Spider fangs are one of their scariest features – new fossils reveal their origins
Urokodia lived some 518 million years ago, and had early versions of fangs. Xiaodong Wang The publicity posters for the 1955 cult monster movie Tarantula! displayed a giant spider rampaging across the Arizona desert and clutching a poor human victim in its viciously long fangs. The film captured our fear of spiders, their creepy crawly […]
America at 250: five times the US constitution has come under threat
Donald Trump supporters march towards the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. bgrocker / Shutterstock The story of the US is, in many ways, remarkable. It achieved independence against the odds, its constitution has lasted more than two centuries and its democracy has weathered war, economic depression, social upheaval and political change. But reflection on […]
Cape Verde’s World Cup success reflects a nation that has repeatedly defied the odds
For decades, the west African island nation of Cape Verde was perhaps best known for the music of late singer Cesária Évora. This summer, however, the Atlantic archipelago has gained fame for a different reason: football. As one of the surprise stories of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, Cape Verde has captured the imagination of […]
Megalodon’s legendary life revealed by fossil rediscovery
Museums are supposed to be havens for the collective cultural and scientific heritage of the planet, but specimens sometimes go missing. Happily, they can also be rediscovered, as a new study shows, with the vertebrae of the legendary predatory shark known to the world under its old name of Megalodon (now properly Otodus megalodon) turning […]
Falling migration is bad for economies – here’s how some countries are responding
ShutterSikki/Shutterstock The UK’s last six prime ministers have all promised to reduce migration – and now it is happening. The most recent figures show that net migration (the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving) was at 171,000 in 2025. This is the lowest point since 2012. Falling migration may be […]
Reading Homer’s Iliad feels like scrolling through TikTok
Homer Singing His Iliad at the Gate of Athens by Guillaume Lethière (1760–1832). Nottingham Castle I first picked up The Iliad because the cloth-bound red cover, stamped with gold flames, was simply gorgeous. So much for not judging a book by its cover. The Penguin Classics edition sat on my shelf for months before I […]
The hidden risks of grey-market peptides – why women face greater danger
Alan Crosthwaite/Shutterstock.com A wave of unregulated peptides is sweeping the wellness world, sold online with bold promises about muscle gain, anti-ageing and fat loss. But concern is growing about side-effects, and almost nobody is asking whether these substances affect men and women in the same way. The evidence suggests they do not. Women are one […]
Ancient Egypt: Magic and Medicine – a brilliant exhibition showing the power of learning through artefacts
The exhibition Ancient Egypt: Magic and Medicine in the Swansea University Egypt Centre is unusual as there are just two ancient objects on display. One is a limestone fragment that was used like scrap paper to write or draw on. On this fragment, a man has written asking a magician to send goose fat to […]
The joy of pests: study reveals why rat catchers are so happy in their work
torook/Shutterstock Pest control means dealing with the kinds of animals many of us try our best to avoid. But catching rats and battling cockroaches turns out to be very satisfying work. My research reveals that this surprising level of job satisfaction comes from the variety, challenge and connection pest controllers experience. They also told me […]
Another statutory inquiry into maternity care would be a mistake – here’s why
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock The Ockenden Review painted a deeply troubling picture of maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. It confirmed what families, NHS staff and previous reviews had been saying for years: not isolated mistakes but long-running failures across the service. The Nottingham review examined the experiences of more than 2,500 families, more than 2,500 […]