Bigger isn’t always better: Rethinking intelligence in the animal kingdom
Chloe Dick reflects on whether a bigger brain does truly underpin increased intelligence within the animal kingdom.
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How the hominoids lost their tails
Olivia McGinnis discusses a recent study highlighting the relevance of genetic transposons in the evolution of tail loss.
Viral Whodunit: Investigating the origins of SARS-CoV-2
Eloise Elkington explores the largely disputed origins of COVID-19 and how evidence suggests but not proves a wet market origin.
Trapped not attracted: Why insects flock to lights
George Rabin reports on new findings which oppose the conventional idea that insects are attracted to light.
Scientists uncover multiple sclerosis gene origins
Izzie Farrance reports on the new finding that genes contributing to multiple sclerosis may have spread due to ancient population migrations.
Speculative fiction and Xenobiology: Why scientists should embrace science fiction
Molly Bleach explores how scientific imagination can be a way of explaining data as well as preceding revolutionary findings.
The cosmic dance of the chicken and the egg
Kristian Suszczenia explores the origin of life, and how it required evolution for complexity, but also complexity for evolution.
Vestigial vanity
Zariel Konadu discusses how anatomy can be a relic of historical evolutionary selection pressures, particularly the appendix.
Decoding human origins: Unveiling the secrets of ancient DNA
Jen Jiang discusses the transformative impact of ancient DNA research in human history emphasising the need for cultural respect in research.
A fish out of water: How African Lungfish sleep through the heat
George Rabin takes a deep dive into aestivation, a process that allows lungfish to lay dormant during dry spells in the rivers they inhabit.