The newly discovered prehistoric species, named Aegirocassis benmoulae, was an early ancestor of the modern spider and the oldest giant filter-feeder on recordA filter-feeding “lobster” as big as a human took the place of whales 480 million years ago, a new fossil discovery has shown.The two-metre prehistoric creature, whose remains were unearthed in Morocco, belonged to the family of anomalocaridids, the early ancestors of modern crustaceans, insects and spiders. Continue reading...

A new study finds the year to be a key point for the Anthropocene – marking the irreversible transfer of crops and species between the old and new worldsKing James was on the throne, Shakespeare’s Cymbeline was playing in the theatre and Galileo discovered four moons of Jupiter. In future, though, 1610 could be chiefly remembered as the geological time-point at which humans came to dominate Earth.Scientists have argued that it is time to draw a line under the current geological epoch and usher in the start of a new one, defined by mankind’s impact on the planet. Continue reading...

The latest findings in Australia add to a series of other studies proving that its preparations have no proven benefits to patients

Bright flames shoot out rocket for two minutes, marking the first full-duration burn of the enhanced solid-fuel shuttle booster rocketA beefed-up space shuttle solid rocket motor passed a two-minute test firing in Utah on Wednesday, a key milestone toward the debut flight of Nasa’s deep-space launcher in 2018, the US space agency said.Anchored horizontally to a test stand in the desert in Promontory, Utah, the five-segment motor, built by Orbital ATK, ignited at 9.30am local time. Continue reading...

Sarah Brightman, the recording star turned astronaut, speaks about her upcoming journey into space. The British soprano will blast off in September and plans to sing from orbit. 'I cannot explain in full why this is something that has been very strong within me,' she says. Brightman has been working with her former husband, Andrew Lloyd Webber, on a suitable tune which she says is both 'beautiful and simple' Continue reading...

Florida governor Rick Scott’s language prohibition for state employees is forefront of climate denialism as public policy Continue reading...

It’s inevitable: as science progresses, controversy happens. But sometimes, the public sees controversy where none exists. How to remedy that? Continue reading...

Quoting poetry in a science paper does not add to its research, but as the Wellcome Trust book prize reveals, our dry format benefits from well-written ways to gain wider readership

Altering the space between tiny crystals allows lizards to reflect a specific wavelength of light and camouflage themselves, study finds

What’s it like to turn your science into 90 minutes of TV? The researchers involved in Channel 4’s Drugs Live share their experienceRelated: Drugs Live: Cannabis on Trial - live blogScientists are increasingly encouraged to share their findings with wider audiences through public engagement activities like science fairs, festivals, comedy, and radio and TV broadcasting. Activities like this can be very worthwhile, both for the public and the scientists, but they do present some challenges. Continue reading...

Three men and their families will be eligible for personalised treatment designed to target their genetic defectsThree men from two families are the first patients to be diagnosed with rare diseases after volunteering to have their complete genetic codes mapped as part of the groundbreaking 100,000 Genomes Project.

As the Department of Health starts to draw a map of thousands of genomes, will it keep its promise to anonymise our data? Edward Hockings and Lewis Coyne investigate Continue reading...

Colour changes in chameleons are due to structural changes inside skin cells and not chemistry

Citizen science is getting a lot of attention these days, which might make you think it is a new social phenomenon. But in fact, nothing is further from the truth: citizen science has been around much longer than any of us. Continue reading...

David Cameron is under intense criticism for refusing to take part in televised leaders’ debates. But such debates don’t matter anyway, according to available evidence Continue reading...

Helping find answers to hereditary diseases, training surgeons or wanting to leave an educational legacy are the reasons. But what sort of people donate bodies to science?The first thing you notice as you walk into the operating theatre is the smell. There isn’t one. There’s no whiff of chemical preservatives, no sniff of disinfectant and, reassuringly, no smell of bodies. The room is brightly lit, spotlessly clean and there’s little noise apart from the buzz of air-conditioning units, the clatter of surgical tools and hushed conversation.It takes a while to get your bearings in such as clinical environment. It’s only when you do that you notice the dismembered human arms lying on bloodstained white absorbent pads on the stainless steel operating tables. Some have been severed above the elbow, others at the shoulder. Their waxy flesh is bruised – a natural process caused by the settling of blood after death – and their palms are covered with purple pen marks and deep incisions. Pairs of trainee surgeons in blue gowns and latex gloves work on each arm, supervised by consultants. This morning they dissected the fingers and palms, prising apart the skin to expose garish yellow layers of fat and chalk-white bones. This afternoon they are practising tendon repair. Continue reading...

