Analysis of tree rings shows that two faults near Seattle, Washington ruptured at the same time or soon after each other more than 1000 years ago – a repeat today would cause a major disaster in the region ⌘ Read more
Analysis of tree rings shows that two faults near Seattle, Washington ruptured at the same time or soon after each other more than 1000 years ago – a repeat today would cause a major disaster in the region ⌘ Read more
Well-preserved artefacts found in a Spanish cave show that advanced plant-based crafts were practised in Europe 9500 years ago ⌘ Read more
People come across as being more trustworthy and competent on Zoom calls if they have plants or books in the background, particularly if they are a woman and smiling ⌘ Read more
Runners completed a 200-metre sprint nearly 1 second faster when wearing an exoskeleton suit compared with not wearing it ⌘ Read more
Conservation organisations call for expansion of nature-friendly farming to stem the ongoing loss of the UK’s wildlife ⌘ Read more
Researchers have struggled to explain the precipitous decline in central Europe’s insect populations since the 1980s, but a new model suggests weather is to blame ⌘ Read more
In a blow for the hopes of antigravity machines, the first ever test of how antimatter responds to gravity confirms it falls down, not up ⌘ Read more
A quantum engine that works by toggling the properties of an ultracold atom cloud could one day be used to charge quantum batteries ⌘ Read more
Philosophers have wrestled with the question of whether we are truly free to decide on our actions for centuries. Now, insights from genetics, neuroscience and evolutionary biology are shedding fresh light on the issue ⌘ Read more
A trilobite with gut contents still preserved is the first of its kind ever to be found, and shows the woodlouse-like animal had a voracious appetite ⌘ Read more
Some food campaigners say we need to cut out all highly processed food, but now UK scientists say this is unnecessary and unhelpful ⌘ Read more
Studies that failed to compare rates of long covid symptoms after infection with baseline rates in the population made the prevalence of the condition seem higher than it really is ⌘ Read more
Children with emotional or behavioural issues in school may benefit from the presence of trained therapy dogs in classrooms, according to education professionals ⌘ Read more
Venus is remarkably similar to Earth in many ways, but saying its surface is unsuitable for life is a drastic understatement. In this episode of Dead Planets Society, our hosts attempt to fix it ⌘ Read more
Male pattern baldness could soon be a thing of the past, with new hair loss treatments beginning to show tantalising results ⌘ Read more
The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are expected to be stronger than they have been for at least a decade over the next few months. Here is how to spot them ⌘ Read more
In the US, health officials recommend that everyone over the age of 6 months receives the latest annual covid-19 vaccine, while the UK and other European countries are restricting it to older or vulnerable people ⌘ Read more
The number of onsite inspections at waterways in England has fallen sharply, with experts expressing concern about the rise of "office-based" checks ⌘ Read more
Diagnosing obstructive sleep apnoea generally requires an overnight hospital stay, but an AI model could spot signs of the condition while people sleep at home ⌘ Read more
Carefully measuring the Wi-Fi signals leaking out of a room can let you build up a detailed picture of what is inside – even to the extent of reading a sign made from 3D letters ⌘ Read more
Record adoption of clean energy technologies over the past two years keeps targets to avoid global warming above 1.5 ̊C within reach, according to a report from the International Energy Agency ⌘ Read more
Sponges derived from luffa plants could act as tiny power sources for small devices, say researchers - but they may not supply enough energy to be practical ⌘ Read more
Covid-19 viruses with distinctive patterns of mutation are appearing in countries that use a drug called molnupiravir, however, none of these is a variant of concern ⌘ Read more
If humans still exist millions of years from now, they will face inhospitably warm conditions on a supercontinent centred at the equator. Most land mammals won't be able to survive ⌘ Read more
Precious samples from the asteroid Bennu have returned to Earth, where researchers hope to use them to learn more about the origins of the solar system ⌘ Read more
From Back to the Future to Tenet and Interstellar, the joint director of the Centre for Time reveals her favourite time travel movies – both consistent and inconsistent (hello Marty McFly) ⌘ Read more
Ripples in space-time called gravitational waves are normally associated with massive objects like black holes, but we could make our own using lasers – and perhaps even use them to communicate ⌘ Read more
The heart of a genetically modified pig has been transplanted into a man with heart disease, the second such surgery of its kind ⌘ Read more
Receiving a blood transfusion from someone who later develops a brain haemorrhage may very slightly raise someone’s risk of developing a brain bleed, too ⌘ Read more
New York City has begun construction on a project to hook up its grid to hydroelectric power plants in Canada via a 546-kilometre-long transmission line ⌘ Read more
Chitons are unusual molluscs with a shell made up of plates, and they fluoresce a red-pink colour – perhaps to help the animals blend in against a background of red algae ⌘ Read more
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) may be caused by a lack of sunlight during the winter months. Its symptoms are similar to other forms of depression and it may be treatable via lifestyle measures and light therapy ⌘ Read more
John Scalzi's new novel Starter Villain sees his hero inherit a villainous empire. Here, the science fiction author picks his favourite sci-fi baddies with a corporate leaning ⌘ Read more
