It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.

— Plato

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Updated: 3 hours 55 min ago

How human error became a weapon against large language models

Mon, 06/01/2026 - 12:00pm
Alan Turing proposed a test for machine intelligence: could a computer convince a human it was human? We have begun conducting the same test on ourselves, writes Max Moser
Categories: Astronomy

Huge study of Alzheimer’s genetics identifies new drug targets

Mon, 06/01/2026 - 8:00am
Almost 50 more genes have been flagged as being linked to Alzheimer’s, along with changes in activity in crucial cells that disappear as dementia progresses
Categories: Astronomy

Geoengineering can thicken Arctic sea ice, but for how long?

Mon, 06/01/2026 - 4:00am
Two companies are aiming to preserve Arctic ice by pumping water onto the sheet and letting it freeze, but only one of the trials found that this delayed melting in the summer
Categories: Astronomy

The best new science-fiction books of June 2026

Sat, 05/30/2026 - 6:00am
There is plenty of intriguing sci-fi on offer this month, whether it’s solar-powered cities from Adrian Tchaikovsky or a strange future from M. John Harrison
Categories: Astronomy

Photons behave very strangely if you try to cut them

Sat, 05/30/2026 - 3:00am
Particles of light cannot be divided into smaller particles, but if you try to snip off the end of one, instead of shortening it multiplies
Categories: Astronomy

Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 11:20am
According to a mathematical model of how people weigh up different outcomes, the optimal strategy is to be ambitious, but not overly so
Categories: Astronomy

Horror video game gets its creepiness from a quantum computer

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 9:00am
Quantum Backrooms is a horror game in which the player explores eerie rooms. The twist is that the rooms have been generated by a quantum computer
Categories: Astronomy

We're becoming more individualistic and it's affecting our love lives

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 8:00am
We're increasingly prioritising our own needs over those of the wider community, which may be causing us to love our partners less intensely
Categories: Astronomy

Mirror life: Scientists clash over threat of lab-engineered bacteria

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 8:00am
Bacteria created using mirror images of natural biomolecules would pose a grave threat to life on Earth, some researchers warn, but a new study suggests they would struggle to survive in the wild
Categories: Astronomy

Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 5:00am
A cancer-killing virus has stopped pancreatic tumours from growing and spreading in three people in an initial safety trial, raising hopes that it may help to beat the deadly condition
Categories: Astronomy

Q-Day could destroy bitcoin – and our retirement savings

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 5:00am
Even if you’ve never bought any cryptocurrency, like columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, your money may be affected by bitcoin’s fate – which is uncertain, as quantum computing advances are threatening to make the encryption protecting it useless
Categories: Astronomy

Read an extract from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 4:30am
Dive into the opening of The Selfish Gene's first chapter 'Why are people?', the New Scientist Book Club’s read for June to mark 50 years since the popular science classic was first published
Categories: Astronomy

Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting

Fri, 05/29/2026 - 2:00am
Until recently, the Pamir mountains in central Asia have bucked the global melting trend, but in 2025, the region’s glaciers experienced a massive loss of ice due to extreme heat
Categories: Astronomy