Many people have DNA inside them that they inherited from extinct hominins like the Neanderthals – and now we know that in some cases it isn’t just tiny snippets but long stretches. Over the past decade, genetic analysis of human DNA has revealed that ancient humans must have interbred many times with other hominins such as Neanderthals. The result is that DNA from these extinct groups can be found in many human populations today.

An international team of scientists, led by the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), have found a new compound of plutonium with an unexpected, pentavalent oxidation state. This new phase of plutonium is solid and stable, and may be a transient phase in radioactive waste repositories. The results are published this week in Angewandte Chemie as a Very Important Paper (VIP).

Humanity is facing thorny problems on all fronts. These folks are working to solve them—and trying to avoid the unintended consequences this time.

We have finally uncovered hard evidence that 3.5 billion year old rocks in Australia really do contain fossils of the oldest known microorganisms. The findings put to bed a debate that has raged for years and may even enlighten us as to how some of Earth’s earliest life forms functioned.

A surprising discovery by an international team of scientists may change our understanding of the formation of planets. An international team of astrophysicists has discovered a large planet, more than half the mass of Jupiter, around a small, cool red dwarf star.

After a decade of searching, the UC San Francisco scientists who identified the only human gene known to promote “natural short sleep” – lifelong, nightly sleep that lasts just four to six hours yet leaves individuals feeling fully rested – have discovered a second.

Astronomers discovered a bizarre star that went supernova not once, but twice.

ANTARCTICA scientists made a stunning discovery 3,500 metres below the ice, leading one to state they had "never seen anything like this before," a documentary revealed.

Known as ‘fast radio bursts (FRBs)’, these powerful flashes have intrigued astronomers for years. It’s believed this latest detection, discovered using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope, could help unravel the mystery. As well as increasing the data set available for astronomers to analyse, the specific type of these latest FRBs will prove significant for research.

Scientists have identified a specific gene they believe could be a key player in the changes in brain structure seen in several psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia and autism. The team from Cardiff University’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute has found that the deletion of the gene CYFIP1 leads to thinning of the insulation that covers nerve cells and is vital for the smooth and rapid communications between different parts of the brain.

Scientists say they have finally cracked the problem of repairing tooth enamel. Though enamel is the hardest tissue in the body, it cannot self-repair. Now scientists have discovered a method by which its complex structure can be reproduced and the enamel essentially “grown” back.

By comparing fossils and CT scans, researchers say they have reconstructed the skull of the last common forebear of modern humans.

Scientists in Canada have developed a novel gel jam-packed with bacteria-killing viruses. According to researchers, the self-healing gel could be used for a variety of applications in medicine and environmental protection. Bacteria-killing viruses, called bacteriophages or phages, are the most abundant and diverse group of organisms on the planet, far outnumbering any other life form -- even bacteria.

Pulsars usually spin with clockwork precision, but sometimes they glitch in a strange sort of stellar hiccup. And astronomers just caught Vela pulsar in the act.

When José Capriles arrived in 2008 at the Cueva del Chileno rock shelter, nestled on the western slopes of Bolivia’s Andes, he didn’t know what he would find within.

he oldest parasite DNA ever recorded has been found in the ancient, desiccated faeces of a puma. A team of scientists made the discovery after studying a coprolite taken from a rock-shelter in the country’s mountainous Catamarca Province, where the remains of now extinct megafauna have previously been recovered in stratigraphic excavations.

A comet first spotted by a Ukrainian amateur astronomer looks to be just the second known object to visit our cosmic neighborhood from beyond the solar system. What could be an even bigger deal is that this one was discovered as it's still approaching us. Before you freak out: No, there doesn't appear to be any risk that the comet will collide with Earth.

Some of the most important tools in the toolbox of modern cell biologists are special chunks of DNA that act like spies, reporting on the cell's function. The markers, known as reporter genes, allow researchers to get a sense for what cells are doing by watching genetic programs embedded in their DNA turn on and off.

Astronomers have discovered the oldest cluster of galaxies ever seen, which dates to the early universe. The discovery, which could help explain the shape of the modern cosmos, reveals 12 galaxies that existed in a clump 13 billion years ago — just about 700 million years after the Big Bang. We can see them now because they're so far away in the expanding universe (13 billion light-years) that their starlight is only now reaching Earth. One of the galaxies, a mammoth named Himiko after a mythological Japanese queen, was discovered a decade ago by the same team.

A team of researchers is carrying out the first in-depth archaeological survey of part of Saudi Arabia, in a bid to shed light on a mysterious civilisation that once lived there. The Nabataean culture left behind sophisticated stone monuments, but many sites remain unexplored. The rock-strewn deserts of Al Ula in Saudi Arabia are known for their pitch-black skies, which allow stargazers to easily study celestial bodies without the problem of light pollution.