The control of fire by humans probably developed gradually over thousands of years. matsiukpavel / Shutterstock Human history is intimately entwined with the use and control of fire. However, working out when our relationship with fire began and how it subsequently evolved has been notoriously difficult. This is partly dueContinue Reading
Kissing may seem natural, but it remains unclear whether it's a universal human act, or a cultural one. PeopleImages.com – Yuri A / Shutterstock Lip kissing is an act that’s so natural and common in many present-day societies it is easily taken for granted. But it’s not actually clear whetherContinue Reading
The May 2017 Manchester terrorist attack was a harrowing reminder of humanity’s capacity for destruction. However, there is another side to the incident that testifies to the best parts of human nature. On May 22 2017 an extremist suicide bomber detonated a homemade bomb at pop singer Ariana Grande’s concertContinue Reading
Illus_man / Shutterstock There has been shock around the world at the rapid rate of progress with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence created with what’s known as large language models (LLMs). These systems can produce text that seems to display thought, understanding and even creativity. But can these systems reallyContinue Reading
Over a quarter of people in the UK gamble online at least once every four weeks. Wpadington / Shutterstock More than a quarter of people in the UK gamble online at least once every four weeks. And 1%–2% of UK adults demonstrate moderate-to-high risk levels of gambling-related harms. The substantiveContinue Reading
On Thursday May 4, for the first time, members of the public voting in local council elections in England were required to bring photo ID to their polling station. Initial reports suggested that a few people were turned away because they didn’t bring one of the approved forms of photoContinue Reading
Tobacco plants produce sounds at a frequency outside the human hearing range. S.Phoophinyo/Shutterstock Plants may appear silent, indifferent organisms to us, but recent research has found they make high-pitched clicking sounds when they are struggling to find water. In principle, neighbouring plants could pick up on and react to theseContinue Reading
mrmohock/Shutterstock Molly was 88 years old and in good health. She had outlived two husbands, her siblings, most of her friends and her only son. “I don’t have any meaningful relationships left, dear,” she told me. “They’ve all died. And you know what? Underneath it all, I want to leaveContinue Reading
Euclid is set to launch this year on a rocket built by SpaceX. Work performed by ATG under contract for ESA, CC BY-SA The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid satellite completed the first part of its long journey into space on May 1 2023, when it arrived in Florida onContinue Reading
Millions of people around the world will be watching as Charles is crowned king of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms. And it’s fair to say that a huge number of them could claim some degree of kinship with the new monarch as distant cousins at least. It’sContinue Reading
