Katharine Sanderson is a science journalist specialising in the physical sciences. She has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Cambridge and BSc and MSc degrees, also in chemistry, from Imperial ...

Readers take issue with a former answer to this question, arguing for the different behaviour of wasps and flies – and for a ...

Sublimation, in which a person can split into two when crossing an international border, is tip-top stuff. Don't miss it, ...

Air usually seems “stale” if it contains elevated levels of carbon dioxide (from human respiration) and odour, neither of ...

Feedback is surprised to learn that geology is a particularly deadly speciality to pick if you're a fictional character, with ...

This beautiful artwork of climate activist Gladys Bartlett is a reminder of the fate of Kale Island, her former home. It is ...

This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles ...

The approach has been a huge success: most computing devices, including closed commercial machines like Windows PCs or Apple iPhones, use some open-source software. But while openness has benefits – ...

Another expert reader explores this thorny topic, including reference to the behaviour of their own archerfish ...

While Europe’s heatwave makes us run for shade, the intriguing In Defense of Sunlight reveals sunlight’s health-giving ...

Astrophysicist Becky Smethurst explains how supermassive black holes might get so big and how they affect the galaxies around them ...

The long fangs of Smilodon were thought to be rather delicate, but a study of large herbivore remains from Argentina shows ...