Everything you need to know about semaglutide weight loss drugs
From how well they work to side effects such as hair loss, here’s the skinny on new weight loss injections that work by blocking a hormone that normally reduces appetite ⌘ Read more

Flu vaccine for children linked to pneumonia risk for their relatives
The nasal flu vaccine may reduce cases of pneumonia illness in population over the whole flu season because flu infections are likely to lead to even higher boost in bacteria ⌘ Read more

We are about to hear echoes in the fabric of space for the first time
Gravitational waves can be lensed by massive galaxies so that they repeat, like an echo. Scientists are now readying to snare their first one and explore the cosmic secrets it holds ⌘ Read more

How could we give boring blobby galaxies a new, exciting shape?
Galaxies could do with a few more arms or some decorative designs – on this episode of Dead Planets Society, our hosts are using collisions, black holes and dark matter to reshape our galaxy ⌘ Read more

Underwater data centres could be destroyed by loud noises
Underwater data centres being installed off the coasts of China, the US and Europe could be disrupted by sounds from military-grade sonar on ships and submarines, or even whales ⌘ Read more

Mystery of ‘impossible’ star resolved by three-body solution
A white dwarf star orbiting a sun-like star was thought to be impossibly small, but now astronomers have found another star in the system that solves the puzzle ⌘ Read more

Oldest known human viruses found hidden within Neanderthal bones
Genetic analysis of 50,000-year-old Neanderthal skeletons has uncovered the remnants of three viruses related to modern human pathogens, and the researchers think they could be recreated ⌘ Read more

ChatGPT got an upgrade to make it seem more human
OpenAI’s new ChatGPT model, called GPT-4o, provides more human-like interactions through a voice mode, and it is capable of conversations that incorporate text, audio and video in real time ⌘ Read more

Sticky oil sprayed onto plants offers alternative to pesticides
A sticky liquid made from vegetable oil could be sprayed onto plants to catch small pests such as thrips without affecting larger insects such as bees ⌘ Read more

Edible gel prevents and treats alcohol intoxication in mice
Mice given unlimited access to alcohol recovered faster after consuming a gel based on a milk protein, with the same treatment also preventing intoxication in another group of mice. If proved safe and effective in humans, it could offer a quick way to sober up ⌘ Read more

Did humans evolve to chase down prey over long distances?
Outrunning prey over long distances is an efficient method of hunting for humans, and it was widely used until recently, according to an analysis of ethnographic accounts ⌘ Read more

Watch a Möbius strip robot move and climb when hit by light
When light strikes a soft robot made from a twisted strip of hydrogel sheets, it moves in a predictable way and can climb a vertical rod or haul up a load ⌘ Read more

Pigs seem less stressed if their barn is scented with lavender
If a lavender scent is sprayed into pig pens three times a day, the animals show less aggressive behaviour and appear more relaxed ⌘ Read more

Does using the internet make us happier or sadder?
A study of more than 2 million people in 168 countries suggests that having access to the internet is linked to higher life satisfaction, but many questions remain unanswered ⌘ Read more

Doughnut-shaped swirls of laser light can be used to transmit images
Ultra-fast pulses of laser light can be shaped into vortices similar to smoke rings – when chained together, they can carry enough information to transmit a simple image ⌘ Read more

How to see tonight’s northern lights – the strongest in 20 years
A rare geomagnetic storm not seen for nearly 20 years could cause a stunning aurora borealis on 10 and 11 May ⌘ Read more

Dozens of stars show signs of hosting advanced alien civilisations
Sufficiently advanced aliens would be able to capture vast quantities of energy from their star using a massive structure called a Dyson sphere. Such a device would give off an infrared heat signature - and astronomers have just spotted 60 stars that seem to match ⌘ Read more

Heavy or painful menstrual periods are linked to worse exam results
Heavy, prolonged or painful menstrual periods are associated with more days off school and scoring worse on compulsory exams in a UK study ⌘ Read more

500-year-old maths problem turns out to apply to coffee and clocks
A centuries-old maths problem asks what shape a circle traces out as it rolls along a line. The answer, dubbed a “cycloid”, turns out to have applications in a variety of scientific fields ⌘ Read more

Monkeys can learn to tap to the beat of the Backstreet Boys
With a bit of training, macaques can make rhythmic movements in time with music, an ability only shown before by a handful of animals ⌘ Read more

Extreme exercise may help you live longer without stressing your heart
People who can run a mile in less than 4 minutes generally live almost five years longer than would otherwise be expected, challenging the idea that too much strenuous exercise is bad for the heart ⌘ Read more

Invisible ‘dark radiation’ may explain a big problem with dark energy
Surprising recent measurements hint that the universe isn’t expanding in the way we had thought, and it could be explained by still-theoretical dark radiation ⌘ Read more

Has the biggest problem in cosmology finally been solved?
For decades, cosmologists have been fighting over the Hubble constant, a number that represents the expansion rate of the universe – it may have finally been pinned down ⌘ Read more

How to reconnect with long-lost friends, according to science
We are generally as reluctant to contact a long-lost friend as we are to talk to a stranger, but scientists have come up with an approach so it’s easier to make the first move ⌘ Read more

DeepMind is experimenting with a nearly indestructible robot hand
A new robotic hand can withstand being smashed by pistons or walloped with a hammer. It was designed to survive the trial-and-error interactions required to train AI robots ⌘ Read more

