Latest

Science

Discoveries, space and research.

Science

New nanoparticles make hidden chemical differences light up

Scientists have developed ultra-bright nanoparticles that can detect tiny amounts of chemicals and distinguish between molecules that look almost…

‘You could absolutely rip your bloody hand off’: competitors gather for England oyster shucking championship

The English have been eating oysters for thousands of years, and advocates say they are an important indicator of the health of…

Science

Is culture alive?

From Mozart to Madonna, dim sum to doughnuts, Shakespeare to Sartre – not all forms of life need DNA On Mount Athos, in northern Greece, a monk rises…

Scientists opened a sealed envelope after 10 years. Gravity still didn’t make sense

A decade-long NIST experiment has produced a new measurement of the universal gravitational constant that differs unexpectedly…

Science

T. rex teeth indicate it ran as warm as an elephant

Isotope ratios provide a hint that the giants were actively managing temperatures.

New £1m grant to help groups protect green spaces

The cash can be used by local communities to protect threatened green spaces and wildlife sites.

Science

'You never quite know what you're going to pull out'

The group is marking a decade of fishing everything from an inflatable doll to a Nintendo out of the harbour.

When did grey squirrels start posing a threat to reds?

A pair of grey squirrels was reportedly brought to the United Kingdom by a Cheshire banker in 1876.

Science

A 66-million-year-old tooth reveals T. rex was nearly as warm as a human

Chemical clues preserved inside fossilized T. rex teeth reveal that the dinosaur maintained a body temperature of about 97 degrees Fahrenheit, almost…

Einstein’s “spooky action” just survived one of physics’ most extreme tests

Physicists have detected strong evidence that heavy, fleeting Z bosons can become quantum entangled during Higgs boson decays at…

Science

APOD: 2026 September 20 – Analemma over the Callanish Stones

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 20 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy…

Nature reserve to double in size, thanks to gift

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust acquires an area of wet woodland, marsh and pastureland due to the will.

Science

New chemical wipes out 95% of termites without harming humans

A chemical that stops drywood termites from building new exoskeletons killed about 95% of colonies in testing, offering a potentially safer…

A giant crater may reveal the origin of Mars’ doomed moon

A massive crater on Mars’ moon Phobos may hide a dense region of compressed material that could reveal whether the moon is a…

Science

This deep-sea enzyme survives heat that destroys most proteins

A deep-sea microbe uses an exceptionally heat-resistant enzyme to turn atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia at temperatures that would destroy most…

This tiny organism can shrink to one quarter its size in milliseconds

A single-celled organism can shrink to one-quarter of its length in milliseconds using a remarkable calcium-powered protein…

Science

Scientists find that “perfect” systems may be surprisingly fragile

Complex systems may work better when their parts are not perfectly alike. Northwestern physicists found that carefully balanced variation, or…

The US air force admitted to deploying weapons in space. Don’t expect the White House to explain why

The revelation ‘left experts scratching their heads at exactly what Donald Trump has in his cosmic arsenal’ In Hollywood at…

Science

Hummingbird hawk moths and ivy bees: The insects thriving as temperatures rise

Hummingbird hawk moths - often mistaken for small birds - are being spotted in the West Midlands.

Spider season! Ten species you’ll see scuttling across Britain’s carpets and lawns this autumn

The world is suddenly full of webs and hairy legs. But why? And what do they belong to? Meet the spiders you’re most likely to…

Science

Country diary: A lesson from my final diary after nearly 40 years – keep looking closely | Phil Gates

Stanhope, Weardale: I’ve realised in that time that beauty and fascination can lie in the most mundane of plants – in this case, broad-leaved dock…

APOD: 2026 September 19 – A Zodiacal Night

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 19 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss…

Science

Scientists discover the first diplodocus ever found outside North America

A 150-million-year-old dinosaur fossil from Spain has been identified as the first confirmed Diplodocus ever found outside North America. The giant…

Billions in rare earth elements may be hiding in America’s coal ash

Scientists are looking to diatoms, sea sponges, and plants for a cleaner way to recover rare earth elements and other valuable…

Science

NASA Invites Media to Albania Artemis Accords Signing Ceremony

The Republic of Albania will sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at 12 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 21, at NASA Headquarters in Washington,…

NASA-JAXA XRISM Mission Sees Pulsar Gathering Companion’s ‘Wind’

Using data from the Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory, astronomers have directly observed a…

Science

SpaceX scores another $950 million from NASA for 3 more crewed flights to ISS

SpaceX is getting an extension to an existing contract that will allow three additional crewed Dragon flights to the International Space Station.

NASA Awards SpaceX Three Crew Flights to Space Station

To continue regular crew transportation to the International Space Station, NASA has awarded SpaceX three additional missions…

Science

COSI Telescope Comes Together

UC Berkeley engineers and managers watch as the COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) detector assembly is slowly raised from a table in this July…

Tech billionaires trying to live for ever? That’s a waste of time, says physicist

Exclusive: Prof Jim Al-Khalili says he will offer solution to ‘arrow of time’ problem in Royal Institution lectures Tech…

Science

NASA’s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy

Though the spiral galaxy in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope seems serene, it hides a chaotic secret. This galaxy is NGC 4698,…

Scientists just named a new snake after Guns N’ Roses legend Slash

A newly discovered snake from New Guinea has been named after Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, who has loved reptiles since…

Science

Michael Sheen's 'constructive' meeting with first minister over toxic dumping claims

Michael Sheen said his meeting with the first minister was "early days but that's really encouraging".

