Longer essays and features from Science Blog. Pieces here go through additional research and review.
A misplaced fossil fragment hid a species' identity for two decades until a chance discovery revealed a previously unknown Triassic reptile hiding in plain sight.
Aug 22, 2026
A small 2026 study links severe sleep apnea and hypertension with altered gut metabolites, intestinal-barrier injury markers and more bacterial endotoxin in blood, without proving causation.
Aug 22, 2026
One week of age should not determine how a brain ages. Yet in Wales, a one-week difference in birth date divided access to shingles vaccination and gave researchers a clean way to ask whether the vaccine might influence dementia.
Aug 22, 2026
A 2026 Mendelian-randomization study connected genetic proxies for certain gut bacteria with cognitive performance. The finding is a research clue, not evidence that a probiotic or diet can improve cognition.
Aug 22, 2026
A 1990-to-2021 survey comparison found a steep contraction in American men’s friendship networks, although a change from phone to online interviewing makes the exact magnitude less certain.
Aug 22, 2026
A 43,681-dive analysis finds that today's average deep-sea camera system covers just 2.9 square kilometres a year, making exhaustive visual coverage impossible without a different strategy.
Aug 22, 2026
Bumblebees combined separately learned facts to reposition a ball beneath an unreachable reward, including when the goal location was hidden.
Aug 22, 2026
Reindeer seasonally retune a collagen reflector behind the retina, increasing winter sensitivity while sacrificing some spatial precision.
Aug 22, 2026
Bilateral neural recordings show submillisecond coordination during zebra-finch song but largely independent replay of vocal fragments during sleep.
Aug 21, 2026
