Spektrum der Wissenschaft, restyled by Amanda Montañez The hour, minute and second hands of this clock are all the same length and move smoothly in a circle. The dial contains hour and minute markers, but the numbers are missing. Therefore, it’s impossible to tell which one of the 12 hour markers belongs to the 12….
Feedback is New Scientist’s popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com Our expiry date Bad news, everyone: our cards are marked. The human species will go extinct by the year 2339, so we have just a few centuries…
According to astronomersthe universe is 14 billion years old,a fact that makes the long scrollof my life— its fine brushstrokes of autumn leaves, incliningover a mountain pool; the quick,inscrutable characters that saysomething wise & eternal but lookto me like long-legged insects— so infinitesimally shortthat, in reality, I cannot be saidto have lived at all; On…
Stacking semiconductor transistors may help circumvent Moore’s law KAUST As chip manufacturers make their products ever-smaller, they are running up against the limits of how much computing power can be packed into one chip. A record-breaking chip has sidestepped the problem, and could lead to more sustainably made electronic devices. Since the 1960s, making electronics…
Letters to the editors for the June 2025 issue of Scientific American
Some problems are too hard for even quantum computers Yaroslav Kushta/Getty Images Researchers have identified a “nightmare scenario” calculation related to exotic types of quantum matter that would be impossible to solve, even for a very efficient quantum computer. Without the complexity of quantum states of matter, determining the phase of a material can be…
October 16, 2025 5 min read When a Galaxy Erupts, What We See Depends on How We See It Voracious supermassive black holes light up the cores of “active” galaxies across the universe. How we see them, however, is a matter of perspective By Phil Plait edited by Lee Billings A black hole-powered jet of…
A thin crystalline film of table sugar, or sucrose, captured in a polarised light micrograph KARL GAFF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Scientists have confected a new way to search for dark matter using giant crystals of sucrose, or table sugar – though, so far, they have found only the bittersweet taste of a lack of results. We…
Citations A. Topiwala et al. Alcohol use and risk of dementia in diverse populations: evidence from cohort, case-control and Mendelian randomization approaches. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine. Posted September 23, 2025. doi: 10.1136/bmjebm-2025-113913 L. Said. U.S. drinking rate at all-time low as alcohol concerns surge. Gallup. Posted August 13, 2025. K.G. Creswell, B.J. Arterberry and M.E. Patrick. Historical…
October 17, 2025 3 min read How to Catch a Rare Comet and a Meteor Shower A comet visible to the naked eye will make its closest approach to Earth on October 21 By Dan Falk edited by Clara Moskowitz Astrophotographer Brennan Gilmore captured this photograph of Comet Lemmon on October 4, 2025, from central…
