Viruses are both the villains and heroes of life as we know it
There is mounting evidence that the viruses that infect plants and animals are also a major source of genetic innovation in these organisms
Lucy in the sky: Things to know about NASA mission to Jupiter’s Trojans
NASA’s Lucy mission is going where no one else has before. It aims to look back into the origins of the solar system through Trojans
Fossil footprints prove humans populated the Americas thousands of years earlier than we thought
Until now, scientists believed humans only travelled south into the Americas when this ice barrier began to melt, at the earliest, 16,500 years ago
Twitter’s design stokes hostility and controversy. Here’s why, and how it might change
Twitter needs to reconsider the algorithms and metrics (such as likes and retweets) that enable the company to profit from co-ordinated …
Humans now drive evolution on Earth, both creating and destroying species
Human activity doesn't just reduce biodiversity – new research explores how we are continually creating newspecies and ecos
Big helium reserve found in Tanzania
Helium is extremely rare on the earth. Its concentration in Tanzania could be 54 billion cubic feet in just one part of the Rift Valley
`It is perfectly possible that Homo genus evolved in Asia'
Bernard A Wood is University Professor of Human Origins at the Centre for Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, USA.…
Research shows universe's first life was born on carbon planets
This work shows that even stars with a tiny fraction of the carbon in our solar system can host planets
Why the Deep Space Atomic Clock is key for future space exploration
In its final form, the Deep Space Atomic Clock will be suitable for operations in the solar system well beyond Earth orbit
The great science robbery
A Kazakh neuroscientist triggers the 'who owns public-funded science' debate by taking on a publishing giant
Competitive policies
The Ericsson case highlights the uneasy interface between competition policy and patent law
Cacao tree originated 10 million years ago: scientists
Early evolutionary origin of the species is good news as it suggests that cacao has had enough time to diversify genetically
New research suggests modern humans lived in Europe 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, in Neanderthal territories
It isn’t a stretch to assume that people in the Mediterranean had access to boat technologies 54,000 years ago and used them to explore …
Gregory XIII: How religious need spurred the reformist pope to recalculate time 440 years ago
The early arrival of Easter because of the long Julian Calendar necessitated the formation of a new calendar
Tokyo Olympics: Sports science the ‘ultimate winner’
Sports and sports science have been complementing each other for the last three decades when technology was given top priority to maintain …
Evolution and Science-fiction: Marriage of facts and fantasy
It is nearly impossible to consume a work of science-fiction that concerns itself with evolution without acknowledging Darwin’s role
Your phone and your brain - what we know so far
The evidence indicates that there’s still a lot of uncertainty about the long-term impacts of digital device use on cognition
Can DNA tests find our soulmate? We study sex and sexuality — and think the idea is ridiculous
There is no compelling evidence as to whether or not DNA matching can support a more fulfilling love life
Europe is recruiting astronauts: Here is what it takes to become one
Recruiting new astronauts is the first step into this new era of human space exploration. Many people may have dreamed of becoming an astronaut …
5 twinkling galaxies help us uncover the mystery of the Milky Way’s missing matter
But about half of matter in our galaxy is too dark to be detected. It takes the form of cold, dark clumps of gas, in which lies Milky Way’s&…
Assault on open access to science in India
Elsevier, Wiley and American Chemical Society have pleaded in front of Delhi High Court that ISPs block Sci-Hub and Libgen websites in India
Stormwater harvesting in parks and open spaces: Managing Delhi’s water woes
Water-sensitive urban design and planning approach, which mimics the natural water cycle, can help fix water systems in the city
Venus might have microbial life in its atmosphere, study shows
Phosphine gas, made up of hydrogen and phosphorus, hass been found in the planet’s clouds, a marker for the existence of microbes that can …
Google and IBM are at odds over 'quantum supremacy' — an expert explains what it really means
Quantum computers can perform very difficult calculations much faster than anything possible on conventional “classical” computers
An app that can detect distress speech and trigger SOS
The innovation won the first prize in a national contest organized in India by the US-based Marconi Society under its Celestini Programme