We know viruses invaded animals’ genomes in the ancient past, but only now have we actually witnessed it happening and the DNA being passed to offspring

Genetically modified diamondback moths designed to replace pesticides by wiping out female moths have been released in New York state

Puzzling, slow-living microbes named after Loki, the trickster of Norse mythology, are helping solve one of evolution's biggest mysteries: the origin of complex life

Olm are salamanders that spend all their lives in pitch-black caves, and it turns out they don’t move very much – sometimes lurking in the same spot for years

Climate change has significantly increased the likelihood of bumblebees being driven to extinction in certain regions across North America and Europe

Fossils of single cells found in China are 2 billion years old, making them the oldest eukaryotic cells in the fossil record and possibly our distant relatives

These images showcase the incredible ways mushrooms can be used for everything from boosting well-being to fashioning baroque high heels

The earliest cave-dwelling animal identified from the dinosaur era is a ghostly white cockroach with tiny eyes and wings that was preserved in amber

As the world gets warmer, animals whose sex is determined by temperature are finding cool ways to control their own fate. But can they adapt in time?

Healthy grey whales are four times more likely to become stranded when solar activity produces lots of radio noise, suggesting solar storms may be blinding their ability to sense magnetic fields

All animals rely on oxygen at least at some stage of their life, but a parasite that infects fish seems to have completely lost the ability to use it – where it gets its energy from is still a mystery

Seagulls are known for aggressively attempting to swipe people's food, and it seems that when given the choice between identical meals, they favour the one handled by humans

A worm-like creature from 518 million years ago evolved to lose its back legs, the earliest known example of an animal losing body parts it no longer needed

We knew that some fish glowed when placed under certain lights, but researchers have now shown that many amphibians can also shine bright

The bell of an upside-down jellyfish has structures that can provide a scaffold for growing human skin cells, which could be used to help repair wounds after surgery or a bad burn

It’s 2038 and Earth's trees are dead, bar some firs on a tiny island. The tale of what happened is an epic combining sci-if, mystery and an exposé of capitalism, says Sally Adee

A mixture of two carbon-based chemicals can spontaneously form molecules that can copy themselves, hinting at how life may have begun on Earth

This pink manta ray, nicknamed Clouseau, has resurfaced off Australia’s coast. No one knows why it has a bubble-gum pink underside or if there are others out there

Genetic analysis suggests all Arabica coffee plants are descended from a single common ancestor, and this lack of genetic diversity makes them vulnerable to extinction

A 2000-year-old skeleton found in Spain belonged to a lapdog that may have been born thousands of kilometres to the east and traded during Roman times

The highest dwelling mammal – a mouse – has been discovered at 6700 metres above sea level, where conditions are so harsh they have been compared to Mars

We love to hate wasps, but they pollinate flowers, kill off pests and their venom might even help us treat cancer

Climate change is leading to lower numbers of marine life towards the equator – including mammals, birds, fish and plankton – while populations nearer the poles increase

The fossilised remains of the food found in one of the few remaining coastal Neanderthal sites in Europe show they ate plenty of seafood, fish and nuts

Finding out how flight evolved or animals moved onto land is all about a collision of palaeontology and genetics, argue two new books

Bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, form alliances and coordinate the timing of their clicking noises to attract females and deter other males

Plant-eating cave bears vanished when ice spread across Europe – maybe because their large sinuses prevented them chewing meat to adapt to the new conditions

Ethereal photos of life’s building blocks, Earth’s toughest creature and a close-up of a gem win Olympus Global Image of the Year Life Science Light Microscopy Award regional prizes

Two lineages of ancient monkey migrated from Africa to South America more than 30 million years ago. But we’re not sure which ones got there first

Pale spear-nosed bats can learn to alter their calls to mimic different sounds – a rare skill that could help us understand the biology of human speech and language

The first living organisms had to make essential carbon-based chemicals, and they may have done it by harnessing the chemical power of metals like nickel

Male ring-tailed lemurs rub their wrists to release a sweet, fruity smell that may be the first evidence of sex pheromones identified in primates

Humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and bats have evolved to be good at metabolising alcohol, according to a study that suggests many mammals can get drunk

A well-preserved fossilised tail from Spinosaurus suggests this massive dinosaur may have been able to propel itself and hunt for prey in the water

For years, the oldest turtle fossils we could find had fully formed shells. Now, more primitive fossils are revealing the strange tale of how turtle shells evolved

The Tully Monster is a famously odd 300-million-year-old fossil that looks like an alien, but a new analysis suggests it was a backboned animal like a hagfish or lamprey

Sara Pauly is not one of those small business owners scrambling to fill out paperwork for part of the more than $350 billion in government aid available through the Paycheck Protection Program or the...

Investors withdrew record amounts of money from bond and equity funds in March while money market funds showed record inflows, as the prospect of a massive economic downturn due to coronavirus...

After closing their doors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many small businesses face an uncertain future following government-ordered lockdowns.

Some U.S. fund managers are attempting what seems like an impossible task: making bets on the stocks and bonds of energy companies at a time when oil futures have sunk to historic lows and a swelling...

The Silicon Valley venture capital firm known for its early backing of companies such as Uber Technologies Inc is raising a new fund, but without one of its most prominent general partners, a source...

U.S. money market fund assets increased by $72.69 billion to $4.652 trillion in the week ended April 28, the Money Fund Report said on Wednesday.

Some dividend fund managers are wading back into the shares of battered railroad stocks, energy companies and other economically sensitive, cyclical names, even as a host of companies have slashed...

U.S. money market fund assets increased by $37.80 billion to $4.690 trillion in the week ended May 5, the Money Fund Report said on Wednesday.

There could be a planetary threshold beyond which the earth will keep warming even if we stop pumping out more fossil fuels - the so-called 'Hothouse Earth' scenario

The oldest rocks ever found are over four billion years old and we don’t know how they formed – but a massive asteroid bombardment may be responsible

A new timeline of early evolution suggests life on Earth began 100 million years earlier than we thought, while meteorites were still pummelling the planet

The “Equal Earth” projection shows the true area of continents such as Africa without greatly distorting their shapes and is already being adopted by NASA

The planet’s largest areas of undisturbed wilderness in Siberia and tropical rainforests are under threat from huge waves of development. Here’s what it looks like

At Unseen Amsterdam, striking images of a melting glacier are stirring visitors to action