New Scientist Space - Space Headlines
UN space database aimed at easing global tensions is mysteriously down
A list of global space launches designed to calm cold war tensions and promote transparency has been missing from the UN's website for months
Categories: Astronomy
Global warming already causing crop losses of over $20 billion a year
Climate change is already having a big impact on crop yields, and the subsequent financial losses will continue to rise as the world keeps warming
Categories: Astronomy
Mathematicians put AI to work on Fermat's last theorem
At an event in London, mathematicians have made unexpectedly fast progress on formalising Fermat's last theorem using AI
Categories: Astronomy
The sneaky maths trick for solving problems without answering them
How can you have a proof without proving anything? Mathematicians found a way and, in the process, came to blows over it – but 100 years on, this trick is a common part of modern maths, says columnist Jacob Aron
Categories: Astronomy
2026 eclipse: 5 citizen science projects you can contribute to
During the August 2026 solar eclipse, scientists will be rushing to gather data on the sun, but even if you aren't a professional scientist, you can still help the research
Categories: Astronomy
Special relativity can warp chemical bonds – now we've seen it happen
An experiment with a charged molecule of bismuth and carbon reveals how effects from Albert Einstein’s special relativity reshape the standard understanding of chemical bonds
Categories: Astronomy
Resuscitated human retinas respond to light 10 hours after death
Perfusing donor human retinas with blood and oxygen meant they continued to respond to light for up to 10 hours after death, marking a significant step towards eye transplants that restore vision
Categories: Astronomy
Mathematics of thermodynamics is being rewritten after 200 years
The laws of physics that concern heat and work could gain a firmer mathematical footing thanks to “gauge theory”, which already helps us understand quantum fields
Categories: Astronomy
Injection halves risk of chromosome error common in older human eggs
Egg cells missing a key protein may be more likely to end up with the wrong number of chromosomes, but an mRNA injection that helps the cells make the protein reduces the problem
Categories: Astronomy
A worm that lived half a billion years ago preferred turning right
Fossils of Spriggina floundersi provide the earliest evidence of animals favouring one side of the body over the other – a feature of nervous systems that we see in our own right- and left-handedness
Categories: Astronomy
Seeding clouds with seawater could prevent a super El Niño
A modelling study suggests marine cloud brightening could shade the eastern Pacific and reduce a global temperature spike from El Niño, but there could be unexpected consequences
Categories: Astronomy
This book is essential reading before watching the new Odyssey film
Homer still matters, argues Adam Nicolson in The Mighty Dead, a great primer to Christopher Nolan's new adaptation of the Odyssey, says Kelsey Hayes
Categories: Astronomy
New Scientist recommends a vital look at the science of fatherhood
Dads are often overlooked when it comes to parenting science. Darby Saxbe's fascinating new book Dad Brain is out to change that, says Olivia Goldhill
Categories: Astronomy
The 5 must-watch science shows of 2026 so far
From AI with Hannah Fry to David Attenborough's early days, these are the five must-watch science documentaries of the year to date, says Bethan Ackerley
Categories: Astronomy
The 4 best science-fiction shows of 2026 so far
The first six months of 2026 have seen bright threads in sci- fi series including Fallout and Paradise. But for pure gold, advises TV columnist Bethan Ackerley, try Star City
Categories: Astronomy
A surprisingly detailed look at the physics of a lugworm's poop
Feedback is delighted by a study of how many animals produce poop that echoes the look of the poop emoji – even the lugworm, which does it upside down
Categories: Astronomy
Our fertility window could be extended by making ovaries softer
A drug that softens the ovaries helped mice and rats conceive more easily at an older age, and produce more pups
Categories: Astronomy
Occam’s razor has lost its edge. Can we sharpen our search for truth?
Seeking out the simplest, most elegant explanations has served scientists well for centuries, but cognitive scientist Marina Dubova’s experiments are revealing better ways to uncover reality
Categories: Astronomy
Why Schrödinger's 1944 classic What Is Life? still feels prescient
Pioneer of quantum mechanics Erwin Schrödinger's look at living organisms is one of the most influential popular-science books of the 20th century. So how does it hold up today, asks Karmela Padavic-Callaghan
Categories: Astronomy
Lambs born via IVF using highly immature eggs in major breakthrough
Lambs have been born using an experimental form of IVF that coaxes immature eggs to become mature ones. This could boost the number of eggs available for fertilisation and improve IVF success rates
Categories: Astronomy
