The science of swimming trunks – including tightness analysis
Feedback dives into a new piece of research on the merits of swimming briefs or looser swimming shorts – and raises an eyebrow at its conclusion
Pandas use tools to scratch thanks to a strange evolutionary quirk
Captive giant pandas have been seen breaking off twigs and bamboo pieces to scratch hard-to-reach spots, using a crude opposable thumb that other bears don’t have
A revolutionary way to map our bodies is helping cure deadly diseases
New tools that create ultra-precise maps of our tissues are transforming our ability to diagnose and cure once-fatal illnesses
Ancient human foot bones shed light on how two species coexisted
Scientists have finally assigned foot bones found in 2009 to an ancient human species, and the move suggests that different types of hominins lived close by in harmony
We might have just seen the first hints of dark matter
Unexplained gamma ray radiation coming from the edge of the Milky Way galaxy could be produced by self-annihilating dark matter particles – but the idea requires further investigation
We may need a fourth law of thermodynamics for living systems
The laws of thermodynamics don't accurately account for the complex processes in living cells – do we need a new one to accurately measure the ways living systems are out of equilibrium?
The long-overlooked insects that could save our crops
Hoverflies, often mistaken for bees and wasps, pollinate three quarters of our crops. Now we’re discovering we can train them to be even more efficient
‘Horrific and beautiful’ whale rescue image wins photography prize
See some of the winning entries for this year's Oceania Photo Contest, including Miesa Grobbelaar's shot of a whale, which took the top prize
Easily taxed grains were crucial to the birth of the first states
The cultivation of wheat, barley and maize, which are easily stored and taxed, seems to have led to the emergence of large societies, rather than agriculture generally
Your brain undergoes four dramatic periods of change from age 0 to 90
Our brain wiring seems to undergo four major turning points at ages 9, 32, 66 and 83, which could influence our capacity to learn and our risk of certain conditions