A report found data privacy problems with the vast majority of 30 companies that sell neurotechnology devices to consumers. New US state laws aim to change that ⌘ Read more
A report found data privacy problems with the vast majority of 30 companies that sell neurotechnology devices to consumers. New US state laws aim to change that ⌘ Read more
A joint investment by the Australian federal government and the government of Queensland makes PsiQuantum one of the largest dedicated quantum computing firms in the world ⌘ Read more
India’s space agency has been remarkably successful in recent years, growing the country’s prestige on the global stage – and the 2024 election is unlikely to change that ⌘ Read more
As the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, climate policy decisions taken by India will shape the fate of the entire world. But can it continue to develop its economy while keeping carbon dioxide down? ⌘ Read more
Red foxes and Arctic foxes dive headfirst into snow at up to 4 metres per second to catch small rodents, and the shape of their snouts reduces the impact force ⌘ Read more
Climate change means many tree species planted today in Europe won’t survive to the end of the century, but English oaks could thrive in many areas ⌘ Read more
Cosmological puzzles are tempting astronomers to rethink our simple picture of the universe – and ask whether dark matter is even stranger than we thought ⌘ Read more
Governments need to take action to protect people from potentially toxic additives in tyre rubber, say researchers after finding they can get into food from contaminated soil ⌘ Read more
Generative AI models designed to create images from text can be adapted to construct complex optical illusions - pictures that look like different things when viewed from far away or with motion blur ⌘ Read more
As the US grapples with an ongoing bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle, the country’s health agencies are ramping up surveillance efforts and working to develop a vaccine if needed ⌘ Read more
Commercial bowhead whaling ended in the early 20th century, but the industry’s lasting effects on the whales’ genetic diversity are leading to declines again ⌘ Read more
To celebrate the launch of our new event series in the US, kicking off with a masterclass on the brain and consciousness, we have unlocked five incredible long reads ⌘ Read more
The genetic variant, which causes people to be insensitive to growth hormone, may also protect people from heart disease ⌘ Read more
Before it shattered over Germany, the asteroid 2024 BX1 was clocked rotating once every 2.6 seconds – the fastest spin we have observed ⌘ Read more
In addition to the overall rise in sea level, the heights of tides are also changing as the oceans warm and separate into more distinct layers ⌘ Read more
The medicines nalmefene and naltrexone helped compulsive gamblers reduce their betting activities, trials have shown ⌘ Read more
In just 2 hours, small metal robots can capture most nanoscopic plastic particles from a sample of water ⌘ Read more
The neurons in wasp brains that help them recognise hive mates are similar to those in the brains of primates, including humans ⌘ Read more
The supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies may capture smaller black holes. Not only does this prove a place for the small black holes to grow, it also makes the supermassive ones look even bigger and brighter ⌘ Read more
The redness of asteroid 469219 Kamo‘oalewa marks it out as probably originating on the moon, and now we might know the exact impact crater it was launched from ⌘ Read more
Mice that had been genetically modified to lack the ability to smell could sniff out hidden cookies when sensory neurons from rats were grown in their brains ⌘ Read more
Intensive breeding since the 19th century has created thousands of varieties of rose, but a reduction in genetic diversity could leave them vulnerable to diseases and climate change ⌘ Read more
When fetuses and babies were exposed to sound stimuli, their brains' subsequent electrical activity appeared to be more complicated in the females than the males ⌘ Read more
More than 1.4 billion people live in India, giving its healthcare system a major role in planetary well-being. In the past 10 years, prime minister Narendra Modi has worked to improve India's healthcare, but there is still much work to be done ⌘ Read more
India currently has a fairly small chip-manufacturing industry, but prime minister Narendra Modi wants the country to become a dominant player in the sector in just a few years ⌘ Read more
Almost all moon landers break down during the extraordinary cold of lunar night, but Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon has astonishingly survived three nights ⌘ Read more
The very weak forces of attraction caused by the Casimir effect can now be used to manipulate microscopic gold flakes and turn them into a light-trapping tool ⌘ Read more
Targeted culling of crown-of-thorns starfish has resulted in parts of the Great Barrier Reef maintaining and even increasing coral cover, leading researchers to call for the programme to be dramatically scaled up ⌘ Read more
Using genomic data from more than 9500 species, biologists have mapped the evolutionary relationships between flowering plants ⌘ Read more
Two important barriers to a stable, powerful fusion reaction have been leapt by an experiment in a small tokamak reactor, but we don’t yet know if the technique will work in larger devices ⌘ Read more
The Large Hadron Collider is testing entanglement in a whole new energy range, probing the meaning of quantum theory – and the possibility that an even stranger reality lies beneath ⌘ Read more
Obese mice that lost weight on a low-fat diet before getting a flu shot had better immune responses than those that lost weight afterwards, suggesting diet and weight loss influence vaccine efficacy ⌘ Read more
