Scientists have described technology that accelerates microalgae’s ability to produce many different types of renewable oils for fuels, chemicals, foods and personal-care products within days using standard industrial fermentation.

New research illuminates Thonis-Heracleion, a sunken port-city that served as the gateway to Egypt in the first millennium BC. This obligatory port of entry, known as ‘Thonis’ by the Egyptians and ‘Heracleion’ by the Greeks, was where seagoing ships probably unloaded their cargoes to have them assessed by temple officials and taxes extracted before transferring them to Egyptian ships that went upriver.

A schoolboy has discovered what appears to be an extremely rare fossil of footprints from more than 300 million years ago.

A new vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease that is safer to produce and easier to store has been developed.

A new study has found that pollution from fine particles in the air — mainly the result of burning coal or volcanic eruptions — can shade corals from sunlight and cool the surrounding water resulting in reduced growth rates.

In a ground-breaking study, researchers report a new technique that allows them to visualize the distribution of retinoic acid in a live zebrafish embryo, in real-time. This technique enabled them to observe two concentration gradients going in opposing directions along the head-to-tail axis of the embryo, thus providing long-awaited evidence that retinoic acid is a morphogen.

Genes from the family of bacteria that produce vinegar, Kombucha tea and nata de coco have become stars in a project — which scientists today said has reached an advanced stage — that would turn algae into solar-powered factories for producing the “wonder material” nanocellulose. They have now reported on advances in getting those genes to produce fully functional nanocellulose.