News in Context

Aspartame is expected to join aloe vera and bracken ferns on the WHO's list as a "possible human carcinogen". But what does it all mean?

Are wildfires a natural, if tragic, event – or are they getting worse with climate change? Would logging help decrease them? BBC Future debunks five common myths.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the world is all doom and gloom – and getting worse. But these seven charts show that’s not actually the case.

A big lottery win might not just change your finances – it could also affect your politics.

Good manners really do ‘cost nothing and buy everything’, even in today's increasingly polarised politics

More women are graduating with PhDs in science – so why was Donna Strickland only the third female physicist to receive a Nobel prize?

What does being ‘blackout’ really mean in terms of brain processing – and can you tell if someone is?

And four other misconceptions about sexual violence.