Ever wonder why committees make bad decisions? Giving equal weight to everybody’s opinion might be the worse thing you could do Continue reading...

Learning through play shouldn’t just be about demonstrating science as a fun activity but nurturing a deeper engagement – and this can be easily done Continue reading...

Frankie the dog delivers the diagnosis through smelling patients’ urine samples, according to a study conducted by the Arkansas University for Medical Sciences.A group of researchers in Arkansas have trained a dog to detect thyroid cancer by smelling patients’ urine samples.

We’ve had starchitects. Now we’ve got space architects. Oliver Wainwright meets the people measuring up the red planet for inflatable homes and farms made of moondust concrete

The quick fix mindset behind geoengineering must be transformed to one that seeks a humble partnership with nature if we are to address climate change Continue reading...

Other mammals partake in abundant sniffing, often in the anogenital area – so what exactly are we doing when we smell our hand after shaking someone else’s?As we all know, a firm handshake is important in making a good first impression. It’s a sure sign of physical strength and, rightly or wrongly, we use it to make all manner of judgments about character, personality and sincerity.New research now suggests that we take away much more than this – quite literally – because shaking hands may also be a way that we smell each other. An Israeli team has published a paper that shows handshakes transfer aromatic compounds thought to be involved in social assessment – that is, making judgments about someone else by virtue of how they smell.We can detect whether someone is sick or healthy through their body odour, or whether they are fearfulStudies aiming to promote handwashing report bodily traces, including faecal bacteria, on hands of people on the street Continue reading...

Clinical trials underway after scientists in Madrid pioneer technique which homes in on woman’s optimum time for treatment

‘Flash of light’ in a clear blue sky sends journalists and astronomy buffs rushing to find suspected meteorite Continue reading...

Why are humans attracted to intense, thrilling experiences that expose us to danger? Continue reading...

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will take turns piloting the single seater Solar Impulse 2 plane that is propelled solely by the sunA Swiss pilot has begun the first ever attempt to fly around the world in a plane propelled only by the sun.André Borschberg and his compatriot Bertrand Piccard will take turns piloting the single seater Solar Impulse 2 for 21,747 miles (35,000km) over 12 legs, including gruelling five- to six-day stints across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The entire journey will take five months. Continue reading...

‘Global warming’ and ‘sustainability’ among phrases allegedly barred at state’s Department of Environmental Protection, investigative report finds Continue reading...

Swings in temperature and rainfalls have often led to war and population displacement in the past. They may already be doing so again Continue reading...

A simplified mathematical model shows why you don’t need an evil majority to have an oppressed minority

The ‘publish or perish’ culture within science skews the research literature towards positive results. But negative findings matter too and new open access publications are helping researchers to give a fuller account of themselves Continue reading...

What can be done to increase the numbers of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- the so-called STEM fields? The Royal Society explores this very question in today’s video, which features physicist Dame Athene Donald FRS and cognitive neuroscientist Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. Continue reading...

Last week drought in São Paulo was so bad, residents tried drilling through basement floors for groundwater. As reservoirs dry up across the world, a billion people have no access to safe drinking water. Rationing and a battle to control supplies will follow Continue reading...

Government targets leave emission levels too high to prevent a big temperature rise, warns team of experts led by economist Nicholas Stern Continue reading...

With five World Heritage sites and historical remains stretching back to before Roman times, archaeologists worry a unique legacy may be lost Continue reading...

Today’s “Caturday” video features a large flock of starlings -- a murmuration -- performing their spectacular aerial ballet in the sky over Utrecht, Netherlands. This is likely one of the last such performances until November, so catch it while you can! Continue reading...

Probe that took off in 2007 will spend next 16 months studying Ceres’ surface in the hope it will solve the mystery of bright spots that has intrigued scientistsThe Dawn spacecraft has started orbiting Ceres, the largest-known body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, taking “close-up” images that scientists hope will reveal the mystery of a pair of bright spots on the dwarf planet.Scientists have been intrigued by earlier images from the Nasa spacecraft of 621-mile-wide Ceres, with the brighter of the two spots in a crater reflecting at least 40% of the sunlight that falls on it.