Science

Empire of flight

They have big brains, long childhoods and sociable, curious minds. So why haven’t birds developed complex culture?

Antone Martinho-Truswell

Beanbag genetics

Today a bitter dispute about the nature of biology is underway. A simple bag of beans may be what tips the balance

Zachary B Hancock

The many ways a lizard tongue sticks, grasps, pinches and plops – in slo-mo

6 minutes

Starlings swoosh like brushstrokes across the sky in this dazzling short

3 minutes

In praise of subspecies

To lump or to split? Deciding whether an animal is a species or subspecies profoundly influences our conservation priorities

Richard Smyth

Could humans hibernate?

Hibernation allows many animals to time-travel from difficult times to plenty. Could humans learn how to do it too?

Vladyslav Vyazovskiy

Forwards, not back

Medicine aims to return bodies to the state they were in before illness. But there’s a better way of thinking about health

Kate MacCord & Jane Maienschein

Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings

3 minutes

Problem-solving matter

Life is starting to look a lot less like an outcome of chemistry and physics, and more like a computational process

David C Krakauer & Chris Kempes

How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution

60 minutes

For one of nature’s great builders, finding a mate means weaving the perfect nest

4 minutes

What is intelligent life?

Our human minds hold us back from truly understanding the many brilliant ways that other creatures solve their problems

Abigail Desmond & Michael Haslam

Kinship

Science must become attuned to the subtle conversations that pervade all life, from the primordial to the present

David Waltner-Toews

The dinosaurs didn’t rule

When we think of changes in Earth’s history as changes of dynasty we miss out on understanding how life really works

Riley Black

To understand how an animal sees the world, start with the shape of its pupils

5 minutes

Evolution without accidents

Despite advances in molecular genetics, too many biologists think that natural selection is driven by random mutations

James A Shapiro

The key to geckos’ unrivalled climbing skills isn’t sticky feet. It’s subatomic

4 minutes

Far from frivolous, cuteness is a powerful – and still mysterious – force of nature

6 minutes