Caltech’s tiny new chip can steer light in 74 quadrillionths of a second

A new Caltech device can redirect a beam of light in just 74 femtoseconds using another beam and a nanoscale silicon metasurface.…

Science

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope could last more than twice as long as planned

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope may now have enough fuel for at least 22 years of science, more than double its original 10 year design life. An…

Scientists are about to test Einstein’s gravity with exotic matter

Scientists have found a new way to create a controlled beam of muonium, an exotic atom containing a heavier cousin of the…

Science

From old railways to an oasis of art, food and nature: how an eco-park was born in Greater Manchester

Northern Roots is launching Britain’s biggest urban farm and eco-park, in an effort to boost people’s health and wellbeing Standing in the open green…

NASA’s Moon orbiter finds a 728-foot crater that wasn’t there before

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed a 728-foot-wide crater that formed on the Moon in 2024, making it the largest…

Science

Week in wildlife: swimming pigs, circling sharks and a fox on the cricket pitch

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Nebula image wins Royal Observatory competition

Ali Alobaidly is named Astronomy Photographer of the Year for his image of the Shark Nebula.

Science

‘A map is never neutral’: meet the cartographers who took on centuries of western bias

Equal Earth projection, adopted by the UN last week, provides an alternative to 16th-century Mercator display Three cartographers have spoken of…

APOD: 2026 September 18 – Messier 33: The Triangulum Galaxy

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 18 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss…

Science

Anak Krakatau blasts ash nearly 10 miles high

Anak Krakatau erupted for more than 24 hours in early September, sending volcanic ash up to 50,000 feet into the atmosphere. The ash cloud shut down…

Scientists just discovered why Arctic sea ice moves so strangely

Arctic sea ice may move in unexpected ways because individual ice floes are constantly colliding and transferring energy.…

Science

See tiny organisms on show in microscopic video competition

The winning video features tiny hair-like structures, called cilia, in the airways of a child with a rare genetic disease.

New wild cat species discovered - with only one known living member

A spotted wildcat long mistaken for relatives has been identified as a new species in Bolivia.

Science

New cat species identified for first time in more than a century in Bolivia

New species of wild feline was discovered in Bolivia’s Yungas forest that is smaller than the average domestic ⁠cat A diminutive wild cat that…

NASA Awards Launch Services for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Detector

NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the agency’s StarBurst mission, a small satellite designed to investigate…

Science

Inside Science

Might the UK and US joining their AI forces help solve nuclear fusion?

NASA Invites Media to SpaceX’s 35th Resupply Launch to Space Station

Media accreditation is open for the next cargo launch that will deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to…

Science

Repeat offender fined for searching for gold in protected river

Brian Wright, 68, from Henley-upon-Thames, was caught gold panning on a protected river in north Wales.

Scientists discover a mysterious new frog hiding in the Amazon

Scientists discovered a new frog species in the flooded forests of the western Amazon, distinguishing it from nearly identical…

Science

A $100 detector can see invisible particles raining down from space

A pocket-sized, roughly $100 detector can reveal the invisible stream of cosmic particles constantly passing through Earth and even through our…

Astronomers just found the youngest known planet ever

Astronomers have confirmed a Jupiter-size planet less than a million years old, making Elias 2-24 b the youngest known planet and…

Science

JWST’s mysterious little red dots may be black holes growing at incredible speeds

New supercomputer simulations suggest JWST’s puzzling Little Red Dots are rapidly growing black holes from the early Universe. Extreme radiation may…

The farmer who turned to singing after bovine TB silenced his fields

Dairy farmer Mervyn Kelso struggled with the sadness of the empty fields when he lost his entire herd to bovine TB.

Science

‘Very messy eaters’: scientists solve the mystery of when black holes ‘burp’

The astronomical bodies fire off powerful jets in two distinct phases in their feeding cycle, researchers discover Scientists have solved the mystery…

‘Like a Disney movie’: Three wild dog brothers make Africa’s longest journey

As three siblings came of age and had to leave their pack, scientists tracked the dogs’ perilous 2,500-mile odyssey to find their…

Science

Do whales grieve? Rare footage of humpback alongside stillborn calf suggests they might | Olaf Meynecke for the Conversation

The behaviours we observed could represent grief, but they could also reflect maternal attachment, confusion or instinctive caregiving It was a…

Part-human part-mouse brain developed in science breakthrough

Researchers at Stanford University genetically altered mice to be able to receive and function with human brain cells.

Science

Scientists create mice with part-human brains

Researchers hope to shed light on conditions such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and rare forms of dementia…

Scientists turn seawater into fresh water without harmful brine

Scientists have developed a solar-powered desalination system that turns seawater into fresh water while removing nearly all of…

Science

A 240-million-year-old fossil just changed the dinosaur timeline

A newly identified 240-million-year-old animal from Tanzania is forcing scientists to rethink the early dinosaur timeline. Dinodontosaurus…

Microplastics in soil pose global threat by acting like ‘Trojan horse’ to deliver toxins

Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study finds Microplastics act like a…

Science

Venus may have swallowed its own moon

Venus may have once had a moon, but new research suggests the planet’s incredibly slow rotation could have doomed it. Computer simulations showed…

Scientists “truly astonished” by discovery that challenges Earth’s origin story

A new study suggests Earth formed almost entirely from material in the inner Solar System, challenging the idea that water-rich…

Science

Colombia and Brazil deadliest countries for environmental activists, report says

The two countries accounted for 52% of killings of environmental activists in 2025, .

