The Willamette

@chelswhyte.bsky.social went to see the Vera Rubin observatory and though I am known space hater, I could not be more excited for all we are about to see in the night sky www.newscientist.com/article/2483...

Absolutely shocking and very worrying from NOAA www.newscientist.com/article/2469...

We've got a great special report on quantum computing this week. First up, @kpc.bsky.social runs through all the big players in this growing industry, and asks who will be the first to make a machine that actually does something useful? www.newscientist.com/article/2467...

Listen, do I want the looming asteroid to hit anything? No, not deep down in my heart. But if it must, can it please hit the moon?? The DRAMATICS! The new crater! We could possibly see the explosion of impact! www.newscientist.com/article/2467...

My leader this week is a cheerful one: it is time to accept that we have broken the climate, and for us to look at what comes next www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

Americans have been trying the Chinese-owned social media apps Red Note and Lemon8 as alternatives ahead of a looming US ban on TikTok. But those apps may not provide a refuge from US (or Chinese) government restrictions. Story with comments from @emmiehine.com www.newscientist.com/article/2464...

Is it possible that a single dramatic event, such as the eruption of a supervolcano, ever wiped out an entire species of hominin? www.newscientist.com/article/2463...

Another conversation we seem to be always having in the newsroom

I really enjoyed this week's pod, especially the conversation about gene editing. If you want to know what it feels when we chat in our newsroom, have a listen

Gotta try this. My cacio e pepe is so inconsistent. Sometimes it's gloriously creamy and others it's just a gloop fest

It's not unexpected, but it's still absolutely shocking www.newscientist.com/article/2463...

All the data now officially in from WMO, NASA, NOAA, UK Met Office, EU Copernicus, Japan Met Agency, Berkeley Earth: 2024 was the hottest year on record, and the first year to see global average temps rise 1.5°C above the pre-industrial baseline in average across datasets. 🧪

We will never, ever know who writes this column. But there's a fascinating bit about flat-Earthers from them this week. bsky.app/profile/mich...

An explainer on human metapneumovirus, or hMPV 🧪 Bottom line: this is not another pandemic starting but like other cold viruses 🦠 hMPV can sometimes kill the vulnerable, such as very young children. We need a vaccine, and hopefully we'll have one soon www.newscientist.com/article/2462...

It is also extremely important to me that you see the version of Pluto and Charon's capture that I set to music.

A person in Louisiana who became severely ill with bird flu in December has passed away from the infection, marking the first known bird flu death in the US 🧪

To mark five years of the pandemic, my team and I have put together a special issue on covid-19. I'll be tweeting about it over the next few days, but a good starting point is my leader explaining why now is the right time to look back, even if it feels difficult www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

The stargazing events to look forward to in 2025, from auroras to partial eclipses 🧪 by @leahc.bsky.social

This is so fun, and I found it so sweet that the scientists involved still find joy in the beauty of a snowflake ("This looks quite pretty actually"), even though they spend their lives researching them.

This is wild. I stopped several times to read a sentence or two out loud to colleagues, with more concern each time.

This was so good, I couldn't wait for each next tweet. Treat yourself

In September the largest number of entangled logical qubits, an important resource for quantum computers correcting their own errors, was 24 and I was writing about it for @newscientist.bsky.social The number has now jumped to 50, and I am writing about it again www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

Liquid metal can be used to grow human cells @sparkes.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

James is reporting all week from #agu2024. Follow for more

i don't know what to say about this except that i hate this worm and his mandibles www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

The brilliant Our Human Story newsletter by @michael-marshall.bsky.social turns 50 months old, and you get a huge edition full of archaeologists sharing what they think are the biggest advances in the past 5 years and their hopes for the next 5. Dig in! www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

You will see a lot of headlines about the "mind-boggling" speed of Google's new quantum computer, but most stories fail to mention this is only in solving a specific problem with no practical applications. So is it a big deal? @kpc.bsky.social has the answers www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

After almost 60 years, the mathematical mystery of the moving sofa problem has been settled 🛋️ The proof came from Jineon Baek, a lone mathematician who had been working on the problem for 7 years in secret. www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

Roses are red, My dog barks,

I just learned that the name for three asterisks used to break up text is a "dinkus", and that's wonderful en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinkus

sharks are older than trees. sharks existed before saturn had rings. okay, okay. what's older than sharks

Ancient Mesopotamians embodied emotions differently to us. They felt happiness in their liver and anger in their thighs and knees! (according to an analysis of cuneiform texts) www.newscientist.com/article/2458...

We might finally know why 2023 & 2024 have seen record breaking temperatures Folks, it’s probably not good news www.newscientist.com/article/2458...

Yes I need this. I want to know the things I Google most often, and the most bizarre ones like: - what's new with knot theory - how do fleas give birth - etymology of dog and pony show - were there other suggestions for the name of quarks - does any animal have hollow teeth

Infinity makes me mad. Many infinities make me even madder. New infinities make me furious. I read this with gritted teeth (it's actually quite fascinating)

Eyebrows up: "a single mutation could allow it to infect the cells lining our noses and throats, making it more likely to go airborne." Back down (a bit): "This change alone is not enough for the virus to be capable of causing a pandemic." www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

The follow of the day is @newscientist.bsky.social. Keep up with the most fascinating science out there 🧪

Importing the archive: The New Scientist is the only source of band names you’ll ever need. #newscientistbandnames

This week in news you can use "To increase the chance that the robot rodent was socially accepted, the researchers also coated it in rat urine." www.newscientist.com/article/2459...

Truly one of the wildest bits of research I've read about in a long time. Straight up Frankenstein stuff from @mjflepage.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2458...

I chuckled at this intro. I think it just might be about me:

one of my favorite things is when astronomers do Fun Math (TM)

Daylight saving time is back in the news, so I offer you this: a story I wrote 7 years ago about ending it, and perhaps ending time zones altogether: www.newscientist.com/article/2152...

I would never have expected it given seemingly constant headlines about E. coli, but it turns out that the US food safety system isn't actually all that bad compared to the UK - this great deep dive is well worth reading www.newscientist.com/article/2457...

We have two great pieces on bird flu this week. First, a look at the moment we're in, which is one that requires vigilance but not panic www.newscientist.com/article/2458...

There is certainly more nuance here than what I'm about to say, but I find it delicious that essentially an influencer is suing someone for allegedly being influenced

"The severed pig’s head had come from the local abattoir. It would have typically been discarded, but Zvonimir Vrselja, a neuroscientist at Yale School of Medicine, and his colleagues had other ideas." An incredible story on reviving brains and redefining death www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

We hear so much that the US food supply is bad, full of additives and dyes that are supposedly harmful. And after several bacterial outbreaks in food this year, I wondered, "How bad is our food system, actually?" So @gracewade.bsky.social did a deep dive into it: www.newscientist.com/article/2457...

Retro is in, even in the ocean. The orcas are once again wearing salmon hats www.newscientist.com/article/2457...