The human brain and teeth have not evolved together in humans, unlike what past studies had suggested. Diverse and unrelated behavioural and ecological factors might have influenced the evolution of postcanine teeth and brain size within the Hominin group. Compared with other hominins, one of modern humans' most distinctive...
Supervolcanoes are loosely defined as volcanoes that can eject more than 1,000km3 of material during an eruption – around 1,000 times bigger than a normal volcano. These eruptions measure magnitude 8 or more on the Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI). In any given century, there is around a one in 500 chance one of the...
There is one technology story from this past year which can help inform us of any predictions we make about the technology trends which will dominate 2017. It is not Apple's stance against the US Department of Justice and refusal to undermine the security of its iPhones. It is not Facebook's growing influence on the...
The gas ammonia is usually only found in the atmosphere in tiny trace amounts, but scientists have now detected it at significant levels in the upper troposphere for the first time. The gas was at levels of 33 molecules per trillion air molecules over north India and south-east China, which have a huge consumption of...
A combination of two drugs currently used to treat diabetes and hypertension have been found to kill cancer cells. Metformin, used to treat Type II diabetes, and syrosingopine, an anti-hypertension drug, were found to drive cancer cells to programmed 'suicide' in mouse models of the disease. Metformin has previously...
Six additional repeating fast radio bursts have been discovered coming the same unknown source in space. The FRBs came from the same region beyond the Milky Way where 10 bursts had previously been detected – and their discovery should give a greater insight into what caused them. FRBs are radio signals from deep space...
The mystery dimming of KIC 846852 that has baffled scientists for the last 18 months may be down to the star itself – not external influences like a cloud of comets or an 'alien megastructure' that have been proposed. Dips in the stars light were noticed by citizen astronomers in data from Nasa's Kepler....
Arctic Inuits may have adapted to the cold and harsh climate thanks to genetic variants that first emerged in archaic humans, the Denisovans. These variants may protect them by generating a specific type of body fat and by changing their body fat distribution. How Inuits have survived for so many years in some of the coldest...
The gases underneath the volcano are becoming saturated with water as the magma gives off steam. The building pressure under the volcano could lead to rock failure at the surface, which often triggers a volcanic eruption. The scientists say that they have no direct evidence to believe that an eruption at Campi Flegrei is...
Artemisinin, the ancient Chinese medicine that dramatically reduced the number of deaths from malaria around the world, may also help treat people suffering from tuberculosis. This approach could provide a solution to one of main problems associated with TB treatment – the length it takes to cure the disease completely....
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have captured an image of a distant spiral galaxy in unprecedented detail. The barred spiral galaxy, named IC 5201, is located over 40 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Grus and was first spotted in 1900 by the British-South African astronomer...
We’re sorry to spoil your weekend, but Earth is overdue a massive asteroid strike and ‘there’s not a hell of a lot we can do about it’. The jolly outlook has come from a Nasa scientist, who warned that humans don’t have a defence for an ‘extinction level event’. Horse called Party Till...