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Science

  • Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis female, on display at the National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

    Evolution
    Fifty years on, how Lucy, the mother of humanity, changed our understanding of evolution

    In 1974, the fossilised bones of Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old hominin, were discovered in Ethiopia. How has this remarkable skeleton disproved Darwinian theory – and what links her to the Beatles?
  • A mammoth tusk in a riverbed

    Extinct wildlife
    Freak event probably killed last woolly mammoths, scientists say

  • A person passing an illuminated sign on a wall reading: 'IQOS - This changes everything'

    Global health
    Tobacco giant accused of ‘manipulating science’ to attract non-smokers

  • Prince William and his children pose with Taylor Swift

    Men
    ‘Shaking it off’: the science of dad dancing – and why it’s good for you

  • Ancient illustrations of Egyptian people and a jackal-headed god, with Egyptian language above

    Archaeology
    Egyptian scribes suffered work-related injuries, study says

  • Woman holds a glass of water in one hand and several pills in the other

    Nutrition
    Daily multivitamins do not help people live longer, major study finds

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News

  • Matt Damon cultivating potatoes in Ridley Scott’s The Martian.

    Scientists find desert moss ‘that can survive on Mars’

  • Scientist working in a lab

    Top scientists turning down UK jobs over ‘tax on talent’, says Wellcome boss

  • Doctors and nurses wheeling patient in

    Poorer teen mental ability may almost treble risk of stroke before 50

  • Selection of chocolate bars including Aero, Toffee Crisp and Yorkie, along with Jammie Dodgers, Hula Hoops and fizzy drinks including Fanta, Relentless and Coca Cola

    Ultra-processed foods need tobacco-style warnings, says scientist

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Coronavirus

  • A galaxy (Photograph: ESO/M. Kornmesser/PA Wire)

    A black hole awakens and why some people avoid Covid: the week in science – podcast

  • An electron microscope image of coronaviruses.

    Covid immune response study could explain why some escape infection

  • Natacha Gray sitting in her wheelchair.

    ‘A 30-second walk would exhaust me beyond reason’: Natacha’s life with long Covid

  • A child under a duvet in pyjamas

    Concern over children with long Covid and theories on its cause

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Opinion

  • Renée DiResta, former research manager of the Stanford Internet Observatory, testifies to the US Senate, 2018.

    Closing the Stanford Internet Observatory will edge the US towards the end of democracy

    John Naughton
  • John Naughton

    How’s this for a bombshell – the US must make AI its next Manhattan Project

    John Naughton
  • David Hone

    The super-rich are buying up dinosaur bones – and now they want our near-perfect Stegosaurus

    David Hone
  • Arwa Mahdawi

    A male birth control gel is one step closer to reality, and that’s worth celebrating

    Arwa Mahdawi
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Science Weekly podcast

  • Close up of a lock on a toilet door featuring the word 'pain'

    The infection that affects half of women and its link to antibiotic resistance – podcast

  • Sunrise over Walney Offshore Wind Farm off the Cumbrian Coast in the UK

    What are the main UK parties promising on climate and is it enough? – podcast

    Ian Sample is joined by the global environment editor, Jon Watts, and the biodiversity reporter, Phoebe Weston, to find out what the election manifestos have to say about nature and climate, and whether anyone is promising the level of action scientists are asking for.
  • Pedestrians shelter underneath a union jack umbrella on a wet Westminster Bridge in London

    Are cold and wet UK summers here to stay? - podcast

    Ian Sample talks to Matt Patterson, postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, to find out what’s causing the chilly weather, whether it’s really as unusual as it seems, and whether any sun is on the horizon for the UK
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Key issues

  • Dr Joseph Cotter with the UK's first commercial quantum accelerometer for navigation.

    Physics
    ‘It’s the perfect place’: London Underground hosts tests for ‘quantum compass’ that could replace GPS

  • A woman’s tongue and lips covered in sugar sprinkles

    Biology
    If you have a big tongue, do you have more taste buds?

    • Space
      Scientists find desert moss ‘that can survive on Mars’

    • Genetics
      Great science, uncomfortable history: Sir Gustav Nossal and the long tail of eugenics

    • Medical research
      Perimenopause finally gets more attention – because there’s something in it for men

      Arwa Mahdawi

    • Psychology
      How a solo retreat helped relight my creative fire

Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle

  • Observer Tech Monthly OTM gift guide Christmas Xmas November 2015. Tetris lights.

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? Try this triple Tetris teaser

  • Tetris 1984

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Try this triple Tetris teaser

  • Close,Up,Of,Unrecognizable,Kids,Busy,Making,Diy,Robot,By<br>Close up of unrecognizable Kids busy making DIY robot by looking from digital tablet at home concept of Children robotic Experiment, togetherness, childhood learning and development; Shutterstock ID 2093624032; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Did you solve it? Do you think like an engineer?

  • Pythagoras of Samos around 570 BC - 510 BC according to Metaponto in the Basilicata. Image shot 2012. Exact date unknown.<br>CW1WFW Pythagoras of Samos around 570 BC - 510 BC according to Metaponto in the Basilicata. Image shot 2012. Exact date unknown.

    Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
    Can you solve it? Do you think like an engineer?

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Multimedia

  • Boeing's Starliner spacecraft lifts off carrying two Nasa astronauts to ISS – video

  • Gliese 12b is the size of Earth, or slightly smaller, like Venus. And its surface temperature is estimated to be a balmy 42C

    Australian student helps discover potentially habitable planet the size of Earth – video

    Gliese 12b is the size of Earth, or slightly smaller, like Venus. And its surface temperature is estimated to be a balmy 42C
  • A swirling purple and green aurora above silhouetted trees

    Northern lights illuminate skies in US and Canada – in pictures

    Rare sightings of aurora borealis in North America as atmospheric phenomenon fills overnight skies from California to Ontario
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