Six-sided snowflakes bloom in slow motion New Scientist 2024-10-23 | Six-sided snowflakes bloom in slow motion
Robotic hand can masterfully manipulate irregular objects New Scientist 2023-10-03 | A robotic hand can manipulate irregular objects such as toy planes and badminton shuttlecocks without dropping them, thanks to a sophisticated computer algorithm.Haozhi Qi at the University of California, Berkeley and his colleagues say their system, called RotateIt, works better than previous systems because it operates on six axes.can rotate objects in three axes.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2394911-robotic-hand-has-the-dexterity-to-handle-tricky-objects-with-care Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Antimatter does fall down but new physics could still be at play | New Scientist Weekly podcast 217 New Scientist 2023-09-29 | Antimatter is the counterpart to regular matter but with an opposite electric charge, as well as other differences. So if it’s the opposite of normal matter, does it fall up instead of down? Studying antimatter is notoriously difficult, but scientists at CERN have scraped together just enough to take a closer look at its behaviour under gravity – their results are consistent with Albert Einstein’s predictions. With remote school and work during the covid-19 pandemic, it’s no wonder telehealth startups popped up all over the US. With telemedicine, you don’t even need to leave your house to get a prescription – medicine can be delivered straight to your door, a boon for people who live in remote areas or have other difficulties in accessing a doctor’s office. But does this convenience come at a price?Move over cows, there’s a new ‘moo’ in town. It turns out crocodiles can moo too – African dwarf crocodiles to be exact. In an effort to monitor their populations remotely, scientists have been recording the surprising noises they make.Plus: The best crater to set up a base on the Moon, why classroom therapy dogs are so helpful and how carrots became orange.On the pod: Christie Taylor and Chelsea Whyte discuss all of this with guests Alex Wilkins, Grace Wade, James Dinneen and Sofia Quaglia. –Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Neuron time-lapse wins 2023 Nikon Small World video competition New Scientist 2023-09-28 | A 48-hour time-lapse film of neurons developing in the central nervous system of a chick embryo has won the Nikon Small World in Motion video competition. Taken under a microscope by Alexandre Dumoulin at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, the footage shows the elongation of axons - projections from nerve cells - between the two hemispheres of the central nervous system. In neurological disorders, axons can be impaired. “By studying these, organisms I aim to enhance our comprehension of how the nervous system functions and identify potential factors contributing to neurodevelopmental disorders,” says Dumoulin.Each year, the Nikon Small World competition showcases the best microscopy images and videos. Many are created as part of research. Other winning videos included depictions of the blood flow in fish, human cells infected by SARS-CoV-2, pond creatures at high magnification and a close-up of a beating zebrafish heart.–Learn more ➤ nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/small-world-in-motion Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Inside the antimatter factory: ALPHA-g measures effects of gravity on antihydrogen New Scientist 2023-09-27 | New research has shown that if you drop a piece of antimatter, it will fall down to the ground just like regular matter. This rules out suggestions that antimatter could fall up, along with the existence of repulsive matter and antigravity machines. Earlier this year, we toured the antimatter “factory” at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, and saw the ALPHA-g experiment that was set up to test gravity’s effect on antihydrogen. Team member Jeffrey Hangst told us what’s next for antimatter research.– Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Paralysed mice walk again thanks to new gene therapy New Scientist 2023-09-27 | Collaborating with researchers at @UCLA and @harvardmedicalschool scientists at NeuroRestore in Geneva, Switzerland applied gene therapy in mice with complete spinal cord injuries. In contrast to partial spinal cord injuries, where some spontaneous motor function is eventually recovered, no such recovery occurs in complete spinal cord injuries. The researchers used gene therapy and applied guidance molecules to direct nerve fibres to their natural destinations This helped restore the original neural connections. Preliminary research conducted by the team five years ago saw the restoration of nerve connections in mice, but did not regain movement. In this new study, the paralysed mice were able to walk again.– Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
See the worlds best space images from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023 awards New Scientist 2023-09-25 | The winners of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023 have been announced. Astronomer and competition judge Edward Bloomer discussed his personal highlights and showcased some of the winning and shortlisted entries for this year’s competition, organised by the Royal Observatory in London. “The universe itself is the astrophotographer's playground,” he says.This year's winner – a deep-space photograph of the Andromeda galaxy by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty wasn't only an aesthetically stunning image, says Bloomer, but showed a previously unseen region of ionised oxygen. “We don't really know what's going on there,” he says, “but we can sort of characterise it in a way now. We're now in the process of investigating that.”The Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition is now open at the National Maritime Museum, London.