New Scientist Space - Cosmology

When an asteroid threatens Earth, astronomers use a rating called the Torino scale to communicate the risk. Richard Binzel, who invented the scale, tells New Scientist about his 50-year career in planetary defence

Previous attempts at building a chemical computer have been too simple, too rigid or too hard to scale, but an approach based on a network of reactions can perform multiple tasks without having to be reconfigured

When measuring yourself against your partner, which traits do you prefer to have compared with your significant other? A survey that forced people to choose has found that men and women have different preferences when it comes to being smarter, funnier or more attractive

IBM revealed two new quantum computers, called Loon and Nighthawk – the qubits they use are connected in newly intricate ways and may enable a way to run error-free computations

The Omo-Turkana basin in Africa is home to a treasure trove of ancient human fossils and tools that span 300,000 years – today it is still yielding new discoveries about our species

Hot flushes could be relieved by listening to recordings that induce hypnosis from home, rather than having to venture to a clinic

Being born with two X chromosomes brings a host of health benefits, and recognising this could lead to personalised medical treatments for men and women

High-voltage copper plates can remove up to three-quarters of frost from a surface, while using much less energy than conventional heating

In February, the James Webb Space Telescope will briefly be able to observe asteroid 2024 YR4, which currently has a 4 per cent chance of hitting the moon in 2032. Depending on what it sees, the odds of collision could drastically increase

For over a decade, mathematicians have failed to agree whether a 500-page proof is actually correct. Now, translating the proof into a computer-readable form may finally settle the matter

Eight possible cave openings found on the Martian surface look to have once had ancient streams flowing into them, suggesting they are promising places to look for evidence of life

We admire grit and perseverance, but surprising research suggests that giving up on ambitions in the right way can actually improve our physical and mental health

The damage of strokes caused by brain bleeds can be mitigated by removing dead blood cells. Scientists have now found a way of doing this non-invasively, with promising results in mice

Brain activity from more than 1000 people shows a rapid transition from being awake to being asleep, rather than a slow transition between the two states

There is growing evidence that our reliance on generative AI tools is reducing our ability to think clearly and critically, but it doesn’t have to be that way

The electric cars of the Formula E racing championship can accelerate faster than Formula 1 cars and their top speeds are catching up – but battery capacity would let them down in a head-to-head

Lake Turkana in Kenya, known as the cradle of humanity, has shrunk in recent millennia – and the loss of water has led to increased seismic activity, which could have impacted our ancient ancestors

Several large tech firms that are active in AI have set goals to hit net zero by 2030, but a new forecast of the energy and water required to run large data centres shows they’re unlikely to meet those targets

Thousands of holes arranged in a snake-like pattern on Monte Sierpe in Peru could have been a monumental accounting device for trade and tax

As one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century, James Watson pioneered the field of genetics and left behind a complicated legacy