Cape Town is about to run out of water – how did this happen?
14 February 2018
Cape Town's water reserves are so low that it may soon have to turn off the taps. We’ve known for a decade that this could happen, but almost nothing has been done
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Premium
Dirty talk: How pollution is snuffing out plants' scent messages
14 February 2018
Plants use a fragrant language but filthy air is messing with their communication lines, which might explain why insects are in decline and roses are losing their scent
Drone captures humpback whales catching krill with bubbles
14 February 2018
It’s the climax of a sophisticated technique called bubble-net hunting – the trapping of krill using columns of bubbles that the whales exhale via their blowholes
Ants care for wounded comrades by licking their wounds clean
14 February 2018
If a Matabele ant loses a limb in a battle with termites, its nestmates will tend its injuries - a behaviour never before seen in any non-human animal
Expedition to uncover hidden life in mystery Antarctic realm
13 February 2018
In July 2017 a huge iceberg broke away from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf, revealing a marine world that was concealed for thousands of years
Birds 'dream sing' by moving their vocal muscles in their sleep
9 February 2018
Zebra finches sing during the day, and at night while they sleep their vocal organs act out the motions of singing, a bit like a sleepwalking person
Primitive human eggs matured in the lab for the first time
9 February 2018
Human eggs have been removed in their most primitive state and brought to maturity in the lab for the first time, potentially boosting fertility treatments.
Oldest dog burial suggests prehistoric humans loved dogs as pets
8 February 2018
A dog that was buried with its owners 14,000 years ago was chronically ill throughout its life, yet its owners repeatedly nursed it back to health – suggesting a deep bond of friendship
Deep-sea fish lay eggs near hydrothermal vents to keep them warm
8 February 2018
Pacific white skate lay their eggs onto the sizzling hot rocks of hydrothermal vents in the depths of the sea, possibly because the heat speeds up their development
The worst mass extinction may have begun with mass sterilisation
7 February 2018
There seems to have been a surge in ultraviolet radiation during the Permian extinction 252 million years ago, and it might have left plants infertile rather than kill them
