Science & Technology

Cracking the code of Papua New Guinea’s undocumented languages

Nicholas Evans has spent decades trying to decipher the undocumented tongues of Papua New Guinea and Australia. His work has redefined the way we think about human communication

AI can’t care for you

I won’t be looked after by a robot anytime soon

Blood rejuvenation, gut pills and beaded leggings

Billions of dollars are being poured into the longevity industry, with investors rapidly warming to cryonics

Is it really possible to supercharge your willpower?

The ability to kick bad habits is seen by many as the key to health and happiness. How much can we control it?

In a digital world, the use of outdated stats simply doesn’t add up

Our economy gauges were invented in the last century. We need a system that works now

Why Churchill’s birthplace lies at the heart of UK energy battle

Row over plans to build 2 million panels on land around Blenheim Palace has become symbolic of a national struggle

New satellites will give 30-minute warning of solar storm emergencies

Nasa devices, launched this week, will counter rising threat to power networks from surges in sun’s radiation

Botanists unlock the Chilean medical marvel that Charles Darwin missed

Vaccine properties of the soapbark tree to be cultivated in days rather than years by new process

Martian ‘rock spots’ breathe new life into Nasa mission

Rover’s discovery of a ‘potential biosignature’ has excited scientists

The millionaire guinea pigs risking death to live for ever

Firms offering untested ‘longevity’ jabs and therapies were once based in offshore free zones. Now a US state is relaxing the rules

Why we should all mourn the slender-billed curlew

A bird that hasn’t been photographed since 1995 has now been declared extinct. Its fate is cause for wider alarm

AI is like a lunch – there’s no such thing as a free one

When the tech giants monetise LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini, will our thoughts be the currency?

Nick Foster: ‘Predictions are mostly nonsense’

The high-flying futures designer tells the truth about the remarkable field in which he works

A new dotcom bubble? AI hype has yet to translate into profits

The top two tech firms are worth twice the rest of the FTSE 100 combined but valuations haven’t turned into revenues

The treaty that could end the plastic deluge

The man behind landmark research into microplastics thinks a possible UN pact might help us clean up our act

Social media blocking apps are addicting to us too

The tech originally designed to sever dependency on social media has evolved to be the problem

Budget cuts close UK body tackling antimicrobial resistance

Move to close Fleming Fund also threatens standing as a reliable global partner

Why the way we communicate matters

We rarely make ourselves as clear as we might think, and the consequences can be disastrous