Skeleton missing lower left leg and dated to 31,000 years ago provides the earliest known evidence for surgical limb removal.

Analysis identifies the remains in an English well as those of medieval Jews, who were probably the victims of an antisemitic massacre.

Canines’ weeping makes them the first non-human animal known to shed happy tears.

Scraps of DNA show that living things of all kinds thrive in the thin air above 4,000 metres.

One ‘superspreader’ with Omicron shed 1,000 times as much viral RNA as those with Alpha or Delta.

Heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms push up the number of cases, make diseases more severe and hamper people’s ability to cope.

Antarctic sample dated at 3–5 million years old extracted as international ice-drilling teams race to extend Earth’s climate record.

Analysis of 20 emissions-storage facilities suggests that they now hold 20–30% less carbon than previously estimated.

After two years of negotiations, the US Congress finally passed legislation to massively increase science and technology research and enhance competitiveness in the semiconductor industry.

Catching an earlier version of SARS-CoV-2 — particularly Omicron — provides some immunity against the two fast-spreading lineages.

Mature fireflies lit their lanterns before birds and bats evolved, suggesting that sexual signalling drove this dazzling behaviour.

Infection with a pre-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant protects against reinfection with a second, although the effect fades almost completely after three years.

One of the largest known congregations of filter-feeding whales is recorded off the coast of Antarctica.

Grid-scale batteries could be the future of green energy. But the world’s largest energy storage site has struggled to operate during its first 18 months.

Deep below the Monterey Bay’s watery surface lies a rainbow of sponges and corals. Now, researchers have discovered that these still and silent creatures benefit from a state law originally designed to protect fish.

Mindsets developed in the first 10 days of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced people’s emotions and health behaviors – and ultimately predicted their well-being six months later, Stanford psychologists find.

A gel composed of only two ingredients can provide a temporary, hospitable environment that helps activate modified immune cells to attack cancerous tumors.

The Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy is a privately-funded nonprofit astronomical observatory dedicated to research and education.