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The Great Rift Valley. Photograph by Ninara under Creative Commons licence CC-BY 2.0.

Featured news

Published on 12 May 2026

New tectonic plate boundary could be forming in Zambia, scientists say

Helium isotope readings from geothermal springs indicate that the Kafue Rift has broken through the Earth’s crust

Image: Shutterstock.com

Featured news

Published on 11 May 2026

How jellyfish bycatch could be valuable collagen source for cosmetics and biotech

Q&A with Dr Ainara Ballesteros and Raquel Torres, authors of a new Frontiers in Marine Science article on the use of jellyfish bycatch as a sustainable collagen source

Malachite fragments, a mineral rich in copper, recovered during the excavation works at Cova 338. Authorship: Maria D. Guillén / IPHES-CERCA.

Featured news

Published on 05 May 2026

‘They weren’t burned by accident’: burned stone, child’s bones, and lost jewelry could reveal prehistoric mining camp high in the Pyrenees

Archaeologists uncover possible evidence of ancient copper smelting spanning more than 2,000 years in a mountain cave more than 2,000 meters above sea level

An older man presses his fingers against his head near his ear.

Featured news

Published on 27 Apr 2026

‘The cause might be vibrating pipes rather than restless spirits’: increased stress and irritability from infrasound exposure may explain paranormal experiences

Humans exposed to infrasound don’t detect it, but have raised cortisol and irritability levels — offering a possible explanation for ‘haunted’ locations .

Image: Shutterstock

Health

Published on 07 May 2026

Frontiers in Science: AI-embodied surgical robots can revolutionize surgery—if regulatory questions addressed

Embodying surgical robots with next-gen AI can safely augment practice if ethical and regulatory questions are addressed, say experts writing today in Frontiers in Science.

An older man presses his fingers against his head near his ear.

Health

Published on 27 Apr 2026

‘The cause might be vibrating pipes rather than restless spirits’: increased stress and irritability from infrasound exposure may explain paranormal experiences

Humans exposed to infrasound don’t detect it, but have raised cortisol and irritability levels — offering a possible explanation for ‘haunted’ locations .

Health

Published on 22 Apr 2026

Preschool children born with heart defects have greater risk of developing behavioral problems

Cognitively stimulating home can protect against higher risk of ADHD and peer relationship problems in preschoolers with congenital heart disease

Image: Shutterstock.com

Health

Published on 16 Apr 2026

Foxes and birds could be ‘early warning system’ to survey spread of antibiotic resistance into ecosystems

Wildlife monitoring could alert us to the spread of highly antibiotic resistant bacteria into unexposed ecosystems, highlighting a potential public health strategy

Image credit: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Mond-vergleich.svg

Neuroscience

Published on 20 Oct 2025

Do animals fall for optical illusions? What fish and birds can teach us about perception

Dr Maria Santacà describes how not only how fish and birds perceive their worlds, but also how ecological pressures shape the evolution of perception.

Neuroscience

Published on 07 Oct 2025

Instructions help you remember something better than emotions or a good night’s sleep

Scientists find that words you’ve been told to recall are better remembered than words with negative emotional connotations — but surprisingly, sleeping doesn’t help.

Neuroscience

Published on 03 Sep 2025

Happy music could help you recover from motion sickness

Listening to joyful music helped study participants with motion sickness recover better than other participants — while sad music helped less than doing nothing.

Vantage point of the Murin-an garden in Kyoto the researchers used for the experiment in summer. Credit: Ueya Kato Zoen.

Neuroscience

Published on 15 May 2025

Seeing well-designed gardens could relax us almost immediately because we look at them differently

In well-designed gardens, our gaze shifts quicker and more often. Researchers believe this could be key to understanding the relaxing effects gardens can have on viewers.

Image: Flathead River Valley in Fall, copyright Harvey Locke

Environment

Published on 09 Apr 2026

Frontiers in Science: Halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 critical to avoid disastrous effects on human well-being

Immediate call for global action to shift world towards a “nature positive” approach is published in Frontiers in Science.

Environment

Published on 18 Mar 2026

Scientists discover ‘consortium' of bacteria cooperating to eat phthalate plasticizers that single microbes can’t stomach

‘Microbial cross-feeding’ and previously unknown enzymes help community of bacteria to digest toxic phthalate esters

Researchers of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and the Austrian Academy of Science drill an ice core at Weißseespitze, Ötztal Alps, in 2018. Photograph by Prof Andrea Fischer.

Environment

Published on 13 Mar 2026

Race against time to save Alpine ice cores recording medieval mining, fires, and volcanoes

Glacier ice can reveal air pollution dating back to the Roman Empire — but the climate crisis is destroying this frozen archive

Cle Elum Ridge, Washington: before and after heavy forest thinning. Image credit: John Marshall

Environment

Published on 03 Mar 2026

Modern twist on wildfire management methods found also to have a bonus feature that protects water supplies

Thinning to slow wildfires simultaneously boosts ‘hydrological resilience’ of forests

Children playing tug of war at the park.

Psychology

Published on 27 Mar 2026

‘Sometimes an adult should shut up and go away’: scientists reveal the qualities that kids need in play

For better play, give children space to choose and accessible games, scientists say

Image: Shutterstock.com

Psychology

Published on 26 Mar 2026

Struggling to identify emotions may increase vulnerability to TikTok addiction

Research shows that problems with focus and identifying emotions may make young people more vulnerable to short video addiction, but mental training can help

Image: Shutterstock.com

Psychology

Published on 08 Dec 2025

Are you more likely to buy a one-star-reviewed item if it’s just for an acquaintance? Here are five articles you won’t want to miss

With less than one month before the holidays, many of us are gearing up for the annual Christmas shopping extravaganza. We’re highlighting five articles you won’t want to miss before hitting the shops.

Psychology

Published on 13 Aug 2025

Now you see me, now you don’t: how subtle ‘sponsored content’ on social media tricks us into viewing ads

Scientists find that people mostly avoid social media ads when they see them, but many ads blend in seamlessly.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 06 May 2026

Space junk falls to Earth faster when sunspots peak, and this can help prevent collisions with satellites

Scientists have shown for the first time that solar activity can predict the rate at which space junk and satellites descend from orbit

Legged robot performing analogue tests in Marslabor at the University of Basel. Credit: Dr Tomaso Bontognali.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 31 Mar 2026

Legged robot could accelerate resource prospecting on the Moon and the search for life on Mars

What if future planetary robots did not have to wait for instructions from Earth before examining every rock?

Concept design for a rectangular space telescope, modeled after the Diffractive Interfero Coronagraph Exoplanet Resolver (DICER), a notional infrared space observatory, and the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Leaf Swordy/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 01 Sep 2025

Circle versus rectangle: finding ‘Earth 2.0’ may be easier using a new telescope shape

Guest editorial by Prof Heidi Newberg, an astrophysicist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and author of a new Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences article

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 25 Feb 2025

Laser-powered device tested on Earth could help us detect microbial fossils on Mars

Scientists successfully identify microbe fossils in terrestrial rocks like those found on Mars, opening up the possibility of searching for fossils on the Red Planet.