New Scientist Space - Cosmology
Deep-living microbes could 'eat' energy generated by earthquakes
When rocks fracture in underground faults, they generate a variety of chemical compounds that could provide more energy sources for microbes in Earth’s depths
Categories: Astronomy
Can we send a spacecraft to intercept interstellar object 3I/ATLAS?
Scientists are exploring various proposals to repurpose existing spacecraft in order to chase after the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS and take a closer look – but time is against them
Categories: Astronomy
You can lose weight on a diet of ultra-processed food
People lost weight if they ate an ultra-processed diet that was still based on dietary recommendations
Categories: Astronomy
Giant meat-eating dinosaur skulls reveal ‘bone-crushing’ bite
Differences in the skulls of carnivorous dinosaurs suggest some dinosaurs ripped flesh while others crushed bones
Categories: Astronomy
Why mathematicians want to destroy infinity – and may succeed
Mathematicians who call themselves ultrafinitists think that extremely large numbers are holding back science, from logic to cosmology, and they have a radical plan to do something about it
Categories: Astronomy
'Universal' detector spots AI deepfake videos with record accuracy
A new detection tool can accurately spot deepfake videos featuring any AI manipulation, from face swaps to completely synthetic AI-generated content
Categories: Astronomy
Could we get quantum spookiness even without entanglement?
Particles of light travelling through a maze of devices seem to have passed a famous test for entanglement – without being entangled at all
Categories: Astronomy
The way we train AIs makes them more likely to spout bull
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
Categories: Astronomy
DNA analysis reveals what really killed Napoleon's army in 1812
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
Categories: Astronomy
Cameras that work like our eyes could give boost to astronomers
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
Categories: Astronomy
Our verdict on Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts: A mixed bag
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
Categories: Astronomy
What would it feel like to be on a planet spinning out of control?
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
Categories: Astronomy
Read an extract from Alex Foster’s sci-fi novel Circular Motion
In this passage from the opening of Circular Motion, the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, our protagonist boards a vessel which can circle the world in a matter of hours – with dangerous consequences for the Earth’s rotation
Categories: Astronomy
Ozempic really could turn back the clock on your biological age
When people were randomised to receive either a placebo or Ozempic, they became biologically younger with the latter drug
Categories: Astronomy
Kamchatka earthquake response shows tsunami warnings are improving
After an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, early tsunami warning systems kicked in and helped millions of people safely evacuate
Categories: Astronomy
Vagus nerve stimulation receives US approval to treat arthritis
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill-sized device for treating rheumatoid arthritis, marking the first time the therapy has been approved for an autoimmune condition
Categories: Astronomy
Ageing in the brain may be caused by a breakdown in protein production
The discovery that brain ageing may be driven by jammed-up protein factories could lead to better ways to help us stay sharp as we get older
Categories: Astronomy
E. coli genome has been remade with 101,000 changes to its DNA
The recoded bacterium uses only 57 of the 64 possible genetic codes, freeing up seven to be used for different purposes
Categories: Astronomy
US says CO2 emissions aren’t harmful – climate science shows otherwise
The Trump administration is attempting to argue that greenhouses gases don’t endanger people to reverse regulations limiting these harmful emissions – climate scientists are pushing back
Categories: Astronomy
Mystery of the potato's origins solved by genetics
Around 8 million years ago, an ancestor of modern tomatoes in South America hydridised with a plant called Etuberosum, and this reshuffling of genes gave rise to the potato
Categories: Astronomy