Science News

Human brains are misaligned, hallucinative, stochastic parrots

On its 40th anniversary, we reassess 1986's SpaceCamp

Is it a hidden gem, a cult classic, or hopelessly dumb? We vote "all of the above."

They call it stupid hot for a reason: Heat muddles animal brains

As temperatures rise, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn.

Avian Visitors

Teddy Warner created "Avian Visitors," a project that uses a microphone mounted on an apartment balcony to detect and…

A pictorial introduction to differential geometry (2017)

Jonathan Gratus presents a pictorial introduction to differential geometry using 73 figures and no equations, making the…

Ebola spread in DR Congo 'alarming', charity warns, as WHO chief visits worst-hit area

Médicins Sans Frontières says that never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its…

Memory decline after menopause linked to loss of estrogen production in brain

A Northwestern Medicine preclinical study found that women experience unique sensitivity to loss of estrogen in the…

Grifters, cynics, and true believers: The family tree of vaccine opponents

A new book looks into the long history of people who have opposed vaccines.

Iron-rich immune cells help homing pigeons navigate

Photons behave very strangely if you try to cut them

Particles of light cannot be divided into smaller particles, but if you try to snip off the end of one, instead of…

Decades of Effort Restore Steelhead and Salmon Passage on Alameda Creek

A NOAA-funded project removed the final barrier on Alameda Creek in California's San Francisco Bay Area, allowing…

Analysis of Texas measles outbreak shows just how dangerous virus is

About 1 in 5 cases were hospitalized and most of those developed complications.

Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise

According to a mathematical model of how people weigh up different outcomes, the optimal strategy is to be ambitious,…

Severed sea cucumber appendages don't seem to die

They seem to reorganize their tissues and then just keep living.

Blue Origin rocket explodes on launchpad in a setback

Rocket Report: A dark day for Blue Origin; Pentagon eyes new launch site

A new crew launched to China's Tiangong space station, and one of the astronauts will stay for a year.

What does Blue Origin rocket mishap mean for Nasa's Moon mission?

Science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains why the explosion is a setback for space exploration.

High Density Living, 2000 Years Ago: Inside the Roman Apartment Building

Roman apartment buildings called insulae pioneered vertical urban living as early as the third century BC, with…

Social media bans for teenagers lack evidence and pose risks, scientists say

Scientists argue that social media bans for teenagers lack solid scientific evidence and could backfire, as no…

Mirror life: Scientists clash over threat of lab-engineered bacteria

Bacteria created using mirror images of natural biomolecules would pose a grave threat to life on Earth, some…

Exploding rocket casts doubts over Nasa's Moon plans

Explosion of Blue Origin rocket is a setback for the company and for Nasa's Moon plans.

These researchers would be in Africa fighting ebola—but Trump cut their funding

US Infectious diseases centers launched during COVID have lost their funding under Trump.

Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients

A cancer-killing virus has stopped pancreatic tumours from growing and spreading in three people in an initial safety…

Read an extract from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Dive into the opening of The Selfish Gene's first chapter 'Why are people?', the New Scientist Book Club’s read for June…

Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting

Until recently, the Pamir mountains in central Asia have bucked the global melting trend, but in 2025, the region’s…

Moment Blue Origin rocket explodes during test in Florida

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday night.

Italians and Dutch share the same gestural instinct for teaching

A cross-cultural study of Italian and Dutch adults reveals that despite differences in overall gesture use, both groups…

The most spectacular rocket explosion since N1 just happened in Florida

New Glenn was due to play a starring role in NASA's Artemis Program.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes during testing in Florida

The explosion is likely a major setback for Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company, and its attempt to compete with SpaceX.