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Cryptic crossword #70: Salt absorbed by exposed crustacean (8)

11 November 2021

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


Puzzle #139: Can Chloe and Clive fit the cube packs in the box?

Puzzle #139: Can Chloe and Clive fit the cube packs in the box?

10 November 2021

Can you solve this week’s fiendish puzzle, BLOXO cubes? Plus the answer to puzzle #138


Clean energy tech needs to be pursued despite the mining it involves

Clean energy tech needs to be pursued despite the mining it involves

10 November 2021

Mining for metals to create batteries and solar panels will come at an environmental cost, but not nearly so dear a price as continuing with fossil fuels


How you can get involved with the hunt for gravitational waves

How you can get involved with the hunt for gravitational waves

10 November 2021

In the search for high-energy astronomical events like black holes colliding, the data often has glitches. You can help weed those out using the Gravity Spy platform, says Layal Liverpool


How an upgrade on calculus is taking maths into uncharted territory

How an upgrade on calculus is taking maths into uncharted territory

10 November 2021

A rapidly evolving field of mathematics called fractional calculus can reveal the finest details of physical processes, allowing engineers to improve everything from anaesthesia to batteries


The surprising upsides of the prions behind horrifying brain diseases

The surprising upsides of the prions behind horrifying brain diseases

10 November 2021

Infectious proteins called prions that turn brains to sponge have been implicated in some horrible diseases, but it turns out that we couldn't survive without them


Waste Age review: Can good design save the planet from waste?

Waste Age review: Can good design save the planet from waste?

10 November 2021

A new exhibition at the Design Museum in London presents the pressing problem of waste across the world – and what can be done to tackle it


How a universal flu vaccine could prevent the next pandemic

How a universal flu vaccine could prevent the next pandemic

10 November 2021

Even now, the risk of a deadly flu pandemic is an ever-present danger. But progress on a universal vaccine could protect us and remove the need for annual jabs


Will a scramble to mine metals undermine the clean energy revolution?

Will a scramble to mine metals undermine the clean energy revolution?

10 November 2021

Creating green technologies like batteries and solar panels requires a lot of minerals, and a lot of mining. The challenge now is to extract what we need without destroying the environment


Flooding in Dayeuhkolot, Indonesia, last week.

Current COP26 climate plans would lead to 2.4°C of global warming

9 November 2021

An analysis of the pledges put forward by countries at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow so far finds that emissions by 2030 fall short of the cuts needed to limit warming to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C


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