Facebook grew so big that it destabilised the world. What now?
Facebook used to “move fast and break things”, but now everything is broken. Here’s what governments can do to reign in the tech giants
There won’t be many more gene-edited babies just yet – here’s why
The news of gene-edited twins is more likely to have a chilling effect on research into the technique used than to open the floodgates to millions more edited babies
Why was HIV chosen as the first target for embryo gene editing?
He Jiankui has tried to create babies that are resistant to HIV infection. But there are safer ways to protect against the virus than untested gene editing
Gusts of solar wind may have blown together rocks that formed Earth
The area in our solar system within Mercury’s orbit is empty, which may be because solar winds threw all the rocks farther out, where they helped form planets
Climate change made the sweltering 2018 heatwave 30 times more likely
A study by the UK's Met Office has found that climate change made this year's northern hemisphere summer heatwave around 30 times more likely
Bacteria could protect old paintings from pigment-eating microbes
The microbiome of a 400-year-old painting includes bacteria and fungi that eat pigments but a treatment with other microbes can protect the painting from damage
Tiny sun sensor warns you when your skin is about to burn
A miniature sensor that can be stuck to your skin, clothing or jewellery monitors your UV exposure and lets you know when it’s time to get out of the sun
Fossil blubber shows ichthyosaurs were warm blooded reptiles
A fossil so well preserved that its skin is still flexible is revealing much more about the marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs that swam in the sea during the age of dinosaurs
Baboons live for months after getting genetically modified pig hearts
Genetically modified pig hearts have kept baboons alive for more than 90 days, a threshold that may now allow trials of this type of transplantation in people
Let’s cheer workers at Google who are holding their bosses to account
Staff at Google, Amazon and Microsoft are using walkouts, work slowdowns and refusals to build to hold the tech giants to their proclaimed ethics