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The F-35 Is the Past: Air Force
The F-35 Is the Past: Air Force's 6th-Generation Fighter Will Be a Everything

Armed with lasers and hypersonic missiles?

Renewables overtake hydrocarbons in UK electricity generation: study
Renewables overtake hydrocarbons in UK electricity generation: study

Renewable sources generated more of Britain's electricity than fossil fuels for the first time last quarter, according to analysis by specialist website "Carbon Brief" published Monday. "In the third quarter of 2019, the UK's windfarms, solar panels, biomass and hydro plants generated more electricity than the combined output from power stations fired by coal, oil and gas," said the website. "During the three months of July, August and September, renewables generated an estimated total of 29.5 terawatt hours (TWh), compared with just 29.1TWh from fossil fuels," it added.

Air pollution linked to
Air pollution linked to 'missed' miscarriages in China: study

Exposure to airborne pollutants increases the risk of "missed" miscarriages in which a fetus dies without a pregnant woman experiencing any noticeable symptoms, researchers said Monday. Previous studies have shown a correlation between air pollution and pregnancy complications, but the new research -- published in Nature Sustainability journal by a team of researchers from Chinese universities -- sheds light on a little-studied impact of pollution. The study found that exposure to higher concentrations of airborne particulate matter, as well as sulfur dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide, was associated with a higher risk of missed miscarriage in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Study proposes greater emphasis on dangers of alcohol in overdose prevention campaigns
Study proposes greater emphasis on dangers of alcohol in overdose prevention campaigns

A new American study suggests that ingesting large quantities of alcohol often leads to the intake of other psychotropic substances such as cannabis and opioids, also pointing out that mixing alcohol with drugs amplifies the risks of severe accidents and death. Since the start of the opioid crisis sweeping across the United States, a large part of national harm-reduction campaigns have been focusing on medication and other illicit drugs that are part of the opiates category (fentanyl, morphine, heroin, etc). According to University of Michigan Addiction Center researchers, there is one drug -- one that is perfectly legal and extremely popular -- that should occupy more space at the...

Allen Institute kicks brain wave recording into overdrive with Neuropixels probe
Allen Institute kicks brain wave recording into overdrive with Neuropixels probe

Seattle's Allen Institute for Brain Science is sharing 70 trillion bytes' worth of data documenting electrical activity in mouse brains, collected by a new type of silicon probe that can monitor hundreds of neurons simultaneously. The Neuropixels system, developed by an international collaboration that includes the Allen Institute, could be adapted to record brain activity in human patients as well, said Josh Siegle, a senior scientist at the institute who works with the probes. "The application I'm most interested in is decoding the communication patterns of the brain, and really understanding how information is transmitted between regions," Siegle told GeekWire.… Read More

Study: China
Study: China's Military Domination over Asia is Not Guaranteed

A study published several years ago by Michael Beckley, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tufts University, was published in the academic journal International Security. In the article, Beckley argues that China's neighbors could thwart Chinese military aggression through anti-access/area denial strategies with only minimal U.S. assistance.

Did Chinese Scientists Just Create a New Material to Build
Did Chinese Scientists Just Create a New Material to Build 'Super' Stealth Fighters?

Doesn't seem like it.

Who Would Firebomb a Homeless Encampment?
Who Would Firebomb a Homeless Encampment?

LOS ANGELES -- The incendiary device came shooting toward the homeless encampment without words or warning. Arthur Garza, 29, heard a pop against his tent, then saw the object, which he described as a "mortar" or "firecracker," bounce into the street and explode."It was like shooting stars everywhere," Garza said.In a matter of minutes, flames were climbing the incline of dirt and brush under the interchange of the 2 and 134 freeways in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles. Stray embers jumped eight lanes of highway to ignite land in the adjoining city of Glendale.Garza and others in the encampment acted quickly, setting their water supply on the flames and raking brush...

Airline Food Waste Is a Problem. Can Banana Leaves Be Part of the Solution?
Airline Food Waste Is a Problem. Can Banana Leaves Be Part of the Solution?

From disposable headphones and plastic cutlery to food scraps and toilet waste, the average airline passenger leaves behind over 3 pounds of garbage, according to one estimate. To get travelers and airlines thinking -- and talking -- about that rather large pile of trash, a British design firm has refashioned the economy meal tray, replacing plastic with renewable materials such as coffee grounds, banana leaves and coconut wood.Jo Rowan is the associate strategy director of the firm, PriestmanGoode, which has spent more than two decades applying design thinking to the air travel experience, including airport lounges and cabin seating.Now, she said, the firm is turning its attention to the...

