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AI trained on novels tracks how racist and sexist biases have evolved

20 February 2025

Questioning a chatbot that has been trained on bestselling books from a particular decade can give researchers a measure of the social biases of that era

Read an extract from Pod by Laline Paull

7 July 2023

This intriguing extract is taken from Pod by Laline Paull, a novel told from the perspective of a spinner dolphin which is the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club

Laline Paull on why she wrote Pod from the perspective of a dolphin

7 July 2023

The author of the Women’s prize-shortlisted Pod reveals why she decided to write a story that initially felt too daunting – now the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club

JWST's images of the cosmos should be for all, not just astronomers

24 August 2022

Some scientists are unhappy about the James Webb Space Telescope's data being made public immediately, but these stunning images should be for everyone, says Jacob Aron

NASA image release November 9, 2010 Using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, scientists have recently discovered a gigantic, mysterious structure in our galaxy. This never-before-seen feature looks like a pair of bubbles extending above and below our galaxy's center. But these enormous gamma-ray emitting lobes aren't immediately visible in the Fermi all-sky map. However, by processing the data, a group of scientists was able to bring these unexpected structures into sharp relief. Each lobe is 25,000 light-years tall and the whole structure may be only a few million years old. Within the bubbles, extremely energetic electrons are interacting with lower-energy light to create gamma rays, but right now, no one knows the source of these electrons. Are the bubbles remnants of a massive burst of star formation? Leftovers from an eruption by the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's center? Or or did these forces work in tandem to produce them? Scientists aren't sure yet, but the more they learn about this amazing structure, the better we'll understand the Milky Way. To learn more go to: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/new-structure.html NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA???s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA???s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency???s mission. Follow us on Twitter Join us on Facebook Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Gamma ray bursts could help unravel how fast the universe is expanding

2 August 2022

It may be possible to use the brightest events in the universe, gamma ray bursts, to measure cosmic distances – which could help researchers figure out the universe’s structure

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Harmful chips hidden on circuit boards revealed by their power use

18 April 2022

Careful observation of the power consumption of a circuit board can reveal telltale signs that an attacker has tampered with it and installed a malicious device designed to steal sensitive information or cause crashes, say researchers

A member of the Ukrainian territorial defence units talks on their phone during observation of Russian troops movements around the village of Velyka Dymerka, 40km east of Kyiv, on 9 March

Russia and Ukraine are both weaponising mobile phones to track troops

11 April 2022

Mobile phones ping signals to nearby communications towers, allowing both Ukrainian and Russian soldiers to track the movement of opposition forces

An extreme form of encryption could solve big data's privacy problem

6 April 2022

Fully homomorphic encryption allows us to run analysis on data without ever seeing the contents. It could help us reap the full benefits of big data, from fighting financial fraud to catching diseases early

Boston - March 6: People hold a banner reading Stand with Ukraine! Stop buying Russian oil as they take part in a Peace March for Ukraine from Copley Square to Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common in Boston on March 6, 2022. The protests marked the second straight Sunday people have marched through Boston, as Russias invasion of its neighbor entered its 11th day. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

How the war in Ukraine will change the way the world uses energy

22 March 2022

With Russian oil and gas politically toxic, Western nations are scrambling for replacement sources of energy. The immediate future will be difficult, but the crisis could accelerate the transition to clean energy

R00B24 Chooms of the nomadic reindeer herders, Yamal, Russia

Could ancient viruses from melting permafrost cause the next pandemic?

16 February 2022

Bacteria and viruses can survive for millions of years frozen in glaciers, ice sheets and permafrost and as global warming increases they are emerging. Here's what we know about the threat