The girl with a will to live: the love, hope and pain of raising Elsie – my one in 163 million daughter

She was born with an ultra-rare genetic disorder. After my decades working in film PR, I now face the biggest campaign of all:…

Science

James Webb reveals Chariklo’s mysterious rings are changing faster than expected

The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed surprising changes in the rings around Chariklo, a small object orbiting between Saturn and Uranus. Over…

Warning of space arms race as US confirms weapons in Earth's orbit

The 's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale explains what an arms race in space might look like - and what it could mean for us…

Science

Why weapons used in space could impact us all

The US has confirmed it deployed a space weapon in Earth's orbit, the first time it has acknowledged such offensive capabilities.

This Australian cave hid 25,000 years of ritual secrets

Microscopic plant remains are revealing how GunaiKurnai ancestors used Cloggs Cave for ritual practices over thousands of years.…

Science

Scientists discover a major brain shift between ages 50 and 75

Scientists have uncovered sweeping changes in how the human brain controls and organizes its genome beginning in midlife, offering new clues to why…

What weapon could the US have put into space?

The announcement by the US points to a developing field of modern warfare in the Earth's orbit.

Science

UV light reveals possible camouflage on a 125-million-year-old crocodile

A 125-million-year-old crocodile fossil has revealed preserved skin, possible sensory organs, sophisticated respiratory structures, and an unexpected…

The shape behind the Einstein problem just revealed strange new physics

A mathematical shape famous for covering a surface without ever repeating has revealed an unexpected ability to twist light into…

Science

No, collagen won’t make your wrinkles disappear - video

Collagen powders, gummies and pills have boomed in popularity in recent years boosted by claims that they smooth wrinkles, promote glossy hair and…

Will El Niño bring winter snow to the UK?

Will El Niño bring winter snow to the UK? Matt Taylor looks ahead to the autumn and winter months.

Science

UK could 'unlock' 100 more oil and gas projects, say North Sea bosses

The UK could supply half of its oil and gas needs without imports if the government showed more support for the sector, an OEUK report claims.

They’re the sopranos of the forest, so what’s silencing the gibbons’ morning chorus?

As human development and roads increasingly fragment their habitats, a study suggests traffic noise could be altering the…

Science

Is collagen all hype? – podcast

Collagen powders, gummies and pills have boomed in popularity in recent years boosted by claims that they smooth wrinkles, promote glossy hair and…

A coral reef thought dead for 60 years is teeming with life

More than 60 years after surveys suggested a deep coral reef off Benin was probably dead, scientists have found it alive. Cameras…

Science

Did you solve it? Do you have the brain of an engineer?

The answers to today’s puzzles Earlier today I set four engineering puzzles. Here they are again with solutions. (Do check out the hundreds of great…

Meteor showers and supermoons: Autumn's night sky highlights

Meteor showers and supermoons: night sky phenomenons you won't want to miss

Science

Crocodiles are famous for finding their way home. These ones didn’t

Captive-raised saltwater crocodiles released into Bangladesh’s Sundarbans surprised scientists by settling into the wild rather than trying to return…

This German submarine sank in 1917. It’s still leaking TNT

A World War I submarine wreck off Denmark is leaking TNT into the surrounding water, seabed, and marine life more than a century…

Science

Can you solve it? Do you have the brain of an engineer?

Hacks from the hidden world of test engineering UPDATE: Read the answers here Today’s puzzles test your engineering smarts. The cranberries Continue…

One Mount Etna eruption took weeks. Another happened in hours

Mount Etna’s ancient eruptions followed radically different paths, with some magma lingering near the surface for weeks while…

Science

Scientists find a new layer of Alzheimer’s hidden in the genome

Scientists found that the 3D organization of DNA is disrupted in several types of brain cells affected by Alzheimer’s disease, altering how important…

Physicists can’t agree on how the Universe works

A massive worldwide survey of physicists has revealed surprisingly little agreement about some of the universe’s biggest…

Science

NASA-backed scientists turn plastic waste into edible cookies

Scientists have engineered yeast to turn PET plastic and agricultural waste into ingredients for protein-rich, 3D-printed cookies called µBites.…

Venus’s pale yellow clouds may hide something surprisingly dark

A century-old mystery in Venus’s clouds just became more intriguing, as scientists calculated how strongly the unidentified…

Science

Scientists find water was fueling volcanoes 3 billion years ago

Ancient rocks from Western Australia suggest water was reaching deep inside Earth more than three billion years ago, long before modern plate…

Mercury’s surface reveals a surprisingly fiery past

Scientists have discovered that Mercury’s surface contains far less silicon dioxide than previously thought, pointing to an…

Science

66-million-year-old feather in dinosaur poop may reveal why birds survived the asteroid

A feather discovered inside 66-million-year-old fossilized dinosaur poop may help explain why modern birds survived the asteroid catastrophe. The…

