Science News

I have a new book coming out early next year, The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance. As the title suggests, my subject matter is the outer limits of human potential and the question of ...

People living at high altitude have evolved different ways to cope with low oxygen levels. Understanding how could benefit people in intensive care (full text available to subscribers)

Say hello to the future of American spaceflight! [NASA]

Continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth's surface.

Google admits its new balloon-based connectivity project is a "moonshot" to bring the last two-thirds of the global population online. How realistic is the audacious plan?

Be like the bat. Echolocate. Researchers from American and French universities have discovered how to exactly map a room's shape solely by using a sense you wouldn't normally choose for this kind of task. Without sight o...

"The Chime" is loaded with sensors for picking up ambient noise, then transforming that noise into music. A city doesn't always sound great: car horns blare, people shout. But a new project from artist Marc De Pape makes...

All the latest on newscientist.com: living without oxygen, writing the body, how the Med is killing the Atlantic, Lego Curiosity, slimy computers, and more

And you thought the U.S. had deserts! Who knew America was so well hydrated? These maps, created by former Google engineer Nelson Minar using data originally from the U.S. Geological Survey, show America's extensive syst...

Two weeks ago, the Guardian published PowerPoint slides detailing a previously unknown, sweeping surveillance program by the National Security Administration. Shortly thereafter, the source of those leaks revealed himsel...

Eight people have been selected as the first US astronauts since Apollo to be trained for deep space, but will they visit an asteroid or Mars?

Wearable infrared sensors will give firefighters vital information about temperature and layout when they enter a burning, smoke-filled building

Meet Heath, the first baby born using a new hormone that should reduce risk of a dangerous IVF-related condition

Bright and breezy or complex and serious? Gulp and Life's Vital Link highlight two ways to tell the story of key parts of our anatomy

It's 6.5 times bigger than the network Google premiered last year, which has learned to recognize YouTube cats. Last summer, in conjunction with Stanford researchers, Google[x], the R&D arm where ideas like Project Glass...

Forget dye packs. Banks and police agencies are trying out some interesting new DNA-based devices. You know DNA makes proteins. It tells living things how to tick. It carries blue eyes and an early receding hairline from...

The ability to "remember" electrical resistance could make slime mould a useful material for building living computers

A model of Curiosity is the latest of the many Lego space kits: it was demanded by thousands of space fans and designed by an engineer from the real Mars rover