New evidence shows how asteroid dust cloud may have sparked new life on Earth 470m years ago
New evidence shows how asteroid dust cloud may have sparked new life on Earth 470m years ago

Isotope found in seabed sediment points to clash of solar bodies near Mars, study suggests. Astronomers have discovered intriguing evidence that an asteroid break-up blanketed Earth with dust millions of years ago. The event dramatically cooled the planet and triggered an ice age that was followed by major increases in numbers of new animal species. The work, led by Birger Schmitz of Lund University in Sweden, was recently published in Science Advances and provides new insight into the impact of interplanetary events on our planet's evolution. "We know about the 10km asteroid that crashed on Earth 67 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs, but this event was very different,"...

NASA confirms Boeing
NASA confirms Boeing's latest timetable for Starliner space taxi's final tests

NASA confirmed today that Boeing is scheduled to conduct the next high-profile test of its CST-100 Starliner space capsule in a little more than three weeks. The target data for Starliner's pad abort test is set for Nov. 4 at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, NASA said. That's in line with the plan that Boeing executive John Mulholland laid out earlier this week at a New Mexico space symposium. If next month's test is successful, Boeing would target Dec. 17 for the launch of an uncrewed Starliner to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station… Read More

Stratolaunch air-launch venture says it
Stratolaunch air-launch venture says it's been transferred to new owners by Paul Allen's Vulcan

Stratolaunch, the company that was founded by the late Seattle billionaire Paul Allen in 2011 to build a flying launch pad for rockets, says it's under new ownership. The transition serves as the latest sign that Jody Allen - Paul Allen's sister, who took control of his Vulcan Inc. holding company as the trustee and executor of his estate - is paring back and refocusing his many enterprises. Earlier this week, word spread that Vulcan was trimming a significant number of jobs. Stratolaunch reported the ownership handover today on Twitter and its website, without saying who the new owner is.… Read More

Being overweight before age 40 could increase your risk of cancer finds new study
Being overweight before age 40 could increase your risk of cancer finds new study

New European research has found that being overweight before the age of 40 could increase the risk of various cancers in both men and women. The researchers looked at data collected from the participants' health examinations, which included information on their height and weight, and linked it to data taken from national cancer registries. On average, the participants were followed for about 18 years, during which time 27,881 individuals were diagnosed with cancer, of which 9,761 (35 percent) were obesity-related.

Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg's fans are upset she didn't win the Nobel Prize, but a peace expert says she should have never been a contender

Greta Thunberg was nominated for a Nobel Peace prize after leading strikes that push leaders to address climate change. Here's why she didn't win.

Women may be under-diagnosed for Alzheimer
Women may be under-diagnosed for Alzheimer's, while men over-diagnosed, new study suggests

Women often perform better on verbal tests. So when they're used to diagnose cognitive declines that precede Alzheimer's, women may be under-diagnosed

Museum explores spooky science behind
Museum explores spooky science behind 'Frankenstein', 'The Mummy'

What is the spookiest thing about "Frankenstein," "The Mummy" and "Dracula"? Or the fact that these classic horror films were all rooted in real-life scientific experiments and discoveries? The "Natural History of Horror" -- opening Thursday, as Halloween looms -- displays the cloth wrappings used to mummify Boris Karloff in the 1932 classic movie alongside real ancient Egyptian corpse bindings from the museum's archeology collection.

'Koala AIDS' research reveals genome evolution in action

Wild koalas sickened by a deadly retrovirus are fighting the disease at the genetic level, scientists said Thursday, a rare evolutionary process unfolding before our eyes. It is linked to Koala Immune Deficiency Syndrome (KIDS), which is similar to but less potent than AIDS in humans, and makes the animals susceptible to fatal cancers and secondary infections like chlamydia that renders them infertile. Retroviruses work by inserting their genome into a host genome, but unlike HIV, KoRV-A also enters the animal's germ cells that produce sperm and eggs, meaning it gets passed down through generations.

