Astronomy

Six teeth roughly 400,000 years old have yielded some of the first ancient proteins thought to belong to Homo erectus, providing molecular clues to their relationships with other hominins

Six teeth roughly 400,000 years old have yielded some of the first ancient proteins thought to belong to Homo erectus, providing molecular clues to their relationships with other hominins

Genetically altered bacteria can synthesise gadusol, a naturally occurring compound found in zebrafish eggs that could be developed as an alternative to existing sunscreen products that can harm marine life

Genetically altered bacteria can synthesise gadusol, a naturally occurring compound found in zebrafish eggs that could be developed as an alternative to existing sunscreen products that can harm marine life

Flock shape, speed and structure are key in deciphering whether radar readouts are birds, bats, insects or weather

Digital distractions can undermine our focus, but research suggests that our inherent capacity to pay attention hasn’t diminished

Seen just 800 million years after the big bang, an object called LAP1-B is a galactic building block that seems to hold some of the first stars to ever shine

Mapping their starting point like bees do helps autonomous drones find their way

Brown dwarfs are notoriously difficult to find. These “failed stars” aren’t big enough to sustain nuclear fusion, and therefore aren’t as bright as more traditional main sequence stars. In fact, they’re nearly invisible in optical light, and faintly visible in infrared. But thanks to dozens of citizen scientists combing through archival infrared datasets from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and a paper published in the Astronomical Journal detailing their work, we now have an additional set of over 3,000 candidate new brown dwarfs in our stellar neighborhood, more than doubling the total number found so far.

A close flyby past the Red Planet this week will send NASA’s Psyche mission on its way towards its final destination. The mission’s closest approach to Mars occurs on Friday, May 15th, when the spacecraft passes only 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) from the surface of the Red Planet. That’s just 1.3 Mars radii distant, inside the orbits of Phobos and Deimos.

Malaria incidence is increasing, progress on maternal mortality is stalling, and some childhood vaccine rates are plateauing or have dipped below the threshold for herd immunity

Government departments and other public bodies in the UK must consider requests to release information about AI-produced content, regulators have confirmed. The move follows a successful request by New Scientist for the release of a minister's ChatGPT logs

Government departments and other public bodies in the UK must consider requests to release information about AI-produced content, regulators have confirmed. The move follows a successful request by New Scientist for the release of a minister's ChatGPT logs

People exposed to the Andes strain of the hantavirus may not develop symptoms for up to 42 days, a delay that makes tracing infections more difficult

With millions of people now using GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound, scientists are racing to find ways to help people retain their weight loss after they stop taking the medication

Long-held assumptions tell us that atoms with the same number of protons, neutrons and electrons are indistinguishable, but one physicist wants to put this idea to the test

Are we really falling short on protein—or is the high-protein craze overblown?

Step outside on a clear night almost anywhere in Britain and look up. Chances are you won't see much. An orange coloured washed out glow hangs over every town and city, drowning the stars in a tide of misdirected light. Now the Royal Astronomical Society is demanding that tide be turned back, not just for the sake of astronomy, but because the evidence of what artificial light at night is doing to our health, our wildlife, and our ecosystems has become impossible to ignore. The night, it turns out, isn't just a backdrop. It's a habitat that’s more entwined with our very wellbeing and health than you can possibly imagine. And we're destroying it.

This month, ESA’s Mars Express takes us to Shalbatana Vallis: a fascinating martian valley surrounded by signs of water, lava, craters and chaos.

Turn on your kitchen tap and watch the water hit the sink. That split second where fast, shallow water suddenly slows and spreads is known as a hydraulic jump. Now imagine the same thing happening in the atmosphere of Venus, but stretched across 6,000 kilometres of sulphuric acid cloud. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have just revealed that this extraordinary phenomenon, the largest hydraulic jump ever identified in the Solar System, is responsible for a mysterious wave that has been sweeping around our neighbouring planet for years.