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Neutrinos, the second most common fundamental particles in the universe, are notoriously difficult to detect. So far we’ve only been able to do so by building giant vats of water far underground with hundreds of photodetectors watching for brief flashes of light. But a new CubeSat mission hopes to change that dynamic and enable the neutrino detectors of the future a much less constrained and expensive existence - in space.

Women appear cognitively normal for almost three years longer than men after their brains start to develop Alzheimer’s disease, making it harder to diagnose and preventing early treatment

Physicists at Peking University have uncovered a new way to confine light far beyond conventional limits — without relying on metals and their inherent energy dissipation. By formulating the singular dispersion equation, the team discovered narwhal-shaped wavefunctions that trap light at deep-subwavelength volumes in purely dielectric materials. The advance, dubbed singulonics, could pave the way for ultra-efficient photonic chips, new quantum technologies, and imaging tools with unprecedented resolution.

Scientists have finally figured out how mysterious “breather” laser pulses work, solving a puzzle that has frustrated laser physicists for years. These unusual ultrafast lasers produce light pulses that rhythmically grow and shrink instead of staying steady, almost like they’re breathing.

Jupiter’s storms aren’t just gigantic — they may unleash lightning far more powerful than anything on Earth. Using NASA’s Juno spacecraft, scientists discovered that some lightning bolts on the gas giant could pack up to 100 times the punch of Earth’s lightning, and possibly much more. The findings reveal that Jupiter’s atmosphere works very differently from our own, with massive storms building enormous amounts of energy before erupting in violent flashes across cloud tops towering more than 100 kilometers high.

Scientists have discovered a bizarre planetary system where a rocky world orbits farther out than giant gas planets, defying long-standing theories of planet formation. The finding hints that some planets may form much later than expected — and that our Solar System might not be as typical as we thought.

Researchers have built an ultra-sensitive sensor capable of detecting unimaginably small amounts of energy — below one zeptojoule. The breakthrough relies on fragile superconducting materials that react to even the slightest temperature change. This level of precision could improve quantum computers, enable photon counting, and even help scientists detect elusive dark matter particles from space.

Some animals can move efficiently beneath granular surfaces. These include the sandfish (Scincus scincus), a lizard native to the Sahara. It can burrow into the sand and then literally "swim" through the desert sand to hunt or escape predators. German researchers are working on a rover wheel design that mimics that swimming motion. In testing, the wheel system outperformed regular wheels.

A new study reevaluates the Kardashev Scale using a new framework that includes the Bitcoin network as a means of measuring the trajectory of human development.

Exoplanet hunters are keen to find the next extrasolar earthlike planet, one that may harbor life as we know it. But preliminary results from a new study indicate that our galaxy may be filled with a plethora of exo-Venuses. Yet as one exoplanetary researcher notes: the template for such exo-worlds --- our own Venus --- has been ‘criminally underexplored.’

Spacecraft often use planets for gravity-assist or "slingshot" maneuvers. NASA's Psyche mission used Mars for that purpose during a May 15th flyby. The flyby accelerated the spacecraft and aimed it at its eventual destination, the asteroid 16 Psyche. The flyby was also an opportunity to take some pictures of Mars, and to test and calibrate the spacecraft's science instruments.

Women experience a steady rise in body temperature from their teens to midlife, which may be useful for monitoring ageing and overall health

Here’s an entire BBC concert by Joni Mitchell, filmed in September, 1970. I’ve always thought that BBC concerts were the best, as they will always live and without accompaniment.  This one is 48 minutes long, and she had long career after this with some great albums (“Blue,” “For the Roses” and “Court and Spark”).

I have nothing to add to this music save to say that I think she’s the greatest combination of singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist of our time, and like most boys my age (I was 21), I was hopelessly in love with her. James Taylor, who also had a BBC concert that same year, rivals her on the male side for the trio of talents, but Joni has the overall edge.

Oh, and some of my favorite songs here are “Chelsea Morning” (at the start), “My Old Man” (16:47), “Woodstock” (25:10), “All I Want” (31:00, on the dulcimer), “All I Want” (31:45), “California” (36:45), and of course “Both Sides Now” (44:25)

Can you imagine being in the audience and hearing these songs for the first time?

The first comment is ineffably poignant:

@chaulahopefisher4064

2 years ago

I am at the end of my life, 68 years old and in hospice…dying with leukemia. I remember owning my first JONI MITCHELL album with clouds and Michael from mountains, Nathan la frenier, etc…. it changed my life and initiated my music career. I have lived lifetimes since then and changed careers several times. Now, resting on my couch, I listen to this old concert and remember how I felt when I was 13 years old and just hearing these songs for the very first time. at the time she was the older wiser woman whom I wanted to emulate…. now, watching this, she is dewy youth and I the rusk, ready to blow away on the wind with a song in my heart

New Mexico State University (NMSU) astronomy graduate student Khagendra Katuwal studied 70 coronal holes on the sun to better understand the connection between solar activity and space weather. His paper was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal.

In 2014, researchers presented the discovery of water vapour plumes being emitted from Jupiter's moon Europa. This caused quite a stir; it meant that the moon's buried ocean was accessible without contending with the thick ice shell that concealed it. But new research by the same researchers questions those detections.

Previously classified photos and documents show the scientific work that went into the world's first atomic test in 1945 – a test that, just weeks later, would see nuclear bombs dropped in Japan

On a visit to the UK, Sydney-based reporter James Woodford visited an archaeological site that was on his bucket list – and experienced a very special moment as the sun set

Experiments hint that quantum mechanisms are vital to the machinery of life. Now researchers are exploring if these effects help to explain the success of an array of puzzling health treatments

Like covid-19 and mpox before it, the decision to relabel PCOS as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome is a welcome one – and reveals why a name is never just a name

There’s unexpected news of a fifth movie for one of the most underrated sci-fi reboots. Hurray, says New Scientist film columnist Bethan Ackerley