Headlines

Promise the Earth: Why real climate action means restraint

A new book by a Cambridge engineer and an Oxford theologian argues that our faith in technology to solve the climate crisis is distracting us from the uncomfortable truth: that saving the planet is neither a task for future technologies nor for world leaders alone. It is

The evolutionary trap that keeps rove beetles alive

Rove beetles have evolved a neat trick to survive. They cloak themselves in ant pheromones, allowing them to enter and remain undetected within ant colonies. But it comes with a catch. Once a rove beetle lineage evolves this kind of obligate symbiotic relationship, it can never

How gold is formed in China's Tianshan mountains

A new study led by Prof. Xiao Wenjiao from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sheds light on the ore-forming process and key mechanisms of the gold deposit in the South Tianshan of northwest China. The research was published in

The Ape Who Could Play Make-Believe

Kanzi, the bonobo, once again topples barriers between humans and great apes by demonstrating imagination, a cognitive capacity thought unique to humans The post The Ape Who Could Play Make-Believe appeared first on Nautilus .

The internet names a new deep-sea species of chiton

The Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA), in partnership with the scientific publisher Pensoft Publishers and science YouTuber Ze Frank, have let the internet name a newly discovered deep‑sea chiton (a type of marine mollusk). The formal description of the species is

An invisible chemical rain is falling across the planet

A new study reveals that chemicals used to replace ozone-damaging CFCs are now driving a surge in a persistent “forever chemical” worldwide. The pollutant, called trifluoroacetic acid, is falling out of the atmosphere into water, land, and ice, including in remote regions like

Mars’ water mystery may have a simple ice answer

Scientists have found that ancient Martian lakes could have survived for decades despite freezing air temperatures. Using a newly adapted climate model, researchers showed that thin, seasonal ice could trap heat and protect liquid water beneath. These lakes may have gently

A superfluid freezes and breaks the rules of physics

Physicists have watched a quantum fluid do something once thought almost impossible: stop moving. In experiments with ultra-thin graphene, researchers observed a superfluid—normally defined by its endless, frictionless flow—freeze into a strange new state that looks solid yet

When lasers cross: A brighter way to measure plasma

Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas is central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have relied on a technique called Thomson scattering, which