Zebras bob their heads at each other to signal cooperation
Head-bobbing seems to be a way for zebras to invite others to groom, graze or move together, suggesting sophisticated social and cognitive capabilities ⌘ Read more

Stink bugs grow a fungal garden on their legs to fight parasitic wasps
A surprise discovery has revealed that female stink bugs have a small indent on their hind legs that they use for cultivating fungi before spreading it on their eggs ⌘ Read more

Autoimmune conditions linked to reactivated X chromosome genes
The inactivation of one copy of the X chromosome in female mammals may start to fail as they get older, which may be why women have a higher risk of autoimmune conditions such as lupus ⌘ Read more

Protocells on early Earth may have been formed by squeezing geysers
Simulations of the crust of early Earth show that cycles of pressure caused by geysers or tidal forces could have generated cell-like structures and even very simple proteins ⌘ Read more

China is sending its Chang’e 6 spacecraft to the far side of the moon
If all goes well, the Chang’e 6 probe will be the first ever to land on the far side of the moon to take samples and bring them back to Earth ⌘ Read more

Mysterious space signals may come from a dead star with a planet
Strange bursts of radio waves called FRBs have long been mysterious, and one of the most famous sources of these flashes may have an unexpected planet ⌘ Read more

Seven surprising things you may not know about roots
Plants are often celebrated for the parts that are easy to see – flower, leaves, fruit – but scientists are uncovering the secrets of their more mysterious underground networks ⌘ Read more

Rising temperatures are cooking bumblebee nests and killing larvae
Climate change could be fueling bumblebee population loss by making hives too hot to handle ⌘ Read more

Orangutan is first non-human seen treating wounds with medicinal plant
A male Sumatran orangutan chewed the leaves of a plant used in Indonesian traditional medicine and placed them on a wound on his face ⌘ Read more

MMR vaccines may not always give lifelong immunity against measles
Levels of protection measles provided by the MMR jab fall by a small amount every year, according to mathematical modelling ⌘ Read more

Politicians can use social media ads to buy votes for €4 per person
An analysis of the 2021 German federal elections has found that for every 200,000 times a politician’s social media adverts were viewed, their vote share increased by 2.1 per cent - a potentially low-cost way of swinging elections ⌘ Read more

Astonishing images show how female Neanderthal may have looked
The skull of Shanidar Z was found in the Shanidar cave in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and has been painstakingly put back together ⌘ Read more

Is climate change accelerating after a record year of heat?
The record-breaking heat of 2023 has seen a rare disagreement break out between climate scientists, with some saying it shows Earth may have entered a new period of warming ⌘ Read more

Corals that recover from bleaching still struggle to breed
Corals can survive heat-related bleaching, but research from the Great Barrier Reef suggests a full recovery may take longer than we thought ⌘ Read more

Joel Edgerton must escape the multiverse in a gripping sci-fi series
Blake Crouch’s riveting Dark Matter sees physics professor Jason wanting out of the multiverse, after being kidnapped and dumped there by another version of himself ⌘ Read more

GPS jamming traced to Russia after flights over Europe suspended
Finnair has cancelled flights to Tartu in Estonia this month because of an ongoing GPS jamming attack – and there is evidence that the attack is being controlled from Russia ⌘ Read more

European summers will be hotter than predicted because of cleaner air
By ignoring declining air pollution, regional climate models have greatly underestimated how hot Europe’s summers and heatwaves will become ⌘ Read more

Kill the sun! How wild thought experiments drive scientific discovery
My colleagues call me a supervillain for trying to destroy the cosmos, but this kind of imaginative thinking isn’t so far from what scientists do, says space reporter Leah Crane ⌘ Read more

India’s next leader will have the chance to lead the world on climate
The future prime minister of this increasingly powerful nation should be prepared to play a key role in global climate policy ⌘ Read more

Why warm drinks taste more alcoholic than cold ones
Chemists have found a link between the taste of a beverage and the shapes formed by its water and ethanol molecules, which explains why spirits like whisky taste more alcoholic at warmer temperatures ⌘ Read more

Father’s gut microbiome may affect infant health
Disrupted gut microbiomes in male mice increase their offspring’s risk of low birth weight, stunted growth and premature death ⌘ Read more

The new drugs preventing allergic reactions to peanuts and other foods
Incredible results from trials of several new medications show they can prevent potentially deadly reactions to foods like peanuts, eggs and dairy - and may one day treat asthma ⌘ Read more

Being angry for just 8 minutes could increase risk of a heart attack
People who were asked to recall past events that made them angry experienced a change to their blood vessels that has been linked with heart attacks ⌘ Read more

Odd bump on praying mantis chest is actually world’s weirdest tongue
A bristly bump on some mantises’ chests is a never-before-seen “gustifolium”, which may have evolved to help the insects with their highly specialised lifestyles ⌘ Read more

The best new science fiction books of May 2024
A new Stephen King short story collection, an Ursula K. Le Guin reissue and a celebration of cyberpunk featuring writing from Philip K. Dick and Cory Doctorow are among the new science fiction titles published this month ⌘ Read more