A set of large, distinctive footprints suggest a raptor dinosaur that lived in East Asia 96 million years ago grew to a length of 5 metres ⌘ Read more
Six full-body fossils of Ptychodus sharks have been formally analysed for the first time, revealing that they were fast swimmers that preyed on shelled creatures ⌘ Read more
Climate change’s effects on ocean water temperatures and salinity could shrink sonar detection ranges underwater and make it more challenging to spot submarines ⌘ Read more
Amazon says it will create new jobs to replace roles taken over by machines, but it isn’t clear whether this will happen quickly enough ⌘ Read more
The balance of omega fatty acids in the food we eat affects our health. But what does the evidence say about claims you should be seeking to reduce omega-6 intake as well as boosting omega-3s? ⌘ Read more
AI can analyse satellite images to reveal the movements of dark ships in a shadow fleet that smuggles oil and other cargo from sanctioned countries such as Russia, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea ⌘ Read more
With severe climate impacts becoming more and more apparent, many scientists think we should explore ways to block out solar radiation, but doing so would be risky ⌘ Read more
Our blood sugar levels vary a lot from day to day, so results from continuous glucose monitors need to be interpreted with caution ⌘ Read more
As work begins on building the US’s first high-speed rail service – linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas – analysts say the project could serve as a blueprint for similar projects across the country ⌘ Read more
"Advanced recycling" promises to convert dirty, mixed waste plastic into brand new plastic time and time again. It is a major step towards creating a circular economy and fighting climate change ⌘ Read more
The finding that managed fires burn a much greater area than thought means we may be underestimating the increase in wildfires due to global heating ⌘ Read more
Forensic investigators can reliably measure drug and explosive residue using gels that lift fingerprint samples ⌘ Read more
Shading the planet by spraying aerosols into the stratosphere might stave off ice sheet collapse, modelling studies suggest, but we are running out of time ⌘ Read more
An Australian bull ant is the first animal known to use the patterns produced by polarised moonlight to navigate its environment ⌘ Read more
20 April is weed's unofficial holiday. In honour of the special day, we collected our answers to all your cannabis questions. This is the science of 420 ⌘ Read more
It can be difficult to figure out how to move a spacecraft from one orbit to another, but a trick from knot theory can help find spots where shifting orbits becomes easy ⌘ Read more
Carbon storage calculations don’t always take into account the effects of animals – when they eat, defecate and die, they help store lots of carbon ⌘ Read more
By measuring how birds’ vocal muscles move while they are asleep and using a physical model for how those muscles produce sound, researchers have pulled songs from the minds of sleeping birds ⌘ Read more
Identical twins seem to experience more similar levels of pleasure when listening to music than non-identical twins, which suggests it has a genetic element ⌘ Read more
Curved wing tips inspired by the world's heaviest flying bird could enhance the efficiency of wind turbines by of 10 per cent, according to simulations ⌘ Read more
A site in Siberia has evidence of human presence 417,000 years ago, raising the possibility that hominins could have reached North America much earlier than we thought ⌘ Read more
Teams of staff usually return e-scooters to where they will be needed, but adapted scooters that can balance and stop themselves, and be controlled remotely, are a step towards autonomous ones that can take themselves wherever they have to go ⌘ Read more
Set in an English manor in 1890, Botany Manor is a video game that places you in the shoes of a botanist working on a herbarium of forgotten flora ⌘ Read more
Last year’s marine heatwaves saw an unprecedented decline in the growth of phytoplankton and algae, which many animals in the oceans depend on for food ⌘ Read more
Cocaine and morphine hijacked neural responses in the brains of mice, which resulted in them consuming less food and water ⌘ Read more
The vertebrae of Vasuki indicus, a snake that lived 47 million years ago, suggest it could have been as long as 15 metres ⌘ Read more
Measurements of sulphur isotopes in Io’s atmosphere show that the moon may have been volcanically active for its entire lifetime ⌘ Read more
A mathematical model of a particle that remembers its past so that it never travels the same path twice produces stunningly complex patterns ⌘ Read more
In the foundations of a Maya temple, researchers found the charred bones of royal individuals – possibly evidence of a fiery ritual to mark the end of one dynasty and the beginning of another ⌘ Read more
Cloud seeding almost certainly did not play a significant role in the flooding on the Arabian peninsula this week – but the heavy rains may have been exacerbated by climate change ⌘ Read more
Caused by debris from a comet thought to originate in the Oort Cloud, the Lyrid meteor shower peaks this year on 22 April and is best viewed from the northern hemisphere, says Abigail Beall ⌘ Read more
Negative thinking is unpopular but it could drive more realistic efforts to limit harm from global warming ⌘ Read more
We know there is some connection between skin and gut health, but many assumed the gut was the one calling the shots. A new study suggests that the influence can go the other way ⌘ Read more
Weeding robots can sometimes struggle to tell weeds from crops, but genetically modifying the plants we want to keep to make them brightly coloured would make the job easier, suggest a group of researchers ⌘ Read more
A computer intended to mimic the way the brain processes and stores data could potentially improve the efficiency and capabilities of artificial intelligence models ⌘ Read more