Artificial meat is now made in space, coming to a supermarket near you
Artificial meat is now made in space, coming to a supermarket near you

Creating meat from cells is no longer the realm of science fiction: a Russian cosmonaut did it aboard the International Space Station, and it is just a matter of time before these products arrive in supermarkets. Tests carried out in space in September led to the production of beef, rabbit and fish tissue using a 3D printer. This new technology "could make long-term travel possible and renew space exploration," to Mars for example, said Didier Toubia, the head of the Israeli startup Aleph Farms, which provided cells for the tests.

NASA
NASA's chief and SpaceX's Elon Musk mend fences - and give 'best guess' for Crew Dragon's big flight

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited SpaceX's headquarters in California today, for what was seen as an opportunity to smooth over differences and update expectations for SpaceX's first-ever crewed spaceflight. Over the past few years, the first flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts aboard has been repeatedly rescheduled, leading to moments of frustration for Bridenstine. But after meeting with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and others at the company's facilities in Hawthorne, Calif., the NASA chief suggested the goal was in sight. "If everything goes according to plan, it will be in the first quarter… Read More

The U.S. Air Force Has Begun Prototyping Its F-35 Stealth Fighter Replacement
The U.S. Air Force Has Begun Prototyping Its F-35 Stealth Fighter Replacement

Will it change warfare?

Climate Change Is Shaping Up As an Utter Disaster for Much of America
Climate Change Is Shaping Up As an Utter Disaster for Much of America's Bird Life

Two thirds of American bird species are at risk, according to a new report

'Bird emergency': Climate change threatening two-thirds of species in U.S. with extinction, report says

Climate change is creating a 'frightening future' for America's birds: Nearly two-thirds are at risk for extinction, National Audubon Society says.

A NASA image shows the center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail. Expect far more revealing photos from a soon-to-launch telescope.
A NASA image shows the center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail. Expect far more revealing photos from a soon-to-launch telescope.

NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will bring "the highest quality image ever obtained of the galactic center," one researcher said.

New study links air pollution to hair loss
New study links air pollution to hair loss

New research has uncovered another negative effect of air pollution on our health, finding that exposure to common air pollutants could cause hair loss. The researchers exposed the cells to a type of PM known as PM10, which are particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers or smaller.

Scientists Designed a Drug for Just One Patient. Her Name Is Mila
Scientists Designed a Drug for Just One Patient. Her Name Is Mila

A new drug, created to treat just one patient, has pushed the bounds of personalized medicine and has raised unexplored regulatory and ethical questions, scientists reported Wednesday.The drug, described in the New England Journal of Medicine, is believed to be the first "custom" treatment for a genetic disease. It is called milasen, named after the only patient who will ever take it: Mila (mee-lah) Makovec, who lives with her mother, Julia Vitarello, in Longmont, Colorado.Mila, 8, has a rapidly progressing neurological disorder that is fatal. Her symptoms started at age 3. Within a few years, she had gone from an agile, talkative child to one who was blind and unable to stand...

Even light smoking can still cause long-term lung damage, new study finds
Even light smoking can still cause long-term lung damage, new study finds

New US research has found that smoking even just five cigarettes a day or less is enough to cause long-term damage to lungs. Led by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the new study looked at 25,352 participants age 17 to 93 years who were a mix of smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers. Thanks to using such a large study sample, the researchers were able to see differences in lung function among light smokers (defined as 5 or less cigarettes per day) and heavy smokers (30 or more cigarettes per day) which other studies have been unable to detect.

Humans will not
Humans will not 'migrate' to other planets, Nobel winner says

Humans will never migrate to a planet outside of Earth's solar system because it would take far too long to get there, Swiss Nobel laureate Michel Mayor said Wednesday. Mayor and his colleague Didier Queloz were on Tuesday awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their research refining techniques to detect so-called exoplanets. "If we are talking about exoplanets, things should be clear: we will not migrate there," Mayor told AFP near Madrid on the sidelines of a conference when asked about the possibility of humans moving to other planets.

As Sea Levels Rise, So Do Ghost Forests
As Sea Levels Rise, So Do Ghost Forests

Up and down the mid-Atlantic coast, sea levels are rising rapidly, creating stands of dead trees -- often bleached, sometimes blackened -- known as ghost forests.The water is gaining as much as 5 millimeters per year in some places, well above the global average of 3.1 millimeters, driven by profound environmental shifts that include climate change.Increasingly powerful storms, a consequence of a warming world, push seawater inland. More intense dry spells reduce freshwater flowing outward. Adding to the peril, in some places the land is naturally sinking.All of this allows seawater to claim new territory, killing trees from the roots up.Rising seas often conjure the threat to faraway,...

