Science

Researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and McMaster University in Canada have shown that the structures of dust rings surrounding young stars can be used to estimate the masses of hidden planets.

What if the best-tasting morsel isn’t on your plate, but the one you steal? New research suggests “forbidden food” really may taste better.

One of the world's oldest turds has been given the royal science treatment, with ancient Arctic ground squirrel droppings offering a smorgasbord of DNA from other animals and plants dating back up to 700,000 years.

The marsupial may be a rare find in the wild these days, but they've nearly been wiped off the planet before. This study rewrites our understanding of the genetic history of koalas – and overturns the theories about what caused their ancient decline.

Three years ago, a single “ghost particle” soared into the Mediterranean with more energy than any ever observed before. Now, a team of researchers in Italy claims the particle may have originated in a specific class of blazars.

New research is offering a dramatic new way to read Dante Alighieri’s Inferno: not simply as a religious vision of Hell, but as an early attempt to imagine the effects of a catastrophic planetary impact.

By determining the ages of more than 100,000 giant stars, researchers have identified the edge of our galaxy's star-forming disc for the first time, revealing that the most recent star formation is closer to the center than we expected.

By testing the luminescence of ancient bones, an international team of researchers has provided strong evidence that residents of South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave may have been cooking their breakfast some time between 1.07 and 1.78 million years ago.

As deforestation accelerates across the Amazon, scientists are uncovering a disturbing new consequence: humans are transmitting diseases to wildlife.

Bumblebees may be smarter than we give them credit for, with a new study showing the fuzzy insects demonstrate the cognitive plasticity required to solve problems they've never encountered before to reach a goal.