Science News

Image Courtesy of the USDA When the stock market collapses, a country erupts in rebellion, an electric grid blacks out or a child throws a tantrum in a crowded supermarket, the people nominally in charge of the systems o...

Plus a remote-controlled dog, a bridge in disguise, and more     

Spin your hands, and the rocket spins, too. In 3-D. After promising on Twitter recently to show off an Iron Man-style 3-D interface for designing rocket engines, SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder/billionaire smart dude Elo...

Everything you need to know about U.S. portals to space Going to space is getting easier all the time. For anyone willing to trade giant piles of ephemeral cash for a few short minutes outside the atmosphere, here is a h...

New revelations from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden expose how spy agencies in the US and UK might compel tech firms to help them bypass encryption     

All the latest on newscientist.com: trial by algorithm, your genomic future, quantum computer you can play with, Virgin Galactic, Syrian refugees and more     

Found deep under the Pacific Ocean, the largest volcano on Earth is also joint top in the solar system's volcano league table, alongside Olympic Mons on Mars     

A diver plunging deep between continental plates shows the beauty of a theory first published 50 years ago today     

Running at 4:30 am and successfully navigating caloric client dinners are new habits for the business manager who lost one-third of his body weight in six months, thanks to bariatric surgery. Philip Barnett, 26, is runni...

On its second rocket-powered flight, Richard Branson's SpaceShipTwo flew longer and higher than it has done before, and tested a safety mechanism called feathering     

If you're using encryption with an American company, you might as well forget about any actual privacy. Newly disclosed documents from leaker-on-the-run Edward Snowden reveal that the National Security Agency has been fi...

The discovery that simple blasts of air can effect our emotions could lead to novel long-distance communications or add a new dimension to video games     

We are creating a society where all-seeing intelligent computer code can punish every wrongdoer - but do we want it? (full text available to subscribers)     

One baby in every 46 was born with a congenital anomaly in 2011, according to the third annual report by the British Isles Network of Congenital Anomaly Registers.

Researchers have taken detailed images and measurements of the morphing structure of a brain protein thought to play a role in Parkinson's disease, information that could aid the development of medications to treat the c...

Research into the rise in obesity associated with the burgeoning industrial and service sectors in low- and middle-income countries found that education is a key factor in reducing the negative impact on women's health.

Mammals contain cells whose primary function is to kill other cells in the body. The so-called Natural Killer (NK) cells are highly important in defending our bodies against viruses or even cancer. Scientists provide evi...

An international study has shown that short-term blood sugar control in patients with diabetes has a limited effect on their risk of cardiovascular problems, such as heart disease and stroke.

Alzheimer's disease affects more than 26 million people worldwide. It is predicted to skyrocket as boomers age --- nearly 106 million people are projected to have the disease by 2050. Fortunately, scientists are making p...

Patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery with bone morphogenetic protein appear to be at increased risk of benign tumors -- but not cancers.

A new study demonstrates that an approach that combines behavioral science with social media and online communities can lead to increased AIDS testing and improved health behaviors among men at risk of HIV infection. The...

The new movie Gravity makes you feel what it's like to be in orbit, and the physics is great too. You won't envy astronauts any more, though