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A trio of hexagonal islands could generate solar electricity to power a process that accelerates coral growth, with space for a research lab and a garden

Experiments show that effect doesn’t always follow cause in the weird world of subatomic particles, offering fresh clues about the quantum origins of space-time

An acid produced by an acne-causing bacteria reduced the severity of people's dandruff by adjusting their scalp's microbiome

There are all kinds of different ways to measure biodiversity. But if we are to arrest its alarming decline, biologists must agree on a method that best captures how it changes over time

For the first time, a quantum sensor has been used to record magnetic signals from the heart of a living animal, opening the door for future uses of quantum technology in medical settings

The rare Bornean flat-headed frog was thought to be the only frog with no lungs, but we now know it has very, very tiny ones

Electrical stimulation on the back during rehabilitation exercises causes lasting improvements in people’s ability to use their hands.

Estimates suggest there are trillions of free-floating worlds in our galaxy alone. Most of them will be frozen planets like Pluto, but some might be warmer – and possibly even habitable

We can describe different kinds of thought and how they arise, to some extent, but the relationship between neural activity and the nature of what we are thinking isn't well understood

Mathematicians are celebrating a 1000-page proof of the geometric Langlands conjecture, a problem so complicated that even other mathematicians struggle to understand it. Despite that, it is hoped the proof can provide key insights across maths and physics

A contentious meeting of physicists highlighted concerns, failures and possible fixes for a crisis in condensed matter physics

A virtual reality system and a head-mounted 360-degree camera make it possible to look directly behind you without twisting your entire body

Children are more likely to be hospitalised for asthma complications during a heatwave, a problem that is expected to get worse with climate change

The research shows that getting back in touch with old friends is easier, and more welcome, than you might think, says David Robson, in his new evidence-based advice column

Ageism is pervasive, accepted and invisible. Stamping out this prejudice won’t just benefit society, it will also have huge payoffs for those people who hold it

Gravitational waves can be lensed by massive galaxies so that they repeat, like an echo. Scientists are now readying to snare their first one and explore the cosmic secrets it holds

Enjoy the year's top documentaries so far, including David Attenborough on the rise of the mammals and a profile of Victor Glover, soon to be the first Black astronaut to orbit the moon

The world’s largest "ecoacoustic" survey, listening to Costa Rican rainforests, could pave the way for a network of sensors listening to the planet’s biodiversity in real time

In mice, a ketogenic diet increases the build-up of zombie-like cells in the heart, kidney, lungs and brain, which can accelerate organ ageing and lead to health problems

For the first time, astronomers have observed the area right at the edge of a black hole where matter stops orbiting and plunges straight in at near light speed

A common species of orchid seems to pass food packages to nearby seedlings, in a kind of plant parental care

A group of doctors and scientists is getting behind the controversial idea that people can be addicted to certain trigger foods, in the same way as drugs and alcohol. The team says this addiction should be treated with abstinence, which goes against mainstream medical advice

Analysis of pollen in sediment cores from a large lake in Greece shows that nomadic livestock herders took over the region after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire

All farmland in the Indian state of Sikkim, shown in these images, has been certified organic since 2016, and local authorities say the change is already improving wildlife populations and the area's arid soil

What makes some people so creative? There are many common beliefs about the neuroscience of innovation, but they fail to capture its true complexity, says Anna Abraham in her book The Creative Brain: Myths and truths

Some AI firms think nuclear power can help meet the electricity demand from Silicon Valley’s data centres, but building new nuclear power stations takes too long to plug the gap in the short term

Strange quantum characteristics of molecules can weather the chaos of chemical reactions, which may benefit quantum technologies or unveil hidden natural phenomena

You can blank out certain types of background noise and focus on just one conversation using prototype noise-cancelling headphones

After comparing people with brain injuries whose life support was continued with those who had it turned off, scientists calculated that around 40 per cent in the latter group may have made some recovery

Soil core samples show an ancient riverbed under the desert near many Egyptian pyramids, revealing an ancient waterway that dried up thousands of years ago

The US has been honing its psychological warfare skills since the 19th century, when it started sending anthropologists onto battlefields, says Annalee Newitz

Wildlife photographer Johanna Turner used a trail camera to capture this cheery shot of a black bear, which is going viral after she posted it on social media

Researchers have discovered the gene variant responsible for a distinctive colour pattern seen in cats in Finland, named salmiak after a variety of liquorice

Energy-saving networks that link smart devices, solar panels and batteries could regulate power demand and help avoid fossil fuel use at peak times

