Fossil teeth of extinct megalodon sharks have grooves made by other megalodon teeth, hinting at violent encounters between these giant predators ⌘ Read more
Fossil teeth of extinct megalodon sharks have grooves made by other megalodon teeth, hinting at violent encounters between these giant predators ⌘ Read more
Bioethanol made from fermented agricultural waste can be turned into zero-carbon hydrogen through a new process that uses much less energy than other sources ⌘ Read more
Seismic measurement of Los Angeles’s depleted aquifers show a year of heavy precipitation hasn’t been enough to refill them ⌘ Read more
Conservation projects in wealthy but nature-depleted countries can cause food and timber production to “leak” into poorer, biodiverse nations ⌘ Read more
In mice, the neurons that dictate the feeling of being full are also the ones that cause sugar cravings, potentially explaining why people are still able to eat sweets after a filling meal ⌘ Read more
A survey of workers who used generative AI to complete tasks found that they used critical thinking less when they trusted the AI to do the task accurately ⌘ Read more
Ancient DNA from 348 individuals suggests that pale skin became the predominant characteristic of people living in Europe much later than assumed ⌘ Read more
In a step towards suspended animation of people, slices of mouse brains have shown near-normal activity after being stored at -150°C for up to a week ⌘ Read more
Fast-moving stars zooming through our galaxy might have been slingshotted from a black hole inside the neighbouring Large Magellanic Cloud ⌘ Read more
A comprehensive analysis pours cold water on claims that using carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere to drive oil extraction can result in carbon-neutral fossil fuel ⌘ Read more
Software developers entering the International Obfuscated C Code Contest must write programs that look baffling, but perform unusual, unexpected or catastrophic tasks ⌘ Read more
While artificial intelligence and quantum computing insiders have both been guilty of hyping up their products, only the latter group appears to still be applying proper scientific rigour to their field ⌘ Read more
Forensic scientists investigating cases of sexual assault may be able to use the genital microbiome to identify the perpetrator, as researchers have found that this "sexome" is exchanged between partners during intercourse ⌘ Read more
Some turtles "dance" when they anticipate food, which gives us clues as to how they navigate from A to B ⌘ Read more
The drug semaglutide has been linked to a lower risk of alcoholism before, but now we have strong evidence that it really does help curb drinking ⌘ Read more
The smooth wings of fruit-sucking moths appear to be ridged like a leaf – but the resemblance is created by nanostructures that reflect light in an unusual way ⌘ Read more
A neutrino with more energy than we've ever seen before was picked up by a detector on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea, and it seems to have a distant cosmic origin ⌘ Read more
Our estimates of the size of a neutrino span from smaller than an atomic nucleus to as large as a few metres, but now we are starting to narrow down its true value ⌘ Read more
Archaeopteryx, long considered the earliest fossil bird, could be knocked off its perch by Baminornis zhenghensis, which lived around 150 million years ago and had a short tail like those of modern birds ⌘ Read more
The surprising discovery of entities smaller than viruses raises profound questions about what life is and how it got started ⌘ Read more
A waste-water surveillance network of strategic international airports could quickly detect outbreaks of new diseases – and provide early warnings of future pandemics ⌘ Read more
Critics have been calling for NASA to cancel its extremely pricey Space Launch System rocket for ages, but now that it seems to be facing the axe from Elon Musk’s government efficiency task force, it may be time to think again ⌘ Read more
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is tasked with developing standards for encryption that can protect against quantum computers, may be at risk ⌘ Read more
The debate over when consciousness arises has been revitalised by new tests of awareness in infants – raising the possibility that it emerges just before birth ⌘ Read more
The results of a year-long survey suggest that people in the US are warming up to artificial intelligence, potentially due to marketing and the engaging way AI chatbots respond to human users ⌘ Read more
Hundreds of quantum computing firms around the world are racing to commercialise these once-exotic devices, but the jury is still out on who is going to pull ahead and produce a machine that actually does something useful ⌘ Read more
Stripping carbon dioxide out of the ocean could be much more efficient than capturing it from the air. Researchers are hoping to show its potential at a pilot plant in Weymouth ⌘ Read more
When the experimental XB-1 aircraft achieved supersonic speeds on a test flight, it did not create a disruptive sonic boom – thanks to a physics phenomenon called the Mach cutoff ⌘ Read more
If asteroid 2024 YR4 does smash down on the lunar surface, the explosion might be visible from Earth and would leave a new crater on the near side of the moon ⌘ Read more
Although the climate goals set by the Paris Agreement are based on the long-term average temperature, one year of high temperatures might be a sign that the 1.5°C threshold has already been reached ⌘ Read more
Seismic waves suggest the planet's solid inner core is being pulled out of shape – and it has undergone these changes over just a few decades ⌘ Read more
Unexpected epochs of stillness that punctuate the cosmic timeline could offer a natural explanation for dark matter and many other unsolved astronomical mysteries ⌘ Read more
