The Stargate Project aims to build huge data centres for AI development – but the details remain murky, and it is still unclear exactly how this might impact the energy future of the US ⌘ Read more
The Stargate Project aims to build huge data centres for AI development – but the details remain murky, and it is still unclear exactly how this might impact the energy future of the US ⌘ Read more
Many think dinosaurs first emerged on land well south of the equator that now forms part of Argentina and Zimbabwe, but they may have actually arisen in tougher conditions near the equator ⌘ Read more
More than 130 years after a fungus-eating orchid species was discovered, the purpose of its mysterious appendage has been revealed ⌘ Read more
The shock discovery that metallic nodules could be producing oxygen in the deep sea made headlines last year – now the team behind it is launching a new project to confirm and explain the findings ⌘ Read more
We often obsess about nighttime routines for good sleep, but mounting evidence shows that what we do during our waking hours is also important – a more holistic view that could ease the modern pressure to create a perfect environment for when our heads hit the pillow ⌘ Read more
When their quantum properties are precisely controlled, some ultracold atoms can resist the laws of physics that suggest everything tends towards disorder ⌘ Read more
We all know the tired old advice about how to get the best night's rest, but it can be hard to follow in the real world. A more personalised and holistic approach could help ⌘ Read more
People seem to assume that expensive branded drugs will be less likely to cause them harm than their generic counterparts, which manifests via the "nocebo effect" ⌘ Read more
When it comes to sending humans back to the moon, knowing how to work with the regolith that coats the ground will be make-or-break. Phil Metzger is studying how to mitigate its dangers and use it as a crucial resource ⌘ Read more
The world’s largest economy and second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases will withdraw from the global climate pact, disrupting efforts to tackle climate change ⌘ Read more
The US contributes around a fifth of the budget for the World Health Organization – its withdrawal from the public health body will impede efforts to control the global spread of diseases and could put the US at risk ⌘ Read more
It is possible to speed up how quickly you get over jet lag – but calculating the right way to do it based on flight times, time zones and light exposure can be tricky ⌘ Read more
James Temple was "in the right place at the right time" to take these dramatic images of SpaceX's Starship's seventh flight test disintegrating above the Atlantic Ocean ⌘ Read more
Observations of WASP-127b, a giant gas exoplanet more than 500 light years from Earth, suggest it has phenomenally high wind speeds ⌘ Read more
Adding rows of upright panels on farmland generates green power in the morning and evening while acting as a windbreak for crops ⌘ Read more
If you've missed out on sleep, it is possible to catch up. But is it better to try to do it all in one go or spread out over time – and is it really so bad to sleep in at the weekend? ⌘ Read more
Physicists have created a 3D shape called the cosmohedron, which can be used to reconstruct the quantum wavefunction of the universe - and potentially do away with the idea of space-time as the underlying fabric of the universe ⌘ Read more
After a close look with a powerful radio telescope, astronomers are still puzzled by a pair of objects with strange characteristics first spotted in 2021 ⌘ Read more
A man with paralysis was able to fly a virtual drone through a complex obstacle course simply by thinking about moving his fingers, with signals being interpreted by an AI model ⌘ Read more
The benefits of taking GLP-1 agonists seem to outweigh the risks, at least when taken for approved uses, according to an assessment of how the drugs impact 175 conditions ⌘ Read more
Urine is rich in nitrogen, which is important for plant growth, and now scientists have found an efficient way of utilising this to make human wastewater into fertiliser ⌘ Read more
Is 8 hours of sleep really the right amount for you? Understanding your personal chronotype could be a better way to approach how much time you should spend in bed ⌘ Read more
Countries like the UK, Spain and Italy rely on gas to step in when renewables can’t produce power, leading to higher energy prices – but a more flexible system could avoid this ⌘ Read more
The soft metal bismuth may be a wonder material for electronics – particularly because of one surprising behaviour it displays when exposed to magnetic fields ⌘ Read more
The gut microbiome has tremendous potential for helping us treat, or even prevent, many different conditions - but first, we need to understand it better ⌘ Read more
Sleeping a solid 8 hours isn't the whole story and the quality of your sleep might matter more. But what does sleep quality mean and how can we measure it? ⌘ Read more
A fire at Vistra Energy's Moss Landing battery storage facility in California destroyed thousands of lithium batteries – and a significant amount of the state's clean energy storage capacity ⌘ Read more
Global average precipitation in 2024 may have broken the previous record set in 1998, as rising temperatures boosted the amount of moisture in the atmosphere ⌘ Read more
Now that the US Supreme Court has decided that a law banning TikTok is constitutional, the platform is set to shut down in the US on 19 January – but Trump could still save it ⌘ Read more
ELIZA is famous as a rudimentary artificial intelligence and the first ever chatbot, but versions found online today are actually knock-offs because the original computer code was lost – until now ⌘ Read more
Blue Origin and SpaceX both launched rockets on 16 January, but while Jeff Bezos' company saw a launch success with New Glenn, Elon Musk's Starship exploded. What does this mean for the future of the space industry? ⌘ Read more
The animals' teeth are constantly being worn down due to their tough diet. But rather than losing calcium this way, they could be recycling it to help grow their teeth back up to size ⌘ Read more