–Learn more ➤ rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/exhibition Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Samples from asteroid Bennu brought back to Earth by NASAs OSIRIS-REx New Scientist 2023-09-25 | NASA has successfully collected samples from the asteroid Bennu, after a capsule containing around 250 grams of the space rock touched down in the desert near Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday. Scientists hope that Bennu, which is older than Earth, could help explain how the solar system formed.The capsule has been making its way home since 2020, when NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft extracted samples from the asteroid. The final, riskiest part of the mission involved a controlled freefall through Earth’s atmosphere, following the release of the sample capsule by OSIRIS-Rex at around a third of the distance between Earth and the moon.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2393877-samples-from-asteroid-bennu-brought-back-to-earth-by-nasas-osiris-rex Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
The easy maths trick to evenly cut a pizza into 5, 7 or any number of slices New Scientist 2023-09-25 | FAIRNESS is important – in life, and in pizza. If you want to cut a pizza into equal-sized pieces, the difficulty will depend on how many people you need to share it between. Luckily, mathematics has some tricks to keep things equal.--Learn more ➤newscientist.com/article/mg25934571-000-the-easy-trick-to-evenly-cut-a-pizza-into-5-7-or-any-number-of-slices Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Thylacine RNA extracted from extinct animal for first time I New Scientist Weekly podcast 216 New Scientist 2023-09-22 | For the first time ever, a team has extracted RNA from an extinct animal. Thylacines, or Tasmanian tigers, are carnivorous marsupials that went extinct in the early 20th century. While we’ve been extracting DNA from extinct animals for years, getting their RNA has been much more difficult. What can this breakthrough tell us about the lives they led?What is consciousness and how does it work? There’s a reason this is known as “the hard problem” of neuroscience. Everyone wants an answer but only a handful of convincing theories exist. And now, one of the more compelling theories - integrated information theory, or IIT - has come under fire. Are critics right to label it ‘pseudoscience’?Eris and Makemake are two dwarf planets that orbit in the Kuiper belt in the outer reaches of our solar system. They’re small, icy objects that receive little sunlight, so we might expect them to be pretty boring – but it seems we were wrong. Why a closer look from the James Webb Space Telescope is painting an intriguing new picture, one that may include liquid water.Despite not having brains, Caribbean box jellyfish still have the capacity to learn. How are they processing the information without a centralised brain? One team thinks it could have something to do with their 24 eye-like structures. Find out how they tested this theory.Plus: A new kind of ‘reverse vaccine’ that could help people with autoimmune diseases, the earliest evidence of human ancestors building wooden structures, and counting the number of cells in a human body. On the pod: Christie Taylor and Chelsea Whyte, Care Wilson, Leah Crane and Corryn Wetzel. –Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Prehistoric people in Spain may have made tools from human bones New Scientist 2023-09-21 | Since 1934, scientists, amateur archaeologists and even tomb raiders have been exploring human skeletal remains left in a Granada cave, called Cueva de los Marmoles. Now, researchers have found that nearly a third of the bones that remain were altered by tools, possibly to make bowls, cups or spatulas. Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2393136-prehistoric-people-in-spain-may-have-made-tools-from-human-bones Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Watch a cyborg cockroach navigate a maze New Scientist 2023-09-20 | A CYBORG cockroach controlled by an electronic backpack, which attaches to its antennae and abdomen without injuring it, could be used for building inspections or search-and-rescue efforts.Electronically controllable cockroaches aren’t new, but all previous work has required invasive surgery to implant an electrode directly into the insect’s nervous system.As well as potentially causing pain, implantation can damage the cockroach and limit the amount of time that the electronic controls work to minutes or hours.Now, Hirotaka Sato at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and his colleagues have developed flexible electronic sleeves that slip onto the cockroaches’ antennae and can deliver a signal to guide them in a certain direction.–Learn more ➤ [Delete if there’s no relevant article] Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Mosquitoes dodge efforts to swat them by surfing a wave of air New Scientist 2023-09-18 | A combination of keen senses and quick reflexes may help mosquitoes avoid a sticky end by riding the pressure wave generated as a swatter sweeps through the air–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2392033-mosquitoes-dodge-efforts-to-swat-them-by-surfing-a-wave-of-airSubscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Ig Nobel prize 2023: Science that makes you laugh (and think) | New Scientist Weekly podcast 215 New Scientist 2023-09-18 | A smart toilet with a camera inside that analyses your poop, plus a study of people who are fluent in speaking backwards – these are just two recipients of this year’s Ig Nobel prize. As the satirical sister to the Nobel prize, the Ig Nobels honour scientific achievements that make people laugh…then think. Prize founder Marc Abrahams on this year’s hilarious winners - and why even robots made from reanimating dead spiders can have a more serious side.As the winter approaches in the northern hemisphere, updated versions of the covid-19 vaccine are being rolled out in many countries. Should you be lining up for your next booster? And a sneak peak at a new, more effective twist on Moderna’s mRNA vaccines.Meanwhile, in the early universe, the James Webb Space Telescope has spotted ancient supermassive