PRIMER : DEEP-SEA MINING

Why the next gold rush is happening at the bottom of the ocean

MEDICINE : SCIENTISTS PRODUCE THE FIRST CELLULAR MAP OF THE HUMAN INTESTINE

Fluorescent antibodies reveal the atlas of cell that cooperate to protect you 'neighbourhoods'

ASTRONOMY : RARE 'ULTRACOOL' BROWN DWARF STAR FOUND EMITTING RADIO WAVES

Unusual radio signals have led astronomers to a surprising astronomical object

BIOLOGY : MOTHERS ARE FORCED TO FIGHT A NUTRIENT WAR WITH THEIR UNBORN BABIES

A study on mice enabled scientists to discover that children inherit 'greedy genes' from fathers

MEDICINE : ANT HONEY USED IN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN MEDICINE COULD INSPIRE POWERFUL NEW ANTIBIOTICS

It's a first for Western science, but Indigenous Australians have been using the honeypot ant medicinally for thousands of years

VIROLOGY : NEW AI COULD IDENTIFY VIRAL 'DARK MATTER' OF NEXT PANDEMIC

The early warning system is based on machine learning and could have predicted the emergence of the COVID variants

ASTRONOMY : EERIE 'SONG' OF TWINKLING STARS DRIVES UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR NUCLEAR CORES

Taking a musical approach helps scientists determine how much a star should shine

Show your stripes

Pictures may tell a thousand words, but this one goes even further. These stripes appeared along Dover's White Cliffs on 21 June, as the iconic landmark was gradually turned into a scientific graphic.

Let's work together

There's a reason they call the ocean Earth's unexplored frontier. Dive into any of this planet's waters and you soon discover an entirely different ecosystem, populated with strange and unexpected species.

Birthday wishes

This is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. It's the closest star-forming region to Earth - around 390 light-years away - and in stellar nursery terms, it's a rather small, quiet region.

Ideas we like...

Our pick of the month's smartest tech

Could adolescent reptiles learn martial arts?

Do you need more than pizza, surf slang and bright bandanas to bring out the heroes in four juvenile turtles?

ANEMOIA: WHY AM I NOSTALGIC FOR A TIME I DIDN'T KNOW OR A PLACE I'VE NEVER BEEN?

The term nostalgia’ was coined by a Swiss doctor in the 17th century to describe the homesickness experienced by mercenaries fighting far from home from the Greek nostos’ the desire to return home and algos’, meaning pain).

BEFORE WE HAD LONG COVID, WAS THERE LONG SARS?

The SARS epidemic of 2002-2004, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), affected over 8,000 people globally.

DEAR DOCTOR: HOW DO I STOP HICCUPING? WHAT WILL ACTUALLY WORK?

Hiccups, those sudden and sometimes annoying contractions of the diaphragm, can be a perplexing phenomenon. During a hiccup your diaphragm contracts and, immediately after this, the top of your windpipe (your glottis) closes, making the typical 'hic' sound.

WHY DO I GO RED WHEN I'M EMBARRASSED OR HAVE BEEN DRINKING?

Blushing, or turning red in the face, is a fascinating physiological response that occurs in certain situations, such as embarrassment or alcohol consumption.

WHY DOES MY DOG GIVE ME SIDE EYE?

Dog side eye, aka 'the shady gaze', is the subject of many seemingly humorous memes. But this canine characteristic is often more loaded than the videos suggest.

HOW DO VARIFOCAL GLASSES WORK?

Varifocals are lenses that allow you to see close-up, far away and somewhere in between, all through the same pair of glasses.

SHOULD I EAT DESSERT WITH BREAKFAST TO HELP ME DIET?

It's hard to say whether devouring a dessert at breakfast actually helps with weight loss. The most reported research comes from a team led by endocrinologist Prof Daniela Jakubowicz at Tel Aviv University in Israel. In 2012, her team published a study of 193 people on a calorie-controlled diet who consumed either a low-carbohydrate breakfast or one with high protein and high carbohydrate, including a sweet treat such as a piece of cake or a doughnut.

SPLENDID PERSEIDS WHEN: EARLY-LATE AUGUST

The Perseid meteor shower shows activity from mid-July through to late August. Generally the meteor rate is low, but between 10-16 August, rates are higher, reaching a peak in the early hours of 13 August.

SHEEPSHEAD FISH

Someone slap a lawsuit on the dentist who fitted this fish with the freakishly human teeth... What's that you say? Evolution did this. By natural selection? What was it thinking! The sheepshead fish, aka the lovechild of Billy Bass and my granny's dentures, is a scaly, sparkly swimmer that can be found in the shallow waters of the western Atlantic, from Nova Scotia to Brazil. It's a euryhaline species, which means it can tolerate a wide range of salinity.

ALBIE HEWITT, RIPON HOW RADIOACTIVE IS MY HOUSE? (DO I NEED TO WORRY?)

Pedantically, we could say that your house is literally bathed in radiation day and night, since visible light is radiation, and so are the infrared wavelengths coming from your radiators and the 2.4GHz frequency radio waves from your home Wi-Fi and mobile phone. But what you're probably referring to is ionising radiation - the kind powerful enough to knock electrons out of atoms and thereby cause cancer and, at very high doses, radiation poisoning and burns.

OUR BEST FRIENDS

Many of us share our homes and lives with a canine companion. But how much do we really know about what's going on inside their heads? Cognitive scientists Dr Zazie Todd and Prof Alexandra Horowitz explain what we're learning about how our four-legged friends think, and share a few tips on how you can make their lives better...

FEELING SUPERSONIC

IT'S 20 YEARS SINCE THE PUBLIC COULD BUY A TICKET TO FLY ON A PLANE CAPABLE OF BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER. BUT THERE'S A BAND OF ENGINEERS AND PILOTS WHO THINK COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PASSENGERS ARE ONCE AGAIN FEELING THE NEED... THE NEED FOR SUPERSONIC SPEED

Five of the best outdoor speakers

A good outdoor speaker needs to be portable, offer great audio and be able to stand up to all types of weather. The BBC Science Focus team picks their faves

AI art's hidden echo chamber is about to implode

Artificial intelligence creates millions of images a day, flooding the internet. But what happens when it starts to train on its own data?

OLDER DADS: ARE YOU EVER TOO OLD TO BECOME A FATHER?

What are the risks and rewards, to you and your children, of becoming a father late in life?

SIGNS OF LIFE: COULD A SUPERNOVA BE A SIGNAL?

Astronomers think aliens could use supernova explosions to inform us of their presence

MEWING: CAN THE TIKTOK TREND GIVE YOU THE JAWLINE OF A MODEL?

Its supporters claim a simple tongue exercise can not only reshape your jaw and help you sleep, but can even improve your teeth. Here's what the experts say...

THE VAGINA'S HUGE MEDICAL POTENTIAL IS GOING UNTAPPED.BUT NOT FOR MUCH LONGER

Scientists are beginning to investigate the organ’s potential healthcare applications... and there’s a lot of them