Science

Medieval Teeth Show Children in England's Peak District Were Heavily Exposed to Lead From the 600s

Enamel from 17 burials dates the revival of the region's lead industry to the mid-seventh century, and hints that exposure depended on gender and status.

14 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Science

Homebrew ABV formulas part ways once original gravity reaches 1.070

Homebrewers turn original and final gravity readings into alcohol by volume with one of two formulas, which agree closely for beer of ordinary strength. On our grid they sit more than 0.3 percentage points apart from an original gravity of 1.070, while the factor table HMRC publishes stays close to the simpler rule.

12 Oct 2026 · 6 min read

Science

Rare blood-group variants allow most of the child blood types a chart forbids

The textbook ABO rule forbids at least one child blood type for every pairing of parent types except A with B. Rare inherited variants, chiefly the Bombay phenotype and cis-AB, reach most of those forbidden combinations, at population rates of a few children in a thousand even where they cluster.

8 Oct 2026 · 6 min read

Science

Animals Probably Arose 800 to 700 Million Years Ago, Long Before Their Oldest Fossils

Scientists have long disagreed over when the first animals appeared. A new study argues that a key fossil site was misread, pushing the likely start back to around the Snowball Earth ice ages.

7 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Science

People Bend the Facts to Suit Their Choices, and the Selfish Version Spreads Faster

In nine experiments with 8,769 adults, those who kept more for themselves played down the cost to others. When shown such estimates, other participants became more selfish too.

3 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Science

Snowball Earth's Cold Could Fake the Signs of Glacial Erosion, a Science Paper Argues

Geologists have argued that ancient ice sheets scraped 3 to 5 km off the continents. A Science paper says freezing the crust could leave the same cooling signal with little rock removed.

3 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Science

Waves, Not Just Tides, Decide Where Mangroves Can Take Root on Open Coasts

Where mangroves grow has mostly been explained by the tides. A Nature study of 400 coastal sites finds that on exposed shores, seedlings also need long calm spells at sea to anchor.

2 Oct 2026 · 5 min read

Science

Antarctica's Net Ice Loss This Century Is Locked In, Even With Deep Emission Cuts

How much Antarctica will add to sea level is a major unknown. A new study finds its ice loss this century is very likely locked in, and extra snowfall will not offset it.

1 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Science

Butterfly Wing Stripes Create a Barber-Pole Illusion That Makes Them Hard to Catch

As the wings flap, their patterns send false motion signals about where the butterfly is heading. A Nature study backs it with slow-motion film, 397 species, 100 human testers and simulated evolution.

1 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Science

Bats First Took Flight in Europe, a Study of 103 Genomes and 44 Fossils Finds

The Bat1K analysis puts the bat ancestor in late-Palaeocene Europe and rejects African, Asian and North American origins. Echolocation may have been there from the start.

30 Sep 2026 · 4 min read