Back from the dead: Some corals regrow after
Back from the dead: Some corals regrow after 'fatal' warming

For the first time ever, scientists have found corals that were thought to have been killed by heat stress have recovered, a glimmer of hope for the world's climate change-threatened reefs. The chance discovery, made by Diego K. Kersting from the Freie University of Berlin and the University of Barcelona during diving expeditions in the Spanish Mediterranean, was reported in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday. Kersting and co-author Cristina Linares have been carrying out long-term monitoring of 243 colonies of the endangered reef-builder coral Cladocora caespitosa since 2002, allowing them to describe in previous papers recurring warming-related mass mortalities.

Top DJ Fatboy Slim pays homage to
Top DJ Fatboy Slim pays homage to 'right now' Greta Thunberg

British superstar DJ Fatboy Slim paid tribute to teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg by performing a remix of his hit song "Right Here, Right Now", using samples from her dramatic UN speech. The 56-year-old artist played the mash-up, made by South African electronic artist David Scott, at a show in Gateshead, northeast England, last Friday, with a video clip of the performance recently going viral on social media. The remix samples Thunberg's demands for action against climate change in her fiery speech at the United Nations last month to be taken "right here, right now", using it during each refrain of the song's title.

Before Nobels: Gifts to and From Rich Patrons Were Early Science
Before Nobels: Gifts to and From Rich Patrons Were Early Science's Currency

Collaborative scientific societies, beginning in the mid-17th century, distanced rewards from the whims and demands of individual patrons.

20 new moons were discovered around Saturn
20 new moons were discovered around Saturn

The new discovery increases the moons orbiting the "jewel of our solar system" to 82, surpassing Jupiter

The Russian Navy Wants Tiny, Stealth Commando Submarines
The Russian Navy Wants Tiny, Stealth Commando Submarines

The Russian Navy may be getting small, hard to detect submarines for landing frogmen.

China Is Trying to Use Lasers and Magnets to
China Is Trying to Use Lasers and Magnets to 'Unstealth' U.S. Navy Submarines

Scientists at a Chinese research institute say they developed an airborne laser that might eventually detect hostile subs even at great depths. And that is just for starters.

Astronauts just printed meat in space for the first time - and it could change the way we grow food on Earth
Astronauts just printed meat in space for the first time - and it could change the way we grow food on Earth

A spacecraft with vials of cow cells landed at the International Space Station in September. From there, cosmonauts fed the vials into a 3D printer.

Once nearly extinct, songbird coming off endangered list
Once nearly extinct, songbird coming off endangered list

The federal government said Tuesday it will remove the Kirtland's warbler from its list of protected species, finding the small, yellow-bellied songbird had recovered more than half a century after being designated as endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service credited teamwork among numerous agencies and nonprofit groups with the survival of the warbler, which had fallen victim to its own picky habitat demands and competition from the predatory brown-headed cowbird. "We've transitioned from bringing this species out of the emergency room to providing it with long-term stability," said Dan Kennedy, endangered species coordinator with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Boeing to invest $20M in Virgin Galactic, marking a milestone team-up in commercial space
Boeing to invest $20M in Virgin Galactic, marking a milestone team-up in commercial space

Boeing says it's planning to invest $20 million in Virgin Galactic once it goes public, potentially unlocking a new level of synergy for commercial space travel. For Virgin Galactic, the deal will provide an extra dose of cash - but also access to Boeing's decades of expertise in providing aerospace products and services. In return, Boeing will have an inside track to the market for commercial space travel - which is part of CEO Dennis Muilenburg's vision for a continuum of aerospace transportation. "Space tourism, space factories … that whole ecosystem is evolving, and we'll be deeply involved in the… Read More

'Big Bang Theory' gets shout out to Nobel Prize announcement

Life imitated art Tuesday when "The Big Bang Theory" - the popular U.S. television show, not the scientific explanation for how the universe began - made its way into the annals of Nobel history. The announcement that a trio of scientists had won the physics Nobel started off with an unlikely reference: the opening lines of the show that ended its run earlier this year with a story line in which two main characters - Sheldon and Amy - actually won the Nobel Prize. "The whole universe was in the hot, dense state, then nearly 14 billion years ago expansion started," academy member Ulf Danielsson said at the start of the presentation, using the opening words of the "Big Bang" theme song.