Trained pianists who hit a plateau improved their finger speed after a half-hour training session with a device that moves their fingers for them ⌘ Read more
Researchers saw a chain of atoms in a quantum simulator go from being magnetic to not magnetic at all, the first time such a change has ever been seen in one spatial dimension ⌘ Read more
In the opening to Adrian Tchaikovsky's science fiction novel Alien Clay, the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, our hero wakes from years of space travel to a terrifying new reality ⌘ Read more
The author of the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club on the science that lies behind his novel Alien Clay, set on a prison planet where the biology is very different to that on Earth ⌘ Read more
Wildfires and fossil fuel burning in 2024 contributed to the biggest annual rise in atmospheric CO2 levels ever recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii ⌘ Read more
As apparent acts of sabotage cut undersea data cables around the world, NATO held its first demonstration of a project to quickly reroute crucial communications to satellite internet ⌘ Read more
By using MRI brain scans to identify regions linked to hand movements and sensations, researchers were able to restore a sense of touch to two people with paralysis – and one was able to control and feel a robot arm using his thoughts ⌘ Read more
Droughts lasting multiple years are becoming more common and extreme around the globe, expanding by about 50,000 square kilometres annually ⌘ Read more
A reader is worried about socialising without the confidence boost she gets from alcohol. But studies show that the chemical isn’t necessary for easing our social inhibitions, our columnist David Robson advises ⌘ Read more
After delays and false starts, Jeff Bezos's firm Blue Origin has reached orbit with its first launch of the New Glenn rocket, though attempts to land the first stage at sea were unsuccessful ⌘ Read more
An AI trained on motion capture recordings can help robots smoothly imitate human actions, such as dancing, walking and throwing punches ⌘ Read more
Rebutting the serotonin theory of depression exposed an important gap in our knowledge. But Joanna Moncrieff's new book Chemically Imbalanced takes too narrow a view of how we should react ⌘ Read more
Neolithic people buried hundreds of stones carved with images of the sun about 4900 years ago and they may have done it because a volcanic eruption covered the sky ⌘ Read more
The shipping industry is planning to swap some fossil fuels for green ammonia – but that could create a major new source of nitrogen pollution ⌘ Read more
A series of events, from the California wildfires to evidence we passed 1.5 degrees last year, suggests wild weather will become even more common ⌘ Read more
The Chinese social media apps Red Note and Lemon8 have become popular alternatives for TikTok users ahead of a US government ban on TikTok. But government restrictions loom over those apps too ⌘ Read more
Middle-aged mice fed golden oyster mushrooms had healthier hearts, suggesting an antioxidant in the fungi protects against the effects of ageing ⌘ Read more
A newly discovered neutron star is behaving so strangely that it may alter our understanding of the dense remains left behind when stellar objects die ⌘ Read more
Obesity is typically assessed by measuring someone's body mass index, but now researchers are calling for a more nuanced approach that could help with treatment ⌘ Read more
A huge number of ultracold atoms have been corralled into a grid that could form the basis of the next largest quantum computer ⌘ Read more
A range of brainwave-reading devices and other gadgets aim to monitor our nervous systems and intervene to improve our well-being. Do they work? ⌘ Read more
Two companies, Firefly Aerospace and ispace, are aiming to make the second and third successful private landings on the moon - and both are launching on the same Falcon 9 rocket ⌘ Read more
A marine crustacean that looks like Darth Vader’s helmet has been recognised as a new species, but it could be under threat from trawling due to its popularity in Vietnamese restaurants ⌘ Read more
Last year, Meta allowed thousands of paid ads containing sexually explicit imagery on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram ⌘ Read more
The tattoos of 1200-year-old mummies from Peru can now be seen in exquisite detail, showing fine markings that may have been made with cactus needles or animal bones ⌘ Read more
A new analysis of marsquakes measured by NASA’s InSight lander indicates Mars has a solid inner core – but other researchers say the evidence is thin ⌘ Read more
Suzie Imber is a co-investigator for the BepiColombo mission, currently on its way to Mercury. She explains how it will cast new light on the planet's many oddities, from its massive core to its epic solar storms ⌘ Read more
Regular pulses of X-ray radiation emanating from a supermassive black hole could be explained by a white dwarf star on the verge of falling in ⌘ Read more
Trees dating back almost 6000 years ago have come to scientists' attention due to ice melting in the Rocky Mountains, offering a "time capsule" into the past ⌘ Read more
A new technique involving lasers can measure long distances more precisely than ever, which could be useful for space telescopes ⌘ Read more
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) should be visible from the southern hemisphere, and possibly also the northern hemisphere, over the next few days ⌘ Read more
A more detailed understanding of the natural anti-insect protections of tomato plants can lead to better pest-management strategies ⌘ Read more
Insulin-producing cells injected into a man with type 1 diabetes have survived for a month so far without the need for immune suppression ⌘ Read more
The microscope cost less than £50 to build using an open-source design and a common 3D printer ⌘ Read more
The classic Italian cacio e pepe pasta is notoriously tricky to get right, but physicists have come up with a trick to achieve a perfectly smooth cheese sauce ⌘ Read more
