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The best pictures we have of the sun yet have been delivered thanks to the Solar Orbiter spacecraft

The effects of being in space can worsen an astronaut's working memory, processing speed and attention - which could be a problem for future missions

Analysis of millions of galaxies upholds Albert Einstein’s ideas about gravity and also offers tantalising new hints of how dark energy may have evolved

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing for the sixth test flight of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket. It aims to conduct the launch at 4pm Central Time (10pm UK). Here’s everything we know so far

The vast computational power of the El Capitan supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California will be used to support the US nuclear deterrent

Tiny, solid windows in the shells of heart cockles let in light for the photosynthetic algae inside them – and they could show us how to make better fibre-optic cables

A cataclysmic quantum fluctuation could wipe out everything at any moment. The fact that we’re still here is revealing hidden cosmic realities

The largest number of logical qubits has been linked through quantum entanglement, which is a key step towards quantum computers that can detect and correct errors

More than 20 million people have joined Bluesky, a social network that gives you fine-grained control over what you see and who you interact with. I think it is the future of social media, says Chris Stokel-Walker

Four southern giant hornets have been identified in northern Spain, leading to concerns that the species could harm native insects if it becomes widespread

Several populations of Mexican tetra fish that live in darkness have independently evolved to need hardly any sleep, but the reason why is a mystery

Most mathematicians have been reluctant to start working with artificial intelligence, but a new tool developed by researchers at Meta may change that

A supercomputer simulation of iron and carbon atoms in Earth’s inner core may explain how a molten ball at the centre of our planet froze solid

The weird thermodynamics found in time crystals could be harnessed to store energy in a quantum battery-like device

Changes to the structure of DNA within fat cells may be why it is often so hard to keep weight off after you have lost it

Leading researchers warn that relying on "passive" carbon sinks such as forests to absorb ongoing carbon emissions will doom the world to continued warming

A study modelling the impact of melting ice suggests scientists have underestimated the risk that an important ocean current will shut down and cause climate chaos

The oral microbiome is increasingly being linked to head and neck cancer, but we don't yet understand its exact role

Attempts to prevent Australian children from accessing social media are likely to fail, and could do more harm than good

Letting AI models communicate with each other in their internal mathematical language, rather than translating back and forth to English, could accelerate their task-solving abilities