black holes that are much larger, relative to their galaxies, than we see in younger galaxies. A tantalising finding for astronomers who believe these anomalies could be evidence of a new kind of black hole. And did you know that palm cockatoos are totally rock ’n’ roll? Not only do they drum, but they even craft their own drumsticks. Find out about their unique musical abilities, and what this says about their intelligence.On the pod: Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss all of this with guests Marc Abrahams, Michael Le Page, Alex Wilkins and Chen Ly. –Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Bridge author, Lauren Beukes: There are a lot of multiverses out there already New Scientist 2023-09-15 | The Bridge author talks about delving deep in to the world of parasites and parallel universes to ultimately tell a story exploring human nature; who we are and who we choose to be. New Scientist’s book club is reading Lauren Beukes's thrilling book Bridge which centres on a grieving daughter, Bridge, who's search for her mother becomes a journey across alternate realities,You can sign up for New Scientist's BookClub here: www.newscientist.com/bookclub for free. Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Frog-like robot uses tiny explosions to hop around New Scientist 2023-09-14 | A robot powered by tiny explosions can jump 20 times its own length and carry 22 times its own weight. Its makers say it could be produced cheaply in bulk and is ideal for search-and-rescue missions or even exploring other planets.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2391584-watch-a-frog-like-robot-use-tiny-explosions-to-hop-around Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Brain implant lets people control devices using brain signals New Scientist 2023-09-14 | A company called Synchron, backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, may become the first to commercialise a brain implant that lets people control touchscreen devices using brain signals.The race to commercialise brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) is gathering pace, and one company – Synchron – is leading the way. Backed by investments from Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, the Brooklyn-based firm beat competitors in winning regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to conduct clinical trials in 2021.Synchron has also shunned invasive, open-skull surgeries for brain implants. Instead, the company uses a less invasive procedure that inserts a special electrode array – a “Stentrode” – into a blood vessel. This is achieved through surgery to the jugular vein, allowing access to a blood vessel near the brain’s motor cortex, which controls muscle movements.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2387626-implant-lets-people-type-on-virtual-keyboards-with-just-brain-signals Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
River restoration could help bring beavers back to Somerset New Scientist 2023-09-13 | A novel technique to restore a river to its original state prior to any human intervention - known as stage zero - has been used for the first time at a large scale in the UK.The method involves completely removing the channel that a river runs through and letting it reconnect to its floodplain which it may have been historically separated from to make space for roads and railways.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/video/2391780-river-restoration-could-help-bring-beavers-back-to-somerset Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Discovering a new type of brain cell | New Scientist Weekly Podcast 214 New Scientist 2023-09-11 | A multi-talented brain cell has been discovered – and it’s a hybrid of the two we already know about, neurons and glia. These glutamatergic astrocytes could provide insights into our brain health and function, and even enable treatments for conditions like Parkinsons.Building a bridge over a moving glacier is no mean feat. But rising global temperatures have thawed the permafrost in Denali National Park in Alaska, causing its only access road to sink. A bridge may be the only way to continue access to the park’s beautiful wilderness. Rather than waiting around for hours for your electric car to charge, imagine doing it near instantaneously. That’s the promise of quantum batteries. Although we’re not quite at that stage yet, researchers may have found a way to make quantum batteries that charge wirelessly and last forever.Could the armies of Ancient China owe their success to their… shoes? Researchers have been studying the feet of The Terracotta Army, a massive collection of statues that depict the armies of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. Humans and other great apes have incredibly flexible shoulder and elbow joints. Unusually, this is not a trait shared by our monkey cousins. Why the difference? And what are the pros and cons of this extra mobility?Plus: How to grow human kidneys in pigs without making pig-human hybrids and the mystery of a super-bright space explosion.Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss all of this with guests Alec Luhn, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Chen Ly and Sam Wong. Learn more ➤newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Japan launches moon lander and X-ray space telescope on same rocket New Scientist 2023-09-08 | Japan has launched two ambitious space missions on a single rocket, aiming to land a craft on the moon and position a separate X-ray telescope in Earth orbit.The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) will, if successful, make Japan only the fifth country after the US, the Soviet Union, China and India to make a soft landing on the moon. It has been nicknamed “Moon Sniper” by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) because it is designed to use a host of sensors and cameras to make a highly accurate landing within a circle with a radius of just 100 metres.