From the threat of superintelligent AI to the secrets of a longer life; plus the evolution of language and the restless genius of Francis Crick

This felt like the year that AI really arrived. It is on our phones and laptops; it is creeping into digital and corporate infrastructure; it is changing the way we learn, work and create; and the global economy rests on the stratospheric valuations...

These delicate cloud systems appear to be seeded by massive atmospheric waves thousands of miles away

Cirrus clouds are our highest clouds; their delicate wispy strands are like an artist’s brushstrokes through the sky. During the day they are bright white and at dawn and dusk they can take on the hues of sunrise and sunset. But how are they made? New research reveals that some cirrus clouds...

An acute global shortage of memory chips is forcing AI and consumer electronics companies to fight for dwindling supplies.

Ethnic minority people more likely to experience poor treatment and even racism, Migraine Trust research shows

People from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to experience worse migraine care and to fear discrimination because of their condition, a survey by a leading UK charity has found.

Migraines are characterised by a severe headache, alongside other symptoms including dizziness,...

The app, which was criticised at launch for its $11.99 (£9) a month fee, will close on 31 December.

Sanral has stopped supporting magnetic stripe payments at toll plazas ahead of the busy holiday period.

The central bank says US stock price valuations are their most stretched since the dotcom bubble burst.

Thyspunt in the Eastern Cape and Bantamsklip in the Overberg are the proposed sites for a new nuclear power plant.

Trump’s renomination of billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman is a tale of politics, ambition and vanity

It used to be that once your star had fallen in Donald Trump’s orbit, it was destined never to rise again. Any number of discarded former allies stretching back to Trump’s first term of office could testify as much.

One who has emerged from a political black hole to return to the...

Standard Bank now has the second-lowest PayShap fees in the country behind TymeBank, where they remain free.

Cristina Dorador is on an urgent mission in the world’s highest desert, the Atacama in Chile. As the rise of drug-resistant superbugs kills millions per year, Cristina has made it her mission to uncover new, life-saving antibiotics in the stunning salt flats she has studied since she was 14. Against the magnificent backdrop of endless plains, microscopic discoveries lead her team of...

The Southern African Large Telescope near Sutherland is celebrating 20 years of observing the sky.

It will be able to monitor changes in brain function just minutes after weapon use, scientists say.

Lyu Jae-cheol has been appointed as new CEO of LG Electronics to strengthen the fundamental competitiveness of its core businesses.

Parents are paying premium fees for education models that can’t match what online home schooling delivers.

Social media users have called the luxury Italian fashion brand’s artificial intelligence-made adverts “cheap” and “lazy”.

In today’s newsletter: As suppliers get ready to meet policy makers and space agencies at the industry’s largest gathering, a look at the exploration and exploitation of space

Good morning. This week Glasgow hosts one of the UK’s largest ever gatherings of the space industry at Space-Comm. With representatives of Nasa, the UK and Scottish governments and the UK space agency among 2,000 space...

Conch-shell trumpets discovered in Neolithic settlements and mines in Catalonia make tone similar to french horn, says lead researcher

As a child, Miquel López García was fascinated by the conch shell, kept in the bathroom, that his father’s family in the southern Spanish region of Almería had blown to warn their fellow villagers of rising rivers and approaching flood waters.

The hours he spent...