SKAO’s South African telescope achieves first ‘fringes’ milestone – UKRI

The SKA Observatory (SKAO) has reached a significant milestone in South Africa: two of its SKA-Mid radio telescope dishes have successfully operated as an interferometer for the first time. This marks a key step toward full scientific operations. Largest radio astronomy facility The SKAO is currently under construction across two sites in South Africa and […]

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From living buildings to multitasking home robots, here’s how science is reimagining 2026

As science continues to push boundaries, the coming years could surprise us with self‑healing cities, robots that care and smarter defences against future pandemics. Here are five outlooks from some of Europe’s leading researchers. Bio‑architecture – a return to nature Imagine a city where buildings are alive – structures that absorb pollution as people walk […]

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Analysing Darwin specimens without opening 200-year-old jars – UKRI

Remarkably, the specimens have been analysed without opening their 200-year-old preservation jars. Examining 46 historic specimens The study examined 46 historic specimens at the Natural History Museum, London, including mammals, reptiles, fish, jellyfish, and shrimps collected by Darwin and other naturalists. It was found that traditional preservation methods differed by species and era. Mammals and […]

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On with the show: AI and virtual reality step in to transform live performance

In September 2025, a stage performance with a difference took place at Porto’s Coliseum theatre in northern Portugal. In Re-embodied Machine, a dancer wearing motion sensors interacted with lights and sound that responded to his movements as he whirled across the stage. The live performance, which used AI, was watched in person by more than 300 […]

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Is time a fundamental part of reality? A quiet revolution in physics suggests not

Pack-Shot/Shutterstock Time feels like the most basic feature of reality. Seconds tick, days pass and everything from planetary motion to human memory seems to unfold along a single, irreversible direction. We are born and we die, in exactly that order. We plan our lives around time, measure it obsessively and experience it as an unbroken […]

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Early-career researchers win the Springboard Awards – UKRI

The ISIS Springboard Awards have been won by: Andrew McCluskey, University of Bristol Camilla Di Mino, University of Oxford Daniel Mayoh, The University of Warwick The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source created the Springboard Awards in 2024 to support and encourage early-career researchers to use neutrons and muons in their research. The winners were chosen […]

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Restoring surgeons’ sense of touch with robotic fingertips

Modern surgery has gone from long incisions to tiny cuts guided by robots and AI. In the process, however, surgeons have lost something vital: the chance to feel inside the body directly. Without palpation, it becomes harder to detect tissue abnormalities during an operation. A group of surgeons and engineers across Europe is now trying […]

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Life in fossil bones: what we can learn from tiny traces of ancient blood chemicals

Blood tests are useful tools for doctors and scientific researchers: they can reveal a lot about a body’s health. Usually, a blood sample is taken to get a picture of the large molecules that are present, such as cholesterols, lipids and proteins. This is called a metabolic profile. For more specific information, another kind of […]

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Scientists release most detailed analysis on expanding Universe – UKRI

Using an unprecedented combination of cosmic measurements, the research doubles the precision of previous DES studies. The findings remain broadly consistent with the standard model of cosmology, the most widely accepted theory of the Universe. The international group of researchers, with UK support from Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) and six UK universities, is […]

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We discovered an ancient ‘party boat’ in the waters of Alexandria – here’s what might have happened on board

Beneath the shifting waters of Alexandria’s eastern harbour, on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, lie the drowned remnants of a once-splendid city – ports, palaces and temples swallowed by the sea. Submerged by earthquakes and a rising sea level, these lost monuments have become the focus of survey and excavations by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, […]

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