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No clear evidence that meditation or mindfulness makes you happy

20 July 2023

Commonly recommended ways to boost our mood – which can also include expressing gratitude or spending time in nature – are often based on small, poorly designed studies

Bone disease in sabre-toothed tigers may be a sign of inbreeding

12 July 2023

An analysis of bones from the La Brea tar pits in California reveals that sabre-toothed tigers and dire wolves had very high rates of osteochondrosis, which may stem from a dwindling gene pool as they neared extinction

Sex between two males is extremely common in wild macaque monkeys

10 July 2023

Almost three-quarters of male macaques observed by scientists mounted other males, and the behaviour may help to strengthen alliances

Ancient reptiles' long necks made them vulnerable to decapitation

19 June 2023

Extremely long necks probably helped ancient marine reptiles ambush prey in murky waters, but also made them easy targets for decapitation by predators

Crocodiles can reproduce without males – and maybe dinosaurs could too

6 June 2023

An egg laid by a female American crocodile with no access to males developed into a fully formed fetus in the first known case of "virgin birth" in a crocodilian

Stone Age blueprints are the oldest architectural plans ever found

17 May 2023

Plans etched into stone tablets depict vast hunting traps called desert kites built 9000 years ago, showing a mastery of geometry long before the invention of writing

DNA from 25,000-year-old tooth pendant reveals woman who wore it

3 May 2023

A new technique for extracting DNA from ancient artefacts without destroying them could give us unprecedented insights about the people who made or wore them

Women's small intestines are 30 centimetres longer than men's

24 April 2023

A longer small intestine may improve the absorption of nutrients from our food, which may be required more during pregnancy or while breastfeeding

Male crazy ants have two different sets of DNA in their bodies

6 April 2023

A bizarre mode of reproduction discovered in yellow crazy ants results in males that have two separate sets of DNA in different parts of their body

Polar ice sheets may retreat much faster than previously thought

5 April 2023

Traces on the sea floor suggest an ancient ice sheet retreated at more than 600 metres per day at the end of the last glaciation, raising concern about the fate of modern ice sheets