New Scientist Space - Cosmology
Why it's vital we fight prejudices about the elderly once and for all
Ageism is a widespread global prejudice. It's about time we started acknowledging our unconscious bias towards old age – not least because our own future health depends on it
Categories: Astronomy
OpenAI overtakes Google in race to build the future, but who wants it?
With big announcements about the latest artificial intelligence models this week, tech firms are competing to have the most exciting products - but generative AI remains hampered by issues
Categories: Astronomy
Quantum internet draws near thanks to entangled memory breakthroughs
Researchers aiming to create a secure quantum version of the internet need a device called a quantum repeater, which doesn't yet exist - but now two teams say they are well on the way to building one
Categories: Astronomy
Sunlight-trapping device can generate temperatures over 1000°C
A solar energy absorber that uses quartz to trap heat reached 1050°C in tests and could offer a way to decarbonise the production of steel and cement
Categories: Astronomy
Buildings that include weak points on purpose withstand more damage
If a building is hit with an earthquake or explosives, the entire thing can collapse – but a design balancing strong and weak structural connections lets part of it fall while preserving the rest
Categories: Astronomy
How overcoming negative attitudes to ageing can make you live longer
Ageism is pervasive, accepted and invisible. Stamping out this prejudice won’t just benefit society, it will also have huge payoffs for those people who hold it
Categories: Astronomy
Will sucking carbon from air ever really help tackle climate change?
The direct air capture industry got a boost last week with the opening of Mammoth, the largest plant yet for sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, but questions remain about whether the technology can scale up
Categories: Astronomy
Around half the world could lose easily accessible groundwater by 2050
In coming decades, major groundwater sources may become economically unfeasible — this could raise food prices and shift diets, among other impacts
Categories: Astronomy
Frozen human brain tissue can now be revived without damage
Using a new approach, scientists have successfully frozen and thawed brain organoids and cubes of brain tissue from someone with epilepsy, which could enable better research into neurological conditions
Categories: Astronomy
Why did hominins like us evolve at all?
Animal life on Earth existed for over half a billion years before hominins hit the scene – a complex combination of environmental changes, innovations in technology and competition may have led to us
Categories: Astronomy
Huge jellyfish invasion could disrupt Arctic ecosystems as waters warm
The Arctic could see a surge of jellyfish as climate change leads to warmer waters and less ice – a process known as “jellification”
Categories: Astronomy
One-day mental health workshop improves teenagers' mood for six months
The one-day courses were particularly beneficial to those pupils with worse mental health problems initially
Categories: Astronomy
Everything you need to know about semaglutide weight loss drugs
From how well they work to side effects such as hair loss, here’s the skinny on new weight loss injections that work by blocking a hormone that normally reduces appetite
Categories: Astronomy
Flu vaccine for children linked to pneumonia risk for their relatives
The nasal flu vaccine may reduce cases of pneumonia illness in population over the whole flu season because flu infections are likely to lead to even higher boost in bacteria
Categories: Astronomy
We are about to hear echoes in the fabric of space for the first time
Gravitational waves can be lensed by massive galaxies so that they repeat, like an echo. Scientists are now readying to snare their first one and explore the cosmic secrets it holds
Categories: Astronomy
How could we give boring blobby galaxies a new, exciting shape?
Galaxies could do with a few more arms or some decorative designs – on this episode of Dead Planets Society, our hosts are using collisions, black holes and dark matter to reshape our galaxy
Categories: Astronomy
Underwater data centres could be destroyed by loud noises
Underwater data centres being installed off the coasts of China, the US and Europe could be disrupted by sounds from military-grade sonar on ships and submarines, or even whales
Categories: Astronomy
Mystery of 'impossible' star resolved by three-body solution
A white dwarf star orbiting a sun-like star was thought to be impossibly small, but now astronomers have found another star in the system that solves the puzzle
Categories: Astronomy
Oldest known human viruses found hidden within Neanderthal bones
Genetic analysis of 50,000-year-old Neanderthal skeletons has uncovered the remnants of three viruses related to modern human pathogens, and the researchers think they could be recreated
Categories: Astronomy
ChatGPT got an upgrade to make it seem more human
OpenAI's new ChatGPT model, called GPT-4o, provides more human-like interactions through a voice mode, and it is capable of conversations that incorporate text, audio and video in real time
Categories: Astronomy