Organisms gradually grow apart until they become different species – right? If new research is correct, it's more often down to tricks of fate

Disease and obesity go hand in hand, but an increase in body fat may actually be part of our body's attempts to protect itself from the effects of unhealthy eating

The mathematician and self-proclaimed incurable optimist talks about his cameo in an Oscar-nominated movie and why he has no time for string theory

Prostate cancer drugs trigger the release of a molecule that makes tumours grow – the discovery could lead to a way to keep the cancer at bay

All today's stories from newscientist.com at a glance, including: the (accidental) origin of species, why food kills but flab protects, and why women with good genes might get more sex

Burying beetles have one of the more disgusting lifestyles known – but hey, they are also terribly good parents

The meat-eating marsupials are threatened by a deadly transmissible cancer – but the discovery of what makes some animals resistant could save them

Robots are coming out of their industrial cages and into our lives, prompting engineers to search out new kinds of safety features

Female students with a genetically diverse immune system said they had sex with more people than their peers did

The Union of Concerned Scientists says the Obama administration is 'moving too slowly' to remove political interference from science

DNA from a 19,000-year-old emu eggshell has been isolated – the first time such a feat has been pulled off

Molecules that help a jellyfish-like animal sense light suggest how similar compounds in the eyes of mammals could have evolved

Forty years after the Apollo astronauts bounced across the moon, new studies are revealing water inside the samples they returned – and showing how close they may have come to water-coated soil

When you sing along to the radio, is your brain processing the words and music separately or as one?

The producers of the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove teamed up with government agents to investigate a California restaurant rumoured to be selling whale meat

All today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: extermination in paradise, the "midwife molecule" that could have assembled Earth's first life, and why chameleons can eat breakfast

The ice at the planet's north pole may be moving on a bed of salty sludge, which one day could be handy for fuel

When people make a decision, their pupils dilate – a cue that could betray intentions, or even converse with people with locked-in syndrome

At last we have a glimpse of what is going through the mind of the Conservative party, thanks to a report from the industrial designer James Dyson

A report suggests that women who drink moderately are less likely to pile on the pounds – what does the study really mean, asks Jessica Hamzelou