Image Galleries

• Social bee-haviour: The secret life of the hive

  23 November 2012

  The extraordinary mental feats of bees are forcing us to rethink what we thought we knew about intelligence. Prepare to be surprised at what a tiny brain can do as we take a look at some of what these industrious honey-makers get up to. David Robson
  
  Read more: "Hive minds: Honeybee intelligence creates a buzz"

• Misguided medicine, from bloodletting to radium

  21 November 2012

  Before Watson and Crick, before germ theory, before we worked out that blood was recirculated round the body, doctors got up to all kinds of antics in the name of medicine. Don't try any of these at home. Clare Wilson
  
  Read more: "Bloodletting: Return of a radical remedy"

• Memories of extinct birds, real and imagined

  14 November 2012

  Ralph Steadman's Extinct Boids is a wonderful collection of drawings of birds that once lived on Earth, alongside some living only in the imagination. Here are a few of our favourites.
  
  Read more: "Extinct birds come alive in a cartoonist's imagination"

• The reality and the fantasy of 'palaeo-porn'

  12 November 2012

  Some people look at prehistoric European figurines with exaggeratedly feminine anatomy and see pornography. Do you? Here April Nowell and Melanie Chang present the evidence – and the arguments.
  
  Read more: "'Palaeo-porn': we've got it all wrong"

• Telepresence today: How you can live by remote control

  07 November 2012

  Telepresence technology offers people a physical presence thousands of miles away, often allowing them to move around and manipulate things, for example via a robot. It's already changing warfare and medicine, and as the technology becomes ever more immersive, it promises to challenge the law and transform how we interact with one another.
  
  Read more: "Body down a wire: Living your life in remote control"

• Portraits of life, one cubic foot at a time

  01 November 2012

  To document the vast diversity of life on the planet, photographer David Liittschwager narrowed his focus. He created a series of images of the creatures and plants that grow, slither, flit or fly through a single cubic foot of space – from a cloud forest in Costa Rica to a coral reef in French Polynesia. Here are some of our favourites from his new book, A World in One Cubic Foot.
  
  Read more: "Parcelling up nature in One Cubic Foot"

• Healing arts riff on open-source medical records

  30 October 2012

  When Salvatore Iaconesi was diagnosed with brain cancer, he put his medical records online to crowdsource a cure. It wasn't just doctors he wanted to hear from, though: he also asked artists, designers, hackers, photographers, film-makers, musicians and writers to do their bit.
  
  Read more: "Crowdsourcing a cure for my brain cancer"

• Robot farm workers take to the fields

  25 October 2012

  To feed a growing population, we will need to double food production by 2050 – yet fewer people want to work the land. One solution could be robotic labour. Here are six systems, real and imagined, which could help farmers of the future. Ben Crystall
  
  Read more: "Farmerbots: a new industrial revolution"

• Kuhn's heroes: Five paradigm-busting revolutions

  24 October 2012

  Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions wasn't an instant hit when it was published in 1962, but it went on to notch up sales of more than a million, up there with Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene. It's now seen as one of the most important books of the 20th century. Get a flavour of it as we look at the four big revolutions that Kuhn wrote about – and one that he didn't. Julian Richards
  
  Read more: "50 years of Revolutions: A classic revisited"

• Alien beauty wins Small World prize

  23 October 2012

  The Nikon Small World prize has recognised microscope photography at its very best since 1974, rewarding scientist photographers for showing the world its tiniest pieces. Here are our favourites from this year's competition. Joanna Carver

• The best of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012

  18 October 2012

  The winners of this year's Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year were announced last night – chosen from 48,000 entries submitted by amateur and professional photographers from 98 countries.
  
  The winning images will be on show at the Natural History Museum in London until 3 March 2013, after which the collection will go on tour around the world. This gallery shows some of our favourites from the exhibition.
  
