SCIENCE

The best new sci-fi this month featuring John Scalzi, Silvia Park and Ai Jang

The moon has turned to cheese in John Scalzi’s new sci-fi novel Madeleine Steinbach / Alamy Stock Photo My only

SCIENCE

NASA set to launch SPHEREx space telescope to scan entire sky

Artist’s impression of the SPHEREx space telescope NASA/JPL-Caltech The latest addition to NASA’s fleet of space telescopes will launch this

SCIENCE

When did people start building houses with corners?

Rectangular buildings became common from about 10,000 years ago, as seen in this reconstruction of the ancient city of Çatalhöyük

SCIENCE

Hair conditioner made from wood is black and smelly, but eco-friendly

The black hair conditioner on the left is derived from the wood powder on the right Fengyang Wang/Stockholm University This

SCIENCE

Can Google’s new research assistant AI give scientists ‘superpowers’?

Google’s AI “co-scientist” is based on the firm’s Gemini large language models Raa/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Google has unveiled an experimental artificial intelligence

SCIENCE

Earth wouldn’t have ice caps without eroding rocks and quiet volcanoes

Antarctic ice on 1 Jan 2024 NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio Earth’s climate isn’t easy to cool down – especially if

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Oil firms’ plans for net-zero oil extraction labelled as ‘PR spiel’

An oil drilling rig in California’s Central Valley Ashley Cooper / Alamy Fossil fuel companies are experimenting with using carbon

SCIENCE

Distant exoplanet may be the most volcanic world ever found

Illustration of the volcanic exoplanet L 98-59 b NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center An alien world with a seemingly sulphur-filled

SCIENCE

AI chip smaller than a grain of salt uses light to decode data

A chip on the end of an optical fibre University of Shanghai for Science and Technology in China An artificial

SCIENCE

Bonobos can tell when they know something you don’t

Kanzi, one of three captive bonobos whose mental abilities were tested in the study Ape Initiative Bonobos are quick to