Science News

A new way to test one of the basic principles underlying Einstein's theory of General Relativity using brief blasts of rare radio signals from space called Fast Radio Bursts is ten times, to one-hundred times better than...

Storm Frank is the latest freak weather event made possible by an unusual combination of factors that may persist for years to come

Here is our annual countdown of the "top five" scientific retractions in the last year, some serious, most comical.

The virus, which is linked to brain damage in unborn babies, spread rapidly in the Americas in 2015. Global health agencies are hoping they can thwart it next year

EVERYONE remembers the Wright brothers, who made the first powered, heavier-than-air flights by human beings on a beach in North Carolina in 1903. Few, by contrast, remember Charlie Taylor, a mechanic at the brothers' bi...

The latest James Bond villain in the new movie "Spectre" may get an "A" for his evil schemes, but he failed spectacularly at neuroanatomy, according to a new report.

If Spider-Man had a robot sidekick, this would be it.

Long travel distances continue to be a significant obstacle to breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer, reports a new study. The researchers analyzed the relationship between travel distance and breast r...

A new instrument has allowed researchers to capture among the first 3-D recordings of neural activity in nearly the entire brain of a free-moving animal, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The findings could provide sc...

Recurrence of HER2-positive breast cancer after treatment may be due to a specific and possibly cancer-induced weakness in the patient's immune system -- a weakness that in principle could be corrected with a HER2-target...

About 18,000 people are severely injured every year in Germany. Earlier investigations, in 2000 and 2006, estimated that more than 32,000 people sustain multiple trauma each year. The newly calculated lower number likely...

A novel imaging-based method for defining appropriateness of breast cancer treatment is as accurate as the current standard-of-care and could reduce the need for invasive tissue sampling, new research shows. The results ...

From prodding streams of lava, to molten rock poured in the lab, to miniature flows made of analogue materials, there are many ways to study this red-hot force of nature. Today's podcast joins planetary scientist and vol...

A Schrödinger's-cat-like experiment has used lasers to kick a cloud of atoms into locations half a metre apart simultaneously

A seismic observatory in Iraq has detected vibrations from weapons and flying helicopters, so seismography could be used to gather military intelligence

UK flood policy needs a complete overhaul says the Environment Agency, including accepting that flooding is inevitable

There's a debate raging over the technology that makes modern life possible. New Scientist sketches four possible futures, and what they mean for you

With detectors deep underground still making no sightings, maybe it's time to look to outer space to pin down dark matter

Fossil bacteria found in South Africa suggest that spaces covered by tidal sediments provided a sanctuary from heavy UV radiation on Mars-like early Earth

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been sampling the plumes on Saturn's moon for a decade, with no sign of microbes. Two proposed missions hope to change that

Men who have sex with men can now give blood - as long as they haven't had sex within the last year

Elon Musk's space company completes its first launch of Falcon 9 rocket since June failure, and gets a step closer to reusable rockets