Science Features

So what exactly is linguistics? Is it all about tape recorders, tongue twisters and dropped "aitches"? Or is...

We tend to think of parasites as evolutionary cheats, surreptitiously taking advantage of their hosts’ hard work while...

Snowflakes form when water vapour condenses directly into ice crystals, and for many years writers have used their...

Equivalent in land area to 14 Isle of Mans, or Rhode Island State twice over, the Louisiana Wetlands are one of the...

International Polar Years commenced in 1882-3, as the inspiration of Austrian explorer and naval officer Lieutenant...

The Pythia, the prophetess at the Oracle of Delphi, was said to be able to communicate with Apollo by going into a...

There are 100,000,000,000 nerve cells in a brain, surrounded by at least 10 times as many supporting cells...

Ask anyone who made the world’s best violins and they’ll inevitably answer "Stradivari". But science is...

What do pop-up books and some of the most fundamental molecules of life have in common? Charlotte Rusby enters a world...

Usually, when the immune system meets something foreign, the offending intruder is swiftly attacked and neutralised....

Climate change has been blamed with altering the environment – from animal migrations to sea level. Now it's also...

Beating your head against a hard surface can be a sign of frustration, yet for a woodpecker it’s a fact of life. So why...

Why re-invent the wheel when Nature has already come up with the best solution? Becky Poole explores the field of...

Mention plastics and most people think of polythenes, perspex and other oil-based nasties that never break down. But...

There are five million new cases of HIV internationally every year, and the virus is second only to tobacco as the...

Dementia-prone mice have shown researchers than an old mouse can learn new tricks, given the right environment...

Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, although it’s almost impossible to escape from quicksand, it's...

What is a thunderstorm, how is lightning generated by clouds, how much energy is there in a lightning bolt, and could...

The lymphatic system is your body's drainage system. It collects the excess fluid that surrounds cells and returns...

Bacteriophages were big business before penicillin and other antimicrobials appeared on the scene. But now, with...

Whether you love or loath the white stuff, it is unavoidable on your TV and in your paper. What is milk, is it good for...

By now we’re familiar with apocalyptic visions of a scorched and flooded world ravished by global warming. But this...

Imagine we had discovered another world, slightly smaller than our own, with rain clouds, rivers and lakes on gently...