Samples retrieved from asteroid Ryugu indicate that it once had flowing water in far greater volumes than previously thought possible, suggesting that similar objects may have played a role in delivering vast quantities of water to Earth

It has long been claimed that only one mammal – the golden mole – has fur that shimmers with rainbow colours, but it now turns out that at least a dozen more mammals have iridescent fur too

An estimate that as many as 1.3 million wildebeest move across the Serengeti Mara landscape each year has been cut down to size using AI

Some cosmic events could have profoundly altered the lives of our ancient human relatives. Did Neanderthals go extinct, at least in part, due to changes in Earth’s magnetic field? Did Australopithecus witness huge meteorite impacts?

Cleaning up air pollution has saved millions of lives, but it has also given us an inadvertent taste of a nightmare climate scenario. The race is on to understand how bad it could be – and how to swerve the worst effects

A review of the five main methods proposed for cooling down the poles or slowing the loss of ice concludes they are all wildly impractical, wouldn't work, or both

Constant loss of smell, facial pain and a blocked nose are a reality for the 10 per cent of people living with chronic rhinosinusitis, a disease long-neglected by research. Targeting the nasal microbiome, though, is offering hope

People who made the greatest gains in muscle power over eight weeks of resistance training also improved the balance of bacteria in their gut

The arguments made by AI safety researchers Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares in If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies are superficially appealing but fatally flawed, says Jacob Aron

Florida may soon become the first state to end all vaccine mandates, including those for schoolchildren, setting the stage for deadly infections to make a comeback

The planet TRAPPIST-1e lies in its star’s Goldilocks zone, where water remains liquid – and an analysis suggests it might have a nitrogen-rich atmosphere like Earth’s

A carved figure found in northern France, dated to 27,000 years ago, may reflect how hair was styled in a culture that disappeared during the last glacial maximum

A strange kind of geometry governs how particles move inside matter. Now, for the first time, physicists have uncovered its full shape – and it could transform how we design materials

A device made from superconducting qubits could prove a powerful technology for enabling practical quantum computing or more experimental propositions like quantum machine learning

A possible galaxy named Capotauro may have formed within 90 million years of the big bang – but astronomers can’t be sure that’s what it is

Two fossils found in Germany show very young pterodactyls with arm bones thought to have been broken in flight, probably because of severe tropical cyclones

A biodegradable glue that encourages bones to repair themselves can be applied during surgery using a hot glue gun, potentially offering a cheap and quick way to treat injuries

An experimental new method for extracting lithium from brine and even seawater promises to be more sustainable than existing methods

L-theanine supplements are touted for stress relief, focus and better sleep. Although the evidence so far is preliminary, studies suggest the compound may have several brain benefits

A prototype of bifocal eyeglasses uses liquid crystals and electric fields to switch between modes that aid in nearby and distance vision