Study from St Andrew’s University gauges ability of people to interpret bonobo and chimpanzee gesturesWe may not be able to strike up a conversation, debate politics or chat about the meaning of life with other great apes, but our ability to understand one another might be greater than once thought.Researchers have discovered adult humans can discern the meaning of gestures produced by bonobos...

Project, in concert with US government agency Darpa, aims to develop pioneering propulsion system for space travelNasa has unveiled plans to test nuclear-powered rockets that would fly astronauts to Mars in ultra-fast time.The agency has partnered with the US government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to demonstrate a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space as soon as 2027, it...

Scientists warn of ‘unprecedented danger’ and say ‘Russia’s war … has raised profound questions’A panel of international scientists has warned that humanity’s continued existence is at greater risk than ever before, largely as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set its Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the...

A parliamentary committee made some pretty benign recommendations, only for ministers to nope it all. Their approach is like a devilish trolling operationI feel as if it’s quite unusual for a parliamentary committee to have all its suggestions rejected by the government, but maybe I’m doing my sums in old money. Last summer, the women and equalities committee made a number of recommendations...

Medical training is in demand, but hesitancy on body donation means students have little to work with, while an illicit trade in transplant organs flourishesScalpel in hand, Carl Mwangi, a first-year medical student at the University of Nairobi, slices through the brain tissue. “To figure out where the vessels are, you have to dig in deeper,” he says, excited to be dissecting a human brain for...

Rubble pile asteroid is almost as old as the solar system, a sign that it can withstand great shocks and may be difficult to destroy, study findsTiny specks of dust from a “giant space cushion” almost as old as the solar system can provide new clues about how to avoid catastrophic asteroid collisions with Earth, research suggests.Three tiny particles of dust – smaller than the diameter of a...

I love the idea of my boy and his dad peering through a telescope together. But what will light pollution leave for them to look at?I was saddened to read about how light pollution is rapidly reducing the number of stars visible to the naked eye. In some locations where 250 stars are visible, it is estimated that only 100 will be visible in 18 years’ time. Growing up in the countryside, there...

Finding a trapped silverbill during lockdown inspired Esha Munshi to create an invaluable record of species in an uncertain worldPhotographs supplied by the Feather LibraryEsha Munshi, an architect based in Ahmedabad, has “breathed birds” as far back as she can remember. She has travelled all over India on birding trips and has, she says, spotted 1,060 of the 1,400 bird species in the...

Older people prescribed 10 or more medicines by GPs at threefold increased risk, researchers sayOlder women are at higher risk than older men of experiencing adverse reactions to drugs prescribed by their family doctor, and older patients taking more than 10 medicines are at higher risk than those taking fewer, according to a study.Overall, one in four older people experience adverse drug...

Team at Cairo University conclude teenager was rich and he may point to evidence non-Egyptians were mummifiedA new digital scan has revealed intimate details about a teenage boy who was mummified about 2,300 years ago.A team of scientists led by Sahar Saleem, a professor of radiology at the faculty of medicine at Cairo University, concluded that the boy and his family were rich and of high social...