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Cryptic crossword #69: Insect has the ability to go quickly (6)

28 October 2021

Challenge your brain by solving New Scientist's weekly crosswords on your mobile, tablet or desktop

Andreas Malm interview: Why climate protesters need to embrace unrest

27 October 2021

Given the scale of threat and the size of the organisations they are fighting, climate activists must move beyond civil disobedience to property destruction and even sabotage, says controversial campaigner Andreas Malm

Space junk concept. Toxic garbage in the space over Earth

Why we need to get serious about solving the space junk problem

27 October 2021

The overcrowding of low Earth orbit with commercial satellites is a problem for astronomers and the satellites – and it needs urgent international action to solve it

Puzzle #137: Did James end up with a good Halloween haul?

27 October 2021

Can you solve this week’s fiendish puzzle Tricky treaty? Plus the answer to puzzle #136

This is the Belt of Orion with its three blue stars across the top of the frame (L to R: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka), with the iconic Horsehead Nebula (aka B33) below Alnitak, with the dark Horsehead set against the bright nebula IC 434, aka Orion???s Dagger. The pinkish nebula above Alnitak is NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula. The small blue reflection nebula left of the Horsehead is NGC 2023, with smaller IC 435 to the left of it. The field is filled with the large open cluster Collinder 70. The multiple star at bottom left of centre is Sigma Orionis. Many other smaller bits of reflection nebulas populate the field in and around the Belt. This is a blend of 8 x 5-minute exposures at ISO 800 unfiltered with 6 x 10-minute exposures at ISO 1600 shot through an Optolong L-Enhance dual-band nebula enhancement filter (it lets through only Oxygen III blue-green and Hydrogen-alpha red to really enhance the nebulosity). The filtered shot is blended in with the unfiltered shot to retain the best of both worlds: the rich reds captured by the filtered images without losing the range of colours in the other nebulas such as the salmon pinks of the Flame and the blue reflection nebulas and stars. All exposures with the Canon EOS Ra mirrorless camera through the SharpStar HNT150 Hyperbolic Newtonian Astrograph at f/2.8, from home on a very clear moonless night January 27, 2020. All stacked, aligned and blended in Photoshop 2020. (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

How to use Orion to find Canis Major and Canis Minor

27 October 2021

The dog constellations, Canis Major and Canis Minor, seem to run along faithfully behind Orion. Here's how to find them by star-hopping from Orion's belt, writes Abigail Beall

The Netflix Inc. television series 'Squid Game' on a laptop computer arranged in the Brooklyn Borough of New York, U.S., on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Netflix Inc. is scheduled to release earnings figures on October 19. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The flawed way Netflix measures views leaves TV stuck in the past

27 October 2021

Netflix claims its audience "views" reflect the desires of the masses, but this unreliable data means some bad shows get green-lit, while potentially good stuff doesn't, says Annalee Newitz

Satellites and junk are littering space and ruining our night skies

27 October 2021

We are sending ever more stuff into space, and now megaconstellations of satellites risk causing light pollution on Earth and disastrous debris in orbit - but it's not too late to save our skies

Are vegan meat alternatives putting our health on the line?

27 October 2021

Veganism is typically equated with healthy eating, but today’s factory-produced fake bacon, sausages and burgers could be tarnishing the halo of a plant-based diet. New Scientist investigates

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 13: A general view of the Scottish Events Centre (SEC) on October 13, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. COP26 will officially begin on Sunday October 31 with the procedural opening of negotiations and finish on Monday November 12th. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

What to expect from the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow

25 October 2021

The COP26 climate summit will be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November and will include more than 100 heads of state, who will hash out timetables to limit carbon emissions and address other issues such as adaptations to climate change

stickers used as part of a campaign against the use of Bitcoin as legal tender

El Salvador's bitcoin adoption hit by an easy money-making loophole

25 October 2021

El Salvador recently became the first country in the world to make bitcoin legal tender, but traders have been exploiting the state issued bitcoin "wallet app" to make a quick profit