We've no way of knowing if allegations that China implanted secret spying microchips in widely used computers are true. BUT
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
The upper atmosphere of Venus is the most Earth-like extra-terrestrial location in the solar system. It could even host life.
The unique way that human proteins change after they are copied from our DNA gives scientists clues about what causes human disease.
In the context of accelerating geopolitical, technological and environmental change, we need to radically reassess how we perceive airspace legally.
Dealing with graphic videos and images can harm journalists' mental health.
Female role models can inspire the next generation through many different media.
Hiding feelings can cause distress in children too.
The 'oldest known nova' (a star explosion) in the sky was actually not a nova, astronomers show.
Allowing the police unfettered use of vast databases of information will begin to tilt the balance of power towards totalitarianism.
A new study has been examining what holds back sight-impaired users from using smartphones, computers and the internet.
Gravity, not magma, is forcing Etna to move, increasing the chances of collapse.
People who are more open-minded seem to be less bothered about closure.
We need action to increase the number of black scientists if we're ever to see a black Nobel winner.
Coral reefs are in crisis around the world, and may disappear entirely. 3D printing is a new idea to help them – but it won't be a cure all.
UK government minister Liz Truss says upping the motorway speed limit will increase productivity. Let's look at the facts.
Galaxy images and patient records can be equally confusing. Now a team of astrophysicists have realised their methods could help medical professionals.
A moon has been spotted in a star system 4000 light years away – but its structure is confusing.
The early warning system installed after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami hasn't lived up to expectations.
Secondary radar is an important tool in the control of aircraft traffic, and helps make air travel safe. It was developed during dangerous times.
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to work on how to use the principles of evolution to create new medical treatments and renewable fuels.
Using lasers to trap and move particles changed the way we're able to study microscopic life.
Donna Strickland is the first woman in 55 years to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. Let's hope the next such award to a woman won't take so long.
The borderless nature of the internet makes it hard to pull the plug on social media talk that crosses the line.
In the EU, 31% of plastic products go to landfill: but a process called "cold plasma pyrolysis" could turn them into clean fuels.
Scientists studying the atmosphere found help in an unlikely place – the aerial bombing campaigns of World War Two.
How to win at golf ...with a little help from neuroscience.
Nimble-fingered Neanderthals went about their daily business in a similar way to modern humans.
'I don't believe in God, I believe in science,' atheists often argue. But that doesn't mean their thinking is evidence-based.
Technology can transgress all kinds of legal frameworks.
Sharks eating seagrass? Sounds fishy, but the reality is that animals don't conform to the strict categories we try to place on their diets.
There was once a chicken called Miracle Mike who lived for 18 months without a head: it's all to do with nerves.
Academics from different disciplines come Head to Head in this series to tackle topical debates.
There's not enough control around antique firearms – and criminals are taking advantage of this.
As omnivores, dogs should be able to adapt well and manage on well prepared commercially available vegetarian diets as long as the essential nutrients they would normally get from meat are present.
Those warning about a machine takeover typically assume AI will develop super intelligence. Here's what the science says.
Are pretty blue and gold stripes more important than being a bold little swimmer?
After two decades of work, the technical challenges of a bendable screen may have been overcome.
A new study offers an explanation as to how we remember events by forming mental images.
New research shows how smart aircraft can learn to use updrafts of warm air to stay in the sky.
Research sheds light on how we pick and choose among distorted memories to create our identity. But is that a bad thing?
People kept diaries for two weeks recording how often things about them were forgotten. The results turned out to be surprising.
In an example of the law of unintended consequences, the Copyright Directive is likely to cement the US tech giants' grip, rather than provide space for others to grow.
Many of us complain about the stress of being 'always on' – here's what life could be like, if you actually disconnected.
Gadgets that tell too many people to go to the doctor are a worry, but the growing enthusiasm for health monitoring should be encouraged.
Your field of view is how much you can see without turning your head. When things are closer to us, they take up more of our field of view, which makes them look bigger.
Will we soon no longer be able to discern which videos are real and which are fake?
The success of current conversational AI is based on the premise that they know and understand nothing of the world.
'The Right Trousers' combine soft artificial muscles and electric stimulation to get people moving.
Are you dreaming that you're awake or are you living in a computer simulation? There might be no way to be sure.
Can you outsmart our maths mastermind? The solution's in.
A new discovery adds to our existing understanding of Homo sapiens in Africa.
A psychologist explains how to improve your ability to respond to challenges.
Bumps in the road are dangerous, expensive and difficult to fix.
Banning travel might not always be the best way to respond to a disease outbreak.
Our brain cells do look a lot like a map of the universe – but that doesn't mean they're the same thing.
Losing your parents or growing up in poverty can add years to your biological age.
BA's handling of the latest corporate cyber attack shows a catalogue of missed opportunities.
The debate on autonomous weapons isn't paying enough attention to the technology already in use.
Our 'Tony Stark' image of tech moguls is obscuring the talent and toil of ordinary workers, and inflating the egos of the bosses.
