We now know that there are at least 45 different blood types and that yours may influence your risk of disease, from malaria to cancer | Continue reading
The mysterious discovery of taste buds in far flung organs has long puzzled scientists - but understanding their role could provide new ways to fight common conditions like obesity | Continue reading
Genetic studies suggest postmenopausal women are so crucial to the survival of grandchildren that we evolved genes to keep their brains healthy | Continue reading
Our unique asymmetries may be key to getting smarter, faster - and being a bit lopsided doesn’t seem to affect your attractiveness | Continue reading
Researchers are taking a new look at the fungi in our bodies and discovering they may be just as crucial to our health as gut bacteria | Continue reading
Do we emit secret chemical signals that influence other people's behaviour? Emerging evidence is providing new insights into human pheromones and how they might work | Continue reading
Cells from your mum, siblings and other family members embed themselves in your organs. Now we know they play a role in keeping you healthy - and might even influence how you think | Continue reading
Genetic studies suggest postmenopausal women are so important in terms of ensuring the survival of grandchildren that we evolved genes to keep their brains healthy | Continue reading
A nuclear war could lead to food shortages due to soot blocking out the sun, but a model suggests seaweed farming could expand to meet up to 15 per cent of the food eaten by humans | Continue reading
A massive study is claimed to show that regular primary care health checks can prevent multiple diseases, but it’s too soon to close the case | Continue reading
With a little help from a fungus and earthworms, chickpeas have been grown in lunar soil. It is a step forward in figuring out how to make long-term stays on the moon sustainable | Continue reading
A raindrop can weigh 40 times as much as a water strider. So how does the insect deal with rain when getting hit with a droplet is equivalent to a car crashing into a human? | Continue reading
Low vaccination rates have led to measles outbreaks in several countries, but many people are unaware of how the virus can have an effect called ‘immune amnesia’ | Continue reading
Nobel prizewinner Jim Peebles, who helped create our model of how the universe evolved, discusses dark matter, the value of iconoclastic ideas and the astronomical anomalies to keep your eye on | Continue reading
Today’s AI computer vision costs are too steep for most US firms to consider replacing human workers with the technology. But that could change in the long run | Continue reading
A row of gaseous krypton atoms has been trapped inside a carbon nanotube, allowing researchers to better observe how they interact in a confined space | Continue reading
Investigating gun crime is challenging if bullets have been removed from the scene – a tool that can identify bullets from the shavings they leave as they ricochet off surfaces could help | Continue reading
Endometriosis takes an average of 6.6 years to be diagnosed worldwide, with one study finding it can take 27 years in the UK | Continue reading
Chemical analysis of rocks found in South Africa shows that ancient microorganisms sustained themselves in a variety of ways, adding to evidence for an early origin of life on Earth | Continue reading
We have no complete skeleton of the ancient megalodon shark, but new evidence points to it being more long and slender than previous depictions, say researchers | Continue reading
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft touched down on the lunar surface intact, but its solar panels aren't working so it is running on batteries | Continue reading
In 2024, Ukraine will have more drones than soldiers in its armed forces, and the aerial vehicles and the artificial intelligences that can control them are changing the way war is waged | Continue reading
The fall of a couple of Mediterranean civilisations 3000 years ago had destabilising effects on their neighbours, according to a computer simulation, offering hints for avoiding similar disruptions today | Continue reading
UK figures suggest that when the condition is well treated, it can reduce people’s risk of heart disease and strokes | Continue reading
A sensor that clips onto shoes and alerts wearers when they walk with a strong stride improved stability among people with Parkinson's in a small trial | Continue reading
For primates, being born with a missing limb or experiencing a major injury isn’t necessarily disabling if their environment or social connections help them thrive – just like humans | Continue reading
A tiny molecular chain of gold, carbon and phosphorus has tied itself up into the smallest and tightest knot ever seen | Continue reading
An attempt to land on the moon has ended in failure – Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander was brought back to Earth to burn up as it plummeted through the atmosphere | Continue reading
The Japanese Smart Lander for Investigating Moon is scheduled to land on the lunar surface on 19 January, where it will drop off two innovative rovers to hop and roll around | Continue reading
A dense object about 40,000 light years away is lighter than any black hole seen before, but heavier than any neutron star, leaving astronomers unsure what they are looking at | Continue reading
A dense object about 40,000 light years away is heavier than any neutron star seen before, but lighter than any black hole, leaving astronomers unsure what they are looking at | Continue reading
FiloBot has a cylindrical body made of coiled plastic filament and can grow guided by light and gravity just like a plant | Continue reading
Taking a standard multivitamin supplement appears to reduce cognitive decline that happens with ageing | Continue reading
A large formation near the equator of Mars is now thought to be made of water ice, which could indicate that the Martian climate went through huge temperature swings in the past | Continue reading
The US military will test an aircraft that flies without mechanical control surfaces like flaps and rudders, potentially boosting stealth characteristics | Continue reading
A fresh look at an archaeological site in northern China that was excavated in the 1960s has confirmed Homo sapiens was present there about 45,000 years ago | Continue reading
The black hole at the centre of galaxy M87 has been imaged at higher resolution and is now revealed in even clearer detail | Continue reading
Bottom trawling, a controversial and destructive fishing technique, releases large amounts of carbon dioxide from the seabed – and much of this gas gets into the atmosphere | Continue reading
When tardigrades encounter harsh environments, high levels of free radicals in their cells trigger the onset of a dormant state in which they can endure extreme hardship | Continue reading
The life expectancies of men around the world are catching up with women's longer lifespans, possibly due to a decline in smoking and alcohol-related deaths | Continue reading
A robotic dodecahedron that can collect tissue samples from deep-sea animals for later genetic analysis could speed up the identification of unknown species | Continue reading
The World Health Organization uses the term "Disease X" to refer to an infection with the potential for causing the next epidemic – or a new global pandemic | Continue reading
A solid theory of human consciousness eludes us, which is why seemingly fringe ideas such as those that rely on quantum effects in the brain are still worth pursuing | Continue reading
New Year, new tree? You can ignore advice to stake out your sapling – and get better results in the process, says James Wong | Continue reading
Veteran sci-fi author Geoff Ryman's latest work imagines the son of God as a transgender man. But is this novel really about gender, wonders our new sci-fi columnist Emily H. Wilson | Continue reading
See stunning shots of cave diver Klaus Thymann's search for manatees in a flooded cave system on the Yucatán peninsula | Continue reading
Being outside and awake at night can be dangerous, particularly for women, but an intriguing book from Annabel Abbs argues that embracing the unique brain states that come with darkness can be a joy | Continue reading
The innovative green project 100% Fish is repurposing fish waste products to make everything from leather and skin grafts to collagen, finds Graham Lawton | Continue reading