3+ day, 14+ hour ago   (433+ words) We cannot live without soil. It provides us with building materials, most of our antibiotics and 95 per cent of our food. The adorable velvet worm in the main image was found under a log in a misty beech forest on…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago   (167+ words) Maria Boyle works as a research microbiologist specialising in health and hygiene but is best known as the cartoonist and illustrator Twisteddoodles. She has published a number of scientific papers as well as a not-so-scientific book about having kids called…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago   (187+ words) New Scientist The image was taken from a small boat, using a drone "Its unusual perspective and scale provoke curiosity and wonder, turning the frame into a visual and conceptual study of nature," said the competition's jury in an announcement…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago   (366+ words) A male jaguar has made an unprecedented trek, skirting 2100 kilometres of the southern edge of the Amazon rainforest. The journey – which crossed highways, farms, ranches and other human-modified landscapes – expands our knowledge of what these big cats are capable of....

1+ mon, 3+ week ago   (118+ words) Twisteddoodles on children’s flexible ears New Scientist More from New Scientist Explore the latest news, articles and features Why open-source software can be both good and bad This twisty sci-fi thriller is a fantastic debut from Isabel J. Kim Sunshine…...

1+ mon, 4+ week ago   (203+ words) BookA Horse’s WorldJanet Jones, Little, Brown and Company “People often tell me they wish their horses could talk,” writes Janet Jones, equestrian, neuroscientist and international bestselling author. “But in fact, horses talk to us all the time, just not in…...

3+ mon, 4+ week ago   (129+ words) James Woodford is a reporter at New Scientist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of seven books focusing on popular science, nature and sustainability. His most recent books were about the marine environment, including joining teams of scientists…...

2+ mon, 6+ day ago   (582+ words) Our brains are large compared with other animals, so it is tempting to assume there was an evolutionary advantage to them – but that may not be true at all The skulls of Neanderthals (left) and Homo sapiens were larger than…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago   (780+ words) An experiment that involved feeding a dead goat to a Komodo dragon as well as an analysis of thousands of ancient bones suggests that Homo floresiensis was neither a skilled hunter of big game nor a master of fire Homo…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago   (594+ words) Female orangutans are generally solitary, but they travel more and eat less in an apparent effort to ensure their offspring have someone to play with Female orangutans usually raise a single infant at a timeANDREY GUDKOV/Alamy Orangutan mothers seem…...