A rocky planet less than half the mass of Earth seems to have an atmosphere made almost entirely of sulphur dioxide – this could be due to a huge amount of volcanic activity ⌘ Read more
Clothes and fishing nets that are made of nylon often end up in landfill or dumped in oceans, but a new way to break down the plastic could improve recycling ⌘ Read more
Albert Einstein himself thought that the eponymous Einstein ring would be impossible to observe, but the Euclid telescope has picked one up just 600 million light years from Earth ⌘ Read more
An experiment in which people were asked to choose random numbers or boxes on a grid, then do the same a year later, has revealed that we each have our own unique approach to randomness - and we're generally very bad at it ⌘ Read more
Turning old fighter jets into a fine powder and using that to 3D print new components is a more sustainable way to build the RAF's next-generation aircraft – and it avoids sourcing materials from Russia ⌘ Read more
Elon Musk's DOGE task force is reportedly being given unchecked access to the computers that run the US government, and experts warn that it risks bringing down systems and leaking sensitive data ⌘ Read more
Until now, 90 per cent of the excess heat created by greenhouse gas emissions has been drawn down into the ocean, but this capacity for heat absorption is now being lost, which could lead to longer marine heatwaves and harm ocean life ⌘ Read more
A tiny chip on the tip of a fibre-optic cable can passively harness light to perform AI computations, dramatically reducing the amount of energy and computing power required ⌘ Read more
The sounds that make up humpback whale songs follow some of the same statistical rules seen in human languages, which may be because of how they are learned ⌘ Read more
Genetic analysis suggests a form of mosquito found in urban subway systems evolved in the Middle East thousands of years ago ⌘ Read more
If you have the patience to repeatedly switch an egg between a hot and a colder pan, you'll be rewarded with an amazing taste and texture, say physicists ⌘ Read more
A lidar scanner has a resolution so high it can image ridges and indentations only 1 millimetre deep on objects hundreds of metres away – and capture objects as distant as 1 kilometre ⌘ Read more
The risk of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth seems to be creeping up as astronomers gather more data, but does that mean we should be scrambling to prepare for an impact in 2032? ⌘ Read more
A group of male koalas were filmed grooming and playing together, in contrast to their solitary reputation, probably as a result of an unusually dense population in southern Victoria ⌘ Read more
The Chinese firm threatens the dominance of Silicon Valley’s AI elite, and its innovations show the technology could be more affordable and less costly to the environment ⌘ Read more
A huge study of ancient DNA reveals the origins of the Yamna, who spread across Eurasia around 5000 years ago, showing they came from a mixing of populations north of the Black Sea ⌘ Read more
Mice have neurons that can be controlled to stop them eating - and people probably have them too ⌘ Read more
A newly analysed fossil skull settles a palaeontological debate over Vegavis iaai, confirming it as a relative of ducks and geese that lived 69 million years ago ⌘ Read more
Two-thirds of US cannabis is grown indoors, requiring lights and temperature control that produce a vast amounts of emissions ⌘ Read more
The odd superconductivity found in layered graphene may bring us closer to understanding room-temperature superconductors ⌘ Read more
Neuroscientist-turned-entrepreneur Emilė Radytė is using brain stimulation to explore how things like premenstrual syndrome and period pain impact the brain ⌘ Read more
A papyrus scroll carbonised by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius two millennia ago is slowly being read once again thanks to X-ray imaging and machine learning ⌘ Read more
Reductions in air pollution have helped warm the planet by cutting down on reflective particles in the atmosphere – but researchers still disagree on the size of this effect ⌘ Read more
Two canyons that splay out from a vast asteroid crater on the moon may have been quickly formed by chains of impacts that followed the initial one ⌘ Read more
A new understanding of our relationship with our "friendly" gut microbes shows they actually have a dark side and help cause ageing. Here's how to fight back ⌘ Read more
When spiders self-amputate two of their legs, they quickly adjust their running gait so they can return to full speed ⌘ Read more
Many countries have made it illegal to possess nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, and research now shows the drug can be picked up in someone's breath ⌘ Read more
Recognising that someone lacks information you possess is key for effective communication and cooperation, and bonobos seem to share this skill with humans ⌘ Read more
Meteorologists expected global temperatures to start falling after record highs in 2023 and 2024 – instead January 2025 hit a new high ⌘ Read more
Using traditional crossbreeding, researchers have created a new strain of rice that produces much less methane, a potent greenhouse gas, when it is grown in flooded fields ⌘ Read more
Taking a daily omega-3 supplement appears to slow down the rate of biological ageing by three months – and even more so if you also take vitamin D and exercise ⌘ Read more
Mars's moon Phobos is so strange that no one knows how it formed. But a forthcoming mission could solve this mystery - and a host of other puzzles connected to the solar system's deep past ⌘ Read more
More than a decade of data about the particles zipping around our sun can solve mysteries from the behaviour of individual particles to the history of our solar system – while raising new questions ⌘ Read more
Wandering salamanders pump their toes full of blood before lifting their feet, a trick that may help them release their sticky grip while conserving energy ⌘ Read more
