The laws of physics that concern heat and work could gain a firmer mathematical footing thanks to “gauge theory”, which already helps us understand quantum fields

Egg cells missing a key protein may be more likely to end up with the wrong number of chromosomes, but an mRNA injection that helps the cells make the protein reduces the problem

Fossils of Spriggina floundersi provide the earliest evidence of animals favouring one side of the body over the other – a feature of nervous systems that we see in our own right- and left-handedness

A modelling study suggests marine cloud brightening could shade the eastern Pacific and reduce a global temperature spike from El Niño, but there could be unexpected consequences

A drug that softens the ovaries helped mice and rats conceive more easily at an older age, and produce more pups

Lambs have been born using an experimental form of IVF that coaxes immature eggs to become mature ones. This could boost the number of eggs available for fertilisation and improve IVF success rates