New Scientist Space - Cosmology
Male octopuses have a favourite arm that they mostly use for sex
The third right arm of male octopuses has a specialised role in mating, and the creatures take extra care to avoid damaging it or losing it to a predator
Categories: Astronomy
The best new popular science books of April 2026
April has a lot to offer when it comes to popular science reading, promising to help us do everything from future-proof our brains courtesy of Hannah Critchlow, to get to grips with really big numbers, thanks to Richard Elwes
Categories: Astronomy
Virus from marine animals is causing weird eye problems in people
A virus seems to have jumped from marine animals into people for the first time ever, and it is causing serious vision problems
Categories: Astronomy
Plug-in solar is coming – how dangerous is it and is it worth it?
Plug-in solar panels are a cheaper, simpler alternative to professionally installed panels. But can they really reduce energy bills and are they safe? Matthew Sparkes investigates
Categories: Astronomy
Historians dispute link between drought and rebellion in Roman Britain
A study based on tree rings claimed that droughts played a role in events that led to the Roman withdrawal from Britain, but other researchers say that isn't backed up by historical evidence
Categories: Astronomy
The best new science-fiction books of April 2026
A collection of stories set in George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards universe and a novel from The Expanse author James S. A. Corey are among the science-fiction books we’re looking forward to this month
Categories: Astronomy
A once-fantastical collider could answer physics’ biggest mysteries
The muon collider was once dismissed as impossible, but is now gaining steam as the successor to the Large Hadron Collider. If built, it could offer a new window to reality
Categories: Astronomy
Attacks from our immune system are a cause of long covid
The immune system going rogue and attacking healthy tissue seems to behind some cases of long covid, a discovery that could open doors towards treatments
Categories: Astronomy
New fibre-optic record allows 50,000,000 movies to be streamed at once
Improved hardware can send ten times as much data through existing fibre-optic cables, potentially providing a way to massively upgrade the internet's infrastructure without the cost and inconvenience of laying any new cables
Categories: Astronomy
Astronauts are ready to return to the moon on Artemis II mission
NASA’s Artemis II mission will be the first time humans have been around the moon in half a century, and its next launch window opens on 1 April
Categories: Astronomy
The best kind of olive oil for brain health
The science suggests that olive oil can help us fight cognitive decline and even Alzheimer’s. Columnist Helen Thomson finds that only works if we choose the right kind
Categories: Astronomy
What kind of olive oil is best for the brain?
The science suggests that olive oil can help us fight cognitive decline and even Alzheimer’s. Columnist Helen Thomson finds that only works if we choose the right kind
Categories: Astronomy
Food shock is inevitable due to the Iran war – and it could get bad
Even if the conflict in the Middle East ends today, higher fuel, fertiliser and pesticide prices will lead to a food shock in the coming months. There is no easy way out, but accelerating the net-zero transition will help prevent future shocks
Categories: Astronomy
The profound effect the heart-brain connection has on your health
Cognitive decline, mental health and heart disease are all shaped by the deep links between heart and brain – with major implications for diagnoses and treatment
Categories: Astronomy
The Shroud of Turin bears DNA from many people, plants and animals
Researchers have identified genetic material from a vast range of organisms contaminating the shroud, said to have wrapped Jesus's body, further complicating the question of the cloth's true origin
Categories: Astronomy
The weird physics of plant-based milks is only just coming to light
Experiments on different kinds of milk have revealed that many plant-based milks are non-Newtonian fluids
Categories: Astronomy
Why the lack of water on Mars is so mysterious
An accounting of all the water that should have been and gone on Mars’s surface has come up with a discrepancy that shows just how little we understand the Red Planet’s hydrological history
Categories: Astronomy
