The Science section carries research and environment coverage from the wire, updated hourly.

One study is a step, not a verdict Science moves by accumulation. A single study — however striking the headline — is one data point, subject to replication, sample size, and methodology. Findings that hold up across many studies and teams are the ones that change textbooks.

Preprints and press releases Some reported research is preliminary: preprints have not yet passed peer review, and university press releases can state results more confidently than the paper itself does. Good science coverage says which is which; the linked original usually tells you.

Reading the numbers "Doubles the risk" can mean a risk went from one in a million to two in a million. Absolute numbers, not relative percentages, tell you whether a finding matters in practice.