The brains of humans are subtly different from those of Neanderthals. Petr Student/Shutterstock How we humans became what we are today is a question that scientists have been trying to answer for a long time. How did we evolve such advanced cognitive abilities, giving rise to complex language, poetry andContinue Reading
Cave bears are now extinct. Shutterstock/Liliya Butenko Cave bears were giant plant eating bears that roamed Europe and northern Asia, and went extinct around 25 thousand years ago. They hibernated in caves during the winter. This was a dangerous time, as those which had failed to fatten up enough duringContinue Reading
Illustration of the lunar gateway. Nasa Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan blasted off from the Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon in their lunar module Challenger on December 14 1972. Five days later, they splashed down safely in the Pacific, closing the Apollo 17 mission and becoming the last humans toContinue Reading
Boredom can be good and bad. Shutterstock/fizkes Many of us have probably felt bored at some point in the past year. Restrictions on social gatherings, travel and plenty of other activities may have been necessary to control the pandemic, but have left lots of us with little to do. OnContinue Reading
A prototype of our novel plasma-based particle accelerator EuPRAXIA Conceptual Design Report In 2010, when scientists were preparing to smash the first particles together within the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), sections of the media fantasised that the EU-wide experiment might create a black hole that could swallow and destroy ourContinue Reading
mundissima/Alamy Stock Photo, CC BY-NC Facebook’s recent decision to block its Australian users from sharing or viewing news content provoked a worldwide backlash and accusations of hubris and bullying. Although the company has now reversed its decision following an agreement with the Australian government, the row has exposed the fragilityContinue Reading
shutterstock Dieter Hawlan/Shutterstock How does your brain tell you to stop if you’re crossing the road and you have to stop quickly? – Ruby, aged nine, Rochester, UK The human brain is really clever. It keeps our heart beating, it allows us to see and hear the world around us,Continue Reading
Many people feel anxious when receiving a phone call. Shutterstock/Sergey Mironov Staying in touch with loved ones without seeing them in person has become even more important during the pandemic. But for some people, making or receiving calls is a stressful experience. Phone anxiety – or telephobia – is theContinue Reading
Could God travel faster than the speed of light? robert_s/Shutterstock I still believed in God (I am now an atheist) when I heard the following question at a seminar, first posed by Einstein, and was stunned by its elegance and depth: ‘If there is a God who created the entireContinue Reading
How the brains of people with extreme views work. Aexandros Michailidis The characteristics of peoples’ brains might offer clues about the political beliefs they hold dear. In a study of around 350 US citizens, we examined the relationship between individuals’ cognitive traits – the unconscious ways in which their brainsContinue Reading
