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An aerodynamic material that mimics shark skin helps planes fly with less drag – and it can be added to existing aircraft like a decal

Powering quantum computers with quantum batteries would reduce the energy needed for cooling and enable machines to pack in more qubits

Laboratory experiments have coaxed simple molecules into states that naturally become more complex, hinting at the origins of evolution itself

Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider found evidence of an unprecedentedly heavy and exotic form of antimatter in the aftermath of a collision between extremely fast lead ions

The US and other nations are eager to exploit the Arctic’s mineral wealth, but despite the thawing of ice and permafrost, accessing buried treasure in the region remains extremely challenging

A daily pill developed by the US pharmaceutical company Lilly may become a convenient alternative to injectable drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. In phase III trials it significantly lowered blood sugar and body weight in people with type 2 diabetes

Common medications for keeping blood pressure down, including ACE inhibitors, diuretics and calcium channel blockers, also lower the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment

Mounting evidence suggests there might be two separate types of the world’s fastest-growing neurological condition. Can this fresh understanding lead to much-needed new treatments?

The Tara Polar Station, a $23 million research vessel with a crew of 12, will drift across the Arctic ice to enable better monitoring of a rapidly changing environment

A nearly complete skeleton found in a cave in France belonged to a group known as the Palaeolithic dogs and its skeleton suggests it had a confusing relationship with humans

Extremely low sea ice levels in the Arctic and Antarctica signal a "new normal" that may accelerate global warming and disrupt ocean currents, on top of the consequences for people and wildlife that rely on the ice

A device has enabled people to see a new a shade of blue-green, which they say is more intense than any experienced before

Whenever there’s even a slight chance that an exoplanet shows signs of biological activity, people understandably get excited – but it’s never been aliens, and we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, not this time or the next, says Chris Lintott

A quantum sensor using Earth's magnetic fields outperformed standard GPS backups in test flights. This technology could help commercial aircraft stay on course amid a rise in GPS jamming and spoofing attacks

The "skyglow" produced when light from cities bounces off clouds can help cyanobacteria and other aquatic microbes grow at night

Microbial communities feeding on geothermal methane seeps beneath the Antarctic ice sheet could resemble life-supporting environments on frozen worlds in our solar system and beyond

A network of Earth's best clocks will be synchronised with the most accurate one ever sent into space. But the device has a short shelf life: it will burn up in the atmosphere at the end of the decade as the ISS deorbits

Water filters made from untreated wood can remove more than 99 per cent of particles, taking out many harmful bacteria and microplastics

The report of possible biosignatures on the exoplanet K2-18b is exciting, but we are a long way from establishing beyond doubt that there is life on such a distant world

When Roman Egypt came under attack from the Kushites in what is now Sudan, the Roman forces responded by destroying a Kushite city – or so we thought