Physicists just found a tiny glitch in time itself

Unconventional quantum theories may imply that time itself has a tiny fundamental uncertainty, placing an ultimate limit on how…

Science

Iceland to submit bill that could ban whaling in its waters

The country is one of just three that still permits commercial whaling, while its government has faced mounting pressure to ban the practice Iceland…

DNA solves the mystery of a body found in the Arctic in 1859

Scientists have used DNA from living descendants to identify four more members of the doomed Franklin expedition, including Harry…

Science

Have scientists finally detected dark matter? - video

For decades physicists have been puzzling over the enigma of dark matter. We think it makes up 85% of the matter in the universe, but the mysterious…

Ancient teeth reveal humans were getting high 25,000 years ago

Ancient human remains from Sulawesi suggest people were habitually using the psychoactive betel nut as far back as 25,000 years…

Science

‘One of the biggest discoveries in science’: have scientists found dark matter? – podcast

For decades physicists have been puzzling over the enigma of dark matter. We think it makes up 85% of the matter in the universe, but the mysterious…

The Moon may have formed intact just hours after a giant collision

Scientists have discovered that the Moon-forming collision may have depended heavily on how hot and physically strong early Earth…

Science

400,000-year-old teeth reveal a hidden link in human evolution

More than 400,000-year-old Homo erectus teeth from China may reveal a surprising link between this ancient human species, Denisovans, and some modern…

Have we found alien life? Hundreds of scientists weigh in

Two major alien-life announcements in 2025 generated enormous excitement, but most astrobiologists remained unconvinced. Only…

Science

Hurrah, lie-ins may be good for us – if only I can convince my five-year-old daughter | Arwa Mahdawi

CEOs may like to get up at the crack of dawn and go for a run, but I prefer optimising my life with lie-ins, trashy films, swearing and coffee This…

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is bursting with methanol

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS contains exceptionally high levels of methanol, suggesting it formed under conditions very different…

Science

Devil’s Arrows: Ancient builders hauled 55,000-pound stones 11 miles for Britain’s tallest stone row

Britain’s towering Devil’s Arrows were built from 25-tonne stones hauled at least 18 kilometers from Brimham Rocks around 4,000 years ago. The…

“Parachute science” is failing the tropics, home to more than 80% of insect species

Insects quietly hold much of the natural world together, yet conservation efforts are overlooking the tropical regions where more…

Science

Geologists reveal the Americas collided millions of years earlier than thought

Volcanic rocks in Colombia are rewriting the timeline of the collision between Central and South America. Their magnetic signatures show that major…

Dark energy debunked? Cosmic acceleration may be an illusion

A new analysis of more than 1,700 supernovae is questioning whether the universe is really accelerating at all. After accounting…

Science

Astronomers detect ancient hydrogen signal that could help map the Universe

Astronomers have detected an exceptionally faint hydrogen radio signal from billions of light-years away using South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope.…

Giant new dinosaur discovered beneath construction site in Brazil

Scientists have identified a giant new dinosaur from Brazil that reached about 20 meters long and lived 120 million years ago.…

Science

Scientists observe Einstein’s gravity in the quantum world for the first time

Physicists have directly observed a long-predicted quantum effect of gravity, putting one of Einstein’s foundational ideas to a striking new test.…

The American “cheetah” wasn’t a cheetah at all

The extinct “American cheetah” was not really a cheetah at all, but a puma relative with an unexpectedly flexible lifestyle.…

Science

‘We have really cool sharks’: three-year project to lift lid on Britain’s little-understood species

Anglers will help scientists investigate the porbeagle, tope and blue shark to boost knowledge and conservation ‘We have really cool sharks,” says Dr…

Doctors saved this rare monkey from amputation. Months later, she gave birth

A critically endangered roloway monkey has given birth just months after surgeons performed an unusual operation that saved her…

Science

A War of 1812 soldier buried his own arm. His real story is even stranger

A rediscovered memoir reveals that celebrated War of 1812 veteran Shadrack Byfield was far more rebellious and troubled than history has portrayed,…

Your gut microbiome may be more contagious than scientists thought

Scientists have found evidence that some gut bacterial populations can spread rapidly between people and across continents,…

Science

Antarctica gained a record 695 billion tons of ice. Scientists found the surprising reason

East Antarctica gained an astonishing 695 billion tons of ice between 2021 and 2023, temporarily slowing Antarctica’s long-term decline. Researchers…

This “new” frog was hiding in plain sight for 100 years

A common frog found across Ecuador and Colombia has finally been recognized as its own species after more than a century of…

Science

Life uses 4 DNA letters. Scientists just made 8 work

Researchers at UC San Diego have demonstrated that a key cellular enzyme can accurately read an eight-letter genetic alphabet, doubling the four…

Scientists overturn a theory about this shark’s strange head

Scientists have overturned a leading explanation for why male and female bonnethead sharks have differently shaped heads. Instead…

Science

MIT turns bacteria into living transistors

MIT researchers have created bacterial “transistors” that can be wired together into living circuits capable of performing calculations and directing…

Dying radio galaxies fade faster than scientists expected

Astronomers have identified a surprisingly young population of fading radio galaxies whose supermassive black holes have already…

Science

Scientists discover a bizarre “devil flower” hidden in Thailand

Scientists have discovered a strange black “devil flower” in Thailand that lives mostly underground, steals nutrients from fungi, and looks…

