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A cicada double brood is coming – it's less rare than you think

Up to 17 US states could be peppered with more than a trillion cicadas this spring, and though it has been a while since these two specific broods emerged at once, double broods are not that rare

17/04/2024

Sleeping bumblebees can survive underwater for a week

A serendipitous lab accident revealed that hibernating bumblebee queens can make it through days of flooding, revealing that they are less vulnerable to extreme weather than previously thought

17/04/2024

How to destroy a black hole

A black hole would be tough to destroy, but in the season two premiere of Dead Planets Society our hosts are willing to go to extremes, from faster-than-light bombs to time travel

16/04/2024

A surprisingly enormous black hole has been found in our galaxy

A black hole 33 times the mass of the sun is the largest stellar black hole ever spotted, and its strange companion star could help explain how it got so huge

16/04/2024

Tiny nematode worms can grow enormous mouths and become cannibals

One species of nematode worm turns into a kin-devouring nightmare if it grows up in a crowded environment with a poor diet

15/04/2024

Parkinson's disease progression slowed by antibody infusions

Monthly infusions with the drug prasinezumab appeared to slow the progression of motor symptoms in people with advanced Parkinson's disease

15/04/2024

See inside an endangered California condor egg just before it hatches

The hatching of the 250th California condor chick at the San Diego Zoo marks a notable milestone for a species that narrowly evaded extinction

12/04/2024

Water purifier is powered by static electricity from your body

A 10-minute walk can build up enough static electricity to power a battery-free water purifier, which could be especially helpful during disasters or in regions that lack access to clean water and stable power supplies

12/04/2024

Embryos pause development when nutrients are low — and now we know how

Embryos seem to have a sensor that picks up when nutrients are scarce, prompting them to pause their development until resources become more abundant again

12/04/2024

A bacterium has evolved into a new cellular structure inside algae

A once-independent bacterium has evolved into an organelle that provides nitrogen to algal cells – an event so rare that there are only three other known cases

11/04/2024

AI can spot parasites in stool samples to help diagnose infections

About 1.5 billion people worldwide carry a risk of conditions including malnutrition because of parasitic infection, and AI could help identify those affected

11/04/2024

How Peter Higgs revealed the forces that hold the universe together

The physicist Peter Higgs quietly revolutionised quantum field theory, then lived long enough to see the discovery of the Higgs boson he theorised. Despite receiving a Nobel prize, he remained in some ways as elusive as the particle that shares his…

11/04/2024