New Scientist Space - Cosmology
Skin-deep wounds can damage gut health in mice
We know there is some connection between skin and gut health, but many assumed the gut was the one calling the shots. A new study suggests that the influence can go the other way
Categories: Astronomy
Intel reveals world's biggest 'brain-inspired' neuromorphic computer
A computer intended to mimic the way the brain processes and stores data could potentially improve the efficiency and capabilities of artificial intelligence models
Categories: Astronomy
Turning plants blue with gene editing could make robot weeding easier
Weeding robots can sometimes struggle to tell weeds from crops, but genetically modifying the plants we want to keep to make them brightly coloured would make the job easier, suggest a group of researchers
Categories: Astronomy
A new understanding of tinnitus and deafness could help reverse both
Investigations of the paradoxical link between tinnitus and hearing loss have revealed a hidden form of deafness, paving the way to possible new treatments
Categories: Astronomy
A cicada double brood is coming – it's less rare than you think
Up to 17 US states could be peppered with more than a trillion cicadas this spring, and though it has been a while since these two specific broods emerged at once, double broods are not that rare
Categories: Astronomy
Dusting farms with waste concrete could boost yields and lock up CO2
Ground-up concrete can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a similar way to ground-up rocks, according to a field study in Ireland
Categories: Astronomy
Colonies of single-celled creatures could explain how embryos evolved
We know little about how embryonic development in animals evolved from single-celled ancestors, but simple organisms with a multicellular life stage offer intriguing clues
Categories: Astronomy
Sleeping bumblebees can survive underwater for a week
A serendipitous lab accident revealed that hibernating bumblebee queens can make it through days of flooding, revealing that they are less vulnerable to extreme weather than previously thought
Categories: Astronomy
Starfish have hundreds of feet but no brain – here's how they move
Starfish feet are coordinated purely through mechanical loading, enabling the animals to bounce rhythmically along the seabed without a central nervous system
Categories: Astronomy
The man reinventing economics with chaos theory and complexity science
Traditional economics makes ludicrous assumptions and poor predictions. Now an alternative approach using big data and psychological insights is proving far more accurate
Categories: Astronomy
Our plans to tackle climate change with carbon storage don't add up
Modelling that shows how the world can remain below 1.5°C of warming assumes we can store vast amounts of carbon dioxide underground, but a new analysis reveals that achieving this is extremely unlikely
Categories: Astronomy
How to destroy a black hole
A black hole would be tough to destroy, but in the season two premiere of Dead Planets Society our hosts are willing to go to extremes, from faster-than-light bombs to time travel
Categories: Astronomy
Watch a swarm of cyborg cockroaches controlled by computers
Remote-controlled cockroaches with computers mounted on their backs can move as a swarm towards a target location, and could be used for search missions
Categories: Astronomy
A surprisingly enormous black hole has been found in our galaxy
A black hole 33 times the mass of the sun is the largest stellar black hole ever spotted, and its strange companion star could help explain how it got so huge
Categories: Astronomy
Tiny nematode worms can grow enormous mouths and become cannibals
One species of nematode worm turns into a kin-devouring nightmare if it grows up in a crowded environment with a poor diet
Categories: Astronomy
Geoscientists are using telecom 'dark fibres' to map Earth’s innards
The networks of fibre optic cables that criss-cross the planet could be used to better understand what’s happening inside it
Categories: Astronomy
Parkinson's disease progression slowed by antibody infusions
Monthly infusions with the drug prasinezumab appeared to slow the progression of motor symptoms in people with advanced Parkinson's disease
Categories: Astronomy
Deadly upwellings of cold water pose threat to migratory sharks
Climate change is making extreme cold upwellings more common in certain regions of the world, and these events can be catastrophic for animals such as bull sharks
Categories: Astronomy
We live in a cosmic void so empty that it breaks the laws of cosmology
Mounting evidence suggests our galaxy sits at the centre of an expanse of nothingness 2 billion light years wide. If so, we may have to rethink our understanding of the universe
Categories: Astronomy
Are panda sex lives being sabotaged by the wrong gut microbes?
Conservationists think tweaking pandas’ diets might shift their gut microbiomes in a way that could encourage them to mate
Categories: Astronomy