird, the worse it sings. A study of over 500 species has revealed that birds evolve to attract mates in one of two ways, and don’t combine them | Continue reading
Hellbenders, vampire finches, and mud-daubers were among animals depicted in winning photographs in the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition | Continue reading
Mice are more active and have attention problems if their fathers had nicotine in their diet, perhaps because the chemical triggers epigenetic changes in sperm | Continue reading
Some say the astronomical term moonmoon makes light of a serious field of study, but it seems a shame to abandon it for po-faced alternatives | Continue reading
Reports that 2018’s blockbuster video game saw people working 100-hour weeks are troubling, given that tech firms could make workers’ lives easier, says Michael Cook | Continue reading
Medical cannabis is to be available in the UK from November, but tight restrictions will drive patients to alternative sources, says Henry Fisher | Continue reading
Researchers have calculated that living organisms may be able to hitch a ride aboard interstellar rocks to spread not only between planets, but across the galaxy | Continue reading
Wonder about the natural world and an extraordinary depth of ecological insight combine to create a profound, urgent novel tipped to take the £50,000 Man Booker prize | Continue reading
A coalition of major global figures say we must do much more to adapt to our rapidly warming world, and we need to do it fast | Continue reading
An 'unlimited chewing gum' uses an electric charge to trick you into experiencing flavours – and they don’t fade in the way chewing gum flavour usually does | Continue reading
The first fast radio burst to be detected in a nearby galaxy may provide clues about what – or who – is able to transmit these strange, powerful signals | Continue reading
A survey has found that teenagers get into more fights in countries where it is legal to spank children, but there could be several explanations for the link | Continue reading
Chemical evidence locked in rocks and oil suggests that the first animals were alive 100 million years earlier than we thought from fossils | Continue reading
Predictions of beer shortages and rocketing prices as extreme weather hits barley production should not be taken too literally but do highlight a very real problem | Continue reading
Brown hares are turning up dead across the UK, raising fears that myxomatosis – the rabbit infection in ‘Watership Down’ - may have mutated to target hares | Continue reading
Mice and men share about 97.5% of their genes, suggests new research – previous estimates were just 85% | Continue reading
Folic acid helps prevent birth defects but is most effective taken around the time of conception. Adding it to wheat could benefit unplanned pregnancies | Continue reading
The first fast radio burst to be detected in a nearby galaxy may provide clues about what – or who – is able to transmit these strange, powerful signals | Continue reading
The Stanford prison experiment was the classic demonstration of how power can bring out the worst in us. But now it seems it was more about showbiz than science | Continue reading
Prehistoric humans were sexual adventurers, mating with Neanderthals and Denisovans, but DNA studies reveal dalliances with populations we never knew existed | Continue reading
A reimagining of a classic 1930s novel by Karel Capek cleverly immerses us in a terrifying future where a new intelligent species is cruelly exploited | Continue reading
Forget doomy "Anthropocene" ideas, if we're serious about saving Earth we need hope, says Tomás Saraceno, the artist whose tetrahedral balloons inspire researchers | Continue reading
China, Japan and the US are racing to build the first exascale computer – but devising programmes clever enough to run on them is a different story | Continue reading
More often associated with artistic experiments and the innards of satellites, light-absorbing Vantablack paint may soon be heading to an arcade near you | Continue reading
A tiny Chinese satellite in lunar orbit is designed to accept commands from amateurs, and has captured a new view of the Earth and its moon | Continue reading
Vast tracts of land are returning to wilderness as farming retreats worldwide. But rewilding isn't an easy win – and debates rage about how to manage it | Continue reading
If we attach tiny magnets to fast-swimming algae, we can load them up with drugs and steer them deep into the human body to deliver targeted medical therapies | Continue reading