The hicatee turtles of Belize appear to move around in groups even when they aren't feeding, providing evidence of social complexity in reptiles ⌘ Read more
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is about to hurtle past Earth, and if all goes well it will drop its samples from the asteroid Bennu in the Utah desert on 24 September ⌘ Read more
Chaos in the interactions between stars near the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole makes it impossible to predict their trajectories after about 462 years, much shorter than expected ⌘ Read more
Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have shown carbon dioxide on the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa – that’s a good sign for the habitability of its buried seas ⌘ Read more
A set of unusual “trace” fossils in Italy reveal that fish were swimming in the deep ocean about 130 million years ago – much earlier than we had thought ⌘ Read more
Corpse flowers rarely bloom but if one does when you’re nearby you’ll know about it. Though many botanical gardens have their own corpse flowers, the plant's mysteries still abound ⌘ Read more
The comet Nishimura is heading away from the sun and on to the outer reaches of the solar system, so you'll need to be quick if you want to catch a glimpse ⌘ Read more
A large brush-footed trapdoor spider and a small jumping spider from the Miocene Epoch between 11 and 16 million years ago show how different arachnids responded to rapidly changing climate ⌘ Read more
The Psyche mission is scheduled to begin its journey to an asteroid of the same name on 5 October – it could help us understand Earth’s core and how our planet formed ⌘ Read more
Dwarf planets aren’t expected to carry liquid water, but hints of surprising geological activity spotted with JWST indicate that some of them might have buried oceans ⌘ Read more
Thick-billed murres normally mate for life, but young couples are more likely to break up, despite seeing no benefit to mating success the next year ⌘ Read more
Tamarins living near cities in the Amazon Rainforest use odour to communicate nearly twice as often as usual when noise pollution spikes from nearby freeways or town centres ⌘ Read more
Cutting carbon emissions means replacing the heating systems in homes, transforming transport and greening steel production. All of these will take time, but the UK prime minister has instead chosen to delay ⌘ Read more
No sightings of the Pernambuco holly tree had been confirmed since the species was first identified in 1838. Scientists have now found four of the trees in the city Igarassu in north-east Brazil ⌘ Read more
We tend to think that ancient humans were constantly on the move, but at a site in Zambia there are the first tentative hints that people stayed put and built large wooden dwellings ⌘ Read more
Brain scans show loss of tissue starting in small areas when people first experience psychosis, and following neural highways until later it encompasses wider regions of the brain ⌘ Read more
Spider silk has been seen as a greener alternative to artificial fibres like nylon and Kevlar, but spiders are notoriously hard to farm. Now researchers have used CRISPR to genetically engineer silkworms that produce pure spider silk ⌘ Read more
Astronomers say they have spotted evidence of stars fuelled by the annihilation of dark matter particles. If true, it could solve the cosmic mystery of how supermassive black holes appeared so early ⌘ Read more
After years of political wrangling, wide-ranging online rules are about to become UK law - but complying with and enforcing the regulations won't be easy ⌘ Read more
An experimental vaccine that erases the immune system’s memory of a molecule could be used to stop autoimmune reactions like those seen in multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes or coeliac disease ⌘ Read more
Remote-controlled cockroaches are not a new idea, but now researchers have found a way to steer the insects without injuring them ⌘ Read more
Some animals reproduce asexually by creating embryos from unfertilised eggs, but this can lead to a lack of genetic diversity. To keep their gene pool healthy, two species of asexual stick insect appear to occasionally mate ⌘ Read more
RNA, which regulates the activity of DNA, is a crucial part of building an organism - and now researchers have extracted some from an extinct animal for the first time ⌘ Read more
A leading theory about consciousness called the integrated information theory has been attacked in an open letter from over one hundred researchers in the field ⌘ Read more
Understanding how the world’s largest-known collection of pink diamonds came to the surface in Australia around 1.3 billion years ago could help us find hidden deposits elsewhere in the world ⌘ Read more
By working out which small mutations will probably be damaging, DeepMind’s AlphaMissense system could help doctors identify the cause of genetic diseases ⌘ Read more
Recent extreme rainfall that caused flooding across the Mediterranean and contributed to the catastrophic collapse of two dams in Libya was probably made more likely and more intense by climate change ⌘ Read more
Two people with a mutant version of a gene variant – APOE4 – linked to Alzheimer’s showed no signs of dementia, indicating that gene editing to mimic the effect may work against the condition ⌘ Read more
New estimates for the number of cells in adults and children draw on over 1500 scientific papers detailing the different cell and tissue types in our bodies ⌘ Read more
Organ donation from newborn babies currently happens very rarely, but could save more lives if hospitals were more open to it ⌘ Read more
People with Parkinson’s disease have been found to have high levels of an enzyme called DOPA decarboxylase in the fluid around their brain and spinal cord ⌘ Read more
Deciphering encrypted messages from centuries past is a painstaking process. But linguists and computer scientists are starting to automate it, with some sensational results ⌘ Read more