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2391084-japan-launches-moon-lander-and-x-ray-space-telescope-on-same-rocket Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Astronomers detect a galaxy’s magnetic field 11 billion light years away New Scientist 2023-09-06 | Using the ALMA radio telescope in the Atacama desert, Chile, astronomers have detected the magnetic field of 9io9 a galaxy so far away that its light has taken more than 11 billion years to reach us. The discovery gives us new clues as to how galactic-scale magnetic fields are formed, which in turn can in turn influence how later generations of stars will form.–Learn more ➤ almaobservatory.org/en/press-releases/furthest-ever-detection-of-a-galaxys-magnetic-field Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Sewage pollution: Cleaner rivers will come if the public continue to demand it New Scientist 2023-09-05 | Charles Crundwell, a fisheries specialist at the UK Environment Agency suggests that the solution to sewage in UK rivers is for the public to demand change, for authorities to regulate discharges where licences have been permitted and to prevent discharges of untreated sewage into our rivers, he says. “But that all takes money. People are going to have to work out on their priorities of where they want to fund it and what kind of rivers they want to see going on in future”. "I think we're at a cusp", he adds, "people are starting to get it and they're demanding a better standard, and that will ultimately come if they continue to demand it."–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/video/2390081-how-the-unlocking-the-severn-project-is-helping-fish-return-to-breed Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Watch Vikram moon lander hop on lunar surface New Scientist 2023-09-04 | The Indian Space Research Organisation Vikram lander makes second soft touchdown on the moon in a “hop” experiment. Engineers on Earth instructed it to fire its engines, lift off to a height of 40 centimetres and move 30 to 40 centimetres laterally before softly landing again. Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2390435-indias-moon-craft-enter-sleep-mode-and-await-freezing-lunar-night Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
DId our ancestors nearly go extinct? | New Scientist Weekly Podcast 213 New Scientist 2023-09-03 | Our ancestors may have very nearly gone extinct. Around a million years ago, there were just 1300 humans left and it stayed that way for over a hundred thousand years. This is the dramatic claim of research into the genetic diversity of our early ancestors – though some scientists disagree with the conclusions.Plus: Despite being completely paralysed and unable to speak, Rodney Gorham can still communicate… by typing messages with his mind. Rodney is one of the first people in the world to use a new type of brain computer interface. The company behind it, Synchron, is focusing on medical uses like this for brain implants, rather than more outlandish superhuman technology.Ever wondered what a 3000-year-old mummified noblewoman smelled like? Wonder no more! Scientists have recreated the exact scent of an ancient Egyptian woman’s perfume – giving them a fascinating insight into millenia-old burial traditions and early trading.Beer goggles; when you’ve drunk just enough alcohol that everyone starts to look more attractive. It’s a well-known phenomenon, but is it actually real? A study that got its participants a little tipsy has some answers.And finally: How tall people have more diverse gut microbiomes, why a meteor that crashed on Earth in 2014 may – or may not – be an interstellar visitor from outside our solar system and how pirate spiders catch their prey.On the pod: Timothy Revell, Christie Taylor, Michael Le Page, Jeremy Hsu, Sofia Quaglia and Chen Ly.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
AI tool can build new creations in video games using a simple prompt New Scientist 2023-09-02 | A simple generative AI tool can create video game maps, character sprites, and emoji from a single-sentence prompt within milliseconds.Researchers at New York University designed the system, which uses artificial intelligence to develop new creations from simple text prompts, as a way of understanding how simple an AI model can be while still proving useful.--Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2390019-ai-generates-video-game-levels-and-characters-from-text-promptsSubscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
How the Unlocking the Severn project is helping fish return to breed New Scientist 2023-09-01 | Just 3 per cent of rivers in the UK flow unobstructed today, according to a European Union project. Centuries of industrialisation have reshaped these waterways and artificial structures such as weirs now hinder their flow. This has ramifications for river ecosystems and the fish that live in them. “All fish migrate, so they move either for shelter or reproduction or for feeding,” says Charles Crundwell, a fisheries specialist at the UK Environment Agency. “If you have a barrier across the river, like a weir, it acts like a brick wall.”Now, a project on the river Severn, the UK’s longest river, crossing England and Wales, is changing that. The Unlocking the Severn initiative is designed to get twaite shad, a fish whose numbers in British rivers have dropped over recent decades, back to its historic spawning grounds.To do this, a series of fish passes have been built. These special channels allow shad, which are unable to leap like salmon, and other fish to overcome weirs on a stretch of the Severn. “Ultimately, what we want from these passes is to make the weirs invisible,” says Jamie Dodd at the University of Hull, UK, who is involved in monitoring the movement of fish through the passes. “What we’re doing is actually reconnecting both sets of habitat both above and beneath the weir and creating what is essentially one river.”Dodd and his colleagues from the University of Hull, Bournemouth University, the Canal & River Trust, Natural England and the UK Environment Agency have been tagging, monitoring and collecting data on numerous fish species to understand what effects the passes are having. Already, the researchers have identified 26 different species passing through Diglis fish pass, one of the lowest in the system.