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Emmy Noether was hailed as a mathematical genius in her own time. And her theorem on symmetry is still driving new discoveries in particle physics and quantum computing today

Recognising that someone lacks information you possess is key for effective communication and cooperation, and bonobos seem to share this skill with humans

Meteorologists expected global temperatures to start falling after record highs in 2023 and 2024 – instead January 2025 hit a new high

Using traditional crossbreeding, researchers have created a new strain of rice that produces much less methane, a potent greenhouse gas, when it is grown in flooded fields

Taking a daily omega-3 supplement appears to slow down the rate of biological ageing by three months – and even more so if you also take vitamin D and exercise

Mars's moon Phobos is so strange that no one knows how it formed. But a forthcoming mission could solve this mystery - and a host of other puzzles connected to the solar system's deep past

More than a decade of data about the particles zipping around our sun could be used to solve many mysteries, from the behaviour of individual particles to the history of our solar system – while raising new questions

Wandering salamanders pump their toes full of blood before lifting their feet, a trick that may help them release their sticky grip while conserving energy

Global warming is helping rats thrive in major cities around the world, with Washington DC seeing the fastest growth in rats

From contact with aliens courtesy of Adrian Tchaikovsky to the childhood writings of Octavia E. Butler, February’s sci-fi offerings are rich and strange

Male dolphins have been observed shooting jets of urine into the air and other dolphins seem to follow the stream, perhaps to pick up social cues

A muscle that we thought served no purpose beyond enabling some people to wiggle their ears is actually active when we are trying hard to listen

Mice that were free to scratch their itchy ears saw the number of immune cells go up and levels of infection-causing bacteria decline

Some US states may see the number of power cuts caused by hurricanes jump by 60 per cent by 2100 in a high-emissions scenario, affecting tens of millions each decade

People receiving talking therapy for mild to severe depression reported greater improvements to their symptoms when also taking creatine compared with those on a placebo

Burn marks left on trees show that fires occurred frequently in North America from 1750 to 1880, but they tended to be less severe than modern fires and may have even been beneficial to forests

The US Congress is expected to vote on whether to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead the nation’s public health institutions in the coming days – he would be taking over during a time of turmoil

The asteroid is unlikely to be cause for concern, but its detection has triggered planetary defence response procedures for the first time

A search for particles’ most paradoxical quantum states led researchers to construct a 37-dimensional experiment

An algorithm inspired by quantum computers but used on classical machines can make weather forecasts and other turbulence simulations a thousand times easier to run