Many people feel intimidated by the prospect of making pastry, says Sam Wong, but a little understanding can go a long way to successfully making this beautiful rhubarb tart
New archaeological finds show that New Guinea developed sophisticated cultural practices around the same time as they were emerging in Europe and Asia
Kate Darling researches human-robot interaction. She explains why we are prone to forming emotional connections with robots and what we can learn from our relationships with pets and other animals
This week, watch a sci-fi film set in an infinitely recursive suburbia, read about the woman who cracked star chemistry and catch great new games
Shards of pottery probably used for transporting food suggest a mountain site in the Czech Republic may have been a nature retreat for Iron Age religious hermits
Ancient humans in Africa mixed far more than we thought, according to new findings revealed by sequencing the genomes of a diverse group of people from across the world
The mysterious Liangzhu civilisation was a neolithic "Venice of the East", rivalling ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia with its engineering marvels
It's easy and fun to make hand-pulled noodles, especially if you understand how gluten is acting inside the dough to make it stretch y and elastic, says Sam Wong
People living in Russia about 20,000 years ago built a "bonehenge" – a circular structure made of mammoth bones that could have been used to store food
Westworld is soon to return with season three. Four episodes in to the impossibly glamorous, highly urbanised future, I can't wait to find out what's going on, writes Emily Wilson
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, why do some people stockpile and others shrug? The psychology of uncertainty explains what's going on, says Rachel McCloy
This week, listen as David Attenborough reads nature classic The Peregrine, learn how skyscrapers and railway cuttings offer unlikely oases for wildlife, and watch an Altered Carbon anime spin-off
TikTok's rise has been meteoric. With more than 3 million people a day now downloading the app, its success is down to more than just luck
We thought hominins evolved to run around 2 million years ago – but a study of the famous Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis, suggests she could run too
Twitter used to be full of cat memes and had a culture of sharing. Now, I pay a company to make sure my presence on the site is extremely limited, writes Annalee Newitz
By understanding garlic's chemistry we can amp up its pungency in a fiery garlic sauce or tame it through gentle cooking to make mellow garlic confit, says Sam Wong
Efforts to prevent prisoners from reoffending are often lacking in scientific rigour and can even fly in the face of available evidence
An analysis of a classic Monty Python sketch suggests the Minister of Silly Walks has a walking style 6.7 times more variable, or silly, than normal walking
After finding out she was autistic, Siena Castellon sparked a global school movement that celebrates neurodiversity, which now includes nearly half a million students
The second season of podcast The Dream debunks much of the wellness industry, but creating empathy for the people caught up in it is where the show shines
In an attempt to stem the spread of coronavirus, China has shut its wildlife markets for good. It is a welcome move, says Adam Vaughan
This week, watch as Westworld breaks out of the park and into LA, discover why vision is so important and listen as a drama exploits the weirdness of sound
Julia Ebner infiltrated the hidden forums that extremists use. Her experiences lay bare how they hijack social media and video games to spread hate – and how to beat them
Skull fragments from Homo erectus found alongside stone tools in Ethiopia suggest the ancient hominin used more tool technology than we thought
To make your own sourdough bread, you need to create an environment where wild yeast and bacteria want to hang out. Sam Wong explains how
Christopher Medina-Kirchner used to be a drug dealer. Now he is a researcher looking at their effects, and says society's views on drugs and addiction need updating
Everything from genetic tests to immigration numbers is full of shaky statistics. David Spiegelhalter's new podcast helps separate the factual from the flaky
This week, listen as Reply All goes down the internet rabbit hole, watch the second series of Netflix's Altered Carbon, and ponder what fossils our culture will leave for the far future
Encouraging the growth of benign bacteria is a tasty way to preserve vegetables, such as with this easy kimchi recipe, says Sam Wong
Just how humans evolved the stiff feet that allow us to walk and run has been something of a mystery, but now researchers say a bony arch structure is the key
A cache of Denisovan tools shows how these extinct humans moved from using sharp stone flakes 150,000 years ago to stone blades and chisels around 60,000 years ago
As recently as 110 years ago, Aboriginal Australians used dingoes to help hunt kangaroos even though the canines are feral and difficult to train
Elisabeth Bik is on a mission to detect duplicate images in scientific papers, exposing either genuine mistakes or signs of fraud. But her work isn't always appreciated, she says
The Good Place, a sitcom on Netflix about an afterlife with characters who represent me at my worst – and best – is over, but I can’t stop rewatching the show, says Chelsea Whyte
Many classic psychology experiments have found humans to be pretty gullible. But book Not Born Yesterday argues that such a trait runs against the logic of natural selection
This week, watch Netflix's I Am Not Okay With This, catch up with positive stories about how our brains age, and listen as a podcast reveals the built world
As a changing climate dried out the Sahara desert, ancient humans transitioned from eating lots of tilapia and catfish to more mammal-heavy meals
Gene-edited pigs and brain implants are blurring the lines of what it means to be human, so our morals and laws may need to change to include beings that are “substantially human”
A Neanderthal skeleton unearthed in a cave in Iraq shows signs of having been deliberately buried – more evidence our cousin species behaved a little like we do
Nicolas Cage grapples with a weird luminous alien presence in the movie Color Out of Space. It's a story that has roots in a late-19th-century obsession with new forms of radiation, says Simon Ings
Down is a sci-fi podcast about a crewed mission into a mysterious Antarctic hole that has opened up as a result of climate change, what will the crew find?
Our ape cousins have asymmetrical brains just like we do, which might require us to rethink ideas on the evolution of brain specialism in our hominin ancestors
Smiling and other facial expressions aren't displays of feelings that transcend cultures but turn out to be full of hidden meaning
An analysis of the topics that cause arguments between newly-wed heterosexual couples puts a lack of affection at the top of the list, with little concern about who sleeps on which side of the bed
When natural global warming raised seas by 120 metres starting around 18,000 years ago, people tried to protect themselves by building walls or rolling fiery boulders into the sea
Concerns about adversaries hacking democracy abound, but it’s sheer incompetence we should really be worried about, writes Annalee Newitz
Are we ready for real-life love potions? Book Love is the Drug explains how pills may affect everything from falling deeper in love to breaking up
Food tastes satisfying thanks to the amino acid glutamate, which stimulates the umami taste. Sam Wong explains how to boost it in your recipes
Four West African populations may carry genes from an undiscovered archaic hominin that diverged from a shared ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans
An 18-year-old who was born without the left half of her brain scores well on IQ tests and plans to attend university, revealing our brain's incredible adaptability