Back-to-back meteor showers make this a great week for stargazing
Back-to-back meteor showers make this a great week for stargazing

Back-to-back meteor showers make this a great week for stargazing originally appeared on abcnews.go.comCalifornia residents spotted odd lights beaming through the sky Monday night. So naturally, many took to social media to share videos and get answers.What people were observing meteor showers."The Draconids meteor shower kicks off the fall meteor shower season," Dave Samuhel, AccuWeather astronomy blogger and meteorologist, said in a statement. ...

Saturn Is the New Moon King
Saturn Is the New Moon King

And Jupiter is now in the second spot.

Study This Picture: The P-47M Was an Excellent American Fighter
Study This Picture: The P-47M Was an Excellent American Fighter

So rugged, so durable.

Could Nazi Germany Have Gotten the Atomic Bomb First?
Could Nazi Germany Have Gotten the Atomic Bomb First?

A dangerous alternate history.

Biotech experts gather at the White House for
Biotech experts gather at the White House for 'Summit on America's Bioeconomy'

More than 100 biotech researchers, industry executives and government officials met at the White House today for a summit focusing on America's bioeconomy - the range of products, services and data derived from biological processes and bioscience research. "The bioeconomy is already an integral part of the general economy," White House chief technology officer Michael Kratsios told the attendees. "In 2017, revenues from engineered biological systems reached nearly $400 billion." He cited figures from SynBioBeta suggesting that the private sector alone invested more than $3.7 billion in early-stage biological engineering and manufacturing tech companies during 2018....

Astronomers spot 20 more moons of Saturn - and want you to help name them
Astronomers spot 20 more moons of Saturn - and want you to help name them

Saturn has pulled ahead of Jupiter again in the moon discovery race, thanks to a batch of 20 outer moons that bring the ringed planet's total tally to 82. The newly reported satellites, confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, were found by the same team that reported spotting 12 new moons of Jupiter last year. As was the case with those moons of Jupiter, the discovery team at the Carnegie Institution for Science is soliciting suggestions for naming the newly reported moons of Jupiter. Right now, they're known only by their numerical designations, such as S/2004 S29… Read More

NASA
NASA's Curiosity rover found a weirdly salty 'ancient oasis' on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover discovered what it dubs an "ancient oasis" on the red planet, featuring some very unusual salts. After sending Curiosity to explore the floor of the 100-meter-wide Gale Crater, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement Monday that millions of years ago, the floor of the crater might have been covered with shallow streams. The rocks that Curiosity found were also filled with unique mineral salts.

These are the deepest and largest man-made holes in the world
These are the deepest and largest man-made holes in the world

Humans might not have ever reached the Earth's mantle, but they've gone deep. Here are some of the deepest man-made holes in the world.

20 new moons were just discovered orbiting Saturn, and you can help name them
20 new moons were just discovered orbiting Saturn, and you can help name them

Saturn now has more moons than any other planet in our solar system. You can suggest names for 20 newly discovered moons in a Twitter contest.

A wealthy California enclave has some of the purest tap water in the country, and it starts out as sewage
A wealthy California enclave has some of the purest tap water in the country, and it starts out as sewage

Orange County tap water, which is filtered sewage, is "as clean as water can be," Seth Siegel writes in his new book, "Troubled Water." Here's how.

We Now Have a Good Idea When Martian Oceans Started Dying
We Now Have a Good Idea When Martian Oceans Started Dying

Curiosity discovered salty deposits that point to a time when the atmosphere was in decline-and it was taking the seas along with it.

