New Scientist - Home

1. Scientists have only just figured out how cats purr
   The low-pitched sound of purring is unusual for an animal with short vocal folds, but cats have other structures in their larynx that enable their contented rumbling
2. Robotic hand has the dexterity to handle tricky objects with care
   A sophisticated algorithm enables a robotic hand to rotate Rubik’s cubes and other objects in three axes, with potential applications on automated manufacturing lines
3. How the microbiome changes our idea of what it means to be human
   The microbes living on and in you can change your mood, your mind and your health - challenging our ideas about human nature
4. Cheaper malaria vaccine recommended by the WHO
   A second vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease should be available from next year, adding to the first that was launched in 2019
5. Nobel prize for physics goes to trio who sliced up time with light
   Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier figured out how to generate attosecond pulses of light, which last a billionth of a billionth of a second and can be used to make movies of electrons - a find that has won them the 2023 Nobel prize in physics
6. Large Hadron Collider turned into world's biggest quantum experiment
   Physicists have used the famous particle smasher to investigate the strange phenomena of quantum entanglement at far higher energies than ever before
7. Water may be forming on the moon thanks to Earth’s magnetic field
   For a few days each month, as the full moon sweeps through the stretched-out tail of Earth’s magnetic field, high-energy electrons seem to be helping form water molecules on the lunar surface
8. Force that holds atoms together measured more precisely than ever
   We know less about the strength of the strong force than of any of the other fundamental forces of nature, but researchers at CERN have now made the most precise measurement of it ever
9. Astronomers alarmed by satellite that outshines all but seven stars
   Observations collected from telescopes around the world confirm that the communications satellite BlueWalker 3 outshines all but seven stars, posing huge problems for astronomy
10. Why the next solar eclipses are a unique chance to understand the sun
    North America will see an annular solar eclipse on 14 October and a total eclipse in April 2024. Scientists are preparing to use these spectacles to study our star's mysterious corona