Placenta is initiated first, as cells of a fertilised egg divide and specialise
23 Sep 2020The first stages of placental development take place days before the embryo starts to form in human pregnancies. This new finding highlights the...
The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy
22 Sep 2020In his new book, Dr Arik Kershenbaum draws on his knowledge of life on Earth to argue that aliens probably aren’t as weird as we might expect.
Astronomers discover the first ‘ultrahot Neptune’: one of nature’s improbable planets
21 Sep 2020An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Cambridge, has discovered a new class of planet, an ‘ultrahot...
Hints of life discovered on Venus
14 Sep 2020A UK-led team of astronomers has discovered a rare molecule – phosphine – in the clouds of Venus, pointing to the possibility of extra-terrestrial ‘...
Computational modelling explains why blues and greens are brightest colours in nature
11 Sep 2020Researchers have shown why intense, pure red colours in nature are mainly produced by pigments, instead of the structural colour that produces bright...
AI shows how hydrogen becomes a metal inside giant planets
09 Sep 2020Researchers have used a combination of AI and quantum mechanics to reveal how hydrogen gradually turns into a metal in giant planets.
Scelidosaurus: ready for its closeup at last
26 Aug 2020The first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified has finally been studied in detail and found its place in the dinosaur family tree, completing a...
The chemist who fuses fashion with science
21 Aug 2020Areeb Mahtey is studying for a PhD in epigenetics, but outside the lab he is a member of the University of Cambridge’s Fashion and Luxury Brands...
Prevention of heart disease can start before birth
19 Aug 2020Mitochondrial therapy in complicated pregnancies lowers the chance of cardiovascular problems in the offspring.
Metallic blue fruits use fat to produce colour and signal a treat for birds
06 Aug 2020Researchers have found that a common plant owes the dazzling blue colour of its fruit to fat in its cellular structure, the first time this type of...
Green energy and better crops: tinted solar panels could boost farm incomes
04 Aug 2020Researchers have demonstrated the use of tinted, semi-transparent solar panels to generate electricity and produce nutritionally-superior crops...
Four-stranded DNA structures found to play role in breast cancer
03 Aug 2020Four-stranded DNA structures – known as G-quadruplexes – have been shown to play a role in certain types of breast cancer for the first time...