Deep beneath Mars, scientists find a vast hidden magma system

Deep beneath Mars, scientists have found evidence of enormous magmatic systems once thought to require Earth-like plate…

Science

Ancient “living fossils” may reveal how complex life began

A newly discovered microbe living inside ancient stromatolite communities may offer a rare look at how complex life first emerged. Researchers…

NASA scientists discover a giant 10-sided pattern on Saturn

A huge 10-sided atmospheric pattern has appeared around Saturn’s south pole, giving the planet a surprising counterpart to its…

Science

Bats carry dangerous viruses without getting sick. This may be why

Scientists discovered that more than 500 species of vesper bats possess two separate sets of antibody genes, an immune arrangement never before found…

The universe has plenty of hydrogen. So why is star formation collapsing?

Star formation across the universe has fallen dramatically over the past 4.5 billion years, but astronomers have uncovered a…

Science

September brings a dazzling Venus and a glowing Harvest Moon

September’s sky features brilliant Venus, the Milky Way’s hazy center, and the seasonal turning point of the equinox. The month ends with a glowing…

The place that never freezes: the Arctic habitat where global heating threatens more ice, not less

The race to study the North Water between Canada and Greenland before it changes has led to a bold plan for an Inuit-run…

Science

Interstellar solar sails hit a strange problem at 75% of light speed

Solar sails pushed by powerful lasers could reach incredible speeds, but relativity may eventually make the light itself work against them. At around…

A coffee-table-size scorpion roamed Earth before forests existed

A meter-long scorpion with massive pincers stalked ancient Britain 415 million years ago, long before forests and the…

Science

Could humans ever communicate with whales? - podcast

Ever since the earliest known recording of whale song was made in 1949, researchers have been captivated by the wails, rumbles, clicks, grunts and…

Scientists discover why snake embryos twist into spirals

Snake embryos begin life curled into a distinctive right-handed spiral, and scientists may finally know why. Their bodies grow…

Science

A massive plume deep beneath Africa is pulling the continent apart

A vast plume rising from deep inside Earth may be responsible for mysterious movements along the East African Rift. The discovery reveals how forces…

NASA’s Swift telescope is back, but time is running out

NASA has brought two of Swift’s telescopes back online after technical problems derailed a commercial mission intended to rescue…

Science

NASA delays Crew-13 launch after leak found on SpaceX Dragon

NASA and SpaceX have delayed Crew-13 after finding an oxidizer leak in the Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system during prelaunch preparations.…

Did you solve it? The fin-tastic fish puzzle

The solution to today’s underwater conundrums Earlier today I set you the following puzzles. Here they are again with the…

Science

Fossil feet may be misleading scientists about human evolution

Wild monkeys in West Africa can climb vertical tree trunks using foot flexibility scientists did not realize they possessed. The discovery challenges…

Space junk punched a new hole in the moon. It’s not ours to abuse | Moriba Jah

The space industry treats the sky as a place to dump what it no longer wants. We must develop a new model of accountability On 5…

Science

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launches to reveal the Universe’s darkest secrets

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has launched on a million mile journey to L2, where it will scan huge portions of the cosmos for clues about dark…

Can you solve it? The fin-tastic fish puzzle

Can you think in 3D? UPDATE: Read the solution here Today’s puzzle concerns a fish swimming in a tank that is two metres high,…

Science

Rocky planets may have formed just 100 million years after the Big Bang

Rocky planets may have been able to start forming just 100 million years after the Big Bang, thanks to enormous early supernovae that scattered…

1.4-million-year-old footprints reveal a surprisingly large human relative

Ancient footprints in Kenya reveal that eight Paranthropus boisei may have traveled together 1.4 million years ago, with some…

Science

This strange “spacetime crystal” can suddenly become a black hole

Physicists have mathematically captured a bizarre “spacetime crystal” that can either dissolve or collapse into a microscopic black hole after only a…

Scientists discover a massive heat anomaly deep inside Mars

Mars has a hidden temperature divide, with its southern interior potentially hundreds of degrees hotter than the north and…

Science

Seven new frog species were hiding beneath Madagascar’s forest floor

Scientists have discovered seven new species of Madagascar’s elusive diamond frogs, using DNA from modern and century-old museum specimens to solve a…

Ancient Egyptian princesses were buried with weapons. Their bones reveal why

Weapons buried with ancient Egyptian princesses may have been more than ceremonial decorations. Researchers studying royal…

Science

Researchers unveil sustainable spirulina solution to vitamin B12 deficiency

Researchers have produced a form of Spirulina containing biologically active vitamin B12 at levels comparable to beef. By carefully controlling the…

The next Cascadia megaquake could hit Oregon harder than expected

The Juan de Fuca plate beneath northern Oregon appears to be shallower than previously estimated, potentially making shaking from…

Science

Some signs of quantum gravity may be an illusion

Quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity explain almost everything we see in nature, yet physicists still do not know how to unite them. A…

Scientists turn one of the hardest plastics to recycle into high-performance engine lubricant

Researchers have discovered a way to turn notoriously difficult-to-recycle PVC plastic into a key ingredient used in…

Science

The universe is still speeding up, but nobody knows why

A major new analysis challenges recent claims that the universe's expansion is slowing, finding that the evidence for cosmic acceleration remains…

