Ever since Elon Musk shared his blueprints for the hyperloop - a revolutionary transport system that has the potential to shuttle humans at speeds of more than 1,200 km/h (746 mph) - the engineering community has been in overdrive, with hyperloop prototypes…

World's harshest plastic bag penalties. 

Residents of the Houston area affected by Hurricane Harvey have spotted an unusual risk in the floodwaters: colonies of fire ants that have joined together to form floating rafts. Fire ants are an invasive species native to South America, and they have successfully…

Breaking limits in physics.

Almost magical.

The most intense fast radio bursts so far. / We keep detecting signals from the same place.

Stem cells are amazing. They hold the potential to repair almost any part of the body, shifting into different cell types on demand. But that doesn't mean you can trust all the treatment pitches out there with "stem cells" in the description - often these…

Forget everything you know about crystals.

In the beginning, there was darkness. And then, after hundreds of millions of years, light from primitive suns spilled freely across the Universe.

Spider webs are already strong enough to restrain small insects unlucky enough to fly into them, and soon, they may be capable of carrying the weight of a person.

Spoiler: we're safe for now.

They're calling it laser streaming. No, it's not a new sport or some Netflix-like pastime. Instead it's a new observable phenomenon involving fluids and laser beams. Thanks to engineers from the University of Houston (UH) in Texas, we've now realised that…

Scientists have identified a chain reaction that explains why our own bodies can turn against healthy cells, potentially transforming the way we look at autoimmune diseases and the way we treat them. The reaction, discovered after four years of research in…

North Korea is believed to have conducted a hydrogen bomb test . Seismic shockwaves from the underground test were felt in China, and quickly detected by both South Korea and Japan – both independently confirmed it was a nuclear test.

Light is pretty awesome. It's made of subatomic particles called photons, which also behave like waves. It's been demonstrated to act like both a particle and a wave simultaneously. Photons can be entangled at a distance. They reflect, refract and diffract.…

Perhaps among all clean energy alternatives, nothing can be as clean as hydrogen. Burning hydrogen in fuel cells produces only water as a byproduct. In that sense, it's also truly renewable. Yet, manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells on a larger scale hasn't…

Archaeologists have come across a vast network of underwater ruins making up the ancient Roman city once known as Neapolis, which was largely washed away by a powerful tsunami around 1,700 years ago. The dramatic deep sea find includes streets, monuments…

Genes associated with Alzheimer's disease and heavy smoking are broadly less prevalent in people with longer lifespans, suggesting that in spite of our mix of smarts and self-awareness, natural selection is still shaping our species. In a massive genomic…