By Adam Vaughan A wind turbine farm off the coast of Yorkshire, UK BerndBrueggemann/iStock/Getty Images UK wind turbines, solar farms and other renewable sources of energy generated more electricity this summer than coal and gas power stations, marking the…
By Clare Wilson Getty Images For people who are addicted to cannabis, one treatment option may be, paradoxically, to take pills containing an extract of cannabis. The first test of the idea has found that people taking capsules of this extract, known as ca…
By Leah Crane Three headline-generating bots were revealed at New Scientist Live Bots sometimes get a bad rap. Automated accounts on social media platforms have been accused of many abuses, including large-scale political manipulation, but they aren’t all b…
By Sam Wong Your reaction times may be slower during a heartbeat Peter Stark/Getty Images Drivers may be more likely to crash if an obstacle appears at the same time as a heartbeat. To investigate how the beat of our hearts influences our reaction times, …
By Adam Vaughan Gloucestershire Constabulary has been using data analysis to identify potentially vulnerable children paul weston / Alamy Stock Photo A trial using data to prevent child abuse helped a UK police force detect a child gang and drastically cut…
By Adam Vaughan A Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, by the Thames mike lane / Alamy Stock Photo Crabs in the Thames have been found to be ingesting shocking amounts of plastic and may be passing it on in high doses to other species in the river, res…
By Adam Vaughan James Dyson said the firm had developed a “fantastic” car CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images UK taxpayers gave around £5 million to Dyson to support the electric car project that it scrapped this week, the company says. James Dyson to…
By Jon Cartwright Rocket engines that don’t need propellant have been proposed before: this is an illustration of the EM-drive Illustration by luismmolina/iStock / Getty Images Plus For every action, there is a reaction: that is the principle on which all …
By Michael Marshall Exactly how life on Earth arose is still a mystery RICHARD KAIL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY When the first life emerged on Earth, it may have had a helping hand from an unexpected source: urea, a chemical found in urine. The urea may have bee…
By Chelsea Whyte Wormholes have been a staple of science fiction for decades L. CALCADA / EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Fancy a trip down a wormhole? We have never been quite sure whether these portals through space-time could exist…
By Donna Lu PeopleImages/Getty Images Twisting materials could power more efficient and environmentally friendly fridges. Ray Baughman at the University of Texas, Dallas, and his colleagues have developed a cooling method that results from materials being …
By Ruby Prosser Scully An archaeological dig in Germany reveals Bronze Age settlements dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo Ancient DNA reveals that wealthy families in prehistoric Germany once lived with poorer people they werent related to, suggestin…