Australia’s red soil may be hiding a massive clean energy source

Researchers have discovered that Western Australia’s iron-rich rocks can naturally generate hydrogen and that the process may be…

Science

NASA’s Roman telescope will see 100 times more sky than Hubble

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will combine Hubble-like detail with a field of view 100 times larger, giving astronomers a sweeping new way to explore…

Chimpanzees have been hurling rocks at the same trees for more than a decade

Some chimpanzees in West Africa repeatedly throw rocks at particular trees, creating piles of stones that can remain in use for…

Science

Scientists tested 212 plant-based meat alternatives. Every one contained fungal toxins

Every one of 212 plant-based meat alternatives and drinks tested in the UK contained at least one naturally occurring fungal toxin, though…

Scientists tracked 4,500 animals and found a surprising human effect

Scientists tracking thousands of animals found that our physical presence can reshape where wildlife moves and lives, sometimes…

Science

Why scientists asked 1,000 people to bury their underwear

More than 1,000 volunteers buried cotton underwear across Switzerland to help scientists measure how active different soils are. The faster the…

“I jumped from my chair” – Astronomers spot Betelgeuse’s hidden companion

Astronomers have captured their clearest image yet of Betelgeuse’s long-suspected companion, potentially ending a search that…

Science

Your dislike of eating bugs may be 9,000 years old

Ancient teeth and human DNA are revealing a surprising history of insect eating. Modern humans in northern Eurasia appear to have eaten insects only…

A mysterious cosmic hum may come from 13-billion-year-old dark stars

Today’s mysterious gravitational-wave background may preserve clues about how the Universe’s first supermassive black holes…

Science

324-million-year-old fossil reveals how insects conquered land

Ancient fossils suggest insects conquered land through a long amphibious phase rather than making an abrupt jump from water to dry ground. A newly…

Scientists may have finally caught “empty” space changing light

A magnetar with an astonishingly powerful magnetic field may have revealed a quantum effect predicted by Werner Heisenberg nearly…

Science

NASA just used satellites and debris to navigate without GPS

NASA has successfully tested a system that allows satellites to navigate without GPS by using other spacecraft and debris as landmarks in orbit. In…

190-year-old DNA reveals a hidden pangolin species

DNA from a nearly 190-year-old museum specimen has helped scientists confirm a distinct Himalayan pangolin species hiding in…

Science

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope is ready to hunt thousands of alien worlds

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope is now enclosed inside its Falcon Heavy fairing and nearly ready for launch. Its mission could uncover thousands of…

One asteroid strike may explain two mysteries of Mars’ moon Deimos

A single asteroid impact may explain two of Deimos’s most puzzling features: its huge southern depression and unusually smooth,…

Science

Three forgotten kings could rewrite the history of ancient Assyria

Three forgotten Assyrian kings may have been hiding in plain sight for more than 2,700 years. By piecing together clues from tablets, inscriptions,…

Forces deep inside Earth helped Antarctica freeze before the Arctic

Scientists may have solved the mystery of why Antarctica froze millions of years before the Arctic. Slow-moving waves deep inside…

Science

Atomic catalyst unlocks the hidden value of plant waste

Scientists have created a highly efficient catalyst that breaks down stubborn lignin from plant waste into useful chemicals under relatively mild…

Scientists find hidden “highways” guiding animal evolution

A sweeping analysis of thousands of animal genomes suggests that chromosomes do not evolve randomly but instead follow a limited…

Science

NASA finds Earth microbes could survive on the Moon

NASA scientists found that microbes brought by astronauts could survive in cold, shadowed niches around the Moon’s South Pole, potentially…

Newton’s 300-year-old law just passed its biggest test yet

A massive test of gravity across the cosmos found that it behaves almost exactly as Newton and Einstein predicted, even across…

Science

Bird flu is spreading. Your backyard feeder could make it worse

Backyard bird feeders could become unexpected hotspots for H5N1 as Australia’s bird flu outbreak spreads, bringing species together in ways that…

A ghostly ribbon of stars reveals hidden dark matter

A faint ribbon of stars around a distant galaxy has become the first globular cluster stellar stream ever identified beyond the…

Science

NASA is about to launch a powerful new eye on the universe

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has been cleared for final launch preparations ahead of a targeted August 30 liftoff aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy. The…

Trump to award Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II astronauts

The Artemis II crew will receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor after becoming the first humans in more than 50 years to…

Science

Scientists discover a real-life “dragon” and name it after Syrax

Scientists discovered a small, yellowish mountain horned dragon in Thailand and named it Acanthosaura syrax after a dragon from House of the Dragon.…

Scientists left this farm field alone. Thousands of orchids appeared

An abandoned farm field became a flourishing wildflower meadow within little more than a decade, with plant diversity doubling…

Science

Black holes keep tearing these stars apart, but they survive

Astronomers have found stars that repeatedly skim past supermassive black holes, surviving each encounter while producing a new burst of light. In…

This shark can live 400 years. Its eyes barely seem to age

Greenland sharks may live for 400 years without suffering the kind of retinal decline normally associated with aging. Researchers…

Science

JWST finds early galaxies may be 4 times more massive than thought

Astronomers using JWST have discovered that massive early galaxies contain far more small, faint stars than expected. That hidden population could…

