Confused bees use green plastic instead of leaves to line nests
Bees adapting to abundance of plastic in environment but it's unlikely to lead to successful nests.
Antarctica hits new record high temperature of 17.5C
The polar region is seen as a 'canary in the coal mine' for global climate change.
Bug spray exposure during pregnancy linked to 6-year-olds' behavioural disorders
Pyrethroids are used in many household bug sprays, lice treatments and agricultural insecticides.
Anthropocene: The 208 crystals that don't exist anywhere else in the universe
Humans have inadvertently created hundreds of new minerals. As we aren't anywhere else in the universe, they probably aren't either.
US hit by smog from heatwaves in the east and Asian ozone in the west
Researchers say the US should reduce its own NOx emissions further to reduce smog in the west.
The choice to be child-free sparks 'moral outrage'
American millennials showed more 'anger, disapproval and disgust' at married couples if they'd chosen to be child-free.
A peek into the future of human societies will make climate change predictions better
The data to picture the basic structure of future societies is already available.
Source of enormous Pacific methane pool is found
Bacteria are making a methane pool stretching from Panama to Mexico to the Hawaiian Islands.
Priority pathogens: The antibiotic-resistant bacteria WHO says pose the biggest threat to humans
Academics and drug companies have been urged to focus on finding new antibiotics for 12 families of resistant bacteria.
New Zealand: Underwater life in Kaikoura Canyon entirely wiped out after earthquake
A large earthquake that struck New Zealand's South Island has destroyed a unique ecosystem.
Discovery of Aztec document reveals early history of Christianity in Cortés' Mesoamerica
The document is a census of the land that conquistador Hernando Cortés was awarded by the Spanish king.
Gene-edited pigs created in attempt to defeat swine virus
Four first-generation edited pigs have been created and they now have 30 offspring to test for resistance to the PRRS virus.
Nasa finally gets its balloon back from Antarctica after a year of blizzards
The balloon carried instruments to measure solar flares, all of which seem to be unharmed by the landing.
Deep seas set to warm by 4C leading to famine and mass extinction by 2100
Larger marine animals are expected to starve first as the seas warm and food scarcity increases.
European colonisation of Americas infected native people with vicious stomach-ulcer bacteria
The spread of new strains of H. pylori to the Americas may be behind high mortality rates of stomach cancer in the region today.
How Neanderthal genes make us who we are
A first look at the fine-scale effects of millions of Neanderthal genes sheds light on their influence on modern humans.
The brain creates the same fruit sugars that are fuelling the obesity crisis
Fructose has been linked to conditions including diabetes, obesity, cancer and liver disease.
Six biodiversity hotspots claimed to be on brink of ecosystem collapse
Results have been questioned for using out-of-date data.
How to track down an earthquake that happened 420 million years ago using precious stones
Garnets took in radioactive impurities when an earthquake shattered them, allowing geologists to put a date on the event.
When Ice Ages will end can now be predicted with a simple rule
The length of Ice Ages went through a shift in the last few million years, but a simple rule predicts when they will end.
First of its kind underwater video reveals secret lives of wild dolphins
Dusky dolphins have been filmed playing with kelp and rubbing flippers.
What was big enough to swallow half of this shark that washed up on a Florida beach?
It's thought a great white shark is the only creature big enough to take such a large bite out of another sizeable shark.
High-mercury seafood like swordfish linked to incurable ALS
People who consumed the most high-mercury fish were twice as likely to have ALS.
Prehistoric Californian hunter-gatherer societies were plagued with lethal violence
When resources such as food were scarce, hunter-gatherer societies would turn to violence.
Cameroon ivory poachers are emptying Gabon's key nature reserve of elephants
Forest elephant populations have crashed by 80% in one of Central Africa's most important nature reserves.
Same-sex marriage legalisation in US states linked to 7% fall in teenage suicide attempts
The drop in suicide attempts affected lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual teenagers.
Atmospheric rivers snake through the most dangerous and extreme storms
Coastal regions are most vulnerable to atmospheric rivers, and climate change could make them more dangerous.
Why are people left or right-handed? Mystery deepens as brain not the source of asymmetry
Left or right-handedness may arise in the spinal cord and not the brain.
Social exclusion makes people more likely to believe in fake news
When someone feels rejected from a wider social group, they are more vulnerable to conspiracy theories.
Deadly Salmonella strain linked to Aztec population collapse
A similar bacterial strain was found in 13th Century Europe and 16th Century Mexico.