Feedback gets wind of new research into flatulence, and reminds us all of past studies into "the gas-producing ability of Boston baked beans"

The new Climate Fiction prize aims to reward the best novels about climate change, because books can shift the narrative on global warming, says Tori Tsui

Craig Kirkpatrick-Whitby's cancer diagnosis added urgency to his project, as part of musical collective Mining, to turn weather and sea data into music

A virtual assistant for surgeons translates text prompts into commands for a robot, offering a simple way to instruct machines to carry out small tasks in operations

Artificial compound eyes made without the need for expensive and precise lenses could provide cheap visual sensors for robots and driverless cars

Ageism is a widespread global prejudice. It's about time we started acknowledging our unconscious bias towards old age – not least because our own future health depends on it

With big announcements about the latest artificial intelligence models this week, tech firms are competing to have the most exciting products - but generative AI remains hampered by issues

Researchers aiming to create a secure quantum version of the internet need a device called a quantum repeater, which doesn't yet exist - but now two teams say they are well on the way to building one

A solar energy absorber that uses quartz to trap heat reached 1050°C in tests and could offer a way to decarbonise the production of steel and cement

If a building is hit with an earthquake or explosives, the entire thing can collapse – but a design balancing strong and weak structural connections lets part of it fall while preserving the rest

The direct air capture industry got a boost last week with the opening of Mammoth, the largest plant yet for sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, but questions remain about whether the technology can scale up

In coming decades, major groundwater sources may become economically unfeasible — this could raise food prices and shift diets, among other impacts

Using a new approach, scientists have successfully frozen and thawed brain organoids and cubes of brain tissue from someone with epilepsy, which could enable better research into neurological conditions

Animal life on Earth existed for over half a billion years before hominins hit the scene – a complex combination of environmental changes, innovations in technology and competition may have led to us

The Arctic could see a surge of jellyfish as climate change leads to warmer waters and less ice – a process known as “jellification”

The one-day courses were particularly beneficial to those pupils with worse mental health problems initially

From how well they work to side effects such as hair loss, here’s the skinny on new weight loss injections that work by blocking a hormone that normally reduces appetite

The nasal flu vaccine may reduce cases of pneumonia illness in population over the whole flu season because flu infections are likely to lead to even higher boost in bacteria

Galaxies could do with a few more arms or some decorative designs – on this episode of Dead Planets Society, our hosts are using collisions, black holes and dark matter to reshape our galaxy

Outrunning prey over long distances is an efficient method of hunting for humans, and it was widely used until recently, according to an analysis of ethnographic accounts

Genetic analysis of 50,000-year-old Neanderthal skeletons has uncovered the remnants of three viruses related to modern human pathogens, and the researchers think they could be recreated

Around 3000 years ago, several empires and kingdoms in the Mediterranean collapsed, with a group of sea-faring warriors implicated as the culprit. But new evidence shows that many of our ideas about this turbulent time need completely rethinking

Underwater data centres being installed off the coasts of China, the US and Europe could be disrupted by sounds from military-grade sonar on ships and submarines, or even whales

A white dwarf star orbiting a sun-like star was thought to be impossibly small, but now astronomers have found another star in the system that solves the puzzle

OpenAI's new ChatGPT model, called GPT-4o, provides more human-like interactions through a voice mode, and it is capable of conversations that incorporate text, audio and video in real time

Mice benefitted from ultrasound therapy for a rare lung condition – the treatment might work for common forms of high blood pressure, too

A sticky liquid made from vegetable oil could be sprayed onto plants to catch small pests such as thrips without affecting larger insects such as bees

Mice given unlimited access to alcohol recovered faster after consuming a gel based on a milk protein, with the same treatment also preventing intoxication in another group of mice. If proved safe and effective in humans, it could offer a quick way to sober up

Highly processed foods, from pizza to bread, are said to be seriously bad for your health. Here is a digestible guide to what the evidence says, to help you make sense of the conflicting claims

The brains of adults who have raised children appear younger later in life. Child-rearing seemed to have this effect on both mothers and fathers, and it was stronger the more children they had

Sufficiently advanced aliens would be able to capture vast quantities of energy from their star using a massive structure called a Dyson sphere. Such a device would give off an infrared heat signature - and astronomers have just spotted 60 stars that seem to match

When light strikes a soft robot made from a twisted strip of hydrogel sheets, it moves in a predictable way and can climb a vertical rod or haul up a load

