The loss of snow cover in temperate forests is set to slow their growth and reduce their ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere, an overlooked consequence of climate change
Some numbers are so unimaginably large that they defy the bounds of modern mathematics, and now mathematicians are closing in on a number that may mark the edge of this bizarre abyss
Suddenly feeling old? Evidence now suggests that rather than a long, steady decline, we dramatically age around three specific times in our lives. Might it be possible to stay younger for longer?
Around seven asteroids or comets are thought to hit Saturn every year, but we have never spotted one in the act. Now, it seems one astronomer may have caught the moment of impact and the hunt is on for other images to verify the discovery
Computers can help ensure that mathematical proofs are correct, but translating traditional maths into a machine-readable format is an arduous task. Now, the latest generation of artificial intelligence models is taking on the job, and...
The skull of a 5-year-old girl who lived 140,000 years ago has similarities with modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, suggesting her parents might have belonged to different species
Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer
A study of fossils from the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago shows that forests in many parts of the world were wiped out, disrupting the carbon cycle and ensuring that Earth remained hot for millions of years
The growth of domestic solar installations opens the possibility of hackers targeting their smart inverter devices as a way to cause widespread power-system failures
Not quite crystals and not quite a glass, quasicrystals are an oddity whose properties are not well understood – but now we know how they can remain stable
Working in tandem, a quantum computer and a supercomputer modelled the behaviour of several molecules, paving the way for useful applications in chemistry and pharmaceutical research
Rocky bodies called protoplanets were thought to have formed slightly earlier in the inner solar system than those beyond the asteroid belt, but now a meteorite from the outer solar system is rewriting that view
From David Attenborough to Hannah Fry via Bryan Johnson, our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley selects her favourite science and technology documentaries of the year to date
While randomising a deck of cards gets more difficult as you add more cards, it turns out that the same isn't true for the qubits of quantum computers, which may prove surprisingly useful
The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted in June to stop recommending certain kinds of flu vaccines, a notable shift in vaccine guidance
When Siberian volcanoes kicked off the Great Dying, the real climate villain turned out to be the rainforests themselves: once they collapsed, Earth’s biggest carbon sponge vanished, CO₂ rocketed, and a five-million-year heatwave...
An analysis of the provenance of the Matarrubilla stone, a large megalith at Valencina in Spain, indicates that the monument’s builders must have had advanced seafaring technology
A lab experiment that simulated Mars conditions showed that green algae can grow in plastic containers made from the same algae, setting the stage for a self-sustaining system to build habitats on the planet
Red heart or thumbs up? Sending emojis to close friends makes them see you as more attentive and likeable than text-only messages do – no matter which emojis you use
An ancient human site in Germany features animal bones that were smashed into small pieces and heated to extract fat 125,000 years ago, showing that Neanderthal culinary skills were surprisingly sophisticated
Australia has offered a lifeline to the people of Tuvalu, whose island is threatened by rising sea levels. But the deal comes with strings attached – and there will be millions more climate migrants in need of refuge by 2050
From generation ships to climate change, there has been some stellar sci-fi out in the past six months. Our columnist Emily H. Wilson picks her favourites
In this latest instalment of Future Chronicles, an imagined history of future inventions, we journey to the 2030s, when hormone implants enabled users to boost everything from pain tolerance to libidos, writes Rowan Hooper
Feedback is horrified to see AI's attempts at reworking classic novels, and is concerned that the computers might not quite understand the point of literature
The downsides of diagnosis and an epic trek following a Slovenian wolf are among our culture editor's top popular science books of the year to date, featuring a range of authors from Robert MacFarlane to Suzanne O'Sullivan
By looking at the shifting of stars in photos from the New Horizons probe, astronomers have calculated its position in the galaxy – a technique that could be useful for interstellar missions
A key milk protein for making cheese and yoghurt has been produced in bacteria for the first time, paving the way for better tasting but more sustainable animal-free products
Diet and exercise will only get you so far, but there is a magic bullet that could make us all live longer, says professor of global public health Devi Sridhar
Pictures of a distant supernova remnant show two concentric rings, providing clear evidence that exploding white dwarf stars go boom twice in the blink of an eye
Bones found at the site of an ancient fish-processing plant were used to genetically identify the species that went into a fish sauce, often known as garum, eaten throughout the Roman Empire
It is possible to make a material absorb more radiation than it has to re-emit, violating the laws of physics in a way that could make energy-harvesting devices more efficient
People with Chiari malformations have a skull shape similar to Neanderthals, suggesting that the condition may be caused by DNA inherited from archaic humans
Antarctic sea ice extent has fallen dramatically in recent years – the effects include accelerated ocean warming, faster loss of inland ice sheets and severe impacts on wildlife