Ancient relative of geese is the earliest known modern bird
A newly analysed fossil skull settles a palaeontological debate over Vegavis iaai, confirming it as a relative of ducks and geese that lived 69 million years ago
Indoor cannabis farms in US use more energy than all other agriculture
Two-thirds of US cannabis is grown indoors, requiring lights and temperature control that produce a vast amounts of emissions
The superconductivity of layered graphene is surprisingly strange
The odd superconductivity found in layered graphene may bring us closer to understanding room-temperature superconductors
Volcano-scorched Roman scroll is read for the first time in 2000 years
A papyrus scroll carbonised by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius two millennia ago is slowly being read once again thanks to X-ray imaging and machine learning
Is cleaner air accelerating global warming more than we expected?
Reductions in air pollution have helped warm the planet by cutting down on reflective particles in the atmosphere – but researchers still disagree on the size of this effect
Arctic geoengineering project shut down over danger to wildlife
The non-profit Arctic Ice Project was experimenting with using silica beads to slow ice melt in the Arctic, but tests showed the plan posed risks to the food chain
Grand canyons formed on moon in minutes after colossal asteroid strike
Two canyons that splay out from a vast asteroid crater on the moon may have been quickly formed by chains of impacts that followed the initial one
Spiders can run just as fast after two of their legs drop off
When spiders self-amputate two of their legs, they quickly adjust their running gait so they can return to full speed
Laughing gas could be picked up by a breathalyser
Many countries have made it illegal to possess nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, and research now shows the drug can be picked up in someone's breath
The 100-year-old symmetry theorem that is still changing physics today
Emmy Noether was hailed as a mathematical genius in her own time. And her theorem on symmetry is still driving new discoveries in particle physics and quantum computing today