Toys are us: How childhood objects may have shaped human history
Tantalising evidence hints that key human innovations including the wheel and weaving were the outcome of, quite literally, child's play
2019 Preview: DNA testing will lead to a decline in genetic disorders
A large trial of a pre-pregnancy DNA test could be the first step towards marked declines in inherited disorders being passed on to future generations
Cannibalistic African clawed frog eats tadpoles of its relatives
The African clawed frog likes to dine on its own tadpoles – but it prefers those belonging to the endangered Cape platanna frog
Six spectacular ice phenomena to look out for this winter
From candy-cane snow rollers to fragile flowers, ice can take on magical, complex guises. Here are six that might catch your eye this winter
Plight of the Living Dead review – The making of real zombies
From cockroaches to humans, few creatures are immune from the complex strategies of the mind-stealing parasites at the centre of a gripping Christmas tale
You can help beat cancer
Meet Claire, a PhD researcher developing cancer
treatments. Find out why she needs your help to beat cancer
Crayfish experience something like anxiety when they shed their armour
Crayfish have to shed their armour to grow, leaving them temporarily undefended. During this time, they show signs of anxiety - but human anti-anxiety drugs change this
2019 Preview: 30 cold cases to be solved using DNA ancestry websites
Arrests will finally be made in connection to dozens of decades-old murder and rape cases, as thousands more people upload their DNA to family tree websites
NASA probe will hurtle past the most distant object we’ve ever visited
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft whizzed past Pluto. Now it is about to arrive at Ultima Thule, a tiny space rock 6.6 billion kilometres away from Earth
Why do wombats poo cubes and turkeys spirals? One woman is finding out
Engineer Patricia Yang won an IgNobel prize for flushing out a universal law of animal urination. Next up? Discovering why wombat stools come out as cubes