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Gadhimai: Nepal's animal sacrifice festival goes ahead despite 'ban'
Less than five years ago, animal charities heralded the end of animal sacrifice at a religious festival dubbed "the world's bloodiest". But on Tuesday, the Gadhimai festival began with the killing of a goat, rat, chicken, pig and pigeon.
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Ravi Kumar Atheist: The Indian man fighting to be godless
An Indian man is fighting for the right to believe in the non-existence of God. But Ravi Kumar's quest for a document granting him legal recognition for his status has got him into trouble with the authorities. The BBC's Geeta Pandey reports from Tohana village in northern India.
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Go master quits because AI 'cannot be defeated'
image copyrightGetty ImagesA master player of the Chinese strategy game Go has decided to retire, due to the rise of artificial intelligence that "cannot be defeated".Lee Se-dol is the only human to ever beat the AlphaGo software developed by Google's sister company Deepmind.
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Cancer immunotherapy drug 'less toxic and prolongs life'
An immunotherapy drug that could save some cancer patients from the ordeal of extreme chemotherapy may also help them live longer, researchers say. In a trial, pembrolizumab kept head and neck cancers at bay for an average of two years - five times longer than under chemotherapy.
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Eliud Kipchoge: The man, the methods & controversies behind 'moon-landing moment'
The greatest male distance runner of all time would soon be launching his second attempt at making history - at becoming the first person to run a marathon in under two hours. All his preparations had gone to plan.
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Why Google Stadia is a 'leap forward' for gaming, according to its boss
We don't buy DVDs any more and CDs are probably something your parents have on a shelf somewhere. It's also easier to buy video games online than physical copies now, through consoles or PC services like Steam.
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What’s left of New York’s Dutch past?
When his children were at preschool in Hackensack, New Jersey, building restorer and historian Tim Adriance taught them a simple nursery rhyme.
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Bin Laden death: What did Pakistan know?
The death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden near Islamabad has important implications for relations between Pakistan and the US. Pakistan has been the epicentre of the battle against al-Qaeda in its global jihad.
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Pointless work meetings 'really a form of therapy'
Meetings at work should be seen as a form of "therapy" rather than about decision-making, say researchers. Academics from the University of Malmo in Sweden say meetings provide an outlet for people at work to show off their status or to express frustration.
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How dating app algorithms predict romantic desire
In one night, Matt Taylor finished Tinder. He ran a script on his computer that automatically swiped right on every profile that fell within his preferences. By the morning, he had swiped through 25,000 people’s profiles.
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The violent attack that turned a man into a maths genius
This article was inspired by an episode of The Outlook Podcast, where you can hear more about Jason Padgett's experience in his own words. Jason Padgett sees maths everywhere.
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Left-handed women's quirk over sense of smell
Scientists say they have discovered a biological anomaly that could change how we understand our sense of smell. The study in the journal Neuron shows some people can smell normally, despite missing the part of the brain that is considered to be crucial for smell - the olfactory bulbs.
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Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if'
The prospects for developing nuclear fusion as a feasible source of energy have significantly improved, say experts. The UK government has recently announced an investment of £200m to deliver electricity from a fusion reactor by 2040.
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Playing the confidence game at work — the wrong way
Near the end of every school year, junior high school teacher Amy Lou Linder Weems begins a month-long lesson in what she calls “service learning.” She tells her students in Monroe, Louisiana, to pick a social problem that interests them.
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Chris Hedges Speaks on Osama bin Laden's Death
BLANKChris Hedges, speaking at a Truthdig fundraising event in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, made these remarks about Osama bin Laden’s death.
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Why can’t some people remember their dreams?
I am standing outside my childhood primary school, near the front gates and the teachers’ car park. It is a bright sunny day and I am surrounded by my classmates. There must be more than a hundred of us.
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Why do we think cats are unfriendly?
BBC Future has brought you in-depth and rigorous stories to help you navigate the current crisis, but we know that’s not all you want to read. So, now we’re dedicating a series to help you escape.
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Google claims 'quantum supremacy' for computer
Google says an advanced computer has achieved "quantum supremacy" for the first time, surpassing the performance of conventional devices.
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The case for crying in public
When Theresa May announced in Downing Street that she would be standing down as British Prime Minister, it was her visible struggle to hold back tears that most captured the world’s headlines.
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Can drinking red wine ever be good for us?
Even though alcohol kills millions of people every year, humans have been imbibing for millennia. In the last few decades, wine, in particular, has gained a reputation for being good for our health. Red wine even has been linked with longevity and lower risk of heart disease.
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Huge seas 'once existed on Mars'
US scientists have found further evidence that huge seas existed long ago on Mars. The 2,000 km-wide, 8km-deep Hellas basin is a giant impact crater - the largest such structure on Mars.
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The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less
BBC Future has brought you in-depth and rigorous stories to help you navigate the current pandemic, but we know that’s not all you want to read. So now we’re dedicating a series to help you escape.
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The astonishing vision and focus of Namibia’s nomads
BBC Future has brought you in-depth and rigorous stories to help you navigate the current pandemic, but we know that’s not all you want to read. So now we’re dedicating a series to help you escape.
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Do humans have a ‘religion instinct’?
When I was in grade school, there was an anti-drug commercial that regularly came on television. There were a few different versions of it but the gist was, an egg would be shown to the camera as a voice said, “This is your brain.
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Is sugar really bad for you?
Given the current situation, many of us are more interested than ever in how food can (and can’t) support our health. To help you sort out fact from fiction, BBC Future is bringing back some of our most popular nutrition stories.
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