Countries are eager to use AI to automate some government processes, but this risks eroding citizens’ trust and feelings of democratic control – because AI mistakes can ruin their lives
The IceCube neutrino detector has allowed researchers to resolve a debate about what types of particles make up ultra-high-energy cosmic rays – but much remains unknown about these rare events
A drop in shipping emissions has caused a surge in warming at the Great Barrier Reef, fuelling calls for drastic actions such as marine cloud brightening to lower the risk of coral bleaching
Scientists say Perito Moreno, which for decades defied trend of glacial retreat, now rapidly losing mass One of the few stable glaciers in a warming world, Perito Moreno, in Santa Cruz province, Argentina, is now undergoing a possibly...
Models suggest that meeting climate targets will be virtually impossible without steep emissions cuts paired with a huge expansion of carbon management technologies
As the Texas flash flooding risk moved west, the National Weather Service pointed to the effect of burn scars from 2024 After the extreme rainfall in Texas on 4 July, the flash flooding risk moved to New Mexico, with 89mm (3.5in) of rain...
Campaigners say just 5.8% of irreplaceable habitat at publicly owned sites has been fully restored in 10 years Forestry England needs to urgently step up its ancient woodland restoration before the irreplaceable habitat is lost for ever,...
Exclusive: 110 of 117 bodies of water tested by Environment Agency would fail standards, with levels in fish 322 times the planned limit Nearly all rivers, lakes and ponds in England tested for a range of Pfas, known as “forever...
Abandoned fishing equipment haunts our oceans, killing coral, turtles, sharks and whales. But in Colombia’s Gulf of Tribugá, ‘guardians’ are on call to free entangled marine animals After a day of scuba diving, Luis Antonio “Toño”...
Diesel generators allowed to emit 48 times more nitrogen oxides than gas boilers producing same amount of energy Air pollution controls in some sectors are much weaker than others, researchers have found. A recent study looked at legal...
Woodland Trust’s 10 nominees from across the country highlight how trees inspire creative minds A cedar tree climbed by the Beatles, an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf and a lime representing peace in Northern Ireland are among...
Colossal Bioscience is adding the extinct animal to its revival wishlist, joining the woolly mammoth, dodo and thylacine. But scepticism is growing Standing more than three metres (10ft) high, the giant moa is the tallest bird known to...
I love a sale – but scrolling the list of Amazon’s deals is overwhelming to the point of delirium I’m a simple girl. My idea of fun is an annual event in which people are crushed in pursuit of half-price Christmas decorations. But those...
Sea-skimming crafts – which fly just above the water – were once considered Cold War relics of a failed Soviet experiment. Now, China and the US are resurrecting the technology as a possible Pacific conflict looms
Microglia replacement therapy helps treat people with a rare genetic condition called ALSP, suggesting the approach could also work for other neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s
The imperative ought to be to bear down on costs for consumers, starting with a more pragmatic approach to generation targets The chief executive of Ofgem, Jonathan Brearley, backed zonal pricing. Fintan Slye, the head of the National...
Worst-case scenario of 4.3C of warming could result in fiftyfold rise in heat-related deaths, researchers say More than 30,000 people a year in England and Wales could die from heat-related causes by the 2070s, scientists have warned. A...
Inhaled insulin is effective for controlling blood sugar levels in children with diabetes, providing them with a faster-acting, needle-free option to manage their condition
Observations from NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal that Jupiter’s strong magnetic field and the unique properties of its plasma can produce a truly novel kind of extraterrestrial wave near its poles
Something strange happens to water as it moves through the stems of horsetail plants – and this unique process provides valuable clues for understanding past and present ecosystems
It’s indisputable: Around the world, seas are rising at a faster rate than at any time in recorded history. But there’s more to this story than you might realize.
Astronomers tracking an interstellar object flying through the solar system think it comes from a star at least 8 billion years old, almost twice the age of our sun
Terms like ‘deglobalisation’ have become commonplace, but what we need is true multilateralism. Erecting walls won’t bring us peace and prosperity Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the president of Brazil The year 2025 should be a time of...
€5.5bn project has transformed the Emscher from ‘the sewer of the Ruhr’ to a place where nature is starting to flourish Strolling beside the Emscher, the Tyczkowskis say it is the stench that they remember most about the river’s darker...
The volcano, discovered by locals near the village of Cusco, was not volcanic in the traditional sense, but still posed a potential risk to the environment
There’s no shortage of ideas for how to make air travel greener. But it has to start within the industry – and with workers George Hibberd appears alongside fellow pilot Todd Smith in the Guardian documentary Guilt Trip I love flying....
Commercial pilots George Hibberd and Todd Smith grapple with the reality of their dream jobs, torn between childhood ambitions of flying and the impact of their industry on the world beneath them. From the cockpit, they witness...
An AI system trained on videos of operations successfully guided a robot to carry out gall bladder surgery on a dead pig, with minimal human assistance
Kat Zhou has won the Aquatic Life category in the 2025 BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition, while a shot of a death-defying leap by a lemur took the top prize
Feedback has been invited to an event next year in Shaoxing, China. It's an academic conference promising "revolutionary thinkers who are redefining human intimacy through cutting-edge robotics and AI"
The UK's health secretary has announced a 10-year plan to check newborns for a huge range of rare conditions. There are major medical and ethical issues with this, argues neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan
The awe-inspiring distances of the cosmos are hard to visualise, so how can we be certain we are measuring them correctly? Chanda Prescod-Weinstein explains
Previous estimates have suggested that more than half of people who stop taking antidepressants experience withdrawal symptoms, but now a review of the evidence suggests this isn't the case, at least for short-term use.
Exercise seems to help prevent cancer and reduce the growth of tumours, and that protective effect may be due to the way working out changes the gut microbiome
The oldest protein fragments ever recovered have been extracted from fossilised teeth found in Kenya's Rift Valley, revealing the remains belonged to the ancient ancestors of rhinoceroses and elephants
It’s easy to sneer at people who say they’ve fallen in love with ChatGPT. But we've been developing confusing feelings for bots for decades longer than you might think, writes Alex Wilkins. With so many people feeling lonely, can that be...
After a controversial project claiming to have resurrected the dire wolf, Colossal Biosciences has now announced plans to bring back nine species of the extinct moa bird
We now have the ability to rapidly assess the impact of climate change after extreme weather events – a first of its kind analysis has shown that it nearly tripled the death toll from the most recent European heatwave
Interest in the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin skyrocketed during the covid-19 pandemic, but evidence for many of its supposed health claims are lacking
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” just signed by President Trump will slash support for clean energy, leaving the US far short of its Paris Agreement pledge
Ancient humans in Africa changed their behaviour in a major way 70,000 years ago, which could explain how their descendants managed to people the rest of the world