CATEGORIES

THE CODE OF LIFE

Peter Gallivan plunges into the twisted world of DNA - the hidden code that holds the secret to life on Earth.

THE LAB

Three things to make and do

London environment hero wins big award

A nine-year-old who is passionate about the environment has been honoured for his efforts to inspire others.

Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

Meet the vet helping to protect endangered mountain gorillas.

Robot pets

How much is that robot doggy in the window?

What comes after space?

Space seems to go on and on, but where does it end?

On the hunt for UFOs

Is there such a thing as an unidentified flying object? What are they and who is responsible?

Female of the Species - Bonobo

Lucy Cooke on the great apes forming a powerful sisterhood

The Big Poo Review

Hold your nose for some super-stinky science.

SCIENCE WORLD

Join in with super competitions, fun festivals, brilliant museums and great games this month.

HEADSCRATCHERS

Seeking answers to your science questions? Ask our resident expert

What is hydroelectric energy and how does it work?

Find out how electricity is generated from flowing water.

GET STUFFED!

Dare you discover the fascinating - and sometimes foul - truth about fast food? Ciaran Sneddon serves up a feast of facts.

Alom Shaha

Meet the teacher on a mission to make physics easy to understand.

The Beast of Exmoor

Investigate the case of the mysterious big cat roaming the English countryside.

RAIDERS OF THE BACK YARD

The fictional adventures of Indiana Jones are legendary. Expert archaeologist Mary-Ann Ochota goes in search of the real-life treasure-hunters.

Should people learn to love wasps?

Some people think that these pesky insects deserve to be treated more kindly.

MEDICINE : SCIENTISTS PRODUCE THE FIRST CELLULAR MAP OF THE HUMAN INTESTINE

Fluorescent antibodies reveal the atlas of cell that cooperate to protect you 'neighbourhoods'

ASTRONOMY : RARE 'ULTRACOOL' BROWN DWARF STAR FOUND EMITTING RADIO WAVES

Unusual radio signals have led astronomers to a surprising astronomical object

PRIMER : DEEP-SEA MINING

Why the next gold rush is happening at the bottom of the ocean

LIVE FACIAL RECOGNITION: THE MET POLICE'S CONTROVERSIAL NEW TECH

It has already been used at high-profile events, despite concerns about the privacy, accuracy and bias of this Al-driven system

SAY AHHH

EVERY LIVING THING HAS TO EAT SOMEHOW... WHATEVER TYPE OF MOUTH IT MIGHT HAVE. AND THERE ARE SOME TRULY BIZARRE MOUTHS IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. SOME OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLES ARE ENOUGH TO LEAVE YOU SLACK-JAWED

DEAR DOCTOR : WHY DO I CATASTROPHISE SO MUCH AND HOW DO I STOP?

Catastrophe-filled thoughts are common, especially for people prone to anxiety. You might find yourself imagining that your first day at a new job will be an excruciating disaster, that you'll flunk an upcoming exam, or that your flight to New York will crash. These thoughts are unpleasant, but they're essentially your mind working overtime to keep you safe. If you start to act on these catastrophic thoughts, trying to avoid any risk in your life, that's when this thinking style can start to become debilitating.

IS IT TRUE THAT WEARING HEADPHONES INCREASES EAR BACTERIA?

Your ears are already dark, moist and full of oils and dead skin - an all-you-can-eat buffet for many bacteria. Sealing off the entrance with headphones or earphones seems like it could only make that environment more inviting to these microbes.

OBJECTS IN OPPOSITION WHEN: LATE AUGUST - EARLY SEPTEMBER 2023

Opposition describes an object being opposite the Sun in the sky. For some planets this can be a big deal, as the weeks around opposition offer us the best views of them. At opposition a planet is also visible all night long.

A SCIENTIST'S GUIDE TO...PILLOWS

THE RIGHT SUPPORT CAN HELP RELIEVE BACK PAIN

WHAT IS BLUE LAVA?

Most people - if they've heard of it at all - are aware of 'blue lava' thanks to the otherworldly photographs of French photographer Olivier Grunewald. The images, which Grunewald captured at the Kawah Ijen volcano on the island of Java in Indonesia, seem to show rivers of electric-blue lava, incandescent against a black velvet night.

VIROLOGY : NEW AI COULD IDENTIFY VIRAL 'DARK MATTER' OF NEXT PANDEMIC

The early warning system is based on machine learning and could have predicted the emergence of the COVID variants

Show your stripes

Pictures may tell a thousand words, but this one goes even further. These stripes appeared along Dover's White Cliffs on 21 June, as the iconic landmark was gradually turned into a scientific graphic.

Let's work together

There's a reason they call the ocean Earth's unexplored frontier. Dive into any of this planet's waters and you soon discover an entirely different ecosystem, populated with strange and unexpected species.