Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go upwards.

— Fred Hoyle

Astronomy

Fascinating but flawed book explores how sickness shapes our lives

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 1:00pm
Susan Wise Bauer's The Great Shadow investigates the effects of illness on individual lives and collective beliefs. It's a mixed bag, says Peter Hoskin
Categories: Astronomy

How your health is being commodified by social media

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 1:00pm
From health tech developers to influencers, our health is being monetised – and we need to be aware of what's going on, says Deborah Cohen
Categories: Astronomy

Engaging look at friction shows how it keeps our world rubbing along

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 1:00pm
How much do you know about friction? Jennifer R. Vail's charming, if sometimes technical, "biography" of the force showcases its amazing and largely overlooked role in everything from climate change to dark matter, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan
Categories: Astronomy

Think of a card, any card – but make it science

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 1:00pm
Feedback has been informed about a "global telepathy study" which is currently taking place, but isn't entirely convinced about its merits
Categories: Astronomy

How your health is being commodified by social media

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 1:00pm
From health tech developers to influencers, our health is being monetised – and we need to be aware of what's going on, says Deborah Cohen
Categories: Astronomy

Engaging look at friction shows how it keeps our world rubbing along

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 1:00pm
How much do you know about friction? Jennifer R. Vail's charming, if sometimes technical, "biography" of the force showcases its amazing and largely overlooked role in everything from climate change to dark matter, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan
Categories: Astronomy

Think of a card, any card – but make it science

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 1:00pm
Feedback has been informed about a "global telepathy study" which is currently taking place, but isn't entirely convinced about its merits
Categories: Astronomy

Like staying up late? You may be putting yourself at risk of heart problems

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 12:45pm

A study of more than 320,000 people found that night owls are more likely to engage in behaviors that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease such as smoking and sleeping poorly

Categories: Astronomy

The Schrödinger equation just turned 100, and quantum physicists are still grappling with its mysteries

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 12:15pm

A century ago, Erwin Schrödinger came up with an equation that says how the quantum world behaves. Now scientists are asking what happens when the observer is part of that world

Categories: Astronomy

Why the weekend’s winter storm was supercharged by climate change

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:45am

A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, and that’s why last weekend’s winter storm dumped more snow, sleet and freezing rain than similar weather systems might have in the past

Categories: Astronomy

Google DeepMind unleashes new AI AlphaGenome to investigate DNA’s ‘dark matter’

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:30am

DeepMind’s AlphaGenome AI model could help solve the problem of predicting how variations in noncoding DNA shape gene expression

Categories: Astronomy

Chandra, Webb Catch Twinkling Lights

NASA Image of the Day - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:27am
This stellar landscape is reminiscent of a winter vista in a view from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (red, green, and blue). Chandra data (red, green and blue) punctuate the scene with bursts of colored lights representing high-energy activity from the active stars.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

ESA at the European Space Conference - Day 2

ESO Top News - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:15am

Two days of intense discussions and exchanges came to an end at the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

Categories: Astronomy

This virus infects most of us – but why do only some get very ill?

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:00am
The ubiquitous Epstein-Barr virus is increasingly being linked to conditions like multiple sclerosis and lupus. But why do only some people who catch it develop these complications? The answer may lie in our genetics
Categories: Astronomy

This virus infects most of us – but why do only some get very ill?

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:00am
The ubiquitous Epstein-Barr virus is increasingly being linked to conditions like multiple sclerosis and lupus. But why do only some people who catch it develop these complications? The answer may lie in our genetics
Categories: Astronomy

Ancient humans were seafaring far earlier than we realised

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:00am
Thousands of years before the invention of compasses or sails, prehistoric peoples crossed oceans to reach remote lands like Malta and Australia. Doing so meant striking out in unknowable conditions. What do such crossings tell us about ancient minds?
Categories: Astronomy

Ancient humans were seafaring far earlier than we realised

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:00am
Thousands of years before the invention of compasses or sails, prehistoric peoples crossed oceans to reach remote lands like Malta and Australia. Doing so meant striking out in unknowable conditions. What do such crossings tell us about ancient minds?
Categories: Astronomy

Huge fossil bonanza preserves 512-million-year-old ecosystem

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:00am
A treasure trove of Cambrian fossils has been discovered in southern China, providing a window on marine life shortly after Earth’s first mass extinction event
Categories: Astronomy

Huge fossil bonanza preserves 512-million-year-old ecosystem

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 11:00am
A treasure trove of Cambrian fossils has been discovered in southern China, providing a window on marine life shortly after Earth’s first mass extinction event
Categories: Astronomy

European Space Conference in Bruxelles: ESA DG keynote address on the second day

ESO Top News - Wed, 01/28/2026 - 7:30am
Video: 00:08:37

Watch the keynote address by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher on the second day of the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels.

The European Space Conference is a key strategic event bringing together representatives from ESA, the European Commission, industry, national space agencies and other European institutions to discuss the future of Europe in space.

Download the transcript

Access all videos from the European Space Conference

Categories: Astronomy