Space

Saturn moon has ‘almost all the basic requirements of life as we know it’

While one key ingredient remains elusive, scientists say evidence is growing that it’s there.

Health

Cow mucus lube shows promise as condom alternative

Don’t want to wear a condom? How about just smearing some cow mucus down there? 

End of the world

Alert Level at Taupō Volcano, one of the world’s biggest, lifted for the first time ever

The alert level at one of the world’s biggest supervolcanos has been raised.

Space

Might alien civilisations be hostile?

The debate over whether there’s a malicious alien race out there we need to avoid is heating up.

Sociology

Why our brains decided the lockdowns weren’t worth remembering

It’s not really clear what exactly causes these memory glitches.

Evolution

The lonely tuatara just got a new family member – but it’s long-dead

A long-lost cousin of the tuatara which lived alongside the dinosaurs has been discovered. A nearly complete skeleton of what’s been dubbed Opisthiamimus gregori has been found in the US state of Wyoming – pretty far from the tuatara’s native homeland of New Zealand.  It dates back 150 million years,

Covid-19

New facemask can warn you if the person you’re talking to has COVID

What if rather than waiting to get sick, you could find out if you’ve been exposed via an app?

Science

Which foods can we eat past the ‘best before’ date?

‘Best before’ assessments can be highly subjective.

Health

Even if fatty food tasted of nothing we’d likely still crave it – study

Think fatty food is addictive because it tastes good? Bad news.

Covid-19

Music festivals, religious gatherings could pose ‘highest level of transmission risk’ for COVID-19

People in large groups tend to mingle in a way that gives diseases like COVID-19 the best chance of spreading, a new study has found. At the beginning of the pandemic it became clear much transmission of the virus behind the disease happened in ‘superspreader’ events – one person infecting

Covid-19

Third of unvaccinated have no antibodies against COVID a year after infection

But only 2 percent of those who were vaccinated had run out. 

Covid-19

Some of NZ’s COVID precautions scrapped prematurely – experts

The decision to end most public health measures received a mixed response.

Evolution

Ancient fish’s 380 million-year-old heart preserved intact

Scientists in Australia say they’ve discovered the oldest-ever fossilised heart.

Dinosaurs

‘Dinosaur mummy’ found poking out of Canadian cliff

It might be the best–preserved dinosaur found yet.

Covid-19

How the world screwed up the global COVID-19 response

“Multiple failures of global cooperation”, are to blame, according to a new report.

Archaeology

Animal farming might predate cultivation, study on poo finds

Prehistoric humans might have been herding animals before they figured out how to farm crops.

Sociology

The very unsurprising reason bad weather seems to reduce violent crime

Contrary to the film noir myth, it turns out violent crime actually drops when it rains.