Global warming is helping rats thrive in major cities around the world, with Washington DC seeing the fastest growth in rats ⌘ Read more
From contact with aliens courtesy of Adrian Tchaikovsky to the childhood writings of Octavia E. Butler, February’s sci-fi offerings are rich and strange ⌘ Read more
Male dolphins have been observed shooting jets of urine into the air and other dolphins seem to follow the stream, perhaps to pick up social cues ⌘ Read more
A muscle that we thought served no purpose beyond enabling some people to wiggle their ears is actually active when we are trying hard to listen ⌘ Read more
Mice that were free to scratch their itchy ears saw the number of immune cells go up and levels of infection-causing bacteria decline ⌘ Read more
People receiving talking therapy for mild to severe depression reported greater improvements to their symptoms when also taking creatine compared with those on a placebo ⌘ Read more
Burn marks left on trees show that fires occurred frequently in North America from 1750 to 1880, but they tended to be less severe than modern fires and may have even been beneficial to forests ⌘ Read more
The US Congress is expected to vote on whether to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead the nation’s public health institutions in the coming days – he would be taking over during a time of turmoil ⌘ Read more
The asteroid is unlikely to be cause for concern, but its detection has triggered planetary defence response procedures for the first time ⌘ Read more
A search for particles’ most paradoxical quantum states led researchers to construct a 37-dimensional experiment ⌘ Read more
An algorithm inspired by quantum computers but used on classical machines can make weather forecasts and other turbulence simulations a thousand times easier to run ⌘ Read more
Indigenous peoples of the Arctic traditionally use polar bear fur for its ice-resistant properties, but the science behind the bears’ natural antifreeze hasn't been studied until now ⌘ Read more
A numerical error in a scientific paper created alarm around the chemicals in black plastic utensils, but the extent to which they cause harm is up for debate ⌘ Read more
The success of Chinese firm DeepSeek suggests tech companies can train and run powerful AIs without consuming vast amounts of power ⌘ Read more
US President Donald Trump has pledged to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in government agencies in order to build a “merit-based” society. But psychological research shows that such initiatives can create fairer outcomes, if employed correctly ⌘ Read more
A patch made from lab-grown muscle cells boosted heart function in monkeys with cardiovascular disease and is now being tested in humans ⌘ Read more
The West Antarctic ice sheet could cause metres of sea level rise if it collapses – but more than 120,000 years ago, it may have survived an even warmer period than it's experiencing now ⌘ Read more
Remarkable archaeological finds are telling a new story of how prehistoric humans turned clothing from a necessity into a means of self-expression ⌘ Read more
Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 aircraft broke the sound barrier during three test runs, a step toward the possible return of supersonic commercial flights ⌘ Read more
Space-time may hide a bizarre new kind of black hole that causes Einstein’s theory of gravity to fail – and could solve the mystery of dark energy ⌘ Read more
For the first time that we know of, mice with two fathers have survived to adulthood, but the methods used would be "unthinkable" to try in people ⌘ Read more
Physicists have verified a connection between two counterintuitive quantum properties, which may help us understand how quantum objects stay inextricably connected through entanglement ⌘ Read more
The rate of warming in the oceans has more than quadrupled since 1985, suggesting global warming in general has undergone a marked acceleration ⌘ Read more
The new AI model from China's DeepSeek performs on a level with leading US models without requiring as much computing power – but despite a huge drop in their stock, it's not game over for US tech companies ⌘ Read more
In Europe as a whole, the increase in deaths from hot weather over the next century will outweigh the decline in deaths from cold weather, but in colder countries such as the UK, temperature-related deaths will decline overall ⌘ Read more
Despite widespread studies revealing the prevalence of racism, its impact is often overlooked. But there are ways to tackle hidden biases and systemic discrimination, says Keon West ⌘ Read more
Worlds with liquid water could have formed just 200 million years after the big bang from the remains of the earliest supernovae ⌘ Read more
Just three nasal injections of blood cells called platelets helped people whose smell was affected by covid-19 identify new odours ⌘ Read more
While some progress has been made in limiting greenhouse gas emissions, we are still on the path for high levels of global warming ⌘ Read more
Cryopreserved coral sperm could be used for future breeding programmes to restore damaged reefs ⌘ Read more
A lithium battery patterned with holes is flexible, stretchable and allows more airflow than cotton, making it perfect for fitness tracking or medical monitoring wearables ⌘ Read more
Using a computer model of the retina, researchers have been able to trace the cause of the expanding hole illusion ⌘ Read more
As the finale of the UK series approaches this evening, these are the best tactics to win the game of backstabbing and treachery, according to forensic psychology, game theory and evolutionary biology ⌘ Read more
Records from UK vehicle safety tests show that the average lifespan of an electric vehicle is 18 years, and the reliability is still improving considerably from year to year ⌘ Read more