New Scientist Space - Space Headlines
Deep-sea life is still recovering from mining activity 40 years ago
The site of a deep-sea mining test in 1979 had lower levels of biodiversity when researchers revisited it in 2023 compared with undisturbed areas nearby
Categories: Astronomy
Inside the new therapies promising to finally beat autoimmune disease
Type 1 diabetes, IBD, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease and lupus are all caused by the body attacking itself. But new therapies that reset the immune system could offer lasting help
Categories: Astronomy
Intuitive Machines' lunar lander Athena set to blast off to the moon
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is about to launch a number of missions, including a private lunar lander, a lunar satellite for NASA and a prospecting probe for an asteroid-mining company
Categories: Astronomy
22,000-year-old tracks are earliest evidence of transport vehicles
Tracks and footprints found in New Mexico are by far the earliest evidence of people using primitive vehicles to transport things
Categories: Astronomy
Huge thunderstorm on Jupiter captured in best detail ever seen
NASA's Juno spacecraft swooped in for a close look at a massive thunderstorm on Jupiter, revealing that it may have similarities to storms on Earth
Categories: Astronomy
Dogs seem to have a strong preference for yellow things
When offered a choice of bowls, free-ranging dogs in India tend to approach a yellow one much more than blue or grey
Categories: Astronomy
Hair conditioner made from wood is black and smelly, but eco-friendly
Hair conditioner made using lignin, a polymer found in wood and bark, works just as well as a commercial product - as long as you don't mind the smell
Categories: Astronomy
How one farm is testing multiple carbon-capture tricks all at once
Rock dust, compost and biochar can all help capture carbon dioxide and boost crop yields when spread on soil – but researchers are discovering they may be even more effective when used in combination
Categories: Astronomy
US stops sharing flu data with WHO amidst one of its worst flu seasons
The US withdrawal from the World Health Organization formally takes one year, but the country has already stopped sharing influenza surveillance with the international body, which could impact the efficacy of the next flu vaccine
Categories: Astronomy
The bold plan to bring back Tasmanian devils across mainland Australia
Tasmanian devils are already being released inside predator-proof sanctuaries in New South Wales, and rewilding advocates believe they could suppress feral cats and foxes across the continent
Categories: Astronomy
Time can move both forwards and backwards at the quantum scale
Physicists use mathematical assumptions in many situations that forbid time from moving backwards – but that isn’t necessarily a reflection of quantum reality
Categories: Astronomy
Mini-brains have been fused to resemble that of a 40-day-old fetus
By fusing different human organoids, researchers have created “mini-brains” containing most of the cell types found in fetal brains
Categories: Astronomy
Asteroid 2024 YR4 will now almost certainly miss Earth in 2032
New observations have dramatically reduced the chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032, lowering the risk to minimal levels, but its extraordinarily close approach will offer astronomers the chance to examine it in detail
Categories: Astronomy
AI can decode digital data stored in DNA in minutes instead of days
A new AI-based method can accurately recover digital data from DNA strands nearly 90 times faster than older techniques, raising the possibility of practical DNA storage for computing
Categories: Astronomy
NOAA scientists refuse to link warming weather to climate change
In a monthly reporting call on global climate, researchers from the US government’s climate and weather agency avoided mentioning rising levels of greenhouse gases
Categories: Astronomy
Mice seen giving 'first aid' to unconscious companions
Young mice seemingly attempt to revive an anaesthetised cage mate by grooming and biting it and will even pull aside the tongue to clear its airway
Categories: Astronomy
Volcano in Ethiopia is releasing unusually large plumes of methane
Satellites have detected large volumes of methane spewing from Mount Fentale’s crater following months of earthquakes that have shaken the region
Categories: Astronomy
The story of mirror life: From intriguing idea to unprecedented threat
Grave warnings have been issued about the dangers of creating life forms using mirror-image molecules. How worried should we be?
Categories: Astronomy
AI trained on novels tracks how racist and sexist biases have evolved
Questioning a chatbot that has been trained on bestselling books from a particular decade can give researchers a measure of the social biases of that era
Categories: Astronomy
Watch a cuttlefish transform into a leaf and a coral to hunt its prey
In new video footage, cuttlefish show off their dazzling camouflage techniques, such as creating stripes that move over their bodies or mimicking non-threatening objects
Categories: Astronomy