Data archaeology helps builders avoid buried treasure
Finding a boat where you want to put your building can be costly. A data analytics start-up will help companies guess what's in the ground before they dig
Portable mind-reader gives voice to locked-in people
Once only possible in an MRI scanner, vibrating pads and electrode caps could soon help locked-in people communicate on a day-to-day basis
Zoologger: Judo spider finds armoured foe's Achilles heel
The armoured harvestman is too hard a nut for most predators to crack. But the recluse spider uses a martial arts move to sting it where it hurts
Second blow to the head for effects of brain zapping
It's a trendy field but is transcranial direct current stimulation really all that? For the second time, a review of studies has failed to find the claimed results
Mismatched ants show size doesn't matter to friends
These two ants seem to get along even though one is more than three times the size of the other. Turns out it's ants of the same stature that end up as rivals
Multibillion-dollar race to put internet into orbit
The next-generation internet could come from above, with fleets of satellites delivering broadband to under-served areas of the world
Twinkle telescope to check out exoplanet climate
If all goes to plan, the UK will launch a telescope to find out more about known exoplanets' atmospheres in four years
Cells from stressed-out mice act as an antidepressant
Lethargic mice unexpectedly perk up when injected with immune cells from bullied mice, a discovery which could point to new depression treatments
Blood bank data turns donations into a numbers game
An initiative in New York is using machine learning to figure out who's most likely to donate blood - and what's best to say to encourage them
Plastic Age: How it's reshaping rocks, oceans and life
The ultimate fate of waste plastic is hazy – but we know future geologists will find traces of a fleeting era written in the stones. Welcome to the Plasticene
India eyes ambitious renewables targets - with US help
Months before the UN climate summit in Paris, India has set ambitious new targets for renewable energy, and will now have access to US know-how
Brazil hit hard by worst drought since 1930
Four million people in Brazil's south-east powerhouse have been hit by water rationing and blackouts in the country's worst drought on record
It's OK to soak up the sun, just don't get burned
Sunshine police take note, the latest guidelines from the UK's health advisory body NICE suggest we should actively seek out some rays
Prince Philip: Great engineers can improve the world
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for engineering recognises the huge contribution engineers make to our everyday lives, says The Duke of Edinburgh
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