Encouraging people to buy LED bulbs is not a long-term solution. We need lighting which is kind to the planet and our health.
Studies from our own planet shed light on whether there could be life in a subglacial lake on Mars.
Being nostalgic about the past is linked to optimism about the future.
Researchers used a fax machine that wasn't even connected to the internet to break into a computer network.
A new study found that 14% of people report a memory from age one or below. They're likely fictitious.
We're now so reliant on Google's services they are now a part of us, raising some deeply troubling questions.
Most animal groups adopted their shapes quickly but some kept evolving.
Meaning and purpose aren't the same, but one does drive the other.
New research is pinpointing how much genes influence the stability of educational achievement.
"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." To understand the universe, we need more Mad Hatter mathematicians.
As long as there are no hidden agendas, it is surprisingly simple to reach the right decision when faced with contradictory information.
We're willing to fight for our freedom even at great cost.
A serious security threat was found in popular video game Fortnite's installation method after it bypassed Google's official app store.
We know how to stop solid minerals converting to a liquid state mid voyage – so why does it still happen?
Archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest cheese, and it reveals how our ancestor's cooking methods helped the human diet adapt.
The risk smartphones pose to our memory is overblown, but they do get in the way of us making more detailed and authentic memories.
We are in the Milky Way. If you travelled on an extremely fast spaceship for more than two million years, you would reach our neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy. All other galaxies are even further away.
Whether it is racism, sexism or ageism, most of us face prejudice in some domain. And it turns out that damaging stereotypes can significantly affect our intellectual abilities.
Facebook users may be flagging news as fake just because they disagree with it.
Dogs have the same hormones and experience the same chemical changes that humans do.
New research shows children's images of scientists are all too often male.
Warning Syrians of approaching airstrikes via social media is helping save lives.
Technology can only go so far in making sense of our vast and intricate atmosphere.
On tablets and laptops, people are turning to ASMR videos to unwind in the digital age.
Reports of the death of accents have been greatly exaggerated.
Genetic data has helped scientists develop new estimates for the origin and evolution of life on Earth.
It's not just Earth: everything in the universe has it's own pull because of gravity – even you. Here's how it works.
Google DeepMind software can diagnose eye conditions as well as human doctors – and the medical profession should welcome this.
The moon is our closest neighbour and our best hope for building capacity to explore space.
Nobel Prize 2018
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to work on how to use the principles of evolution to create new medical treatments and renewable fuels.
Using lasers to trap and move particles changed the way we're able to study microscopic life.
Allison and Honjo discovered how inhibiting the brakes in our immune systems can be used to treat cancer.
Donna Strickland is the first woman in 55 years to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. Let's hope the next such award to a woman won't take so long.
This year's Nobel Prize for literature was nixed because of a sex scandal. Other Nobels have neglected key contributors. Should all prizes be cancelled while criteria for winning is reassessed?
Farewell Cassini
As Cassini’s titanic mission comes to an end, we need to start thinking ahead. A combined mission to explore Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus would be a good place to start.
Cassini may be gone but the data it left behind could help reveal how long Saturn's day is and how its magnetic field is generated.
Humour and laughter
Laughing at inappropriate moments could be an early sign of dementia, while injury to the front part of the brain could make you lose your sense of sarcasm.
CC BY-ND26.5 MB (download)
In this episode of the podcast, we take in the history of Victorian humour, why kids find poo so hilarious and whether academics should try and be funny.
Scientists at work
Wild chimpanzees are hard to find, but their DNA – left-behind genetic traces – are opening up a new way of studying them.
Killing insects, as the Big Wasp Survey asked people to do, contributed to many vital advances in science.
Podcast
Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
Hiding feelings can cause distress in children too.
New research shows how 'teleological thinking' means that conspiracists are more likely to also be creationists.
Why do some people love roller coasters while others hate them?
An expert gives a few tips on what makes the perfect penalty football kick.
Hawking wasn't able to give his students a gentle introduction, but he did provide a lot of inspiration and support.
Research shows that the Y chromosome may be able to protect itself from extinction in the short term. But what about in a future where we all reproduce artificially?
Psychological phenomena have long been thought of as universal. But it turns out scientists may have been blinded by their own culture.
We can see at a finer resolution than the spacing between individual photo-receptors in the eye – and it's all down to our brains.
We no longer perform surgery on babies without drugs, but a new study shows that we may be underestimating how much pain babies feel when they are under stress.
Private companies are increasingly challenging national space agencies in a new space race, which comes with great opportunities but also huge risks.
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) could help unravel the mysteries of antimatter and complete scientists' next model of the universe.
A new study can't rule out the possibility that human ancestors lived on Crete at the same time as they evolved in Africa.
Rational arguments and myth busting often won't help you change the mind of a conspiracy theorist. But there are other ways.
On the trail of the men of Britain's Royal Aircraft Factory, who gave their lives to help create the world's first air force.
Events
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- Mount Etna: volcano is sliding towards the sea and now we know why
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