Queen bees have a disturbing way to survive pesticides

Honeybee queens exposed to pesticides can shift some of the contamination into their eggs, revealing a previously unknown…

Science

Archaeologists discover mysterious 400-year-old Indigenous pot in Florida

A tiny, fully intact Indigenous pot buried for roughly 400 years has left archaeologists wondering why such a usable object was deliberately…

2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck reveals ancient waterproofing secrets

Scientists analyzing a 2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck found that its hull was coated with pine tar and, in one area, a mixture of…

Science

A lost mega-cliff may explain the Grand Canyon’s missing billion years

A colossal cliff system created as the supercontinent Rodinia broke apart may have exposed the heart of the Grand Canyon nearly a billion years…

“One-in-a-million” sea creature fossil preserves soft tissue for 450 million years

Scientists have identified exceptionally rare soft tissue preserved in a 450-million-year-old crinoid fossil, more than 200…

Science

Scientists say the human family tree may need a major rewrite

The human family tree may be due for a major rewrite. Researchers argue that Australopithecus and Paranthropus should be folded into the genus Homo…

Scientists crushed diamond beyond Neptune-like pressures—and solved a 20-year mystery

Extreme experiments have revealed how diamond behaves at crushing pressures beyond those inside Neptune and Uranus, resolving a…

Science

A SpaceX rocket smashed into the Moon — NASA just revealed the crater

A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 stage crashed into the Moon on Aug. 5, leaving behind a newly formed crater about 60 feet wide. NASA’s Lunar…

Pollen has a surprising problem — and honeybees have found a way around it

Honeybees can apparently detect when their food has the wrong balance of essential nutrients and adjust how much they eat to…

Science

This 23-foot crocodylian may have ruled South America’s food chain

Miocene South America was packed with giant prey—and the predators hunting them were just as spectacular. Fossil bite marks suggest crocodylians,…

16 mummies and a dog reveal a hidden order inside an ancient Egyptian tomb

A tomb in Egypt’s Theban Necropolis reveals a surprisingly organized story of burial, reuse, and changing beliefs spanning…

Science

Scientists may have finally proved that “empty” space isn’t really empty

A magnetar’s colossal magnetic field may have revealed a quantum effect predicted by Werner Heisenberg nearly 90 years ago, in which seemingly empty…

Einstein’s biggest “mistake” came back — and changed cosmology forever

Einstein’s abandoned cosmological constant made a spectacular comeback when astronomers discovered that the universe’s expansion…

Science

Tiny 1.7-billion-year-old fossils could reveal how complex life began

Scientists are searching some of Earth’s oldest rocks for tiny fossils that could reveal how simple microbial life made the extraordinary leap toward…

A new Ice Age species was hiding in la brea tar pits fossils for decades

Scientists have discovered a new extinct amphibian species hiding in the fossil collections of Los Angeles’ La Brea Tar Pits.…

Science

A 30-year-old fossil was hiding bones from a mysterious ancient sea monster

Fossils collected in Osaka more than 30 years ago have revealed a surprise hiding in plain sight: four previously unrecognized bones from a giant…

Paleontology rocked by organic molecules found in 66-million-year-old dinosaur bones

Researchers have found strong evidence that original collagen can survive inside dinosaur fossils for tens of millions of years,…

Science

The Atlantic Ocean can handle more warming than expected — with one big catch

Scientists have found that the AMOC may be far more vulnerable to rapid warming than to temperature alone. When warming happens slowly, the ocean can…

Human brain cells are far more powerful than scientists thought

A single human brain cell may be far more powerful than scientists once realized. Researchers found that cortical neurons can…

Science

Scientists turn Starlink into a giant scanner for Earth’s upper atmosphere

Researchers have found a clever new way to map a part of Earth’s upper atmosphere that is notoriously difficult to observe. Using orbital data from…

3,500-year-old skeletons challenge what scientists thought they knew about syphilis

Ancient remains from Vietnam suggest diseases like yaws may have been passed from mother to child thousands of years ago, a form…

Science

Scientists find evidence for two origins of life on Earth

Scientists probing life’s deepest origins have uncovered evidence that the first free-living cells may have emerged not once, but twice. The findings…

“Cannot be explained” – New super steel stuns scientists

Scientists have created an unusually corrosion-resistant stainless steel that could replace costly titanium components used to…

Science

King Harold may have lost England by backing the wrong pope

A forgotten fragment of a lost papal letter is offering a surprising new explanation for the Norman Conquest. England may have backed the wrong pope…

150-million-year-old dinosaur footprints reveal something strange about its walk

A spectacular 150-million-year-old trail of more than 130 footprints captures a giant sauropod making a complete loop before…

Science

The secret hidden in these ancient manuscripts isn’t written in ink

Researchers can now recover DNA from centuries-old parchment without damaging the manuscripts, turning historic documents into unexpected genetic…

For 15,000 years, humans and dogs have been changing each other

Dogs have been shaping—and being shaped by—humans for about 15,000 years, evolving from early partners of hunter-gatherers into…

Science

60,000-year-old ostrich eggshell engravings reveal a surprisingly sophisticated human mind

More than 60,000 years ago, humans in southern Africa were engraving ostrich eggshells with intricate geometric patterns that appear far more…

