Science

A hopping, insect-sized robot can jump over gaps or obstacles, traverse rough, slippery, or slanted surfaces, and perform aerial acrobatic maneuvers, while using a fraction of the energy required for flying microbots.

A hopping, insect-sized robot can jump over gaps or obstacles, traverse rough, slippery, or slanted surfaces, and perform aerial acrobatic maneuvers, while using a fraction of the energy required for flying microbots.

Cellulose, the main component of paper, can be turned into clear, waterproof objects such as cups that are almost indistinguishable from plastic, but break down more quickly

The widespread use of low Earth orbit (LEO), especially by thousands of CubeSats, has opened up many opportunities in research and business applications. One particular field that has benefited from the data that CubeSats provide is farming. Precision agriculture (PA) is a technique that uses advanced sensors, including the remote ones on CubeSats, to determine the health and productivity of a farm. A recent review paper from Lamia Rahali and her co-authors at the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria's Department of Agriculture looks at how CubeSats have been changing the practice of precision agriculture - and how they may continue to do so.

Larry Niven's Ringworld won him the Hugo and Nebula awards when it was published 55 years ago. As the New Scientist Book Club embarks on a reread, Emily H. Wilson looks at how it holds up

Pluto isn’t the only dwarf planet in our solar system's outer reaches. Now is an ideal time to look for the egg-shaped Haumea, says Abigail Beall

Larry Niven's Ringworld won him the Hugo and Nebula awards when it was published 55 years ago. As the New Scientist Book Club embarks on a reread, Emily H. Wilson looks at how it holds up

With a background in maths and design, Rebecca Kaya uses data to make sense of the natural world

Nafis Hasan's Metastasis is a deep dive into the economics and politics of cancer treatment. This makes for a dense and difficult read, but one that is well worth the effort

In the latest instalment of our Future Chronicles column, which explores an imagined history of inventions yet to come, Rowan Hooper reveals how brain-computer interface let us travel to Mars via robot avatars in the late 2020s

Feedback is delighted to hear from a reader who proposes an ingenious new unit of data – but we have some quibbles with the maths

Bed rest is commonly prescribed for high-risk pregnancies. It can't hurt and might help, right? Wrong, says Jacqueline Sears

Cuneiform, the oldest identified writing system, defied deciphering – until 1857. What happened then makes a terrific read, in Joshua Hammer's The Mesopotamian Riddle

Governments love asking what scientific research will bring society, but the most important discoveries come from wondering without direction

A new understanding of why some animals evolved to be loners, and the benefits that brings, shows that a social lifestyle isn’t necessarily superior

A new understanding of why some animals evolved to be loners, and the benefits that brings, shows that a social lifestyle isn’t necessarily superior

Newly discovered comet C/2025 F2 SWAN could put on a brief dawn display over the next few weeks. Discovered thanks to the hard work of online sleuths and amateur astronomers, the comet may brighten towards perihelion on May 1st.

Amazon is aiming to launch its first operational satellites today to provide speedy internet connections in remote regions, but it will still take some time to catch up with its main competitor, SpaceX's Starlink  

A map of part of a mouse brain, which is expected to be generalisable to people, could help scientists understand behaviours, consciousness and even what it means to be human

Ancient rocks reveal there were several humid spells in Arabia’s past, which might have given early hominins a route out of Africa long before our genus migrated