The world could be facing a sand crisis. A new study looks for solutions; World's first nuclear detonation forged the first human-made quasicrystal; Voyager 1 picks up the the ‘hum’ of of interstellar space; Animals can breathe through their butts and oxygen up the wazoo may work for humans too; Dethroning our old toilets. A new book looks at the environmental revolution in toilet tech; What evidence for dark matter has been found in the Milky Way?

California condors escaped extinction — and a genetic bottleneck; Astronomers get rare and surprising before and after shots of a star going supernova; For soccer players, the less brain they use, the better for penalty kicks; Beaver-hunting wolves have perfected a sit-and-wait strategy; An ocean of noise is having major impacts on the marine environment; Why are birds like parrots able to mimic sounds?

Scientists shocked to discover how much lightning cleans the atmosphere; Digging up 142-year-old seeds in the latest instalment in the world’s oldest experiment; Researchers solve the mystery of loggerhead turtle's lost years; A pioneering forest researcher's memoir describes 'Finding the Mother Tree'; Why do we cry when we are sad?

How NASA built and flew the first helicopter to fly on another planet; The horn of the unicorn of the sea reveals a dirty secret about arctic pollution; Billions and billions of Tyrannosaurs walked the Earth; How long before we all understand that SARS-CoV-2 COVID is airborne?; Understanding geoengineering - why we need to investigate last resort to tackle climate change.

These ants shrink their brains for motherhood — but can also grow them back; Intense boreal forest fires may change tree species, and lead to more carbon uptake; ‘Where’s the blue food?’ Scientists find source for natural blue food dye in red cabbage; Tons of microplastic is being thrown into the atmosphere from roads, oceans and fields; Contemplating what it means to be alive in the new book ‘Life’s Edge’.

Giant silverback gorillas show a gentler side in looking after orphans; ‘Cool’ new Canadian-built laser will help scientists probe antimatter mysteries; Game-changing saliva test could rapidly diagnose concussions for athletes; Octopuses sleep in technicolour. Do they dream, too?; A new book looks at forensic science beyond what we see on TV; Do all creatures on Earth have red blood?

COVID ‘fuse’ may have been lit weeks or months before the Wuhan market ‘bomb’; Nature's sounds improve well-being — reducing stress and even pain; Researchers use 'mini-brains' to find out why ours grow so large; A theoretical cosmologist explores the right to wonder upon the night sky; How do you explain the changing hair colour pattern of a tabby cat?

Ice cores drilled for missile silo research reveals when Greenland was last green; Grizzly Tinder: Bears rubbing up against trees may be their dating calling card; Microgravity on a trip to Mars might leave astronauts emotionally impaired; Listening in on fin whale calls to do seismic sensing of the ocean floor; COVID vaccines were made in record time. Meet a scientist who made that possible; Why do gasoline fumes cast a shadow on a cold, sunny day?

Earthquake science takes great strides in the 10 years since massive quake hit Japan; Ant-i-social distancing: Ants know how isolation prevents the spread of infection; Sea otters have been saving Pacific kelp forests from rapacious sea urchins; As big as a hippo, but speedy like a cheetah: meet the intimidating Anteosaurus; Is autism the legacy of humans evolving the ability to innovate?

COVID gave climate scientists a natural experiment. Here’s what they learned; Flexing memory muscles like the pros can build long term memories; Do you feel lucky? Chance likely played a major role in life persisting on Earth; Frogs have noise cancelling lungs so females can hear males over the swampy din; Dispatches from the dreamworld: establishing two-way communication with lucid dreamers; If hot air rises, why is it cold at the top of mountains?