Being in two places at once could make a quantum battery charge faster
The quantum principle of superposition – the idea of particles being in multiple places at once – could help make quantum batteries that charge within minutes ⌘ Read more

Who were the enigmatic Sea Peoples blamed for the Bronze Age collapse?
Around 3000 years ago, several empires and kingdoms in the Mediterranean collapsed, with a group of sea-faring warriors implicated as the culprit. But new evidence shows that many of our ideas about this turbulent time need completely rethinking ⌘ Read more

DeepMind AI can predict how drugs interact with proteins
The latest version of the AlphaFold AI can help biologists predict how proteins interact with each other and other molecules, which is a boon to pharmaceutical research ⌘ Read more

Psychedelic toxins from toads could treat depression and anxiety
A compound emitted by the Colorado river toad may reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in a similar way to LSD and psilocybin, according to a study in mice ⌘ Read more

The ‘forever chemicals’ toxic to your health - and how to avoid them
From your popcorn bag to your waterproof jacket, forever chemicals are all around us. We’re finally starting to understand what they are doing to our health - and how to get rid of them ⌘ Read more

Ultrasonic coffee-maker produces the perfect cold brew in minutes
Cold-brewing coffee can reduce its bitter taste, but it normally takes up to 24 hours as the grounds slowly steep. A new method that involves pummelling the grounds with ultrasound can drastically speed up the process ⌘ Read more

Fusion reactors could create ingredients for a nuclear weapon in weeks
Concern over the risks of enabling nuclear weapons development is usually focused on nuclear fission reactors, but the potential harm from more advanced fusion reactors has been underappreciated ⌘ Read more

Hottest April on record is the 11th record-breaking month in a row
Global temperatures in April 2024 were 1.6°C higher than the average for April during the pre-industrial era ⌘ Read more

Longest-living cat breeds revealed by life expectancy study
Birman and Burmese cats typically live for more than 14 years while sphynxes live less than half as long on average, finds a study of pet cats in the UK ⌘ Read more

Renewables supply 30 per cent of global electricity for the first time
The rapid growth of solar power led to a record-breaking year for clean energy generation in 2023, and the year is expected to mark the start of a long-term decline in fossil fuels ⌘ Read more

Sperm whale clicks could be the closest thing to a human language yet
Analysis of thousands of exchanges between the intelligent cetaceans suggests they combine short click patterns – similar to letters of the alphabet - into longer sequences ⌘ Read more

Why we are finally within reach of a room-temperature superconductor
A practical superconductor would transform the efficiency of electronics. After decades of hunting, several key breakthroughs are inching us very close to this coveted prize ⌘ Read more

Hackers can steal data by messing with a computer’s processor
Software that has been blocked from connecting to the internet should be secure from hacking attempts, but now researchers have found a way to sneak data out by varying the speed of the computer’s processor ⌘ Read more

Bird flu has hit US cows but tracking efforts fall woefully short
The strategy for tracking bird flu in US dairy cattle falls worryingly short of what is needed to prevent the outbreak from widening and potentially spreading to humans ⌘ Read more

Implantable heart pump could let children wait for transplants at home
An implantable heart pump could help children with heart failure awaiting transplants forego bulky devices that require long hospital stays ⌘ Read more

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is about to make its first crewed flight
Two astronauts are about to set off for the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule. If all goes well, Starliner will join SpaceX’s Dragon as a US shuttle into orbit ⌘ Read more

Ball-balancing robot could assist wheelchair users
A robot that moves around by balancing on a ball could prove a better assistant for wheelchair users than humanoid robots that walk on two legs ⌘ Read more

How Schrödinger’s cat could make quantum computers work better
A quantum bit inspired by Schrödinger’s cat can resist making errors for an unprecedentedly long time, which makes it a candidate for building less error-prone quantum computers ⌘ Read more

Black holes scramble information – but may not be the best at it
Information contained within quantum objects gets scrambled when they interact. Physicists have now derived a speed limit for this process, challenging the idea that black holes are the fastest data scramblers ⌘ Read more

Zebras bob their heads at each other to signal cooperation
Head-bobbing seems to be a way for zebras to invite others to groom, graze or move together, suggesting sophisticated social and cognitive capabilities ⌘ Read more

Stink bugs grow a fungal garden on their legs to fight parasitic wasps
A surprise discovery has revealed that female stink bugs have a small indent on their hind legs that they use for cultivating fungi before spreading it on their eggs ⌘ Read more

Autoimmune conditions linked to reactivated X chromosome genes
The inactivation of one copy of the X chromosome in female mammals may start to fail as they get older, which may be why women have a higher risk of autoimmune conditions such as lupus ⌘ Read more

Protocells on early Earth may have been formed by squeezing geysers
Simulations of the crust of early Earth show that cycles of pressure caused by geysers or tidal forces could have generated cell-like structures and even very simple proteins ⌘ Read more

China is sending its Chang’e 6 spacecraft to the far side of the moon
If all goes well, the Chang’e 6 probe will be the first ever to land on the far side of the moon to take samples and bring them back to Earth ⌘ Read more

Mysterious space signals may come from a dead star with a planet
Strange bursts of radio waves called FRBs have long been mysterious, and one of the most famous sources of these flashes may have an unexpected planet ⌘ Read more