Some Arctic warming ‘irreversible’ even if we cut atmospheric CO2
Efforts to lower the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere may come too late to prevent long-term changes to the Arctic ⌘ Read more

Mars may once have had a much larger moon
There are two small moons in orbit around Mars today, but both may be remnants of a much larger moon that had enough of a gravitational pull to drive tides in the Red Planet’s lost lakes and seas ⌘ Read more

Qubits break quantum limit to encode information for longer
Controlling qubits with quantum superpositions allows them to dramatically violate a fundamental limit and encode information for about five times longer during quantum computations ⌘ Read more

New antibiotic could stave off drug-resistant gonorrhoea
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the microbe responsible for gonorrhoea, is developing resistance to most antibiotics, which means we need new drugs to treat the condition. An antibiotic called zoliflodacin might be part of a solution ⌘ Read more

Disney and OpenAI have made a surprise deal – what happens next?
In a stunning reversal, Disney has changed tack with regard to safeguarding its copyrighted characters from incorporation into AI tools – perhaps a sign that no one can stem the tide of AI ⌘ Read more

Killer whales and dolphins are ‘being friends’ to hunt salmon together
White-sided dolphins seem to help killer whales “scout” and catch Chinook salmon near Vancouver Island, then eat the leftovers ⌘ Read more

Supposedly distinct psychiatric conditions may have same root causes
People are often diagnosed with multiple neurodivergencies and mental health conditions, but the biggest genetic analysis so far suggests many have shared biological causes ⌘ Read more

Earth and solar system may have been shaped by nearby exploding star
A new explanation for the solar system’s radioactive elements suggests Earth-like planets might be found orbiting up to 50 per cent of sun-like stars ⌘ Read more

Roman occupation of Britain damaged the population’s health
Urban populations in southern Britain experienced a decline in health that lasted for generations after the Romans arrived ⌘ Read more

We may finally know what a healthy gut microbiome looks like
Our gut microbiome has a huge influence on our overall health, but we haven’t been clear on the specific bacteria with good versus bad effects. Now, a study of more than 34,000 people is shedding light on what a healthy gut microbiome actually consists of ⌘ Read more

Inside the wild experiments physicists would do with zero limits
From a particle smasher encircling the moon to an “impossible” laser, five scientists reveal the experiments they would run in a world powered purely by imagination ⌘ Read more

Genetic trick to make mosquitoes malaria resistant passes key test
The rollout of a type of genetic technology called a gene drive for tackling malaria could be edging closer after a lab study supports its success ⌘ Read more

Oldest evidence of fire-lighting comes from early humans in Britain
An excavation in Suffolk, UK, has uncovered pyrite and flint that appear to have been used by ancient humans to light fires some 400,000 years ago ⌘ Read more

Australia’s social media ban faces challenges and criticism on day one
As Australian teenagers lose access to social media, observers say there are still many unknown questions about the ban, which came into force on 10 December ⌘ Read more

Did ancient humans start farming so they could drink more beer?
New evidence suggests that alcohol was a surprisingly big motivator in our monumental transition from hunting and gathering to farming – but was beer really more important to us than bread? ⌘ Read more

Dinosaurs like Diplodocus may have been as colourful as birds
Skin fossils from a sauropod dinosaur examined with an electron microscope feature structures called melanosomes, which are similar to those that create the bright colours in birds’ feathers ⌘ Read more

2025 was chock full of exciting discoveries in human evolution
From an incredible series of revelations about the ancient humans called Denisovans to surprising discoveries about tool making, this year has given us a clearer picture of how and why humans evolved to be so different from other primates ⌘ Read more

The audacious quest to light up the sky with artificial auroras
How a Finnish physicist named Karl Lemström once became obsessed with recreating the aurora borealis from scratch – and may have ended up creating something even more intriguing ⌘ Read more

We’ve finally cracked how to make truly random numbers
From machine learning to voting, the workings of the world demand randomisation, but true sources of randomness are surprisingly hard to find. Now quantum mechanics has supplied the answer ⌘ Read more

2025 is the second hottest year since records began
Mean temperatures this year approached 1.5°C above the preindustrial average, making it the second hottest year after 2024 ⌘ Read more

Odd elements in supernova blast might have implications for alien life
Some of the elements used by living systems are far more abundant in Cassiopeia A than we thought, hinting that some parts of our galaxy might be more suitable for life than others ⌘ Read more

How worried should you be about spending too much time on your phone?
Screen time has been linked to all sorts of problems, from depression and obesity to poor sleep. But how worried should you really be? Jacob Aron sifts through the evidence ⌘ Read more

What the family drama of interbreeding polar and grizzly bears reveals
A hybrid grolar bear saga is unfolding in the Arctic, and the tale of this strange family has much to tell us about nature on our changing planet ⌘ Read more

Extreme heat hampers children’s early learning
Children regularly exposed to temperatures over 30°C (86°F) have lower scores on literacy and numeracy tests at age 3 to 4, according to UNICEF data from six countries ⌘ Read more

Too busy to meditate? Microdosing mindfulness has big health benefits
Small bursts of mindfulness practices lasting a minute or less can have unexpected benefits for those with busy lives - here’s how ⌘ Read more

