Ants capture carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into armour
Fungus-farming ants have evolved a remarkable solution to the danger of excess carbon dioxide inside their nests – which could inspire ways for humans to capture CO2 ⌘ Read more

People who eat a lot of fibre spend more time in deep sleep
The most comprehensive study to date has revealed what we need to eat throughout the day to sleep well that night ⌘ Read more

The best new science fiction books of March 2026
The latest in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series is out this month, along with a speculative retelling of Moby-Dick and a forgotten classic from 1936 ⌘ Read more

Inside the company selling quantum entanglement
Cables underneath New York City are teeming with entangled quantum particles of light thanks to Qunnect, a company that has spent a decade working on building an unhackable quantum internet ⌘ Read more

Can magnesium supplements improve sleep, energy and concentration?
Magnesium has been called the “super mineral of the moment”, hailed for its supposed benefits for the brain and body. But columnist Alice Klein finds that the evidence is lacking for many of these claims ⌘ Read more

NASA’s Artemis moon exploration programme is getting a major makeover
As it faces yet another set of delays, NASA’s Artemis programme is being shaken up, delaying an actual moon landing in favour of smaller, faster steps forward ⌘ Read more

Frailty can be eased with an infusion of stem cells from young people
Frailty can typically only be lessened through lifestyle changes, but a stem cell therapy seems to target the underlying causes of the condition, boosting the mobility of frail older people ⌘ Read more

Human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom in a week
Neuron-powered computer chips can now be easily programmed to play a first-person shooter game, bringing biological computers a step closer to useful applications ⌘ Read more

Ocean geoengineering trial finds no evidence of harm to marine life
Pouring 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine removed up to 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without harming wildlife, according to the researchers behind an ocean alkalinity enhancement test ⌘ Read more

How worried should you be about an asteroid smashing into Earth?
The dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid, but does that mean we risk suffering the same fate - and should you be worried about the possibility? Leah Crane sets the matter straight ⌘ Read more

We all harbour 9 secrets and they are eating us up inside
Secret-keeping evolved to maintain social harmony, but it can weigh heavily on us when we can’t stop thinking about them. So, what is the best way to deal with things that we don’t want anyone else to know? ⌘ Read more

Could a niche 80s technology be the key to better quantum computers?
Superconducting computing circuits were briefly heralded as the future of computing in the 1980s. Columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan visits a quantum chip foundry where one company is betting this technology’s second act will revolutionise quantum computers ⌘ Read more

Stem cell patch reverses brain damage in fetuses with spina bifida
The congenital condition spina bifida is often treated surgically in the womb, but many children still go on to have mobility issues. The addition of a patch made up of stem cells from donated placentas could improve their long-term outcomes ⌘ Read more

When we interbred with Neanderthals, they were usually the fathers
Genetic evidence hints that there was a strong bias for male Neanderthals and female humans to mate, rather than any other combination ⌘ Read more