Teacher Put on Leave After
Teacher Put on Leave After 'Sniper Rifle' Comment About Greta Thunberg, District Says

An Iowa chemistry teacher was placed on administrative leave after saying on Facebook that he would not attend a rally featuring climate activist Greta Thunberg because he didn't "have my sniper rifle," according to school officials and reports.The teacher, identified by school officials

Huge fire blankets can protect houses from destructive wildfires

Wrapping a wooden house in a fire resistant blanket can protect it from a wildfire for around 10 minutes - enough to let it survive fast-moving blazes

Eliud Kipchoge's sub-2 hour marathon may herald even faster times

Eliud Kipchoge has completed a marathon in under 2 hours, a feat that shows just how far sports science has come. Other elite runners may now go even faster

Astronomer Royal: We're destroying the book of life before reading it

In a talk on energy policy, artificial intelligence and space exploration Astronomer Royal Martin Rees called for urgent action at a crucial turning point for humanity

Lee Berger: We have made another major discovery about early humans

Fossil skeletons found embedded in rock at a site near Johannesburg, South Africa, could shake up humanity's family tree

Eliud Kipchoge's sub-two hour marathon may herald even faster times

Eliud Kipchoge has completed a marathon in under 2 hours, a feat that shows just how far sports science has come. Other elite runners may now go even faster

High levels of air pollution seem to be linked to early miscarriages

Pregnant women who live and work in places with a lot of air pollution appear to be more likely to experience missed miscarriages

Renewables overtook fossil fuels in UK electricity mix for first time

Windfarms, solar panels and biomass have outcompeted gas and coal power stations for the first time ever over a whole quarter, in a significant milestone

Cannabis extract may work as a treatment for cannabis addiction

An extract from cannabis called cannabidiol or CBD helped some people who were addicted to smoking the drug quit

These New Scientist-inspired Twitter bots are surrealist art

Bots on social media get a bad rap, but they can be used for good and for art, like in these three headline bots revealed at New Scientist Live

Data trial identifies vulnerable children who may otherwise be missed

A trial using data to prevent child abuse helped a UK police force drastically cut the time it takes child protection experts to review cases

Your heartbeat may shape how likely you are to have a car crash

A virtual reality driving game suggests that drivers’ reaction times are slower if they encounter an obstacle at the same time as a heartbeat

Cancelled Dyson electric car project received £5m from UK government

UK taxpayers gave around £5m to the company Dyson to support the electric car project that it announced this week will be scrapped

Crabs are being found in the Thames with stomachs full of plastic

Crabs in the Thames are ingesting “shocking” amounts of plastic and may be passing it on in high doses to other species in the river, researchers have found

Life may have begun with simple genes made out of urine

Urea, a chemical found in urine, can be used to make simple genetic molecules similar to DNA – which could have been the basis of the first life on Earth

NASA engineer's 'helical engine' may violate the laws of physics

A NASA engineer has published plans for an engine that could accelerate a rocket without using propellant. But there are questions over whether it could work

Quantum weirdness could allow a person-sized wormhole to last forever

We were unsure if wormholes could exist long enough to allow a person through. Now calculations indicate they are extremely rare, but could last the age of the universe

Wealthy families in prehistoric Europe may have had live-in slaves

Ancient DNA suggests that during the Bronze Age, wealthy families once lived with poorer individuals, suggesting live-in slavery could be 1300 years older than we thought

Fridges made from twisty materials could be better for the environment

Cooling powered by twisting materials could make more efficient and sustainable fridges that don't rely on compressing greenhouse gasses

Will a ban on snacking on public transport really help combat obesity?

A proposal to ban snacks on public transport has appeared in a UK government report. But it doesn't seem based on evidence, and the government won't discuss it

Depression may reduce the amount of white matter in the brain

Depression appears to cause changes to the structure of the brain, as well as the other way around. That may be due to behaviour changes that can shrink unused brain pathways

You probably score worse than monkeys on questions about the world

New Scientist readers are more knowledgeable than the general public and experts on the state of the world, but still score worse than monkeys would on some questions

Plans for UK's first moon rover announced at New Scientist Live

A UK-based space start-up is planning to send the smallest rover ever to the moon in 2021, and it will walk around on legs instead of rolling on wheels

Deep-sea anglerfish may shed luminous bacteria into the ocean water

Bacteria in deep-sea anglerfish give the predators a luminescent glow – but despite being adapted to this lifestyle the microbes leave for the open water

Cold-blooded mammals roamed Earth for tens of millions of years

Two protomammals from the dinosaur era were still cold-blooded like their reptile ancestors, even though their skeletons and brains were mammal-like

Are experiments on how animals think ever justified?

