Skin fossils from a sauropod dinosaur examined with an electron microscope feature structures called melanosomes, which are similar to those that create the bright colours in birds' feathers
From an incredible series of revelations about the ancient humans called Denisovans to surprising discoveries about tool making, this year has given us a clearer picture of how and why humans evolved to be so different from other primates
Scientists were amazed to discover a 507-year-old clam that was already 100 in Shakespeare’s day, but why did it live so long and what can we learn from it?
Excavations of a workshop that was buried in Pompeii almost 2000 years ago have given archaeologists unique insights into Roman construction techniques and the longevity of the empire’s concrete
The time of day that cancer drugs are administered could make a big difference to a patient's outcomes, and would be a relatively simple intervention to roll out
How a Finnish physicist named Karl Lemström once became obsessed with recreating the aurora borealis from scratch – and may have ended up creating something even more intriguing
From machine learning to voting, the workings of the world demand randomisation, but true sources of randomness are surprisingly hard to find. Now quantum mechanics has supplied the answer
Some of the elements used by living systems are far more abundant in Cassiopeia A than we thought, hinting that some parts of our galaxy might be more suitable for life than others
Screen time has been linked to all sorts of problems, from depression and obesity to poor sleep. But how worried should you really be? Jacob Aron sifts through the evidence
Children regularly exposed to temperatures over 30°C (86°F) have lower scores on literacy and numeracy tests at age 3 to 4, according to UNICEF data from six countries
The idea that we might be living in a simulated reality has worried us for centuries. Now physicists have found some tantalising clues – and devised an experiment that might reveal the truth
Researchers have uncovered a new species of wolf snake on Great Nicobar Island and named it Lycodon irwini in tribute to Steve Irwin. The glossy black, non-venomous snake grows up to a meter and appears confined to a small area....
There is relatively little information on the long-term health effects of tattooing, but a couple of recent studies suggest the art form might trigger prolonged inflammation
There is a widespread belief that altruism and equality drive social behaviour in traditional hunter-gatherer societies, but the truth is more surprising and complex
Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr had an ongoing rivalry about the true nature of quantum mechanics, and came up with a thought experiment that could settle the matter. Now, that experiment has finally been performed for real
From legal challenges to lesser-known apps, the teenagers of Australia are already preparing to push back against a law that will see under 16s banned from social media
The AI industry consumes vast amounts of energy, fresh water and investor cash. Now it also needs memory chips - the same ones used in laptops, smartphones and games consoles
Climate data and historical accounts suggest that crop failures in the 1340s prompted Italian officials to import grain from eastern Europe, and this may have carried in the plague bacterium
From a dragonfly to marine organisms, photographer Michael Benson zoomed in with powerful scanning electron microscopes to take these extraordinary shots for his book Nanocosmos
Nearly three decades since the remarkable cloning of Dolly the sheep, it has all gone quiet on the human cloning front. Michael Le Page wonders what's happening behind the scenes
Camera traps in an area of the Leuser rainforest patrolled by NGOs spotted 17 tigers in 2023 and 18 Sumatran tigers in 2024, while surveys elsewhere on the island averaged seven
Duelling prairie chickens, a snake-mimicking moth and a once-a-year sunrise at the South Pole feature in the best images from the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025
Pet owners' increasing tendency to see their animals as children rather than dogs or cats can have dire consequences. Owners, and veterinarians, should be wary, warns Eddie Clutton
What were the year's top sci-fi shows? Andor and Severance are still up there, but our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley also has some unexpected tips to share
Feedback is entertained by the commotion at the International Association for Cryptologic Research's recent elections, where results could not be decrypted after an "honest but unfortunate human mistake"
From Mickey 17 and M3gan 2.0 to a musical about the end of the world, this was an eclectic year for science-fiction films. Film columnist Simon Ings shares his two breakout hits
Feeling alienated in others' company, or "existential isolation", can happen to us all. David Robson digs into the psychological literature for a solution for one reader
We know that pets influence our microbiome, but scientists have now found that having a dog seems to change this ecosystem in a way that could boost our well-being
The covid-19 pandemic opened the door to once-controversial human challenge trials. Now, volunteers are willingly catching norovirus and influenza to reveal how our immune systems really fight back
More than half a million satellites are planned to launch by the end of the 2030s, and simulations suggest they will have a severe impact on space-based astronomy
The famous double-slit experiment brings into question the very nature of matter. Its cousin, the quantum eraser experiment, makes us question the very existence of time – and how much we can manipulate it
Two clashing ideas about disorder inside black holes now point to the same strange conclusions, and it could reshape the foundations of how we think about space and time
Is there any science to viral relationship tests like the bird test, the orange peel theory and the moon phase test? Emily Impett, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Toronto, has the answers
We knew from prior analyses that a distant asteroid sampled in 2020 carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life, and researchers have just found the missing ingredient: sugar
Russia's only launch site capable of sending humans to orbit has suffered serious damage that may take two years to fix. Will NASA keep supporting the ISS without Russian involvement, or is this the end for the space station?
Tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to a shift in the body’s metabolism that means muscle cells outcompete cancer cells in the race to get sugar to grow
Chimpanzees naturally ingest surprising amounts of alcohol from ripe, fermenting fruit. Careful measurements show that their typical fruit diet can equal one to two human drinks each day. This supports the idea that alcohol exposure is...
We have long struggled to determine how the first living organisms on Earth came together. Now, surprising evidence hints that poorly understood prions may have been the vital missing ingredient
A handful of people with HIV have been cured after receiving HIV-resistant stem cells – but a man who received non-resistant stem cells is also now HIV-free