Australian researchers have designed a new type of qubit - the building block of quantum computers - that they say will finally make it possible to manufacture a true, large-scale quantum computer. Broadly speaking, there are currently a number of ways to…

Researchers have uncovered what they say is a new class of ultra-low-density ice, which crystallises amid extreme negative pressure on water molecules.

If you're still riding that high from seeing the recent total solar eclipse and you want to keep the party going, now's your chance to see another of the night sky's wonders: an aurora. That said, a totally full Moon is going to try and wreck the par

It's fair to say parasites are generally bad for their hosts. Many cause disease and death so, like most species, we humans usually try to avoid infection at all costs. But it turns out that some parasites, although potentially harmful in isolation, can in…

While physicists have managed to wrap their minds around chaos theory in the macroscopic world, chaos also has its way at the quantum scale. And in many ways quantum chaos is even more perplexing than its large-scale counterpart. Which is why it's such a…

Scientists have discovered a new type of 'hell ant' - a species with terrifying spiky mouthparts reinforced with metal and used for drinking the blood of its enemies. Thankfully, these insects have been extinct for a while, but a 98-million-year-old amber…

Early Friday morning (US time), NASA's Cassini probe will meet its doom as it becomes a streak of plutonium-laced fireworks in the clouds of Saturn. The nuclear-powered robot was launched in 1997 to deeply study Saturn and its mysterious collection of moons.…

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has said he thinks of augmented reality as a 'big idea like the smartphone,' which should give you a sense of how important the iPhone maker thinks AR really is. So it's no surprise that analysts are expecting to hear big things…

Viewing fibrils at the nanoscale.

He warns of an HIV epidemic.

The spacecraft Cassini will become a streak of ash when it tumbles into Saturn on Friday. Less than a million miles away, the probe Huygens, which Cassini launched onto Saturn's moon Titan, will be the only evidence of its partner's journey. Huygens is probably…

Peacock spiders keep dancing their way into our hearts. They're tiny, they're colourful, they're fluffy and they have killer moves.

Cassini has been out there hard at work for a long time. The Saturn probe departed Earth in 1997 and spent seven years speeding across the solar system to arrive in orbit around the ringed planet in 2004. For over 13 years, it's been up there collecting data…

It could even make you prone to illness.

For the first time ever, scientists have stored light-based information as sound waves on a computer chip - something the researchers compare to capturing lightning as thunder. While that might sound a little strange, this conversion is critical if we ever…

For the first time, astronomers have observed a fast-rotating star emitting polarised light, a phenomenon that was first predicted over 50 years ago but has eluded our instruments until now. And based on these findings, they have finally confirmed the crazy…

Today's teenagers don't seem to care much about hitting the open road, scoring a six-pack with a fake ID, or asking their peers out on dates. According to a recent study from psychologists Jean Twenge and Heejung Park, teenagers instead prefer to sit at home…