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Table of contents

Leaders

Health

Health scares for a new generation must be tackled with solid science

A rise in cancers among younger people, particularly colorectal cancer, is prompting speculation on social media over the causes. Only slow, careful research can get to the truth

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Humans

Ancient hunters may have used throwing spears 300,000 years ago

Preserved wooden spears from hundreds of thousands of years ago seem to have been suitable for throwing, not just close-range attacks

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Technology

Shock discovery tears up the rules of time and space inside a computer

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Humans

When did people start building houses with corners?

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Environment

Deep-sea life is still recovering from mining activity 40 years ago

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Humans

A man's brain was turned into glass by the eruption of Vesuvius

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Environment

Vital ocean current is unlikely to completely shut down this century

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Health

People in industrial societies get more sleep than hunter-gatherers

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Technology

Thread-based computer could be knitted into clothes to monitor health

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Physics

Physicists capture a strange fractal ‘butterfly’ for the first time

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Physics

'Galloping' bubbles could act as tiny robotic vacuum cleaners

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Space

Spacecraft may need to be dirtier to keep astronauts healthy

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Life

Stone tools help monkeys thrive in hostile habitats

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Space

The first water may have formed surprisingly soon after the big bang

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Space

Blue Ghost spacecraft makes second-ever commercial landing on the moon

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Analysis

Health

Does milk and other dairy really reduce the risk of colorectal cancer?

Consuming dairy is increasingly being linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer, but the true relationship between the two is hard to untangle

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Aperture

Space

Eerie image of a space-bound rocket among photo contest finalists

This photograph of a Soyuz rocket bathed in mist was selected as a finalist for the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 competition

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Features

Health

Why the world’s longevity hotspots may not be all they seem

Blue zones, places home to an unusual number of centenarians, are looked to for their secrets to living healthier lives – but are they even real?

Features

Technology

The critical computer systems still relying on decades-old code

Features

Space

The cosmic landscape of time that explains our universe's expansion

Features

Health

The alarming rise of colorectal cancer diagnoses in people under 50

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Culture

Comment

Rediscover The OA, a TV show with echoes of late director David Lynch

The death of David Lynch, who shaped decades of film and TV, is bound to hurt. Rediscovering a show called The OA helps, with its Twin Peaks-style echoes of small-town US and other Lynchian themes, says Bethan Ackerley

Culture

Health

How neuroscience and bad studies have fuelled intensive parenting

Culture

Space

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ recommends Helios, Luke Jerram's giant sun sculpture

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More

Space

How to tell a planet from a star – and one planet from another

A lot of planets are currently visible in the night sky. Leah Crane has some great field tips to help you spot them

Regulars

BrainTwister #63: A 2025 puzzle

Regulars

Technology

How Moore's law led us to a flawed vision of the future

Comment

Environment

We need a global environmental court – and we need it now

Comment

Tom Gauld on a Grand Unified Conspiracy Theory

Regulars

Twisteddoodles leans into Tolkien

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Comment

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵs want to poke me where, with a what?

Feedback discovers that breasts have been "largely ignored" when it comes to tactile acuity – but is relieved that researchers have acted to change this oversight

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Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word