Earthquakes that occurred near an oil extraction site in Surrey, UK, in 2018 and 2019 had been put down to coincidence, but a new analysis with an updated look at the geology of the area suggests the seismic events may indeed have been linked to drilling ⌘ Read more
After months of delay, the cool La Niña climate pattern has emerged in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which increases the risk of drought in parts of the Americas ⌘ Read more
It turns out that the cartilage inside your ears and nose is different from that found elsewhere in the body, with a fatty structure that makes it look like bubble wrap, and this long-overlooked tissue could prove useful in certain surgeries ⌘ Read more
Sabre teeth can be ideal for puncturing the flesh of prey, which may explain why they evolved in different groups of mammals at least five times ⌘ Read more
The United Nations has 17 sustainable development goals that all member states have signed up to in an effort to balance economics and the environment - and now researchers say we need a new one to ensure we keep space junk under control ⌘ Read more
The extent to which parents feel disgust appears to come and go, which could be important for their children's health ⌘ Read more
The BepiColombo spacecraft is due to start orbiting Mercury next year, but a recent flyby has captured breathtaking images of its pockmarked surface ⌘ Read more
A tiny quantum “refrigerator” can ensure that a quantum computer’s calculations start off error-free – without requiring oversight or even new hardware ⌘ Read more
Fast-moving wildfires are burning long after the regular fire season is over due to an unlikely sequence of extreme weather events that may have been exacerbated by climate change ⌘ Read more
A team of scientists claims that the risk of common conditions like heart disease could be slashed by editing people's genomes at the embryo stage - but other biologists strongly disagree ⌘ Read more
Every fundamental particle in the universe fits into one of two groups called fermions and bosons, but now it seems there could be other particles out there that break this simple classification and were once thought to be impossible ⌘ Read more
Two species of marine molluscs dating back about 430 million years have been named Punk and Emo for their outlandish spiky appearance ⌘ Read more
A common sleep medication prevents mice from effectively clearing away waste and toxins from their brain during sleep ⌘ Read more
For decades, we studied only a tiny number of Antarctica's emperor penguins. Now robots and satellites are revealing surprising secrets about how they live ⌘ Read more
Jeff Bezos’s space company is about to launch New Glenn, a reusable rocket intended to rival SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, for the first time ⌘ Read more
Adding just a little medical misinformation to an AI model’s training data increases the chances that chatbots will spew harmful false content about vaccines and other topics ⌘ Read more
Social media companies have long struggled with moderating the behaviour of billions of users, and now it seems they are finally giving up policing their platforms in favour of a crowdsourced approach – but will it work? ⌘ Read more
We have long suspected that music has restorative qualities, but Daniel Levitin is now providing rigorous evidence that it can help treat many conditions, including depression, speech loss and Alzheimer's ⌘ Read more
Whether AI can assist in cancer detection has been subject to much debate, but now a real-world test with almost 200 radiologists shows that the technology can improve success rates ⌘ Read more
Male flies have been genetically engineered to produce poisonous proteins in their seminal fluid, a technique that could be employed against pests and disease carriers ⌘ Read more
A person in Louisiana who became severely ill with a bird flu virus known as H5N1 in December has passed away from the infection, marking the first known bird flu death in the US ⌘ Read more
Wastewater treatment plants in the US may discharge enough “forever chemicals” to raise concentrations in drinking water above the safe limit for millions of people ⌘ Read more
Lead records from Arctic glaciers indicate that people all over Europe would have been affected by pollution from metal smelting during the Roman era ⌘ Read more
Throat vibrations made by people who find it difficult to speak, such as after a stroke, can be analysed by AI and used to create sentences ⌘ Read more
Simulations suggest Pluto and its largest moon may have gently stuck together for a few hours before Charon settled into a stable orbit around the dwarf planet ⌘ Read more
A velvet ant sting is like “hot oil spilling over your hand” – now, scientists have identified molecules in its venom that let it deliver excruciating pain to a variety of other animals ⌘ Read more
The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics invokes alternative realities to keep everything in balance. Has solving a century-old paradox now undermined their existence? ⌘ Read more
From Cory Doctorow to Nnedi Okorafor and from fancy space opera to elegantly written visions of a flooded future world, there is plenty of great science fiction published this month ⌘ Read more
Deep sediments under Arctic lakes could release large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, adding to the threat of runaway climate change ⌘ Read more
Smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines rely on environmentally destructive rare earth mining operations. Harnessing electric fields could make this mining more sustainable ⌘ Read more
Countries have pledged to phase out HFC-23, a powerful greenhouse gas, but atmospheric data shows that emissions are five times higher than governments are reporting ⌘ Read more
Teenagers in the US roughly doubled their use of nicotine pouches in 2024, despite turning away from alcohol and other drugs ⌘ Read more
A quantum sensor based on a protein from bioluminescent jellyfish can be made by the body itself and it may be able to help us track how cells form or detect disease at an early stage ⌘ Read more