Some birds, including sparrows and herring gulls, lay their eggs so that the last one to come out is a shade or two lighter than the others. You might suppose that laying eggs requires some effort and that the colour of the last egg is a sign of an exhausted mother. But this practice might be of evolutionary advantage.

You play tennis like a champion compared with the best of robots, if you play tennis at all.

At the Webby Awards - the Oscars for the internet - held last week, Plus magazine was officially named as the best science site on the web.

The common bumblebee is a familiar visitor to European gardens. At first sight there's nothing particularly remarkable about this small furry interloper, but it has been a source of mathematical controversy for nearly a century.

Along with nuclear proliferation and the deteriorating condition of the natural environment, human population growth has become an issue of significant public concern during the past century. With the global population increasing at an ever-accelerating rate, how can the world continue to support its freight of humanity?

Astronomers have for the first time listened to the heartbeat of a star other than our own Sun.