New Scientist Space - Cosmology
Has the US finally figured out how to do high-speed rail?
As work begins on building the US’s first high-speed rail service – linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas – analysts say the project could serve as a blueprint for similar projects across the country
Categories: Astronomy
Single atoms captured morphing into quantum waves in startling image
In the 1920s, Erwin Schrödinger wrote an equation that predicts how particles-turned-waves should behave. Now, researchers are perfectly recreating those predictions in the lab
Categories: Astronomy
The incredible new tech that can recycle all plastics, forever
"Advanced recycling" promises to convert dirty, mixed waste plastic into brand new plastic time and time again. It is a major step towards creating a circular economy and fighting climate change
Categories: Astronomy
Deliberate fires are responsible for half of the land burned each year
The finding that managed fires burn a much greater area than thought means we may be underestimating the increase in wildfires due to global heating
Categories: Astronomy
Drug residue can be detected in fingerprints left at crime scenes
Forensic investigators can reliably measure drug and explosive residue using gels that lift fingerprint samples
Categories: Astronomy
Geoengineering could save the ice sheets – but only if we start soon
Shading the planet by spraying aerosols into the stratosphere might stave off ice sheet collapse, modelling studies suggest, but we are running out of time
Categories: Astronomy
Nocturnal ants use polarised moonlight to find their way home
An Australian bull ant is the first animal known to use the patterns produced by polarised moonlight to navigate its environment
Categories: Astronomy
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