@ScienceO

A vivid account of the evolution of minds will fill readers with wonder — and challenge how they think about their moral responsibility to protect the planet.

The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.

Remarkably preserved footprints of Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei offer direct evidence that extinct hominin species coexisted.

A bank of cells from people more than 100 years old gives scientists a new resource for studying longevity.

Hundreds of pieces of fossilized faeces and vomit show how dinosaurs became Earth’s dominant land animals — plus, the search for a commensal fungus that’s made mouse guts its home.

At the interface between Asia and Europe, the Caucasus region was a melting pot during the Bronze Age and the origin of the earliest steppe pastoralist societies. Ancient-DNA analyses reveal how Neolithic ways of life spread through diverse populations and how mountain–steppe interactions transformed the genetic and cultural landscapes of Eurasia.

Brain-wide association studies, which aim to link features of the brain to a person’s characteristics, have a replicability problem. Besides increasing sample size, what else can be done to make these studies more reproducible?

An immunologist and his illustrator friend reveal tips and tricks to help scientists to reach peak performance and creativity.

By patterning an ultrathin layered structure with tiny wells, physicists have created and imaged peculiar states known as quantum scars — revealing behaviour that could be used to boost the performance of electronic devices.

Analysis of 200-million-year-old digested foods reveals how the animals became dominant.

Colliding muons could lead to new discoveries – and for a fraction of the cost of facilities like the Large Hadron Collider

Alongside secret Santas and seasonal parties, many laboratories develop traditions to show appreciation to colleagues — from sweets and mulled wine to quizzes and ice-skating trips.

Only 9.5% of the country’s engineering graduate programmes have voluntarily adopted minority-inclusion initiatives over the past few decades.

Sustainable-development researcher Olena Melnyk talks about moving her life and research career from Ukraine to Switzerland.

Countries are meeting to agree the first ever global treaty on curbing plastic pollution. Research suggests where bans and incentives can make a difference.

Anti-Russian sentiment and government sanctions have left many Russian scientists struggling to develop their careers abroad.