Science and nature facts, news and stories

Discover a goliath of the ancient seas and explore why turtles never got so big again. 

We’ve prized honey for thousands of years, but how do honeybees make it and is it good for us?

Discover the journey of our largest specimen and what science and storytelling have revealed about Hope’s life.

Discover some of the sensational specimens Mary Anning discovered that are now part of the collections we look after.

Antarctica was once a thriving, forested ecosystem filled with a diversity of dinosaur life. 

Meet the dinosaurs who were covered in armour and find out about ankylosaur discoveries.

Discover why the commercial fossil trade isn’t simply black and white.

The discoveries that changed our understanding of dinosaurs over the past two centuries.

Having a pet can take its toll on the environment. But luckily there are plenty of things that we can do to reduce their carbon pawprints.

From vegetarian cooking to repairing your clothes, here are seven things you can learn that are good for the planet.

The impact of climate change on diseases spreading between animals is not well understood.

Tropical rainforests are bursting with unique wildlife. They’re vital to the health of the planet, yet they’re under serious threat.

Check out these flamboyant flyers who are challenging moths' drab reputation with style.

Get the facts on when and why ants grow wings and swarm.

London is a particular stronghold of these magnificent, rare beetles. Discover why, where else they live and how you can help protect them.

Have you ever noticed the small mounds of sand on a beach at low tide? These are lugworm poos, and they hold a secret.

Dive into the four-billion-year story of how Earth gave rise to life and how this life then changed the face of the planet.

Species can influence each other’s evolution – this is known as coevolution. Discover more about this phenomenon.

Find out about the incredible evolutionary history of trees.

Discover the greatest explosion of life on Earth, when almost all types of animals first appeared more than 500 million years ago.

Meteorites are like a time machine and a spacecraft all in one.

It’s been more than half a century since humans last walked on the Moon, but we’re on the verge of doing so again.

Discover Jupiter’s icy moon and uncover why scientists believe it could be home to extraterrestrial life.

There’s a lot of myths floating around about space. Our planetary scientist is here to separate fact from fiction.

Along with Neanderthals, Denisovans are our closest extinct human relatives. 

Humans have been living alongside malaria for tens of thousands of years.

Find out how Homo sapiens left Africa and migrated to other regions of the world, including Europe, Asia and America.

Learn about the longest-surviving human species, which was also the first known to leave Africa.

Dive into half a billion years of oceanic evolution, from the first vertebrates to the largest sharks.

Find out what fossils have revealed about ichthyosaurs, which included the biggest marine reptile that ever lived.

Dive into the modern megalodon myth and weigh up the evidence.

They might be small, but these ocean residents are among the mightiest fighters of the marine world.

Curator Dr Marc Jones opens up the fossil marine reptile and amphibian collection we care for.

Find out how scientists come up with a species name and what a type specimen is used for.

Curator Dr Diego Vaz dives into the fish collection we care for.

Natural history museums contain an astonishing snapshot of the planet’s biodiversity.

Get a sneak peek at some of the incredible images and stories that’ll feature in our upcoming exhibition.

Inspiring individuals are taking protection of this magnificent animal to new levels.

Titled Flying Rodent, the image by Josef Stefan soared to first place.

It’s now your chance to help decide who’s crowned the winner.

Discover a goliath of the ancient seas and explore why turtles never got so big again. 

Get a sneak peek at some of the incredible images and stories that’ll feature in our upcoming exhibition.

We’ve prized honey for thousands of years, but how do honeybees make it and is it good for us?

Discover the journey of our largest specimen and what science and storytelling have revealed about Hope’s life.

Explore the story of how our biggest specimen was moved to its current home. 

Musango matusadonaensis is the fifth dinosaur ever named from Zimbabwe.

Discover some of the sensational specimens Mary Anning discovered that are now part of the collections we look after.

Dive into half a billion years of oceanic evolution, from the first vertebrates to the largest sharks.

Antarctica was once a thriving, forested ecosystem filled with a diversity of dinosaur life. 

Inspiring individuals are taking protection of this magnificent animal to new levels.

An ancient reptile once thought to be an early turtle ancestor actually belonged to an entirely different group.

Praearcturus gigas was among the first large predators to ever stalk the land, measuring over a metre in length.

Tracks left by some of the earliest complex animals are giving new insights into how they experienced the world.

Having a pet can take its toll on the environment. But luckily there are plenty of things that we can do to reduce their carbon pawprints.

By speeding up the process of describing new species, scientists can help to protect the precious places they live.

Say hello to Attenboroughnculus tau!

Dive into the four-billion-year story of how Earth gave rise to life and how this life then changed the face of the planet.

There’s increasing interest in deep-sea mining, but the impacts that this will have on the animals that live in the depths isn’t fully understood.

Humans have been living alongside malaria for tens of thousands of years.

The 19-metre-long Nanaimoteuthis haggarti was a fearsome carnivore eating fish, crustaceans and many other sea creatures.

Ocean temperatures are rising around the world – and marine wildlife are feeling the heat.

Plants, fertility and antifertility have been intertwined throughout time. 

The possibility of life on other planets is one of the biggest mysteries in science.

The Darwin Tree of Life project aims to sequence the genomes of all complex life in the UK.