Spiders have an unfortunate media presence. No number of studies emphasising their ecological value or the potential of their silks to inspire wonder materials can overcome the negative press. The more emotive and sensational the coverage, the more likely it is to travel.

With the help of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found six galaxies lying around a supermassive black hole when the Universe was less than a billion years old. This is the first time such a close grouping has been seen so soon after the Big Bang and the finding helps us better understand how supermassive black holes, one of which exists at the centre of our Milky Way, formed and grew to their enormous sizes so quickly. It supports the theory that black holes can grow rapidly […]

Future offshore oil and gas fields are most likely to be "satellite developments" that are less expensive and emit less greenhouse gasses than other fields because they do not require new production platforms. An innovative Norwegian computational tool called "Slug Capturing 2" is now enabling the design of longer pipelines that will allow many more fields to be developed as satellites.

Why are some tarantulas so vividly colored? Scientists have puzzled over why these large, hairy spiders, active primarily during the evening and at night-time, would sport such vibrant blue and green colouration—especially as they were long thought to be unable to differentiate between colors, let alone possess true color vision.

A new report on biological collections from The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine points to the need for sustainability, digitization, recruitment of a diverse workforce, and infrastructure upgrades to meet the challenges now facing science and society. The report, "Biological Collections: Ensuring Critical Research and Education for the 21st Century," says these collections are a critical part of the nation's science and innovation infrastructure and a fundamental […]