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A tree may appear to record little more than its own age, but the rings hidden inside ancient trunks can preserve a year-by-year archive stretching across droughts, volcanic cooling, extreme solar activity and major periods of human history. Unlike many records of the distant past, which come with broad ranges of uncertainty, dendrochronology can sometimes assign an event to a single calendar year by matching distinctive sequences of wide and narrow rings across living trees, dead wood, and archaeological timber.

Restoring the rare habitat has been a difficult task in Scotland for many years. Over 265,000 downy willows have been planted in the Scottish Highlands to regenerate the montane willow scrub, which was disappearing over hundreds of years due to intensive grazing.

For centuries, people have viewed trees as silent witnesses to history; however, scientists now know that they are a lot more than that, as hidden within their annual growth rings is a natural archive capable of revealing past droughts, volcanic eruptions, and powerful solar storms. According to scientists who study tree rings, also known as dendrochronologists, some of these tree-ring records are so precise that they can date historical and environmental events to the exact calendar year and sometimes even identify the season in which they occurred.

Scientists have uncovered an alarming shift unfolding across the Himalayas, with changes that could affect millions in no time.

Brazil is dealing with one of its worst dengue fever outbreaks in years, and scientists are trying something unusual to bring the numbers down. Instead of just relying on vaccines and mosquito spray, health teams are releasing genetically modified mosquitoes into several cities, hoping these lab-bred insects will help shrink the population of disease-spreading mosquitoes over time.

Underwater fields of seagrass could play an important role in fighting malnutrition among vulnerable coastal communities, according to new research published in Cell Reports Sustainability. The study was carried out by scientists from Stockholm University and Project Seagrass.

Many people believe that baby rattlesnakes are more dangerous than adult ones because they cannot control the amount of venom they inject when they bite. A new study has now challenged this long-held belief.

China has announced the recipients of its highest annual scientific honour, recognising two researchers whose work has shaped very different parts of the country's technological development. The 2025 State Pre-eminent Science and Technology Award has been presented to battery scientist Chen Liquan and radar specialist Ben De, acknowledging decades of research that influenced both civilian industry and national defence.

For decades, herpetologists believed that many mountain pit vipers living across parts of the eastern Himalayas belonged to the same widespread species, the Chinese mountain pit viper (Ovophis monticola). But scientists have now shown that at least one group of these snakes has been hiding in plain sight all along.

New technology enables scientists to study dolphins non-invasively. To study dolphin groups, scientists do not need to capture individuals or take tissue samples; instead, they analyze small amounts of DNA left by dolphins in seawater.