Investigations of the paradoxical link between tinnitus and hearing loss have revealed a hidden form of deafness, paving the way to possible new treatments ⌘ Read more
Ground-up concrete can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a similar way to ground-up rocks, according to a field study in Ireland ⌘ Read more
We know little about how embryonic development in animals evolved from single-celled ancestors, but simple organisms with a multicellular life stage offer intriguing clues ⌘ Read more
A serendipitous lab accident revealed that hibernating bumblebee queens can make it through days of flooding, revealing that they are less vulnerable to extreme weather than previously thought ⌘ Read more
Starfish feet are coordinated purely through mechanical loading, enabling the animals to bounce rhythmically along the seabed without a central nervous system ⌘ Read more
Traditional economics makes ludicrous assumptions and poor predictions. Now an alternative approach using big data and psychological insights is proving far more accurate ⌘ Read more
Modelling that shows how the world can remain below 1.5°C of warming assumes we can store vast amounts of carbon dioxide underground, but a new analysis reveals that achieving this is extremely unlikely ⌘ Read more
A black hole would be tough to destroy, but in the season two premiere of Dead Planets Society our hosts are willing to go to extremes, from faster-than-light bombs to time travel ⌘ Read more
Remote-controlled cockroaches with computers mounted on their backs can move as a swarm towards a target location, and could be used for search missions ⌘ Read more
A black hole 33 times the mass of the sun is the largest stellar black hole ever spotted, and its strange companion star could help explain how it got so huge ⌘ Read more
One species of nematode worm turns into a kin-devouring nightmare if it grows up in a crowded environment with a poor diet ⌘ Read more
The networks of fibre optic cables that criss-cross the planet could be used to better understand what’s happening inside it ⌘ Read more
Monthly infusions with the drug prasinezumab appeared to slow the progression of motor symptoms in people with advanced Parkinson's disease ⌘ Read more
Climate change is making extreme cold upwellings more common in certain regions of the world, and these events can be catastrophic for animals such as bull sharks ⌘ Read more
Mounting evidence suggests our galaxy sits at the centre of an expanse of nothingness 2 billion light years wide. If so, we may have to rethink our understanding of the universe ⌘ Read more
Conservationists think tweaking pandas’ diets might shift their gut microbiomes in a way that could encourage them to mate ⌘ Read more
The hatching of the 250th California condor chick at the San Diego Zoo marks a notable milestone for a species that narrowly evaded extinction ⌘ Read more
Bonobos have long been regarded as the peaceful ape, in sharp contrast with violent chimpanzees, but a study based on thousands of hours of observations suggests the real story is more nuanced ⌘ Read more
An Arctic-wide survey has found that the permafrost region is emitting more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs, causing the planet to heat even further ⌘ Read more
After a short conversation with an artificial intelligence, people’s belief in a conspiracy theory dropped by about 20 per cent ⌘ Read more
Five years ago, a fossil found in the Philippines was determined to be from a new species of hominin called Homo luzonensis. Since then, we’ve learned a bit more about the newest member of the human family ⌘ Read more
Not long after the last world war, the historian William L. Shirer had this to say about the next world war. It “will be launched by suicidal little madmen pressing an electronic button. Such a war will not last long and none will ever follow it. There will be no conquers and no conquests, but only the charred bones of the dead on an uninhabited planet.”
As an ... ⌘ Read more
In this terrifying extract from Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario, the author lays out what would happen in the first seconds after a nuclear missile hits the Pentagon ⌘ Read more
Embryos seem to have a sensor that picks up when nutrients are scarce, prompting them to pause their development until resources become more abundant again ⌘ Read more
A once-independent bacterium has evolved into an organelle that provides nitrogen to algal cells – an event so rare that there are only three other known cases ⌘ Read more
About 1.5 billion people worldwide carry a risk of conditions including malnutrition because of parasitic infection, and AI could help identify those affected ⌘ Read more
We can’t stir ordinary solids, but one research team now claims to have stirred an extraordinary quantum “supersolid”, generating tiny vortices ⌘ Read more
The physicist Peter Higgs quietly revolutionised quantum field theory, then lived long enough to see the discovery of the Higgs boson he theorised. Despite receiving a Nobel prize, he remained in some ways as elusive as the particle that shares his name ⌘ Read more
A small early-stage trial of the approach, which involves testing dozens of drug combinations on thousands of dishes of cells, may help people with cancer live for longer ⌘ Read more
Ground-level ozone, a product of pollution from cars, degrades insect pheromones, and this can result in mismatched mating and sterile offspring ⌘ Read more
We don’t know what alien life might look like, but if other civilisations can colonise multiple worlds, we might see planets that look unusually similar ⌘ Read more
To capture the clearest and most direct images of a “Wigner crystal”, a structure made entirely of electrons, researchers used a special kind of microscope and two pieces of graphene unusually free of imperfections ⌘ Read more
An enzyme in a cyanobacterium can take the unusual form a triangle containing ever-smaller triangular gaps, making a fractal pattern ⌘ Read more