New Scientist Space - Cosmology
How cannabis gets you high and alters your perception
20 April is weed's unofficial holiday. In honour of the special day, we collected our answers to all your cannabis questions. This is the science of 420
Categories: Astronomy
Knot theory could help spacecraft navigate crowded solar systems
It can be difficult to figure out how to move a spacecraft from one orbit to another, but a trick from knot theory can help find spots where shifting orbits becomes easy
Categories: Astronomy
Animals may help ecosystems store 3 times more carbon than we thought
Carbon storage calculations don’t always take into account the effects of animals – when they eat, defecate and die, they help store lots of carbon
Categories: Astronomy
Songs that birds 'sing' in their dreams translated into sound
By measuring how birds’ vocal muscles move while they are asleep and using a physical model for how those muscles produce sound, researchers have pulled songs from the minds of sleeping birds
Categories: Astronomy
Your genes may influence how much you enjoy listening to music
Identical twins seem to experience more similar levels of pleasure when listening to music than non-identical twins, which suggests it has a genetic element
Categories: Astronomy
Wind turbines based on condor wings could capture more energy
Curved wing tips inspired by the world's heaviest flying bird could enhance the efficiency of wind turbines by of 10 per cent, according to simulations
Categories: Astronomy
Early humans spread as far north as Siberia 400,000 years ago
A site in Siberia has evidence of human presence 417,000 years ago, raising the possibility that hominins could have reached North America much earlier than we thought
Categories: Astronomy
Autonomous e-scooters could ride themselves back to charging points
Teams of staff usually return e-scooters to where they will be needed, but adapted scooters that can balance and stop themselves, and be controlled remotely, are a step towards autonomous ones that can take themselves wherever they have to go
Categories: Astronomy
This cosy, charming puzzle game has you saving forgotten plants
Set in an English manor in 1890, Botany Manor is a video game that places you in the shoes of a botanist working on a herbarium of forgotten flora
Categories: Astronomy
Extreme heat in 2023 linked to drastic slump in growth of marine life
Last year’s marine heatwaves saw an unprecedented decline in the growth of phytoplankton and algae, which many animals in the oceans depend on for food
Categories: Astronomy
Dietary changes relieve irritable bowel syndrome better than medicine
Both a special diet that excludes “FODMAP” compounds and a low-carb high-fibre diet were effective
Categories: Astronomy
Cocaine seems to hijack brain pathways that prioritise food and water
Cocaine and morphine hijacked neural responses in the brains of mice, which resulted in them consuming less food and water
Categories: Astronomy
Fossil snake discovered in India may have been the largest ever
The vertebrae of Vasuki indicus, a snake that lived 47 million years ago, suggest it could have been as long as 15 metres
Categories: Astronomy
Jupiter's moon Io has been a volcanic inferno for billions of years
Measurements of sulphur isotopes in Io’s atmosphere show that the moon may have been volcanically active for its entire lifetime
Categories: Astronomy
Quantum-proof encryption may not actually stop quantum hackers
Cryptographers are scrambling to understand an algorithm that could undermine the mathematics behind next-generation encryption methods, which are intended to protect against quantum computers
Categories: Astronomy
Particles move in beautiful patterns when they have ‘spatial memory’
A mathematical model of a particle that remembers its past so that it never travels the same path twice produces stunningly complex patterns
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient Maya burned their dead rulers to mark a new dynasty
In the foundations of a Maya temple, researchers found the charred bones of royal individuals – possibly evidence of a fiery ritual to mark the end of one dynasty and the beginning of another
Categories: Astronomy
What is cloud seeding and did it cause the floods in Dubai?
Cloud seeding almost certainly did not play a significant role in the flooding on the Arabian peninsula this week – but the heavy rains may have been exacerbated by climate change
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient marine reptile found on UK beach may be the largest ever
The jawbone of an ichthyosaur uncovered in south-west England has been identified as a new species, and researchers estimate that the whole animal was 20 to 25 metres long
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient humans lived inside a lava tube in the Arabian desert
Underground tunnels created by lava flows provided humans with shelter for thousands of years beneath the hot desert landscape of Saudi Arabia
Categories: Astronomy