Google's quantum computer can outpace supercomputers at a useless calculation, but there are still plenty of hurdles left before the technology hits the big time

Exotic primordial black holes born in the moments after the universe began could be the key to solving some of cosmology’s biggest problems… if only we can find them.

Google recently claimed to have achieved quantum supremacy, but many companies are still hoping their own quantum computers will soon overtake Google's

The three-body problem has vexed mathematicians and physicists for 300 years, but AI can find solutions far faster than any other method anyone has come up with

We can't find any trace of cosmic dark matter – perhaps because our models of the early universe are missing a crucial piece, says astrophysicist Dan Hooper

A sophisticated computer simulation of the universe, approximately 1 billion light years across, is modelling tens of thousands of galaxies

We have a refined estimate for the mass of the neutrino, the most abundant massive particle in the Universe: its mass is 500,000 times less than an electron

A statistical technique called multi-level regression and post-stratification (MRP) correctly predicted the last UK election when other polls failed. This is how it works

Their unique blend of electric and magnetic properties was long thought impossible. Now multiferroics are shaking up fields from dark matter hunting to finding cancer

Physicists are finally getting their heads round what information truly is – and using it to gain new insights into life, the universe and, well… everything

Google's Sycamore quantum computer, which recently demonstrated its dominance over ordinary computers, is now breaking records in quantum chemistry

Dark energy dominates the universe, and could lead it to a cold, bleak end. But that's not to say we have much clue what it is or how it works

The universe’s most common element could also be its most wondrous. Two different groups of researchers say they've made it - but can either claim withstand scrutiny?

The US assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani has raised fears of nuclear conflict, but Iran has been on the road to building nuclear weapons for some time

Mathematicians have come up with a way to explore strange 3D spaces that could be related to the shape of the universe

A molecule shaped like a bow tie changes colour in the presence of toxic chemicals, which could make it useful for monitoring air

A basic rule of quantum physics is that knowing too much about an experiment will break quantum interference, but now physicists have discovered a way to bend that rule

A lightweight liquid metal alloy that is less dense than water could be used to make exoskeletons and transformable flexible robots

This Pi Day, try calculating everyone’s favourite mathematical constant using balls and a cardboard tube, thanks to a mathematical trick involving the balls’ masses

The "wave function collapse" transforms vague clouds of quantum possibilities into the physical reality we know – but no one knows how. New experiments are finally revealing reality in the making

June 16 - With attention focused on the world's greatest soccer stars in Brazil, conservationists are working hard to promote the plight of the animal being used as the official World Cup mascot. Known as Fuleco on posters and banners throughout the country, the three-banded armadillo is in decline, and conservation groups say FIFA and the Brazilian government should be doing more during the World Cup to ensure the animal's long term survival. Rob Muir reports.

The remote Fijian island of Cicia has launched a novel business in organic produce that could prove to be a template for other developing communities around the world. The island declared itself chemical free and fully organic eight years ago and is now producing food that's attracting the interest of foreign buyers. Tara Cleary reports.

Mulberry, a book celebrating the marvellous tree, goes beyond its ancient links to silk production to explore its role in everything from the oldest banknotes to modern drugs

Beautiful close-ups of endangered big cats make real catwalk look tame

Since the discovery of Asgard archaea in 2015, evidence has mounted that these peculiar single-celled organisms could be the source of all complex life – including us

Orangutan orphanages nurse animals back to health and release them into the wild, but that doesn’t seem to increase the population of these endangered apes

Nick Lehane's performance piece, Chimpanzee, in London for the first time, reveals how tragedy stalked the amazing achievement of raising chimps in human families

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

Jellyfish have been equipped with embedded electronics that let researchers remotely control their motion, and the next version could add sensors for monitoring ocean conditions

Modifying bacteria found in the guts of bees could help protect the insects against lethal infections affecting hives worldwide

The dense, bristly hairs on the skins shed by tarantulas when they moult are naturally efficient sponges and could be used to soak up ocean oil spills

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

Green seaweed fossils found in a billion-year-old rock are the oldest complex plants discovered, and may have given rise to plants that evolved to live on land

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

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

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

A new species of dinosaur has been named from a skull measuring only 1.4 centimetres across. The dinosaur was smaller than any living bird today

The plot of sci-fi movie Little Joe may sound like it plays to powerful 1990s anti-GM fears but bigger issues like human freedom may really be at stake

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

Apollo 11, Take Your Pills, Pandemic: How to prevent an outbreak, and Icarus are all great documentaries available to stream at the moment

If you got your stimulus payment this week from the IRS and it is still in your account, are you afraid to spend it?

In a little over a year, when Americans file their 2020 tax returns, much of what is going on with coronavirus-linked stimulus payments will finally add up.

The last "supermoon" of 2020 rose in the night sky on Thursday over a world beginning to re-emerge after weeks of coronavirus-related lockdowns.

Jason Statham’s new film The Meg looks gloriously silly and good luck to it, but it got us thinking about what its giant prehistoric shark was really like and why it died out

Not only are deep-sea coral ecosystems thriving on oil and gas rigs in the North Sea, their larvae may be helping repopulate damaged natural reefs

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 far-right winner of the first round of Brazil's presidential election wants to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and cut down the Amazon rainforest

The next generation of geothermal plants will unlock more of Earth's bountiful, underground energy and could allow the technology to finally fulfil its promise

How did water survive Earth's searingly hot birth? A radical new answer turns planetary history on its head – and could revolutionise the search for alien life

If you want to save Earth, argues a new book, quit sitting around in the present hoping for the best and learn to think really long term, like a geologist