New Scientist Space - Space Headlines
Herpes virus could soon be approved to treat severe skin cancer
A cancer-killing virus could soon be approved for use after shrinking tumours in a third of people with late-stage melanoma
Categories: Astronomy
The truth about ivermectin’s supposed health benefits
Interest in the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin skyrocketed during the covid-19 pandemic, but evidence for many of its supposed health claims are lacking
Categories: Astronomy
What will be the climate fallout from Trump's 'big beautiful bill'?
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” just signed by President Trump will slash support for clean energy, leaving the US far short of its Paris Agreement pledge
Categories: Astronomy
70,000 years ago humans underwent a major shift – that’s why we exist
Ancient humans in Africa changed their behaviour in a major way 70,000 years ago, which could explain how their descendants managed to people the rest of the world
Categories: Astronomy
Geoengineering could avoid climate tipping points, but not if we delay
Putting aerosols in the stratosphere to reflect sunlight could prevent the shutdown of key ocean currents, but only if it is done soon, a computer model suggests
Categories: Astronomy
'Flashes of brilliance and frustration': I let an AI agent run my day
Ordering takeaway food, writing emails, reworking presentations: AI assistants are promoted as a way of outsourcing mundane tasks to free up your time for more interesting pursuits. So, what are they actually good for – and what are the risks?
Categories: Astronomy
Forests' vanishing snow is also bad news for carbon storage
The loss of snow cover in temperate forests is set to slow their growth and reduce their ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere, an overlooked consequence of climate change
Categories: Astronomy
Mathematicians are chasing a number that may reveal the edge of maths
Some numbers are so unimaginably large that they defy the bounds of modern mathematics, and now mathematicians are closing in on a number that may mark the edge of this bizarre abyss
Categories: Astronomy
Rapid bursts of ageing are causing a total rethink of how we grow old
Suddenly feeling old? Evidence now suggests that rather than a long, steady decline, we dramatically age around three specific times in our lives. Might it be possible to stay younger for longer?
Categories: Astronomy
Did something just hit Saturn? Astronomers are racing to find out
Around seven asteroids or comets are thought to hit Saturn every year, but we have never spotted one in the act. Now, it seems one astronomer may have caught the moment of impact and the hunt is on for other images to verify the discovery
Categories: Astronomy
Vapour-sniffing drug detector tested at the US-Mexico border
Drugs and explosive chemicals are difficult to detect, but a device more sensitive than a dog’s nose can pick up their traces in seconds
Categories: Astronomy
US government tests new vapour-sniffing drug detector at the border
Drugs and explosive chemicals are difficult to detect, but a device more sensitive than a dog’s nose can pick up their traces in seconds
Categories: Astronomy
AI could be about to completely change the way we do mathematics
Computers can help ensure that mathematical proofs are correct, but translating traditional maths into a machine-readable format is an arduous task. Now, the latest generation of artificial intelligence models is taking on the job, and could change the face of maths research
Categories: Astronomy
'Hybrid' skull may have been a child of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens
The skull of a 5-year-old girl who lived 140,000 years ago has similarities with modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, suggesting her parents might have belonged to different species
Categories: Astronomy
Fig trees may benefit climate by turning carbon dioxide into stone
Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient mass extinction shows how Earth turned into a super-greenhouse
A study of fossils from the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago shows that forests in many parts of the world were wiped out, disrupting the carbon cycle and ensuring that Earth remained hot for millions of years
Categories: Astronomy
Cyberattacks could exploit home solar panels to disrupt power grids
The growth of domestic solar installations opens the possibility of hackers targeting their smart inverter devices as a way to cause widespread power-system failures
Categories: Astronomy
We finally understand why quasicrystals can exist
Not quite crystals and not quite a glass, quasicrystals are an oddity whose properties are not well understood – but now we know how they can remain stable
Categories: Astronomy
Quantum-enhanced supercomputers are starting to do chemistry
Working in tandem, a quantum computer and a supercomputer modelled the behaviour of several molecules, paving the way for useful applications in chemistry and pharmaceutical research
Categories: Astronomy
Meteorite causes rethink of how and when our solar system formed
Rocky bodies called protoplanets were thought to have formed slightly earlier in the inner solar system than those beyond the asteroid belt, but now a meteorite from the outer solar system is rewriting that view
Categories: Astronomy