There are probably many more earthworm species than those that have been officially recognised Andia / Alamy Tens of thousands of species of earthworms are likely to be wriggling in the world’s soil, yet to be discovered by scientists – which will probably take more than 100 years to do. Earthworms play a critical role…
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) as seen from the Canary Islands on 30 September CARLOS DE SAA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Earth is about to have a close encounter with a comet, possibly passing through its ion tail – a rare occurrence. If we are lucky, it could show up as a blue streak in the northern hemisphere night sky.…
Cells found inside ancient rocks, their DNA stained with a green fluorescent dye Y. Suzuki, S. J. Webb, M. Kouduka et al. 2024/ Microbial Ecology Microorganisms have been found living in tiny cracks within a 2-billion-year-old rock in South Africa, making this the oldest known rock to host life. The discovery could offer new insights…
AI may increasingly contribute to scientific discoveries Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images It is a common refrain that artificial intelligence is coming to take all our jobs, and now it seems that Nobel prizewinners are no exception. Two of the awards this year, for physics and chemistry, have been claimed by people working in the field of…
Simone Rotella The past few years have seen outstanding progress in medication for previously incurable conditions. Most pertinent for me is the approval of lecanemab for use in the UK and elsewhere to slow the progress of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. It isn’t a cure, but it brings us closer to dementia becoming a chronic condition…
The spider-tailed horned viper uses its distinctive lure to trick birds into approaching Matthijs Kuijpers/Alamy The Genetic Book of the DeadRichard Dawkins (Yale University Press (US, out now); Apollo (UK, 17 October)) The late, great evolutionary biologist William Hamilton apparently used to correspond on second-hand postcards, writing over the original script in different-coloured ink, sometimes at right angles.…
Josie Ford Cat or dog person? Leah Michelle Baines and Jessica Lee Oliva at James Cook University in Australia say they have discovered that people who own dogs tend to be more resilient than those who own cats. They also report discovering that people who own cats tend to be more neurotic than those who…
Hurricane Milton approaches Florida CIRA Another one? Hurricane Milton, which is barrelling towards Florida’s west coast, is the fifth hurricane to form over the Atlantic in the past two weeks, arriving on the heels of devastating floods brought by Hurricane Helene. This surge of activity feels all the more surprising given it follows an extended…
Simon Prades Around 41,000 years ago, the very last Neanderthal took their final breath. At that moment, we became the only remaining hominins, the sole survivors of the once diverse family of bipedal apes. We will never know exactly when or where this momentous event took place, but we do know the Neanderthals died out suspiciously…
Coke Navarro Ramesses III was one of Egypt’s great warrior pharaohs. A temple he built at Medinet Habu, near the Valley of the Kings, highlights why. On its walls, carvings tell the story of a coalition of fighters that swept across the eastern Mediterranean 3200 years ago, destroying cities, states and even whole empires. “No…