New Scientist Space - Cosmology
Climate change could make it harder to detect submarines
Climate change’s effects on ocean water temperatures and salinity could shrink sonar detection ranges underwater and make it more challenging to spot submarines
Categories: Astronomy
Will Amazon's robotic revolution spark a new wave of job losses?
Amazon says it will create new jobs to replace roles taken over by machines, but it isn’t clear whether this will happen quickly enough
Categories: Astronomy
How to get the right balance of omega-3s and omega-6s in your diet
The balance of omega fatty acids in the food we eat affects our health. But what does the evidence say about claims you should be seeking to reduce omega-6 intake as well as boosting omega-3s?
Categories: Astronomy
Ships smuggling Russian oil spotted in satellite images by AI
AI can analyse satellite images to reveal the movements of dark ships in a shadow fleet that smuggles oil and other cargo from sanctioned countries such as Russia, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea
Categories: Astronomy
Should we tweak the atmosphere to counteract global warming?
With severe climate impacts becoming more and more apparent, many scientists think we should explore ways to block out solar radiation, but doing so would be risky
Categories: Astronomy
Glucose monitors may misclassify people as being at risk of diabetes
Our blood sugar levels vary a lot from day to day, so results from continuous glucose monitors need to be interpreted with caution
Categories: Astronomy
Some scientists say insects are conscious – it doesn't settle anything
A group of around 40 scientists signed a declaration calling for formal acknowledgement of consciousness in a range of animals, including insects and fish – but the evidence is still lacking
Categories: Astronomy
Has the US finally figured out how to do high-speed rail?
As work begins on building the US’s first high-speed rail service – linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas – analysts say the project could serve as a blueprint for similar projects across the country
Categories: Astronomy
Single atoms captured morphing into quantum waves in startling image
In the 1920s, Erwin Schrödinger wrote an equation that predicts how particles-turned-waves should behave. Now, researchers are perfectly recreating those predictions in the lab
Categories: Astronomy
The incredible new tech that can recycle all plastics, forever
"Advanced recycling" promises to convert dirty, mixed waste plastic into brand new plastic time and time again. It is a major step towards creating a circular economy and fighting climate change
Categories: Astronomy
Deliberate fires are responsible for half of the land burned each year
The finding that managed fires burn a much greater area than thought means we may be underestimating the increase in wildfires due to global heating
Categories: Astronomy
Drug residue can be detected in fingerprints left at crime scenes
Forensic investigators can reliably measure drug and explosive residue using gels that lift fingerprint samples
Categories: Astronomy
Geoengineering could save the ice sheets – but only if we start soon
Shading the planet by spraying aerosols into the stratosphere might stave off ice sheet collapse, modelling studies suggest, but we are running out of time
Categories: Astronomy
Nocturnal ants use polarised moonlight to find their way home
An Australian bull ant is the first animal known to use the patterns produced by polarised moonlight to navigate its environment
Categories: Astronomy
How cannabis gets you high and alters your perception
20 April is weed's unofficial holiday. In honour of the special day, we collected our answers to all your cannabis questions. This is the science of 420
Categories: Astronomy
Knot theory could help spacecraft navigate crowded solar systems
It can be difficult to figure out how to move a spacecraft from one orbit to another, but a trick from knot theory can help find spots where shifting orbits becomes easy
Categories: Astronomy
Animals may help ecosystems store 3 times more carbon than we thought
Carbon storage calculations don’t always take into account the effects of animals – when they eat, defecate and die, they help store lots of carbon
Categories: Astronomy
Songs that birds 'sing' in their dreams translated into sound
By measuring how birds’ vocal muscles move while they are asleep and using a physical model for how those muscles produce sound, researchers have pulled songs from the minds of sleeping birds
Categories: Astronomy
Your genes may influence how much you enjoy listening to music
Identical twins seem to experience more similar levels of pleasure when listening to music than non-identical twins, which suggests it has a genetic element
Categories: Astronomy
Wind turbines based on condor wings could capture more energy
Curved wing tips inspired by the world's heaviest flying bird could enhance the efficiency of wind turbines by of 10 per cent, according to simulations
Categories: Astronomy