New Scientist Space - Cosmology

Drugs and explosive chemicals are difficult to detect, but a device more sensitive than a dog’s nose can pick up their traces in seconds

Computers can help ensure that mathematical proofs are correct, but translating traditional maths into a machine-readable format is an arduous task. Now, the latest generation of artificial intelligence models is taking on the job, and could change the face of maths research

The skull of a 5-year-old girl who lived 140,000 years ago has similarities with modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, suggesting her parents might have belonged to different species

Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer

A study of fossils from the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago shows that forests in many parts of the world were wiped out, disrupting the carbon cycle and ensuring that Earth remained hot for millions of years

The growth of domestic solar installations opens the possibility of hackers targeting their smart inverter devices as a way to cause widespread power-system failures

Not quite crystals and not quite a glass, quasicrystals are an oddity whose properties are not well understood – but now we know how they can remain stable

Working in tandem, a quantum computer and a supercomputer modelled the behaviour of several molecules, paving the way for useful applications in chemistry and pharmaceutical research

Rocky bodies called protoplanets were thought to have formed slightly earlier in the inner solar system than those beyond the asteroid belt, but now a meteorite from the outer solar system is rewriting that view

Forest-based carbon-offset projects need a buffer to guarantee their climate benefits will last – but they may not have nearly enough in reserve

From David Attenborough to Hannah Fry via Bryan Johnson, our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley selects her favourite science and technology documentaries of the year to date

The acidity of drinks like Red Bull can erode dental enamel, but a lab experiment suggests this could be avoided via calcium fortification

Small, 3D-printed devices, designed to be implanted directly under the skin, could allow people with type 1 diabetes to produce their own insulin

While randomising a deck of cards gets more difficult as you add more cards, it turns out that the same isn't true for the qubits of quantum computers, which may prove surprisingly useful

Scientists have found evidence of new brain cells sprouting in adults - a process that many thought only occurred in children

The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted in June to stop recommending certain kinds of flu vaccines, a notable shift in vaccine guidance

Single-celled organisms called archaea aren't generally thought to cause human disease, but one species has been implicated in colorectal cancer

An analysis of the provenance of the Matarrubilla stone, a large megalith at Valencina in Spain, indicates that the monument’s builders must have had advanced seafaring technology

Light exposure at night may disrupt our body's internal clocks, or circadian rhythms, that keep physiological processes ticking along

How can you guarantee a huge payout from any lottery? Take a cue from combinatorics, and perhaps gather a few wealthy pals, says Jacob Aron