New Scientist Space - Cosmology
Fossils reveal what the fur of early mammals looked like
A study of the fossilised fur of six mammals from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods has found they were all greyish-brown in colour, which would have helped them hide from dinosaurs
Categories: Astronomy
Destruction of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam left behind a toxic legacy
The 2023 breach of the Kakhovka dam drained a huge reservoir and exposed a vast area of toxic sediment, creating a debate about how best to rebuild after the Russia-Ukraine war
Categories: Astronomy
NASA may have to cancel major space missions due to budget cuts
Potential cuts of up to 50 per cent of NASA's science budget could mean cancelling missions including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Voyager probes
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient humans lived in an 'uninhabitable' climate 25,000 years ago
Bones dating back 25,000 years suggest that humans lived in extremely icy conditions in Tibet, which were previously thought to be uninhabitable
Categories: Astronomy
Revealed: How the UK tech secretary uses ChatGPT for policy advice
New Scientist has used freedom of information laws to obtain the ChatGPT records of Peter Kyle, the UK's technology secretary, in what is believed to be a world-first use of such legislation
Categories: Astronomy
Hera asteroid mission takes stunning images of Mars’s moon Deimos
A mission to survey the results of a deliberate crash between an asteroid and a NASA spacecraft has taken stunning images of Mars and its moon Deimos
Categories: Astronomy
California isn't clearing forests fast enough to tame wildfires
To reduce the growing risk of intense wildfires, California is cutting and burning the areas that fuel them – but these efforts may be moving too slowly
Categories: Astronomy
Quartz crystals on Mars could preserve signs of ancient life
NASA’s Perseverance rover found large crystals of quartz with a high purity on Mars, which probably had to have formed in the presence of hot water
Categories: Astronomy
The 13 drugs and supplements that could slow brain ageing
Hydrocortisone and testosterone are just two of 13 drugs and supplements that could lessen the impact of genes that accelerate brain ageing
Categories: Astronomy
How breaking the rules of tic-tac-toe makes it way more fun
Noughts and crosses, or tic-tac-toe, is a simple game – but twist the rules and you can really spice it up, says Peter Rowlett
Categories: Astronomy
Terrific drama shows the battle for girls' education in Afghanistan
The odds are stacked against an all-female robotics team in Rule Breakers, a fantastic film about teaching girls in Afghanistan
Categories: Astronomy
Hypnotic art has its roots in the terrifying reality of nuclear bombs
In his Atomic series, artist James Stanford showcases "the spectacle and the horror" of growing up near a nuclear bomb testing site
Categories: Astronomy
Exhibition uses art to explore the mysteries of the quantum world
Cosmic Titans, a new exhibition at the University of Nottingham, UK, is a powerful collaboration of artists and quantum physicists that sets out to make the intangible tangible
Categories: Astronomy
How we could achieve dog-level sense of smell – and what it would mean
Our Future Chronicles column explores an imagined history of inventions yet to come – this time how, by the mid-21st century, many people were opting for a "nose job" that would supercharge their sense of smell. Rowan Hooper is our guide.
Categories: Astronomy
Is this the most glorious retraction notice a journal has ever made?
Feedback would like to bring to readers' attention the retraction of five psychology articles by Nicolas Guéguen, including a "field study" into "bust size and hitchhiking"
Categories: Astronomy
Content moderation offers little actual safety on Big Social Media
Whether social media sites police their platforms using humans or algorithms, content moderation isn't keeping users safe, says Jess Brough
Categories: Astronomy
Are we really doomed? An entertaining guide to humanity's extinction
Few people could write so genially, even humorously, about our existential crisis. Henry Gee can, in his excellent new book The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire
Categories: Astronomy
Understanding conscious experience isn’t beyond the realm of science
For a long time objective measurement of subjective experience was considered impossible, but it is finally becoming a reality, promising a boost for health care and much more
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient face bones offer clues to identity of early humans in Europe
Bone fragments from a cave in northern Spain suggest there were multiple hominin species living in western Europe around a million years ago
Categories: Astronomy
Do we finally understand what caused record heat in 2023 and 2024?
Scientists have struggled to explain why global temperatures have shot up in recent years, but ocean cloud cover has now emerged as a crucial piece of the puzzle
Categories: Astronomy