The populations of species including bateleurs and secretary birds have fallen precipitously within the past 50 years, putting these birds at risk of extinction | Continue reading
Electrically stimulating part of the brain makes people more susceptible to hypnosis, which has shown promise for treating conditions such as chronic pain | Continue reading
In the largest survey yet of AI researchers, a majority say there is a non-trivial risk of human extinction due to the possible development of superhuman AI | Continue reading
A large language model can translate written instructions into code for a robot’s movement, enabling it to perform a wide range of human-like actions | Continue reading
Self-driving labs can perform experiments thousands of times faster than a human and they don't need to sleep. That means more science in less time, but many questions remain, says Alex Wilkins | Continue reading
Cosmology has transformed our understanding of time past and the aeons to come, pointing to a deep future in which life may morph into incredible forms, says Astronomer Royal Martin Rees | Continue reading
The subject of a new David Attenborough documentary, a stunning pliosaur fossil unearthed in the UK is teaching us more about these deadly predators | Continue reading
Liam Graham's book is an ambitious, sometimes technical bid to explain how unflashy thermodynamics answers deep questions about the structure of our cells, Earth and the universe | Continue reading
At a novel sci-art festival celebrating the many cultural and scientific needs for dark skies in a time of serious light pollution, Alex Wilkins looks for hope | Continue reading
For decades, the health of half the population has been sidelined in medical research, but there are signs that this inequity can finally be addressed | Continue reading
From a thriller set on the International Space Station to Nicolas Cage reeling from monsters, end-days are everywhere. Luckily, 2024 also has some cracking blockbusters and intriguing independent features, says Simon Ings | Continue reading
From a solar eclipse in April to a meteor shower in May, it’s time to plan your cosmic calendar for the year, says Abigail Beall | Continue reading
Cosmology has transformed our understanding of time past and the aeons to come, pointing to a deep future in which life may morph into incredible forms, says astronomer royal Martin Rees | Continue reading
Feedback reads up on the latest research into how Bulgarian-style yogurt could enhance astronauts' performance during missions to Mars – but might affect flatulence frequency | Continue reading
Fossilised bacteria from Australia contain the earliest evidence of photosynthetic structures called thylakoids, which may have driven the accumulation of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere | Continue reading
A newly discovered drug treated infections in mice caused by a strain of bacteria that is resistant to most available antibiotics | Continue reading
An AI analysis of satellite images reveals fishing, shipping and offshore development activities worldwide by monitoring boats that don't publicly broadcast their location | Continue reading
Neutrinos produced inside an exploding star could betray exotic particles that would lead to a deeper theory of physics. Will our detectors be ready in time for the next nearby supernova? | Continue reading
The 2024 Quadrantids meteor shower will peak on 3 and 4 January. While moonlight may get in the way, here’s what to do for your best chance of spotting it | Continue reading
In Iceland, scientists are planning to drill two boreholes to a reservoir of liquid rock. One will give us our first direct measurements of magma – the other could supercharge geothermal power | Continue reading
A non-lethal method of catching great white sharks and releasing them 500 metres further out to sea can make the predators steer clear of beaches where people swim | Continue reading
The first ever soap films with chemically distinct sides are a step towards cheap soap-based devices that could create useful chemicals through artificial photosynthesis | Continue reading
People with severe covid-19 infections are more than 4 times as likely to later be diagnosed with schizophrenia than people who have not been infected, though the risk of developing the condition is relatively low | Continue reading
Palaeontologists can’t agree on whether fossils from several small dinosaurs represent juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex or smaller adults of a separate species that lived alongside them | Continue reading
NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew past Io on 30 December and took one of our best pictures yet of this moon of Jupiter | Continue reading
The birth of a child is a happy time for most, but overwhelming anxiety can take hold for some parents. Why does this happen and what can we do about it? | Continue reading
An area of the seabed north of Australia has been mapped in detail for the first time, revealing that large numbers of people could have lived there until it was inundated by rising seas | Continue reading
From Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds to Tlotlo Tsamaase’s Womb City and Ali Millar’s Ava Anna Ada, January’s sci-fi will chase the New Year blues away | Continue reading
Taking a vaginal probiotic, either on its own or with an oral probiotic, for four months reduced the incidence of urinary tract infections in women with a history of recurring UTIs | Continue reading
NASA’s DART mission slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, and the European Space Agency is sending the Hera mission to investigate the collision’s aftermath | Continue reading
Shortly after hatching, chicks quickly learn to recognise moving objects with only a few examples – now AIs can do the same | Continue reading
The moon will cover the sun on 8 April 2024 for people in parts of the US, Canada and Mexico, creating an experience unlike any other | Continue reading
We probably don't need to worry about quantum computers being able to break encryption in 2024, but cryptographers are planning a security upgrade just in case | Continue reading
A headset that can be worn at home relieves symptoms of depression to a similar degree as antidepressants | Continue reading
A quantum state of matter comprising molecules with opposite charges at each end has been made for the first time. It could help probe our understanding of the quantum properties of exotic materials | Continue reading
A battery-like device known as a supercapacitor can be created from different parts of aloe vera plants – and it can be used to make living plants power lights | Continue reading
If governments step up support for renewable energy and other efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 2024 could see total carbon emissions begin to fall | Continue reading
A virus engineered using CRISPR technology spread its DNA to other viruses in mice, causing them to become harmless | Continue reading
There is significant variation in people’s ability to visually track fast-moving objects, which might explain why they have superior abilities in some sports | Continue reading
Astronomers have spotted a set of 35 mysterious flashes of radio waves from space that seem to show a strange phenomenon of decreasing frequency that has never been seen before | Continue reading
Most metals oxidise, or rust, when exposed to air, which normally weakens them, but a kind of metallic glass instead gets more springy | Continue reading
Europe will get its first exascale supercomputer next year, called JUPITER, and it should allow simulations that are currently possible only on a few machines worldwide | Continue reading
The Martian Moons eXploration mission is slated to launch for Phobos in September 2024 – once it gets there, it will drop off a rover, pick up some samples and head home | Continue reading
Like a tuning fork, living human cells have frequencies at which they naturally vibrate – and now we have estimates for what some of them are | Continue reading
Younger people move their arms more quickly than their older counterparts when they slip, helping them to regain their balance and prevent a fall | Continue reading
Why is gravity still a puzzle? Do humans make pandemics? Are we all ocean people? 2024’s best reads, by authors from Claudia de Rham to Helen Scales, probe our toughest questions | Continue reading
Artificial intelligence will make it easier than ever to communicate across linguistic borders. But is this a good thing, asks linguist Philip Seargeant | Continue reading
Feedback enjoys 16 years of adventures - including pyrotechnics - on New Year’s Eve in the otorhinolaryngology department of a single hospital | Continue reading