CATEGORIES
Time To Shine
A few years ago, scientists believed only a tiny band of creatures could emit light. But a string of new discoveries has illuminated a wider world of glow-in-the-dark life forms
For Gut's Sake
“Eating either type of kimchi led to a reduction in weight and waist size”
Mind-Mending Medicine
Scientific evidence for using psychedelics to treat mental health problems has been mounting for the last decade – but researchers and patients alike have been waiting for a breakthrough. Now, scientists are poised to publish a gold-standard, double-blind randomised control trial, pitting antidepressants against psilocybin, the key ingredient in magic mushrooms. Could this be the study that brings psychedelics to the NHS?
The Bat Next Door
Madagascar’s bats are helping to fight insect infestations in the country’s rice fields – so, can the locals learn to love their new neighbours?
Last Of The Jungle Rhino
Concealed within Java’s dense tropical forest, the world’s rarest rhino remains a mystery to most. With only a few dozen left, the race is on to learn more about these seldom seen creatures.
Hitler And Stalin's Utopian Dreams
Laurence Rees argues that, despite their many differences, the leaders of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were united by a common passion: to create their own warped version of a paradise on Earth
Could You Cope Without Natural Light For 40 Days?
The Deep Time project saw 15 volunteers sign up to spend over month in a cave beneath the Pyrenees with no access to natural light or clocks. Most of them want to go back…
A Scientist's Guide To Life How To Get The Best From Nature
Lockdown may limit the time we can spend outdoors, but environmental psychologist Alex Smalley explains how you can get the benefits of being in nature, even if you’re stuck inside
The Language That Would Save England
Dispossession And Grinding Poverty Blighted 19th-Century Rural England. The Solution, According To One Eccentric Clergyman, Lay In A Form Of English Taken Back To Its Anglo-Saxon Roots. Siân Rees Investigates.
The Prince Philip Years
Following the death of Britain’s longest-serving royal consort, Alwyn Turner charts how the country transformed beyond recognition during the Duke of Edinburgh’s lifetime
A Giant Leap For Animal Kind
As we look to set up permanent bases on the Moon, Mars and beyond, we’ll need to bring other forms of life with us...but how will they cope with life in space?
Indoor Air Pollution
Cleaning products… candles… cookers… how much does indoor air pollution really affect us, and what can we do about it? Respiratory specialist dr Jonathan Grigg explains all
Going Back To The Moon
The next few years will see an explosion of lunar explorers. But what will they be looking for when they get there?
Installing A New Age Of Humanity
From reality-enhancing implants to brain-controlled exoskeletons, breakthroughs in bio-tech have fuelled a new fusion of machinery and organic matter. Here we speak to the Cyborgs who are helping humanity transcend its biological limits, one device at a time
Hide And Seek In Cyberspace
A puzzle that remained unanswered for more than 14 years has now been solved, thanks to technological leaps in image searching
Sahara The Forgotten Ecosystem
Journeying into the fickle and ever-changing Saharan landscape reveals the hidden lives of the desert’s most-endangered species.
Hungry All Of The Time? It Could Be In Your Blood
Researchers working on the largest in-depth nutrition study in the world have found that some of us experience big dips in blood sugar levels after eating, and it makes us hungrier, sooner
How Wildlife Vaccines Will Prevent The Next Human Pandemic
The coronavirus vaccines currently being injected into arms across the world are our escape route to normality. But keeping deadly viruses at bay and maintaining our freedoms in the future may require brand-new mass vaccination programmes that look very different to the ones currently taking place
Species That Glow In The Dark
From the ocean depths to remote rainforests, bioluminescent organisms light up the natural world. We take an illuminating look at the species that glow in the dark.
A Safe Space
Intrusive social media and online shouting matches have left people seeking the internet hideouts that allow them to be themselves
Waste Not, Want Not
Meet the communities forging the way to a trash-free future, by reshaping unwanted by-products into valuable resources
Pumas In The Peaks
Living secretive lives against the spectacular backdrop of Chile’s Torres del Paine, Patagonia’s pumas are proving a conservation success.
Alexa, Tell Me A Story
Dr Lara Martin wants to teach artificial intelligence how to tell a tale and tell it well. She reveals to Amy Barrett why we need to train machines how to be storytellers and what Dungeons & Dragons has to do with it all….
Who Is Britain's Greatest Prime Minister?
Three hundred years ago this month, Robert Walpole became Britain’s first PM. To mark this huge moment in political history, we asked five historians to nominate the 10 leaders who they believe accomplished most during their residency in Number 10
Inside The World's First Airport For Drones And Flying Cars
Plans to build the world’s first off-grid transport hub for drones and air-taxis have just received government funding. The Urban Air Port, located in Coventry, will offer flying electric vehicles a place to charge and load up. The project aims to lay the groundwork for a web of transport hubs that could provide a green, clean remedy to our cities’ groaning infrastructure. Daniel Bennett talks to Ricky Sandhu, the founder and CEO of Urban Air Port, to see if the idea could take off.
A Universe Full Of See-Through Stars
Mysterious discoveries around the globe have opened up a tantalising possibility: the cosmos could be full of ghostly stars that are invisible to our most sensitive detectors
How Your Brain Creates Reality
Do we see the world as it really is, or are we creating our own reality? Here, we delve into the neuroscience behind the world that we experience
A Scientist's Guide To Life - How To Get Fit At Home
Due to the coronavirus, more people are exercising indoors. This month, we ask exercise researchers Matt Cocks and Katie Hesketh how to get fit at home
Army Ants On The March With The Miniature Military
As top arthropod predators in tropical rainforests, the biology of army ants is built around hunting in vast battalions. Discover life on the forest front line.
Why Were The Dinosaurs So Successful?
Why were the dinosaurs so successful?