“We have a saying on this project,” says Crundwell. “If you can design a pass that twaite shad will use, any fish will use it.”Analysis of environmental DNA – released by animals through faeces, for example – found in the water confirms the presence of shad upstream of the passes. Ongoing tagging and monitoring will confirm whether fish return year after year.However, for the team, fish passes are a last resort. “It’s always our preference to remove a weir over building a fish pass,” says Crundwell. “Fish don’t want to just live in a swimming pool.”–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/mg25834361-500-what-we-can-do-to-let-the-uks-tamed-rivers-flow-wild-and-free-againSubscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
These are the deepest fish ever filmed New Scientist 2023-08-31 | These are the deepest fish ever filmed, including one juvenile discovered at an underwater depth of 8,336m. They are an unknown snailfish species of the genus Pseudoliparis and were discovered by The University of Western Australia at the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, south of Japan.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/dn26719-weird-sea-ghost-breaks-record-for-deepest-living-fish Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
AI beats champion human pilots in head-to-head drone race New Scientist 2023-08-31 | An artificial intelligence has consistently beaten champion drone pilots in races for the first time, achieving lap times no human was able to match. The sport of drone racing involves humans piloting small quadcopters around a course at speeds over 100 kilometres per hour while pulling g-forces of up to 5 g. Drones must fly through a series of gates in the correct direction and order, and human pilots wear headsets streaming video captured by cameras on the drones.The Swift AI has beaten expert drone racers in high-speed races using an on-board computer that fuses artificial intelligence and classical algorithms – a method that could speed up delivery dronesLearn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2389071-ai-beats-champion-human-pilots-in-head-to-head-drone-races Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Brain implant lets people type on virtual keyboards with just brain signals New Scientist 2023-08-30 | A company called Synchron, backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, may become the first to commercialise a brain implant that lets people control touchscreen devices using brain signals.Rodney Gorham, a 63-year-old Australian, has always been a music fan. In a recent WhatsApp conversation with New Scientist, he shared his thoughts on his most memorable live event – “AC/DC in their prime”. But more remarkable than that concert is the brain implant that allows Gorham to communicate even though he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which has paralysed much of his body and left him unable to speak.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2387626-implant-lets-people-type-on-virtual-keyboards-with-just-brain-signals Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission lands on the moon | New Scientist Weekly podcast 212 New Scientist 2023-08-26 | India is celebrating after successfully - and gently - landing on the Moon. A huge win for the country, which is now only the fourth nation to do so. A look at the country’s next ambitions after a historic touchdown. We also look at why Russia’s rival mission ended in disaster, and the future of lunar exploration worldwide. Plus: Cells found in placentas may be able to treat heart attacks. Researchers were first clued into this amazing healing capability after two pregnant women spontaneously recovered from heart failure. What clinical research in mice can tell us so far. Use of psychedelics and other mind-altering drugs is booming in US adults under 55, with marijuana use breaking records. But why is substance use on the rise, and does this mean people are turning away from alcohol?Artificial intelligence could help us detect tsunamis earlier, and perhaps help save lives in the process. How ocean disturbances can travel as far as the Earth’s ionosphere, where GPS satellites can detect them. And finally: turtle shells can store the historical record of nuclear activity, how dog poo is making the Norwegian tundra greener and how coffee grounds can make concrete almost 30% stronger.On the pod: Christie Taylor and Chelsea Whyte, Leah Crane, Alice Klein, Grace Wade and Jeremy Hsu.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Emperor penguin colonies lost all their chicks due to ice breakup New Scientist 2023-08-25 | Record sea ice loss caused a mass die-off of emperor penguin chicks in part of Antarctica last year, bolstering predictions that the world’s largest penguin will soon be in danger of extinction.In February, the area of sea ice around Antarctica reached the lowest extent ever observed. After much of the ice began breaking up late last year, four out of five colonies in the hard-hit central and eastern Bellingshausen Sea suffered a total breeding failure, with no chicks surviving to fledge, according to research by Peter Fretwell at the British Antarctic Survey and his colleagues.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2388401-emperor-penguin-colonies-lost-all-their-chicks-due-to-ice-breakup Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Chandrayaan-3 Pragyan rover rolls on to the moon New Scientist 2023-08-25 | Watch as ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-3 lowers a ramp, allowing the six-wheeled Pragyan rover, which weighs just 26 kilograms, to roll on to the lunar surface, and begin its exploration mission.