As research reveals ever more similarities between the human experience and that of many animals, it becomes harder to defend the pursuit of such knowledge

If we label eco-anxiety as an illness, climate denialists have won

The UK media reports a “tsunami” of cases of eco-anxiety in children. It is no medical condition, though, it is a rational response to the state of the climate, says Graham Lawton

Bees are better at counting if they are penalised for their mistakes

We had evidence that bees could count up to four. But it seems they can go further - if prompted with both rewards for correct answers and penalties for errors

Longer life, flying, mind-bending drugs: Dreams that science made real

Robert Boyle's 17th-century wish list of innovations shows the world-changing power of basic research – and why we must invest more in it, says historian David Cannadine

Chronic Lyme disease may be a misdiagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome

People who think they have a long-lasting form of Lyme disease are taking antibiotics for many months and may be treating the wrong disease

Some corals ‘killed’ by climate change are now returning to life

Warm water can leave corals looking dead – but in some cases polyps still survive deep in the coral skeleton and in time they can return the coral to life

Mini organs grown from tumour cells can help us choose the best chemo

Miniature clumps of cells grown from a person's tumour biopsy can be used to test different cancer treatments so medics can decide which one is best for the individual

Ancient humans planned ahead and stored bones to eat the marrow later

Patterns of markings from skinning preserved bones are the first evidence that humans living 200,000 to 400,000 years ago stored food to eat later

Return of warm water 'blob' in the Pacific threatens marine life

The reappearance of a vast ‘blob’ of abnormally warm water in the Pacific, around seven times the size of Alaska, has raised the prospect of impacts on marine ecosystems and weather systems  

UK launched passport photo checker it knew would fail with dark skin

Documents released by the Home Office show it was aware of problems with its website’s passport photo checking service for people with very dark or very light skin, but decided to use it regardless

We've discovered 20 more moons of Saturn – and you can help name them

We have discovered 20 new moons orbiting Saturn, all of them less than 5 kilometres across. This means Saturn has 82 moons, the most of any known planet

Takeaway food packaging may be source of synthetic chemicals in blood

The food packaging used in some takeaway and fast food meals, as well as microwave popcorn, appear to be a source of potentially harmful chemicals leaching into people’s bodies

Nobel prize in chemistry goes to developers of lithium-ion batteries

The 2019 Nobel prize in chemistry has been awarded to John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

Experiments show us how animal minds work – but should we do them?

We've now found that budgies have empathy and macaques use logic. But such experiments mean keeping animals in unnatural conditions, raising questions about their value

Real time badger tracking shows culling could increase spread of TB

First study of individual badger movements in the UK finds that culling animals prompts others to range further afield, increasing the risk of spreading disease

UN agency meant to be limiting flying emissions votes to limit action

The agency’s own scheme will not stop greenhouse gas emissions soaring, yet members have voted to block all other efforts to slow the growth

Tea and banana plants have been genetically modified by bacteria

Around 1 in 20 flowering plants are naturally transgenic, with added bacterial genes that can make them produce unusual chemicals

Supercomputer simulates 77,000 neurons in the brain in real-time

A brain-inspired computer can simulate part of the sensory cortex in real time, using tens of thousands of virtual neurons. It is the first time such a complex simulation has run this fast

UN agency meant to be limiting flying emissions votes to block action

The agency’s own scheme will not stop greenhouse gas emissions soaring, yet members have voted to block all other efforts to slow the growth

Nobel prize in physics for discovery of exoplanet orbiting a star

The Nobel prize in physics has been jointly awarded to  James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth’s place in the cosmos.

UK scientists join the Extinction Rebellion climate change protests

New Scientist spoke to members of Extinction Rebellion who are scientists to find out why they are taking to the streets of London to protest climate change inaction

The key to a long life may be genes that protect against stress

Long-lived animals like the grey whale and naked mole rat have genes that protect them from stress and cancer

Nobel prize for medicine goes to discovery of how cells sense oxygen

The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been jointly awarded to William Kaelin of Harvard University, Peter Ratcliffe of Oxford University and Gregg Semenza of John Hopkins University, for their discovery of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.

Microbial life might drift in the atmospheres of failed stars

Brown dwarfs are too large to be planets and too small to be stars, but they have gaseous atmospheres that may have all the ingredients needed for life

We can send a probe to interstellar comet Borisov – but not until 2030

Astronomers are racing to learn about only the second interstellar object ever seen. We now know it contains cyanide gas – and we could send a probe to visit it

Anti-evolution drug may help treat resistant breast cancers

Some breast tumours evolve resistance to chemotherapy, but a new drug already in human trials could restore the effectiveness of the main existing treatment

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