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In 1858, two ornithologists set out to find the great auk. Gísli Pálsson's intriguing account of their failed quest argues it may have shaped modern ideas about extinction and conservation

For most of humanity’s existence, we have observed the universe using light, but these days photons aren’t the only game in town, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Feedback is excited to learn that the wrinkly rodents may be the keepers of anti-ageing intelligence

Hybrid working has its benefits, but employees will be happier and more productive with more face-to-face contact, says evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar

The compelling story of how Jacqueline Alnes fell under the spell of “fruit-only” diet influencers as she battled a mystery illness highlights how modern life makes us all vulnerable

A group of more than a dozen orcas has disappeared after being trapped in freezing Japanese waters for about a day – it isn’t known if they escaped or have died

Close measurements of Mimas’s orbit suggest there could be an ocean 30 kilometres deep beneath the small moon’s icy exterior

Physicists’ search for a theory that explains all reality in one framework appeared to have stalled. But now they are reinvigorating the hunt by exploring a wild landscape of abstract geometry

A subspecies of the Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard was found by a landmine clearance team, the first official sighting since 1931

In space, growing plants could be important for food, oxygen and even astronauts' psychological well-being – but growing anything beyond Earth is more difficult than it might seem

A Chinese company is building wind turbines with 131-metre-long blades, the longest ever used in an onshore power plant

Making a strange state of matter called a time crystal inside a quantum computer helped researchers stabilise a fragile quantum state inspired by Schrödinger’s cat

A severe drought exacerbated by climate change and a lack of updated infrastructure have led to some ships waiting more than a month to cross one of the world's most important waterways

Menstrual cycles change over time, but the menopause, and the time leading up to it, particularly alters their length and variability

A robot that can learn to open most types of doors, cabinets, drawers and refrigerators – without human direction – may pave the way for your future robot butler

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

How exactly the placebo effect works is still a mystery, but neuroscientist Luana Colloca is working to find the answers in order to change the way we treat pain

An analysis of satellite observations has identified some extreme thunderstorms over the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Mexico with lightning flashes so frequent that the sky would appear continuously lit

A sample from the asteroid Bennu, brought back by the OSIRIS-REx mission, contains hints that it was once part of a planetesimal with conditions favourable for life to emerge

Researchers have recreated the hybridisation of two wild yeast species that led to the first lager yeasts, generating new varieties that could make beer with a range of new flavours