The Pyrotechnic Chemistry of the Vatican’s Pope Smoke Signals Explained Pyrotechnic chemistry drives the Vatican’s recipes for the black and white smoke used to announce papal election outcomes By Meghan Bartels edited by Clara Moskowitz Black smoke billows from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel indicating that the College of Cardinals have…
“Countless studies have shown that most of us are pretty abysmal at lie detection” Chloeimages/Alamy Distinguishing fact from fiction is one of the great tests of human communication. Little wonder that some people agonise over their capacity to sniff out a fishy story. “My friends say I’m a real mug,” one reader tells me. “What…
How Nostalgia Keeps Friendships Alive The social and psychological consequences of yearning for the past are starting to come into focus By Kuan-Ju Huang Nostalgia is a complex emotion. It blends sentimental longing for a cherished past and the bittersweet realization that one can never fully return to that time. Psychologists have long puzzled over…
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 How the whale crumbles More on the topic of unusual units of measurement, in particular how to communicate the size of information. Attentive readers will recall Christopher…
Shuttering of EPA’s Energy Star Program Would Affect Electric Bills and the Environment Hit by restructuring, the EPA is reportedly planning to end the Energy Star program, a project that has saved hundreds of billions of dollars for businesses and consumers By Stephanie Pappas edited by Dean Visser Appliances with an Energy Star label have…
Social media is full of posts claiming ice baths enhance vagal function Uldis Laganovskis/Alamy The Great NerveKevin Tracey (Penguin on sale 13 May (US); 15 May (UK)) As a health reporter, I constantly come across promising new medical treatments. Many are exciting, but few have intrigued me as much as vagus nerve stimulation. To understand…
The 28 Most Populous Cities in the U.S. Are All Sinking Cities across the U.S., including inland ones such as Denver and Dallas, are settling into the earth, posing increased flooding risks and potentially damaging urban infrastructure By Andrea Thompson edited by Dean Visser Flooding in Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston, Tex., following Hurricane Beryl…
Laura (Amaryllis August) and her parents set out for Paris when floods hit BBC/Zentropa Entertainments/StudioCanal/CANAL+/TV 2/Per Arnesen Families Like OursBBC iPlayer (UK); no US release date yet announced I recently wrote a piece for New Scientist lamenting the lack of a wildly popular TV drama about climate change. A few short weeks later, along comes…
India and Pakistan Remind Us We Need to Stop the Risk of Nuclear War The U.S. needs to set an example for the rest of the world by taking our nuclear missiles off hair-trigger alert and negotiating a reduction of our arsenal By Alan Robock & Lili Xia We are living in a scary time….
“A human mind-melded to a rat could move with the rodent, and smell and feel what it sensed…” Shutterstock/Linda Bestwick In T. H. White’s series of novels The Once and Future King, the wizard Merlyn turns the young Arthur, future king of England, into a variety of animals. As a small fish, Arthur swims in…
