Astronomy

The tendency for AIs to give misleading answers may be in part down to certain training techniques, which encourage models to prioritise perceived helpfulness over accuracy

The tendency for AIs to give misleading answers may be in part down to certain training techniques, which encourage models to prioritise perceived helpfulness over accuracy

GPS tracking and high-resolution satellite images are helping humans coexist with endangered elephants in western Namibia.

The Nikon Z8 was rated as our best overall camera for astrophotography, and is $600 off on Amazon, perfect for capturing the Lyrid meteor shower!

SpaceX launched the Crew-11 on Aug. 1, sending four astronauts to the International Space Station on the record-breaking sixth flight of its Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft.

At least 300,000 men died during Napoleon’s retreat from Russia - now the latest genetic techniques have identified two pathogens that may have contributed to some of the deaths

At least 300,000 men died during Napoleon’s retreat from Russia - now the latest genetic techniques have identified two pathogens that may have contributed to some of the deaths

A new finding at CERN on the French-Swiss border brings us closer to answering why matter dominates over its opposite, antimatter.

Winds from the northwest are blowing cool, dry air—but also wildfire smoke—into the U.S. Midwest from Canada

A beam of particles speeding away from a monstrous black hole is severely kinked, suggesting that the black hole is actually part of the most extreme binary system known.

The lake was completely drained in the spring of 2025.

The four Expedition 73 members on SpaceX's Crew-10 mission prepared to come home, while also got the International Space Station ready for its next residents.

Week in images: 28 July - 1 August 2025

Discover our week through the lens

High-speed winds on exoplanet WASP-17b may align quartz crystals in its atmosphere and create dazzling light effects like "sun dogs."

Federal officials seized 3,000 copies of Scientific American in 1950 in a “red scare” era of attacks on science. The move backfired and offers lessons for today

Neuromorphic cameras, which only record data when a pixel's brightness changes, may be advantageous for capturing extremely bright and dim objects in the same image and tracking fast-moving objects

Scientists are uncovering how spinning black holes launch jets, warp spacetime and shape the cosmos

A conversation with Anthropic’s chatbot raises questions about how AI talks about awareness.

The New Scientist Book Club has just finished reading Adam Roberts's novel Lake of Darkness. Some of us loved it – but some of us weren't so sure about this far-future set slice of hard science fiction

Alex Foster, the author of the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, Circular Motion, on imagining a world that is spinning ever faster