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After a stalled June, the southwest monsoon has returned with intense rain across India. Scientists say El Nino delayed the season, but climate change is amplifying downpours.

Cooling homes without relying on air conditioners has long been a goal for scientists, but most passive cooling materials have one major drawback: they are opaque, making them unsuitable for windows. Now, researchers are developing transparent glass technologies that could help buildings stay cooler by reflecting unwanted solar heat while allowing excess indoor warmth to escape, potentially reducing indoor temperatures without consuming electricity.

Discarded shrimp shells could soon become more than kitchen waste. Scientists in Singapore have developed a process that converts organic rubbish into hydrogen fuel, protein for aquaculture feed and calcium carbonate, a material used in products such as cement and antacids.

A cave on the Mediterranean coastline of Turkiye has forced scientists to reconsider what we know about the interactions of Neanderthals with modern humans. The discoveries made by archaeologists suggest that not only did these two species coexist for millennia in the same region, but their way of life was similar, including making the same tools, hunting the same game, and even decorating themselves with the same shells.

Just one plant species can be enough to trigger an ecological invasion. Studies have shown that some tropical plants have evolved to reproduce without a mate, allowing a single individual to start a new colony.

For decades, Aleppo pine has been the backbone of Spain's reforestation efforts as it has helped in stabilising degraded landscapes across the country's dry Mediterranean regions. However, with recent climate changes bringing hotter temperatures, prolonged droughts, and an increase in forest dieback, researchers are questioning whether the species chosen decades ago to tackle the deforestation problem will remain suitable for the future.

During the Cold War, the United States explored an idea that almost sounds unimaginable in today's world: using nuclear bombs as tools for massive engineering projects instead of weapons. Launched in 1957, Project Plowshare, saw scientists and government officials propose harnessing nuclear explosions to excavate harbours, carve canals through mountains, create highway cuts and stimulate natural gas production.

For decades, scientists believed that the tallest trees faced one of nature's toughest challenges: Getting water from their roots to leaves hundreds of feet above the ground. Now, a study of towering trees in Southeast Asia suggests some of the world's tallest flowering plants have evolved specialised systems to overcome that problem.

In Rajasthan's Thar Desert, survival depends on making the most of scarce resources. The day may get very hot, and rain may be unpredictable, but then during the monsoon season, there is a drastic change in the climate.

One of the most common stories in the field of human evolution is that over time, the brains of our ancestors got bigger because bigger brains allowed them to be more intelligent, enabling them to survive and create more advanced societies.