Search | New Scientist

Original Sin review: Was space flight tainted from the get-go?

25 January 2023

A convincing new book by space policy analyst Bleddyn Bowen reveals how space technology was born out of appalling weaponry – and still has a militaristic bent

A composite image showing what NASA's X-59 plane will look like

NASA's X-59 plane will try to quietly break the speed of sound in 2023

3 January 2023

NASA and Lockheed Martin’s strange-looking X-59 plane is set to fly early in 2023, and it is designed to break the sound barrier quietly rather than creating a huge sonic boom

VR could use a muscle-stimulating device that forces your head to turn

3 May 2022

A device that uses electrodes to stimulate points on the neck can force a wearer to turn their head – which could be used to direct attention in virtual reality environments

Our addiction to flying is ruining the climate, but it doesn't have to

2 January 2019

From simply flying planes in straighter lines to sucking fuel from thin air, a raft of new technologies that could help us fly guilt-free are in the offing

A computer game's edible controller lets you play it with your gut

16 November 2018

Players of a video game must kill a virtual parasite by changing the temperature of their gut, which is measured by an ingestible sensor

UK announces plans for two spaceports that could see launches by 2021

16 July 2018

The UK is funding the development of spaceports in Scotland and Cornwall, but plans for US firms to launch small satellites could run afoul of US export laws

Why Richard Branson's promises about space tourism are empty

7 June 2018

The billionaire businessman says he'll ride into space within months, paving the way to routine suborbital passenger trips. Don't get too excited, says Paul Marks

Mystery ozone-destroying gases linked to badly recycled fridges

24 May 2018

Last week we learned a chemical that harms the ozone layer is being emitted in Asia – and now it seems sloppy recycling might be partly to blame

Close-up of someone using social media on their smartphone

Your social media data is out there, just waiting to be leaked

16 May 2018

So much social media data has been siphoned off and stored in the name of research that questions over its security were only a matter of time, says Paul Marks