Are we living in a simulation? This experiment could tell us
The idea that we might be living in a simulated reality has worried us for centuries. Now physicists have found some tantalising clues – and devised an experiment that might reveal the truth ⌘ Read more

Tattooing may trigger localised damage to the immune system
There is relatively little information on the long-term health effects of tattooing, but a couple of recent studies suggest the art form might trigger prolonged inflammation ⌘ Read more

How Australian teens are planning to get around their social media ban
From legal challenges to lesser-known apps, the teenagers of Australia are already preparing to push back against a law that will see under 16s banned from social media ⌘ Read more

AI can influence voters’ minds. What does that mean for democracy?
Voters change their opinions after interacting with an AI chatbot – but, encouragingly, it seems that AIs rely on facts to influence people ⌘ Read more

Why is AI making computers and games consoles more expensive?
The AI industry consumes vast amounts of energy, fresh water and investor cash. Now it also needs memory chips - the same ones used in laptops, smartphones and games consoles ⌘ Read more

Volcano eruption may have led to the Black Death coming to Europe
Climate data and historical accounts suggest that crop failures in the 1340s prompted Italian officials to import grain from eastern Europe, and this may have carried in the plague bacterium ⌘ Read more

Could the super-rich be cloning themselves? And why would they?
Nearly three decades since the remarkable cloning of Dolly the sheep, it has all gone quiet on the human cloning front. Michael Le Page wonders what’s happening behind the scenes ⌘ Read more

Tigers seem to be bouncing back in remote Sumatran jungle
Camera traps in an area of the Leuser rainforest patrolled by NGOs spotted 17 tigers in 2023 and 18 Sumatran tigers in 2024, while surveys elsewhere on the island averaged seven ⌘ Read more

Incredible close-up of spider silk wins science photo prize
Duelling prairie chickens, a snake-mimicking moth and a once-a-year sunrise at the South Pole feature in the best images from the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025 ⌘ Read more

Experimental vaccine prevents dangerous allergic attack for a year
By blocking a molecule that pushes the immune system into overdrive, a vaccine protects mice from life-threatening anaphylaxis ⌘ Read more

Forming moon may have taken three big impacts early in Earth’s history
Conventionally, the moon is thought to have formed during one big impact, but a three-impact model might make more sense ⌘ Read more

Ancient human artefacts found near caves in Arabian desert
Today, the deserts of the Arabian peninsula are inhospitable – but 100,000 years ago, the area was full of animals and ancient humans ⌘ Read more

Why quantum mechanics says the past isn’t real
The famous double-slit experiment brings into question the very nature of matter. Its cousin, the quantum eraser experiment, makes us question the very existence of time – and how much we can manipulate it ⌘ Read more

Black hole entropy hints at a surprising truth about our universe
Two clashing ideas about disorder inside black holes now point to the same strange conclusions, and it could reshape the foundations of how we think about space and time ⌘ Read more

Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it
We knew from prior analyses that a distant asteroid sampled in 2020 carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life, and researchers have just found the missing ingredient: sugar ⌘ Read more

What would Russia’s inability to launch crewed missions mean for ISS?
Russia’s only launch site capable of sending humans to orbit has suffered serious damage that may take two years to fix. Will NASA keep supporting the ISS without Russian involvement, or is this the end for the space station? ⌘ Read more

Coral reefs have fuelled severe global warming in Earth’s past
Over the past 250 million years, periods when coral reef growth has peaked have coincided with big rises in sea temperatures ⌘ Read more

We now have a greater understanding of how exercise slows cancer
Tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to a shift in the body’s metabolism that means muscle cells outcompete cancer cells in the race to get sugar to grow ⌘ Read more

A sinister, deadly brain protein could reveal the origins of all life
We have long struggled to determine how the first living organisms on Earth came together. Now, surprising evidence hints that poorly understood prions may have been the vital missing ingredient ⌘ Read more

Man unexpectedly cured of HIV after stem cell transplant
A handful of people with HIV have been cured after receiving HIV-resistant stem cells – but a man who received non-resistant stem cells is also now HIV-free ⌘ Read more

The best new science fiction books of December 2025
From a new collection of shorter fiction by Brandon Sanderson to Simon Stålenhag’s new work, via a Stranger Things novel, December’s new sci-fi features some compelling and intriguing offerings ⌘ Read more

Was a little-known culture in Bronze Age Turkey a major power?
Archaeologists have gathered evidence from hundreds of Bronze Age sites in western Turkey that could be remnants of a civilisation that has been largely overlooked ⌘ Read more

Why Google’s custom AI chips are shaking up the tech industry
Google is reportedly in talks to sell its tensor processing units – a type of computer chip specially designed for AI – to other tech companies, a move that could unsettle the dominant chip-maker Nvidia ⌘ Read more

Upheavals to the oral microbiome in pregnancy may be behind tooth loss
Dental problems often arise or get worse during pregnancy, and a new study hints that rapid changes to the oral microbiome at this time could be at least partly to blame ⌘ Read more

Africa’s forests are now emitting more CO2 than they absorb
Logging and mining are destroying swathes of the Congo rainforest, with the result that African forests went from being  a carbon sink to a carbon source in 2010 to 2017 ⌘ Read more