Police can now track killers using relatives’ DNA – but should they?
Genetic genealogy services are rapidly become a key source of forensic evidence, but do we really want the police to have access to everyone's DNA?
Ecstasy-like drugs might relieve social difficulties in autism
Mouse studies hint that social difficulties in autism might be caused by faulty serotonin signalling in the brain and can be helped with serotonin-boosting drugs
Don’t give up, we can survive even a Hothouse Earth
Bad news on the climate should lead neither to despair nor unfounded optimism. Instead, we need to roll up our sleeves and prepare for life on a drastically changing planet
The underwater drones that hunt for oil spills beneath the waves
Oil behaves strangely in water – now a combination of AI and super-expensive underwater vehicles are being used to track it. Joshua Howgego went along for the ride
US Navy wants to fire a slime cannon at boats to stop them escaping
The US Navy wants to make super-expanding weaponised slime, inspired by the hagfish, that can trap boats in the water
Allergy explosion: What causes allergies and how to avoid them
We've all heard that being too clean can cause allergies, or exposure can help you beat them. Most advice doesn't stand up, but there are things that do seem to work
Allergy explosion: They are on the rise, and here’s why
Banning nuts on planes and in schools may seem like hysteria, but there's good reason: allergies are becoming more common. And you may not realise how you're affected
California’s worst wildfire in history is now the size of Los Angeles
Firefighters are battling high winds and extreme heat as they try to slow the spread of the biggest wildfire ever recorded in California
Neutron stars bend light so much we see their front and back at once
Ultra-compact neutron stars are so dense that the light bends around from the far side, making it possible to see all sides of them simultaneously
Sound waves are a form of antigravity because they have negative mass
As sound waves travel, they float upwards away from the pull of gravity. That’s because they have negative mass, so they’re repelled by massive objects