Want to move fast? Look for these materials in your next running shoes
Spiked running shoes with a rubbery material between the inner and outer soles, and a stiff plate to improve stability, seem to help people move faster ⌘ Read more

Running around a ‘wall of death’ could keep moon settlers fit
Lunar settlers could avoid health problems like muscle wasting by running on the inside of a circular wall to mimic the pull of Earth’s gravity on the body ⌘ Read more

Carbon-negative cement can be made with a mineral that helps catch CO2
A process to dissolve the mineral olivine in acid could provide a plentiful, energy-efficient material for carbon-negative cement ⌘ Read more

Can these awesome rocks become central Asia’s first UNESCO Geopark?
Long feted by fossil hunters and geologists, if UNESCO recognises the extraordinary rock formation at Madygen in Kyrgyzstan, it will soon be a player on the world stage ⌘ Read more

How could we make a solar eclipse happen every day?
Total solar eclipses are astonishing, but travelling to get to one is less so – this episode of Dead Planets Society is all about rearranging the solar system to create a more convenient eclipse ⌘ Read more

Most brain monitors sold to consumers don’t keep your data private
A report found data privacy problems with the vast majority of 30 companies that sell neurotechnology devices to consumers. New US state laws aim to change that ⌘ Read more

Australia places A$1 billion bet on quantum computing firm PsiQuantum
A joint investment by the Australian federal government and the government of Queensland makes PsiQuantum one of the largest dedicated quantum computing firms in the world ⌘ Read more

How India has slowly but surely become a major player in space
India’s space agency has been remarkably successful in recent years, growing the country’s prestige on the global stage – and the 2024 election is unlikely to change that ⌘ Read more

India is poised to become a climate leader, but is it up to the task?
As the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, climate policy decisions taken by India will shape the fate of the entire world. But can it continue to develop its economy while keeping carbon dioxide down? ⌘ Read more

Foxes’ skulls are specially adapted for diving into snow
Red foxes and Arctic foxes dive headfirst into snow at up to 4 metres per second to catch small rodents, and the shape of their snouts reduces the impact force ⌘ Read more

English oaks can withstand warming – but other trees will struggle
Climate change means many tree species planted today in Europe won’t survive to the end of the century, but English oaks could thrive in many areas ⌘ Read more

A new approach to dark matter could help us solve galactic anomalies
Cosmological puzzles are tempting astronomers to rethink our simple picture of the universe – and ask whether dark matter is even stranger than we thought ⌘ Read more

Toxic chemicals from car tyres can get into soil and contaminate food
Governments need to take action to protect people from potentially toxic additives in tyre rubber, say researchers after finding they can get into food from contaminated soil ⌘ Read more

Image-generating AI creates uncanny optical illusions
Generative AI models designed to create images from text can be adapted to construct complex optical illusions - pictures that look like different things when viewed from far away or with motion blur ⌘ Read more

How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic
As the US grapples with an ongoing bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle, the country’s health agencies are ramping up surveillance efforts and working to develop a vaccine if needed ⌘ Read more

Bowhead whales still harmed from whaling that ended a century ago
Commercial bowhead whaling ended in the early 20th century, but the industry’s lasting effects on the whales’ genetic diversity are leading to declines again ⌘ Read more

5 extraordinary ideas about the mind and what it means to be conscious
To celebrate the launch of our new event series in the US, kicking off with a masterclass on the brain and consciousness, we have unlocked five incredible long reads ⌘ Read more

Rare mutation that causes short stature may shed light on ageing
The genetic variant, which causes people to be insensitive to growth hormone, may also protect people from heart disease ⌘ Read more

Asteroid that broke up over Berlin was fastest-spinning one ever seen
Before it shattered over Germany, the asteroid 2024 BX1 was clocked rotating once every 2.6 seconds – the fastest spin we have observed ⌘ Read more

Global warming could make tides higher as well as raising sea levels
In addition to the overall rise in sea level, the heights of tides are also changing as the oceans warm and separate into more distinct layers ⌘ Read more

Two medicines for opioid addiction also help with compulsive gambling
The medicines nalmefene and naltrexone helped compulsive gamblers reduce their betting activities, trials have shown ⌘ Read more

Swarm of nanorobots can remove tiny plastic fragments from water
In just 2 hours, small metal robots can capture most nanoscopic plastic particles from a sample of water ⌘ Read more

Wasps use face-recognition brain cells to identify each other
The neurons in wasp brains that help them recognise hive mates are similar to those in the brains of primates, including humans ⌘ Read more

Supermassive black holes may provide a nursery for mini ones to grow
The supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies may capture smaller black holes. Not only does this prove a place for the small black holes to grow, it also makes the supermassive ones look even bigger and brighter ⌘ Read more

Birthplace of red asteroid Kamo‘oalewa pinned to specific moon crater
The redness of asteroid 469219 Kamo‘oalewa marks it out as probably originating on the moon, and now we might know the exact impact crater it was launched from ⌘ Read more