A centuries-old maths problem asks what shape a circle traces out as it rolls along a line. The answer, dubbed a “cycloid”, turns out to have applications in a variety of scientific fields

If a lavender scent is sprayed into pig pens three times a day, the animals show less aggressive behaviour and appear more relaxed

A study of more than 2 million people in 168 countries suggests that having access to the internet is linked to higher life satisfaction, but many questions remain unanswered

People who can run a mile in less than 4 minutes generally live almost five years longer than would otherwise be expected, challenging the idea that too much strenuous exercise is bad for the heart

Birman and Burmese cats typically live for more than 14 years while sphynxes live less than half as long on average, finds a study of pet cats in the UK

Egg whites are key to so many baked goods but can be tricky to work with. These tips will help you master the technique, says Catherine de Lange

The strategy for tracking bird flu in US dairy cattle falls worryingly short of what is needed to prevent the outbreak from widening and potentially spreading to humans

This beautifully written and compassionate novel tells the story of how comet Halle-Bopp turns a small-town writer onto astronomy and opens him up to fresh adventures

From your popcorn bag to your waterproof jacket, forever chemicals are all around us. We're finally starting to understand what they are doing to our health - and how to get rid of them

Surprising recent measurements hint that the universe isn’t expanding in the way we had thought, and it could be explained by still-theoretical dark radiation

A practical superconductor would transform the efficiency of electronics. After decades of hunting, several key breakthroughs are inching us very close to this coveted prize

Ultra-fast pulses of laser light can be shaped into vortices similar to smoke rings – when chained together, they can carry enough information to transmit a simple image

A new plant in Iceland operated by the firm Climeworks can remove up to 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air per year, more than quadrupling existing global capabilities

A rare geomagnetic storm not seen for nearly 20 years could cause a stunning aurora borealis on 10 and 11 May

Heavy, prolonged or painful menstrual periods are associated with more days off school and scoring worse on compulsory exams in a UK study

With a bit of training, macaques can make rhythmic movements in time with music, an ability only shown before by a handful of animals

Investigations of the paradoxical link between tinnitus and hearing loss have revealed a hidden form of deafness, paving the way to possible new treatments

Lisa Kaltenegger has been working on how to find life on exoplanets since the 1990s. Her new book, Alien Earths, brings her quest to vivid life

An analysis of a mathematical economic game suggests that even learning from past mistakes will almost never help us optimise our decision-making – with implications for our ability to make the biggest financial gains

The Red Planet launches large bursts of plasma into space from its upper atmosphere, much like the sun’s coronal mass ejections, despite not having a global magnetic field

I always add the carbon offset option when buying a flight, but I had a sneaking suspicion I was being greenwashed. Turns out I was right, says Graham Lawton

For decades, cosmologists have been fighting over the Hubble constant, a number that represents the expansion rate of the universe – it may have finally been pinned down

On a recent visit to the National Roman Museum, Feedback was an onlooker to the furore that ensued when a sparrow's nest was spotted in the mouth of an ancient stone face

We are generally as reluctant to contact a long-lost friend as we are to talk to a stranger, but scientists have come up with an approach so it's easier to make the first move

A proposal to define the Anthropocene as a geological epoch was rejected this March, but humanity's impact on Earth is real, whether formalised or not, says Jan Zalasiewicz

From large and shell-covered to tiny and jelly-like, the developmental story of eggs offers a way to rethink the story of life, says Jules Howard in his new book Infinite Life

A new robotic hand can withstand being smashed by pistons or walloped with a hammer. It was designed to survive the trial-and-error interactions required to train AI robots

The quantum principle of superposition – the idea of particles being in multiple places at once – could help make quantum batteries that charge within minutes

Artificial compounds found in things like food packaging can be a risk to our health. We can clean them up, but who will foot the vast bill?

The latest version of the AlphaFold AI can help biologists predict how proteins interact with each other and other molecules, which is a boon to pharmaceutical research

A compound emitted by the Colorado river toad may reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in a similar way to LSD and psilocybin, according to a study in mice

Cold-brewing coffee can reduce its bitter taste, but it normally takes up to 24 hours as the grounds slowly steep. A new method that involves pummelling the grounds with ultrasound can drastically speed up the process

Concern over the risks of enabling nuclear weapons development is usually focused on nuclear fission reactors, but the potential harm from more advanced fusion reactors has been underappreciated

Researchers are aiming to make the northern quoll resistant to the toxic cane toads wiping it out in Australia, but little progress has been made