The LCLS-II X-ray laser is unprecedentedly bright, and will make it possible to record exactly what atoms and molecules do during photosynthesis and other chemical reactions ⌘ Read more
New Scientist explains how the latest covid-19 booster vaccines are different from previous ones, and who should get them ⌘ Read more
People with implants for treating conditions such as blindness, chronic pain and severe headaches have had medical benefits that are now in jeopardy ⌘ Read more
Asking Google Bard about the Russian president Vladimir Putin tends to be met with refusal when posing questions in Russian - something that doesn't occur as often in English or with other AI chatbots ⌘ Read more
Organs from older donors can accelerate cellular ageing in transplant recipients, but research in mice suggests this can be reduced with the help of so-called senolytic drugs ⌘ Read more
When it comes to ancient humans in Asia, we have so many fossils and no consensus on how to make sense of them ⌘ Read more
The removal of a major anti-vaccine page in November 2020 by Facebook didn’t reduce misinformation and instead led to remaining anti-vaccine content becoming more extreme and getting more engagement ⌘ Read more
A security researcher has found an old data feed that reveals how full the urine tank on the International Space Station is, allowing them to track when astronauts use the toilet ⌘ Read more
When tadpoles are raised in white, black or grey trays, they adapt their colour to match their background, which may help them avoid being eaten by birds and fish ⌘ Read more
Drinks in transparent bottles are difficult to fortify with vitamin D because the supplement breaks down when exposed to UV light, but tiny protein capsules that protect the vitamin could help ⌘ Read more
A group of specialised immune cells in the gut seems to have a protective role in people with Crohn's disease, and may help doctors predict how the illness will progress ⌘ Read more
A study of 100 children found that those who experience growing pains are more likely than their peers to get migraines five years later ⌘ Read more
Experiments suggest microplastic fragments with irregular shapes settle more slowly than spherical ones and may reach the stratosphere ⌘ Read more
The popular word-guessing game Wordle inspires large numbers of people to either cheat by looking up answers or to stubbornly stick with favourite starting words ⌘ Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of a young star spewing out powerful winds that have created a pair of stunning, colourful jets ⌘ Read more
Insect-sized robots that can crawl, hop and turn by harnessing the power of explosions can be cheaply produced for a range of applications ⌘ Read more
An independent task force formed by NASA to look into unidentified anomalous phenomena found no evidence of alien craft, and suggests that if we want to find proof of visitors we need better data ⌘ Read more
Rivers in the US and central Europe are losing their ability to hold oxygen because of rising temperatures, which could put fish at risk ⌘ Read more
US regulators could soon authorise MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder after positive results in the largest clinical trial to date ⌘ Read more
A network that connects quantum devices and a central server that spans Hefei, China can allow multiple secure quantum chats at once ⌘ Read more
A combination of keen senses and quick reflexes may help mosquitoes avoid a sticky end by riding the pressure wave generated as a swatter sweeps through the air ⌘ Read more
Between 2010 and 2021, the proportion of drug overdose deaths in the US involving a combination of fentanyl and a stimulant such as cocaine or methamphetamine skyrocketed ⌘ Read more
Male frogs will sometimes try to mate with turtles or inanimate objects, and now there is evidence that the behaviour began deep in prehistory with the first frogs ⌘ Read more
Time scales in my favourite soap opera Emmerdale make no sense, but maybe this helps avid fans to normalise the concept of time dilation, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein ⌘ Read more
The Karman Space Programme, set up by students at Imperial College London, will attempt to launch its Aurora rocket to an altitude of 100 kilometres, the generally accepted boundary of space ⌘ Read more
Most adhesives are made from fossil fuels and take thousands of years to biodegrade, but a new alternative derived from soya plants bonds metal, wood and synthetic surfaces just as strongly ⌘ Read more
Mixing and matching various strands of DNA can create versatile biological computer circuits that can take the square roots of numbers or solve quadratic equations ⌘ Read more
Claims about the health benefits of cannabidiol have outpaced credible research, but CBD does show some real promise ⌘ Read more
Observations by the James Webb Space Telescope suggest supermassive black holes from the early universe are more massive in relation to their galaxies compared with those near us ⌘ Read more
Palm cockatoos fashion sticks for drumming on trees by snapping off branches and whittling them with their beaks, and the males design their tools with their own personal style ⌘ Read more
Researchers and governments are finally battling back against the deluge of false information online, just as artificial intelligence threatens to supercharge the problem ⌘ Read more
Pluto officially lost its planethood in 2006, and this episode of Dead Planets Society is all about bringing it back by making it bigger, faster and better than ever ⌘ Read more
In the past five years, there have been almost 100 cases of the UK's Environment Agency deploying emergency oxygen to stop fish in English rivers from dying ⌘ Read more
Renewable energy development is transforming the US countryside. It could be a chance to restore the iconic prairies if rural opposition can be overcome ⌘ Read more
Comet Nishimura, which was discovered just a month ago, is about to make its closest approach to the sun, giving people in the northern hemisphere a great chance of a sighting ⌘ Read more