Scientists discover bacteria that lock toxic uranium into a stable form

Deep underground, bacteria may be capable of doing something remarkable: trapping toxic uranium before it spreads. When…

Science

The dodo bird had a secret sensory world scientists are only now discovering

CT scans of the world’s rarest dodo skulls suggest the extinct bird may have had a stronger sense of smell, a highly sensitive beak, and a lifestyle…

Meteorite that smashed through a New Jersey roof reveals clues to life’s origins

A rare meteorite that crashed through a New Jersey roof contains evidence of ancient salty fluids, organic compounds, and amino…

Science

Earth’s molten core suddenly reversed direction — and scientists don’t know why

Earth’s molten iron core unexpectedly reversed direction beneath the Pacific, revealing a dramatic change in the hidden engine that creates our…

Scientists find unexpected life on Ötzi the Iceman’s 5,300-year-old body

More than 5,000 years after his death, Ötzi the Iceman is still hosting a remarkable mix of ancient and modern microorganisms.…

Science

Scientists rediscover lost Megalodon fossils—and reveal a 79-foot giant

Several enormous Megalodon vertebrae thought to have been destroyed in 1989 were found sitting unnoticed on a museum shelf. Their analysis…

World’s most-used weedkiller disrupts honeybee brains

Glyphosate was long thought to be safe for honeybees because they lack the enzyme the chemical targets in weeds. However,…

Science

The AMOC stayed strong even as a major ocean “lifeline” nearly shut down

Ancient seafloor sediments have revealed a surprising twist in how the Atlantic’s massive circulation system works. During a cold period about 3.4…

567-million-year-old fossils rewrite the dawn of animal life

A spectacular fossil site in Canada contains 567-million-year-old creatures that may represent some of the earliest animals to…

Science

80-million-year-old snake brain reveals a surprising evolutionary secret

An exceptionally preserved snake fossil from Brazil reveals that early snakes were far more diverse than scientists once thought. Detailed brain…

This school-bus-sized “terror croc” ate dinosaurs. Now it’s back

A massive crocodilian capable of attacking dinosaurs has been brought back to life as the first scientifically accurate mounted…

Science

Did T. rex leave these 66-million-year-old bite marks?

Fossilized dinosaur bones from Wyoming are offering a rare glimpse into the feeding behavior of Tyrannosaurus rex. Researchers examined more than…

518-million-year-old creature reveals the origins of spider fangs

A tiny 518-million-year-old sea creature has revealed the earliest known evidence of the structures that eventually became…

Science

These underwater bones could solve a mystery about extinct giants

Animal bones preserved in South Australia’s underwater caves reveal distinctive clues shaped by darkness, algae, bacteria, and other environmental…

DNA on the Shroud of Turin reveals centuries of hidden history

DNA traces in the Shroud of Turin reveal a remarkable mixture of human lineages, microbes, plants, animals, and coral accumulated…

Science

AI reveals a massive algae boom across the world’s oceans

An AI analysis of 1.2 million satellite images shows that floating algae blooms are spreading across the global ocean. The rapid growth of massive…

Scientists found two mysterious ‘ghost’ ancestors hiding in our DNA

Modern humans carry DNA from two mysterious extinct lineages in addition to Neanderthals and Denisovans. Their hidden genetic…

Science

This 4,000-year-old city defied the rules of history

As Mohenjo-daro prospered, the gap between its richest and poorest households actually shrank. Its shared infrastructure, fair trade systems, and…

A forgotten fossil just revealed a new Triassic predator from 210 million years ago

A fossil overlooked for nearly 80 years has revealed a previously unknown crocodile relative that lived 210 million years ago in…

Science

How the UK's extreme heat is shifting the conversation about air-con

Should we embrace air conditioning despite its costs and consequences?

Hidden charcoal reveals the true age of ancient cave paintings

A new analysis has precisely dated paintings in France’s Font-de-Gaume cave for the first time. Scientists discovered charcoal…

Science

500,000-year-old elephant bone hammer shows ancient humans were master toolmakers

Early humans in England crafted a rare piece of elephant bone into a reusable hammer for sharpening stone tools nearly 500,000 years ago. The…

New giant salamander species discovered in 3.5-million-year-old fossils

Fossils discovered in Japan more than two decades ago have finally been identified as a new genus and species of giant…

Science

The hidden cost of the night shift and how to sleep it off

More than three million people in the UK work night shifts, which can greatly impact their health. What can be done to help them?

After record heat, could the Atlantic make Britain's weather even more extreme?

As temperatures rise, scientists are investigating whether a changing Atlantic could bring more volatile weather to the UK

Science

First dinosaur bone from Antarctica found in a drawer

The fossil, collected in Antarctica in 1985, is part of the tail of a beast called a Titanosaur.

Fossil identified as first dinosaur ever found in Antarctica

Argentinian geologist Eduardo Olivero became the first scientist to find the remains of a dinosaur in Antarctica in 1986.

Science

Simpler, older version of Stonehenge found three miles from famous site

The structure consisted of two posts that lined up with the solstices 5,000 years ago.

From blast off to splashdown: My days following Nasa's historic mission to the Moon

Science Editor Rebecca Morelle reflects on how it felt to watch history being made.

Science

The 40 minutes when the Artemis crew loses contact with the Earth

As the astronauts pass behind the Moon they will experience a moment of silence and solitude as communication with the Earth is blocked.