I write about life sciences, health and the environment. My first book "The Genesis Quest" is about how life on Earth began and is out now
How the evolution of citrus is inextricably linked with our own
Millions of years ago, our ancestors lost a gene for producing vitamin C and got a taste for sour foods
Why Mount Everest is the world’s tallest mountain
Geologists suggest Mount Everest owes part of its extra height to two ancient rivers that flowed through the Himalayas and merged about 89,000 years ago.
The UK coal-fired power station that became a giant battery
The last coal-fired power station in the UK raises questions about how old fossil fuel infrastructure can be repurposed. One option is to use them to store energy from renewables.
The Burning Earth review: How colonialism and industrialisation fuelled the climate crisis
There can be no victory in a war against nature, says Sunil Amrith in The Burning Earth, a must-read history of our environmental crisis
When did humans leave the trees for the savannah – or did they at all?
Ancient humans are said to have evolved to leave the trees, where our primate ancestors lived, in favour of open grassy savannahs – but we may have this idea wrong
Why fantasy has often handled environmentalism better than science fiction
Science fiction struggles to portray environmental concerns; fantasy brings them to life
Nexus review: Yuval Noah Harari is out of his depth in his new book
The author of Sapiens has turned his attention to the information networks that shape our societies, but when you stop and think about what he's saying, it's obvious
The Earth's deepest living organisms may hold clues to alien life on Mars
To understand the life that might survive deep below Mars' surface, we can look to some of the deepest, and oldest, forms of living organism on our own planet
India’s pioneering mission bolsters idea that Moon’s surface was molten
First-ever analysis of soil from around the Moon’s south pole was performed using data from the Chandrayaan-3 mission
Dinosaur-killing Chicxulub asteroid formed in Solar System’s outer reaches
Rock samples hold clues to origin of impactor that sparked a mass extinction 66 million years ago
Why the amazing Altamura Man fossil remains a mystery
A Neanderthal skeleton was discovered encased in rock in an Italian cave 30 years ago, but it hasn’t been studied much due to a long-running impasse about how to safely excavate it
Geology’s biggest mystery: when did plate tectonics start to reshape Earth?
Researchers have spent decades hunting for clues about the origins of the process that moves the continents around. Its deep history is finally starting to come into focus.
Ancient plant artefact reveals humanity's epic journey to Australia
We know that modern humans took one of two routes to first reach Australia, and now an ancient chunk of plant resin has tipped the evidence towards the northern option
Hobbit hominins from Indonesia may have had even smaller ancestors
An arm bone from an ancient human that lived 700,000 years ago on the island of Flores is the smallest ever found from an adult hominin, adding a new piece to the puzzle of Homo floresiensis
What is the optimal amount of exercise and how much is too much?
When it comes to exercise, more isn't necessarily better – and we're now discovering the ideal dose for better health