Unexpectedly, the eastern Pacific Ocean is cooling. If this “cold tongue” continues, it could reduce greenhouse gas warming by 30 per cent – but also bring megadrought to the US | Continue reading
Could we bore a hole through the centre of Earth? What would it be like to fling yourself through it? The Dead Planets Society podcast digs deep into the potential hazards | Continue reading
From speculative novellas by Josh Malerman to a first venture into science fiction from H is for Hawk author Helen Macdonald, August brims with sci-fi potential, says culture editor Alison Flood | Continue reading
A new analysis of small flecks in meteorites calculates the age of the solar system as 4.5684 billion years old, rather than 4.5673 billion | Continue reading
Carbonic acid, an important component of amino acids, has been seen in a cloud of gas near the centre of the Milky Way, which could help us explain how life came to be on Earth | Continue reading
Satellite images support the claim that Arctic foxes promote the growth of the lush vegetation seen around their dens | Continue reading
A mixture of cement and fine charcoal can become a supercapacitor that could someday charge homes or electric vehicles | Continue reading
Male nightingales respond to each other’s songs by whistling back at the same pitch when competing for territory, and they even copy the pitch of artificial whistle sounds | Continue reading
The UK’s plan to issue new oil and gas licences will make a minimal impact on North Sea production levels – but it will dent the country's reputation as a climate leader | Continue reading
The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope launched on 1 July, and now it has delivered its first stunning pictures of stars and galaxies across the cosmos | Continue reading
From vitamin D to turmeric extracts and probiotics, nutritional supplements are a booming industry. But what is the evidence behind the claimed benefits? | Continue reading
Bees in a well-preserved Spanish wilderness weigh less than they did decades ago, possibly because rising temperatures are affecting their development and food | Continue reading
Swimmers in open water races can reduce the amount of drag forces they experience by swimming behind or at the hip level of another swimmer | Continue reading
Truly convenient materials that can conduct electricity perfectly have long been sought after by researchers, but their history is one of difficult experiments, theoretical puzzles and scientific controversy | Continue reading
A region of the midbrain in rodents appears to be instrumental in enabling rats to engage in laughter and play | Continue reading
A woman may be most likely to give birth in her 30s and go through the menopause in her 50s, with these life events causing hormonal changes that may accelerate ageing | Continue reading
Immune cells are more effective at fending off pathogens when they use ketones – which are produced during fasting – rather than glucose for energy | Continue reading
Immune cells are more effective at fending off pathogens when they use ketones – which are produced during fasting – rather than glucose for energy | Continue reading
People who carry a genetic variant that raises the risk of Alzheimer's disease may start to lose their sense of smell before they experience any decline in cognitive function | Continue reading
Buying a specific set of 27 tickets for the UK National Lottery will mathematically guarantee that you win something | Continue reading
From "hot tub" sea temperatures in Florida to wildfires across Greek islands, we are seeing a record-breaking season of climate extremes | Continue reading
There is anger over a Netflix AI job paying up to $900,000, coming as actors are still striking over the use of AI in film and TV. In other AI news, problems with training data can cause glitches or make chatbots more racist | Continue reading
Two cosmetic products have been identified from residues in the tomb of a non-noble woman who lived in China 2000 years ago, suggesting the widespread use of make-up | Continue reading
Transmitting data around the body can be tricky, but a shirt with a metal upgrade could help | Continue reading
A Formula E racing car made from iPhones, chargers, batteries and single-use vapes has been built in the UK to highlight the increasing problem of electronic waste | Continue reading
A particular strain of swine flu was first recorded in people in 2009. Since then, humans have passed the strain to pigs at least 370 times in the US | Continue reading
An analysis of related words in 161 languages suggests their shared roots lie in the Middle East – a conclusion that also fits with DNA evidence | Continue reading
Plans to extract hydrogen from underground reservoirs have been presented as climate-friendly, but it is still unclear just how much they could increase global warming | Continue reading
A technique for delivering mRNAs to blood stem cells should enable better and cheaper treatments for conditions from sickle cell disease to ageing | Continue reading
An experiment with elastic gels broke the theoretical speed limit for how fast cracks can move through materials, raising new questions about the physics of fractures | Continue reading
Despite testimony by David Grusch to US Congress about "non-human biologics" and UFO crash sites, there is still no evidence aliens have ever come to Earth. Why are people taking such claims seriously, asks Jacob Aron | Continue reading
Surgically attaching old mice to young mice to exchange their blood has previously been shown to rejuvenate the older individuals' brains, livers and muscles. Now, it has been shown to also extend their lifespan, even after the animals have been detached | Continue reading
Simulations of the rippling that occurs inside stars has made it possible to turn this innate twinkling into audio | Continue reading
Some home builders in England and Wales are allowed to buy nutrient credits to "offset" the pollution caused by new houses, but their efficacy is in doubt | Continue reading
Large-scale magnetic fields that fill up the universe may have grown from tiny magnetic fields that arose spontaneously in turbulent plasmas | Continue reading
Engineered immune cells called CAR T-cells are highly effective against cancer but they are also dangerous – but an upgrade could make them safer and more effective | Continue reading
The risk of cannabis poisoning in children increased fourfold after it became medically or recreationally legal in different locations, primarily due to edibles | Continue reading
Creating a material that perfectly conducts electricity at room temperature and pressure would be a big deal, but a research team's claims of creating one has attracted more scrutiny than optimism | Continue reading
Spiny lava lizards spent less time wooing and selecting a sexual partner when exposed to temperatures that are warmer than usual | Continue reading
Fungi isolated from rotting hardwood trees can break down sheets of low-density polyethylene, one of the most abundant plastics on Earth | Continue reading
Owls are "in our DNA" says Jennifer Ackerman, the author of a new book that investigates the latest scientific and archaeological findings about the enigmatic birds | Continue reading
From using less protein to adding ethanol, these science-backed tricks can help you make the crispiest tempura | Continue reading
Many have an attitude towards water that assumes it will always be plentiful. But unless people, governments and corporations change their ways, the demand may soon outstrip the supply, says Jason Arunn Murugesu | Continue reading
As academics struggle to compete with private investment, perhaps Musk’s new artificial intelligence venture really can tackle the “true nature of the universe” | Continue reading
A charming, challenging book argues that we can improve our well-being by tapping into the spiritually transforming "overview effect" that astronauts report after seeing earth from space | Continue reading
Bolivia's deforestation crisis is underlined in this set of images from Terraforming, a project by photographer Matjaž Krivic and journalist Maja Prijatelj Videmšek | Continue reading
Based on the first film sequel, Aliens: Dark Descent sees you in charge of exploring a moon in search of hostile creatures. Things can get real bad, real quick, discovers Jacob Aron | Continue reading
While artificial intelligence is a transformative tool that can release us from tedious tasks, we must be wary of its unprecedented power to to supercharge propaganda | Continue reading