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2389081-indias-chandrayaan-3-mission-starts-exploring-the-moons-south-pole Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Watch the moment Indias Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the moon New Scientist 2023-08-24 | This is the moment India's ISRO Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the moon. The mission placed the Vikram lander at a spot with water reserves, which could help make a permanent lunar base possible.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2388886-indias-chandrayaan-3-mission-has-landed-near-the-moons-south-pole Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Watch live: Indias Chandrayaan 3 attempted moon landing New Scientist 2023-08-23 | ISRO, India’s national space agency, is attempting a historic soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission near the moon's water-rich south pole, only days after Russia’s Luna 25 crashed on the lunar surface.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2388616-chandrayaan-3-livestream-watch-indias-attempted-moon-landing Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Activist swims Bristol channel dressed as a mermaid for cleaner rivers New Scientist 2023-08-21 | Lindsey Cole is an environment activist and children’s author who recently swam the UK’s Bristol channel, from Penarth in Wales to Clevedon in England, dressed as a mermaid accompanied by a giant, inflatable poo.Her feat was part of a campaign against the pollution of British waterways. “The health of the rivers in Britain has been in decline over the last decade or more,” she says, partly due to reduced funding for UK government environmental enforcement agencies. “There’s literally no boots on the ground to investigate or prosecute polluters.”Cole is also working with Conham Bathing, a group of swimmers and local residents applying for bathing status for a segment of the river Avon, whose waters end up in the Bristol channel. If successful, it would force the UK’s Environment Agency to regularly test the river for the bacteria Escherichia coli and Enterococci, both of which can cause illness. However, testing regularly is no guarantee that waters aren’t too polluted to swim in.The footage is part of a feature-length documentary Rave On for the Avon by Charlotte Sawyer, to be released this autumn.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2363389-the-uks-official-swimming-rivers-are-too-polluted-to-swim-in Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Nothing can stick to this 3D-printed slippery toilet New Scientist 2023-08-21 | Researchers in Wuhan, China have developed a 3D-printed toilet that is so slippery almost nothing can stick to it.After testing the toilet by throwing everything from synthetic faeces to honey down it, they found that none of them stuck. it remained slippery, even after rubbing the bowl’s surface with sandpaper more than a thousand times. This development could massively reduce water usage for flushing toilets.–Learn more ➤ [Delete if there’s no relevant article] Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Climate Special: An antidote for doom | New Scientist Weekly podcast 211 New Scientist 2023-08-18 | The hottest July on record, a global surge in wildfires, bleached corals and collapsed cactuses - the story of climate change feels dire right now. But before you bury your head in the sand or succumb to doom and gloom - a dose of reality and hope. In this climate special, a look at how our record-setting year fits the predictions, the incredible good news about the global energy transition and an appeal to the power of our decisions to make a difference in the future. Plus: There’s a new covid-19 variant in town - EG.5 or “Eris”. What you need to know as cases rise around the world. Why haven’t we heard from intelligent alien life yet? It might not be down to their lack of intelligence, but rather their lack of the key ingredient for technology as we know it – oxygen. And, he might be 5300 years old, but we’re still learning new things about Ötzi, Europe’s oldest known naturally preserved (and tattooed) mummy.On the pod: Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor, James Dinneen, Michael Le Page, Alexandra Thompson and Alex Wilkins. –Learn more ➤ [Delete if there’s no relevant article] Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Robotic gripper made of paper can grab both delicate and heavy things New Scientist 2023-08-16 | Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a robotic gripper, made of out of a sheet of paper cut into ribbons using a technique similar to kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting. The team found that the gripper could pick up water droplets, dandelion heads and 6.4-kilogram weights, as well as perform simple manipulation tasks, like picking grapes, unzipping zips, turning the pages of a book and folding clothes.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2387376-robotic-gripper-made-of-paper-can-grab-both-delicate-and-heavy-things Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Ambitious project aims to plant one million seagrass cuttings in Mediterranean Sea by 2050 New Scientist 2023-08-16 | A project to plant and protect up to 50 square kilometres of Posidonia oceanica seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea by 2050 is under way in Sardinia, Italy.Seagrass is renowned for its ability to capture carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests and accounts for up to 10 per cent of the ocean’s capacity to store carbon. Owing to the impacts of pollution, disease and human disturbance, seagrass meadows are in severe decline globally.“Our objective is to plant one million cuttings,” says Alessio Satta, president of MEDSEA Foundation, the environmental non-profit organisation behind the project. But planting is just one part of the effort. “We have to identify and put in place management solutions like eco-mooring or anti-trawling systems to avoid any kind of trawling impact on Posidonia,” says Satta. In Sardinia, the new cuttings are within the protected marine area of the Sinis peninsula, and to ensure their safe maturation the team also dropped 60 anti-trawl barriers onto the seafloor.Seagrass also provides a habitat for marine species and plays an important role in dissipating wave energy, protecting coastlines and coastal communities. “If there was no seagrass there, then the coastal areas would get much more damaged,” says Lucy Woodall, a marine biologist at the University of Exeter, UK, and a science team member at Extreme E, an electric-vehicle racing organisation that is a partner on the project.--Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/video/2387602-project-aims-to-grow-one-million-seagrass-plants-in-mediterranean-sea Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Another milestone toward fusion power | New Scientist Weekly podcast 210 New Scientist 2023-08-15 | Nuclear fusion, which could someday offer a low-waste source of clean power, is one step closer to becoming viable. Last year scientists managed to get more power out of a fusion reactor than they put in – a huge breakthrough for the technology. And this year they’ve done one better, squeezing even more power out of it.Plus: Ultra-processed foods are bad for us and we should avoid them at all costs – right? Well, it’s actually not as clear-cut as that. The foods may actually form a much more important part of healthy diets than we release. There’s a lot that’s “unknome” about the human genome. More than 20 years since we discovered humans have just 20,000 different genes, we still don’t have a clue what thousands of them even do. A project is now finally looking at the proteins that science forgot.We’re getting 70s space race vibes. Russia has launched its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years – just behind India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which entered lunar orbit earlier this week. With both heading to the moon’s south pole, who’s going to get there first?Plus: a potential vaccine for the virus that causes mononucleosis – often called “the kissing disease” – and is linked to multiple sclerosis; whether robots are better than humans at the very CAPTCHA tests designed to block robots; and the slightly gross treasure hiding in 200-million-year-old fossilised poop.On the pod are Timothy Revell, Chelsea Whyte, Grace Wade, Matt Sparkes, Michael Le Page and Leah Crane.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Wonky shapes can be made to roll along a specific path of your choice New Scientist 2023-08-11 | Wonky spheres can be sculpted to roll eternally downhill along any possible path using a computer algorithm, as long as the path repeats. These objects, called trajectoids, and the paths they trace could be used to design robots that follow particular routes or to model quantum computer bits, called qubits, changing through time.Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2386806Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Pod author, Laline Paull: I was terrified to take this novel on New Scientist 2023-08-11 | The Pod author on telling a story from the perspective of a dolphin, writing a scene she pondered calling "oceanic sex rave", and why we should all care more about the treatment of our oceansNew Scientist’s book club is reading Laline Paull's heartbreaking book Pod which centres on a dolphin, Ea, who leaves her pod of spinner dolphins and ventures out into the polluted, dangerous ocean.You can sign up for New Scientist's BookClub here: www.newscientist.com/bookclub for free.-- Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Watch live: Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight is about to launch New Scientist 2023-08-11 | Galactic-02, Virgin Galactic’s first mission to carry paying civilian customers to space, is scheduled to launch from New Mexico on 10 August–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2386827-virgin-galactics-first-space-tourism-flight-is-about-to-launch Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
This AI trick could make people’s hair in video games look more realistic New Scientist 2023-08-10 | For decades, hair in video games and animated movies has looked unnatural because of the complexity of modelling its movement. Now researchers have come up with a way to make hair look natural by using a type of artificial intelligence called a neural network.The system takes smartphone photos of someone’s hair from multiple angles while they are stood still. The images are then processed in two stages. The first stage scans everything to identify where the head, shoulders and hair are, providing a rough outline.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/article/2386106-ai-trick-could-make-peoples-hair-in-video-games-look-more-realisticSubscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Alice Roberts interviewed by a 10-year-old about her children’s novel, Wolf Road New Scientist 2023-08-09 | Academic, broadcaster and author Alice Roberts has just published the children’s novel, Wolf Road. Set during the Ice Age, 30,000 years ago, it follows the story of Tuuli, a prehistoric girl on a journey to her summer camp who meets a strange boy on the way.As this is Alice’s first children’s novel, New Scientist decided that the best person to quiz her about it was culture editor Alison Flood’s 10-year-old daughter Jenny, a big reader. Jenny asked Alice all the most important questions, including if people would really have made pets of wolf cubs, how Alice knows what life was like for people 30,000 years ago, and if she would rather live then or now.