New Scientist Space - Space Headlines
500-year-old maths problem turns out to apply to coffee and clocks
A centuries-old maths problem asks what shape a circle traces out as it rolls along a line. The answer, dubbed a “cycloid”, turns out to have applications in a variety of scientific fields
Categories: Astronomy
Monkeys can learn to tap to the beat of the Backstreet Boys
With a bit of training, macaques can make rhythmic movements in time with music, an ability only shown before by a handful of animals
Categories: Astronomy
Extreme exercise may help you live longer without stressing your heart
People who can run a mile in less than 4 minutes generally live almost five years longer than would otherwise be expected, challenging the idea that too much strenuous exercise is bad for the heart
Categories: Astronomy
Invisible 'dark radiation' may explain a big problem with dark energy
Surprising recent measurements hint that the universe isn’t expanding in the way we had thought, and it could be explained by still-theoretical dark radiation
Categories: Astronomy
Game theory shows we can never learn perfectly from our mistakes
An analysis of a mathematical economic game suggests that even learning from past mistakes will almost never help us optimise our decision-making – with implications for our ability to make the biggest financial gains
Categories: Astronomy
Mars is blasting plasma out of its atmosphere into space
The Red Planet launches large bursts of plasma into space from its upper atmosphere, much like the sun’s coronal mass ejections, despite not having a global magnetic field
Categories: Astronomy
Has the biggest problem in cosmology finally been solved?
For decades, cosmologists have been fighting over the Hubble constant, a number that represents the expansion rate of the universe – it may have finally been pinned down
Categories: Astronomy
How to reconnect with long-lost friends, according to science
We are generally as reluctant to contact a long-lost friend as we are to talk to a stranger, but scientists have come up with an approach so it's easier to make the first move
Categories: Astronomy
DeepMind is experimenting with a nearly indestructible robot hand
A new robotic hand can withstand being smashed by pistons or walloped with a hammer. It was designed to survive the trial-and-error interactions required to train AI robots
Categories: Astronomy
Being in two places at once could make a quantum battery charge faster
The quantum principle of superposition – the idea of particles being in multiple places at once – could help make quantum batteries that charge within minutes
Categories: Astronomy
How science can help you whip up perfect egg whites for your bakes
Egg whites are key to so many baked goods but can be tricky to work with. These tips will help you master the technique, says Catherine de Lange
Categories: Astronomy
Sarah Perry's Enlightenment is a moving story of love and astronomy
This beautifully written and compassionate novel tells the story of how comet Halle-Bopp turns a small-town writer onto astronomy and opens him up to fresh adventures
Categories: Astronomy
The hunt for alien planets and extraterrestrial life
Lisa Kaltenegger has been working on how to find life on exoplanets since the 1990s. Her new book, Alien Earths, brings her quest to vivid life
Categories: Astronomy
Why carbon offsetting your flight isn't the answer
I always add the carbon offset option when buying a flight, but I had a sneaking suspicion I was being greenwashed. Turns out I was right, says Graham Lawton
Categories: Astronomy
How the discovery of a nest in a Roman museum caused a kerfuffle
On a recent visit to the National Roman Museum, Feedback was an onlooker to the furore that ensued when a sparrow's nest was spotted in the mouth of an ancient stone face
Categories: Astronomy
Why criticisms of the proposed Anthropocene epoch miss the point
A proposal to define the Anthropocene as a geological epoch was rejected this March, but humanity's impact on Earth is real, whether formalised or not, says Jan Zalasiewicz
Categories: Astronomy
Why eggs should be front and centre in the story of evolution
From large and shell-covered to tiny and jelly-like, the developmental story of eggs offers a way to rethink the story of life, says Jules Howard in his new book Infinite Life
Categories: Astronomy
It's time to clean up 'forever chemicals' and companies should pay
Artificial compounds found in things like food packaging can be a risk to our health. We can clean them up, but who will foot the vast bill?
Categories: Astronomy
Who were the enigmatic Sea Peoples blamed for the Bronze Age collapse?
Around 3000 years ago, several empires and kingdoms in the Mediterranean collapsed, with a group of sea-faring warriors implicated as the culprit. But new evidence shows that many of our ideas about this turbulent time need completely rethinking
Categories: Astronomy
Global capacity to directly suck CO2 from air has just quadrupled
A new plant in Iceland operated by the firm Climeworks can remove up to 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air per year, more than quadrupling existing global capabilities
Categories: Astronomy