Social fear isn’t just psychological. New research is uncovering its biological roots – and how to reset them.

Cognitive neuroscientist Dr Christian Jarrett explains the bizarre memory quirk

Precious metals may be escaping from the planet’s core. This hotly debated subject could help us understand Earth’s evolution and determine whether life exists elsewhere in the Universe

New science is uncovering how Alzheimer’s could be detected decades before symptoms strike

There’s a growing school of thought in neuroscience that argues every action is predetermined, or at least highly probable. That my actions are just the sum of biological and environmental interactions outside of my control. Roughly speaking, the idea is that electricity pinballs between my ears, bouncing around the memories and concepts I hold there without my being conscious of it, before arriving at a series of outputs that prime my fingers to type this very sentence. And only then, do I become aware of ‘deciding’ what I want to write. Action precedes thought, in other words. This isn’t just a theory – there’s evidence to back it up. It seems that, in certain scenarios, neurons controlling your arms and fingers are ready to fire before those involved in conscious thought are fully active. I’m skipping over a mountain of philosophy and psychology, but you get the picture. If, like me, this idea leaves you feeling a little uneasy, maybe this will help. Neuroscience has gotten incredibly close to the minutiae of the brain in the last two decades, but it hasn’t yet wrestled with the big picture. The discipline can tie different actions to different parts of the brain, but it can’t explain why it feels good to spontaneously dip your hand in a cold, clear river, for example. My point is, neuroscience is uncovering all kinds of fascinating oddities about how the brain works, but we’re a long way away from a true understanding of how this adds up. Does free will actually exist?

Want to become more confident, extroverted or assertive? Science shows that with a few simple changes, you can unlock your best self.

It’s the riskiest type of fat to carry, but scientists have been studying belly fat for decades. Here’s what you can glean from their findings to improve your abdominal health

They shaped the Universe, yet the first stars ever born continue to evade the searches of astronomers like Dr Emma Chapman

It’s one of modern mathematics’ most challenging problems. How close are we to solving the Mandelbrot set’s final obstacle?