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/video/2386449-alice-roberts-archaeology-can-create-a-world-for-stories-to-unfold-in Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Watch small fish hide behind other bigger fish to sneak up on its prey New Scientist 2023-08-08 | The small predatory West Atlantic trumpetfish swims close by to the much larger herbivorous stoplight parrotfish to get near its prey–Learn more ➤newscientist.com/article/2386382-small-fish-hides-behind-other-bigger-fish-to-sneak-up-on-its-prey Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Alice Roberts: Archaeology can create a world for stories to unfold in New Scientist 2023-08-07 | Alice Roberts has a lot on her plate: she is a biological anthropologist, an author and a broadcaster, as well as professor of public engagement in science at the University of Birmingham, UK. But she has also found time to write her first children’s book, Wolf Road. Set during the ice age 30,000 years ago, it follows the story of Tuuli, a prehistoric girl on a journey to her tribe’s summer camp who meets a strange boy on the way.Roberts joins New Scientist culture editor Alison Flood to talk about how she found writing fiction, the research she did for the novel and why she thinks it is important for children to know more about their past. “I wanted to write about the ice age,” she says. “I wanted to immerse people in that kind of ancient environment, in that ancient time, and use archaeology to build a world that then a story could unfold in.”– Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Surprise superconductor claims put to the test | New Scientist Weekly podcast 209 New Scientist 2023-08-06 | The saga of the room-temperature superconductor continues. The creators of a new material called LK-99 maintain that it perfectly conducts electricity at room temperature and pressure and so other scientists are racing to try to test it for themselves. If the findings are true it would be transformative to science and technology. It’s not just researchers, however, who are testing the material, citizen scientists are also trying to create it at home. Early results are now in.There’s a plan to pump millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the seafloor off Canada’s west coast, but some worry that this could trigger earthquakes. A new study works out just how likely that would be.Earth to Voyager, this is NASA – do you copy? NASA has lost contact with the Voyager 2 space probe but all is not lost. The team discusses the future of the mission, as well as that the Euclid space telescope has just come online and started sending back its first images.A blood test for Alzheimer’s has gone on sale that may indicate your risk of developing the disease before symptoms show. But how accurate is the test? And if you find out you’re at risk, is there anything you can do about it? Plus: How the foundations of your house could store energy, how the Maillard reaction – responsible for the deliciousness of toast – can happen on the ocean floor, and the discovery of the world’s oldest jellyfish fossil.Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss all of this with guests Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Clare Wilson, Leah Crane and James Dinneen.–Learn more ➤ newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Drone mother ship can release mini-drone swarms for use in search and rescue New Scientist 2023-08-04 | The MorphoLander is a hybrid drone that can fly over, land on and walk across rough terrain before launching tiny drones from its back could be useful for search-and-rescue operations.–Learn more ➤ wpadmin.prod.nsdev.net/article/2384901-drone-mother-ship-could-release-mini-drone-swarm-for-search-and-rescue Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
Artificial spider silk could help us harvest drinking water from air New Scientist 2023-08-03 | Artificial fibres that can collect water from the air much like spider silk gathers dew could be used for large-scale water collection from fog.Yongmei Zheng at Beihang University in China and her colleagues have designed artificial microfibre threads covered in spiral-shaped bumps that can maintain their water collection abilities because they can self-repair.To make the bumps, a plastic microfibre is first coated with a layer of hydrophilic titanium dioxide, which creates bulges in the fibre much as a trickle of water breaks up into individual droplets rather than creating a constant stream. The researchers then used a high temperature to crack the bumps into a helical shape.The helix creates a larger surface area for a water droplet to attach to and forms stronger bonds with it, which means each bump can carry 2000 times more water than the volume of the bump itself.Journal reference: doi/10.1002/adfm.202305244–Learn more ➤ www.newscientist.com/article/2384658-artificial-spider-silk-could-help-us-harvest-drinking-water-from-air Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
How to understand the superconductor ‘breakthrough’ | New Scientist Weekly podcast 208 New Scientist 2023-08-02 | Controversial claims of a superconductor that works at room temperature and pressure have ignited heated discussion this week. Such a finding would be revolutionary, with implications for transport, medical science and even nuclear fusion. But is it too early to celebrate this new discovery?Plus: Better and cheaper treatments for everything from sickle cell disease to ageing should come as a result of a new technique for delivering mRNA to blood stem cells. Scientists are scrambling to save coral in the Florida Keys, where record sea temperatures are threatening the entire ecosystem. Ever wondered what a star’s twinkle sounds like? Astronomer Evan Anders has developed a new way of modelling the movement of gases inside stars, giving us a glimpse (with our ears) at how they are built on the inside, how they spend their lives and evolve. And: most of us are heavy-handed when it comes to estimating the weight of our… hands, something researchers have struggled to put their finger on. The strange phenomenon, where we misjudge the weight of our own body parts, could have an evolutionary explanation.On the pod are: Christie Taylor, Sam Wong, Michael Le Page, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Sofia Quaglia and Jason Murugesu.–Learn more ➤newscientist.com/podcasts Subscribe ➤ bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist:Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHPFacebook: bit.ly/NSYTFBTwitter: bit.ly/NSYTTWInstagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTALinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist:New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientistnewscientist.com
