Science

Left: An image of the star WOH G64 taken with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile. Right: An artist’s impression of the star ESO/K. Ohnaka et al., L. Calçada Astronomers have taken the first detailed picture of a star in another galaxy, more than 160,000 light years away. The giant star may be showing

A pigeon-inspired robot has solved the mystery of how birds fly without the vertical tail fins that human-designed aircraft rely on. Its makers say the prototype could eventually lead to passenger aircraft with less drag, reducing fuel consumption. Tail fins, also known as vertical stabilisers, allow aircraft to turn from side to side and help

Calories on menus mean we can no longer pretend that fast food is slimming David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images When you go to a restaurant, you may well be presented with a wide array of dishes, each printed on a menu alongside its calorie content. A chicken burger and fries may come to 1597

The DESI instrument observing the sky from the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope during a meteor shower KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Sparks Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity has been proven right on the largest scale yet. An analysis of millions of galaxies shows that the way they have evolved and clustered over billions of years is consistent with

Bluesky sign-ups continue to grow Anna Barclay/Getty Images As a technology reporter, I like to think I’m an early adopter. I first signed up to the social network Bluesky around 18 months ago, when the platform saw a small surge in users disaffected by Elon Musk’s approach to what was then still called Twitter. It

How did Earth’s inner core freeze solid? Rost9/Shutterstock A high concentration of carbon within Earth’s inner core could explain a long-standing mystery about how the deepest part of our planet froze solid – a process that kick-started the magnetic field protecting life on the surface. Earth’s inner core presents a paradox for geophysicists: it first

A study modelling the impact of melting ice suggests scientists have underestimated the risk that an important ocean current will shut down and cause climate chaos View Source Here

The white or blueish spots are six images of the same quasar created by the lensing effect of two galaxies, one appearing as the light patch in the centre and one as a red arc F. Dux et al. A chance alignment between two massive galaxies could help astronomers better measure the expansion of the

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, but falling water levels could leave the city and oil infrastructure cut off from the sea VANO SHLAMOV/AFP via Getty Images Ports, oil drilling rigs and coastal settlements will be marooned kilometres from the shore as climate change drives water

A methane plume at least 4.8 kilometres long billows into the atmosphere south of Tehran, Iran NASA/JPL-Caltech The world has more ways than ever to spot the invisible methane emissions responsible for a third of global warming so far. But according to a report released at the COP29 climate summit, methane “super-emitters” rarely take action

Do you speak AI? Shutterstock/Ole.CNX Microsoft has created an artificial language that allows AI models to talk to each other faster and more efficiently than in English, with the hope that groups of models will be able to team up without having to resort to clumsy and sprawling human words. Many researchers believe that using

Attempts to prevent Australian children from accessing social media are likely to fail, and could do more harm than good View Source Here

A genetic flaw dooms half of all crested newts to die before they hatch – now we know how this baffling evolutionary quirk came about View Source Here

Popular semaglutide-based drugs used for weight loss may reduce chronic and acute pain, which could make them a promising alternative to opioids View Source Here

Driverless cars can now do doughnuts and drift like stunt drivers, skidding sideways around corners while maintaining control, which might help the cars recover from dangerous situations View Source Here

Measuring the massive coral Inigo San Felix/National Geographic Society In the south-west Pacific, off the coast of one of the tropical Solomon Islands, a giant structure beneath the water’s surface has just been identified as the world’s largest known coral. Visiting the remote site in mid-October, a team of scientists and film-makers from National Geographic

Wildfires in the tropics drove some increase in CO2 emissions but the bulk was driven by burning fossil fuels Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels in 2024 are set to blow past last year’s record levels, dashing hopes this year will see the planet-warming emissions peak. “Reducing emissions is more

The International Space Station MSFC/NASA Samantha Harvey, who has won the UK’s top fiction award, the Booker prize, for her novel Orbital, has created a new genre: nature writing about space. “I see it as a kind of space pastoral,” Harvey told the New Scientist podcast earlier in the year. “I wanted to see what

Red kites have been found with high levels of rodenticides in their livers TheOtherKev/Pixabay Raptors across England are being killed by the widespread misuse of rat poisons and the problem is getting worse, in spite of a UK government prevention scheme, according to a report from Wild Justice, a not-for-profit environmental group. “The degree of

The northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) brings unexpected ecosystem benefits All Canada Photos/Alamy Two years after Mount St Helens erupted in 1980, a team of researchers helicoptered in a gopher to the ash-covered landscape. Decades later, the activity of that single gopher burrowing for a single day may have helped the decimated ecosystem regrow by