  Read more: The overall winner is our Picture of the Day, "Penguin ascension wins wildlife photographer prize"

• D-day for Bloodhound car's rocket engine

  04 October 2012

  In 2014, Bloodhound SSC will attempt to reach 1600 kilometres per hour (1000 miles per hour), smashing the land speed record in the process. This week the team successfully tested the vehicle's rocket engine at a Royal Air Force base at St Mawgan, south-west UK. Paul Marks snapped some of the action
  
  Read more: "First test firing for 1600-km/h rocket car successful"

• Floating cities: The dream and the reality

  27 September 2012

  Seasteading – the idea of building permanent settlements at sea – has an enduring fascination. But is it destined to remain in the realm of science fiction, or can it be a practical way to house our growing population? Here are six ocean communities, real and imagined. Alison George
  
  Read more: "Brave new sea worlds to redefine society"

• Chimps' bottoms and dead salmon: 2012 Ig Nobel prizes

  21 September 2012

  2012 is a year that we news junkies at New Scientist will never forget. Just to reel off three stories, we saw the discovery of the Higgs boson, an SUV land on Mars, and then Arctic sea-ice levels collapsed.
  
  Then there were the stories that really, really mattered, but inexplicably didn't get the coverage. Yesterday, it was their turn. These lost breakthroughs were honoured at the 2012 Ig Nobel Prizes, held at Harvard University.
  
  Here are our favourites. Attentive readers will note that, never far from the action, we wrote about these seminal breakthroughs when they first came out.

• The pros and cons of geoengineering

  20 September 2012

  With time running out to cut emissions, is it time to get serious about preventing dangerous rises in global temperatures in other ways? Here's a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the main methods that have been proposed Michael Le Page
  
  Read more: "Can geoengineering avert climate chaos?"

• Best of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest

  20 September 2012

  The winners of the fourth Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition were announced yesterday evening at a ceremony at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London. The best images will be on display until 5 February next year in a free exhibition at the observatory's Astronomy Centre. Here are our favourites. Caroline Morley

• A wide-eyed view on being high inside an fMRI

  18 September 2012

  It wasn't a normal start to my morning: swallowing MDMA and getting inside a brain scanner. But there was a reason for subjecting myself to this rollercoaster ride. I was part of an experiment to discover how ecstasy affects the brain and how it might one day be used to help treat people with post traumatic stress disorder. Early results suggest that the drug could make negative memories less painful. Graham Lawton
  
  Read more: "A real fMRI high: My ecstasy brain scan"

• Highs and lows from 50 years of human-powered flight

  12 September 2012

  In 1959, industrialist Henry Kremer stirred up interest in human-powered aircraft when he established a prize for the first craft to cover a course of 1 mile (1.6 kilometres). Enthusiasts around the world responded by constructing delicate flying machines of all shapes and sizes. Fifty years later, the Royal Aeronautical Society, UK, organised a competition, the Icarus Cup, as a way to inspire a new generation – and maybe even turn it into a novel form of extreme sport. Ben Crystall
  
  Read more: "Up, up and away: Chimeric bicycles take to the skies"

• The world's mightiest neutrino detectors

  11 September 2012

  The ever-shifting nature of neutrinos is the missing piece of the particle physics puzzle. Here, we look at the heavyweight technology studying these elusive particles. Valerie Jamieson
  
  Read more: "Neutrinos – the next big small thing"

• Five worthless species in need of saving

  11 September 2012

  Is a species worth saving if it offers no benefit to humans? The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has drawn up a list of 100 threatened animals, plants and fungi that it says have unique values which make them worth saving. Take a look and decide for yourself. Hannah Krakauer

• Photo time capsule aiming for orbit

  04 September 2012

  Satellites orbiting the Earth may be among the longest-lasting things humans have created. With this in mind, artist Trevor Paglen is launching into space a set of 100 photographs attached to a communications satellite. The photos are engraved on a chip that should last for billions of years. The Last Pictures may well outlive human existence on Earth. If they should be discovered millions of years from now, what will be made of them? All images courtesy of Trevor Paglen and Creative Time
  
  Read more: "Satellite time capsule for life on Earth"

• Six of the best biofuels

  31 August 2012

  Once hailed as the energy source of the future, biofuels have lost some lustre because of their dubious sustainability. Here we take a look at the latest figures for some of the main energy crops. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Even greener alternative: Energy from algae"

• New Scientist Eureka Photography Prize 2012

  24 August 2012

  New Scientist and the Australian Museum have been jointly running the New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography since 2007. The competition looks for a single photograph that most effectively communicates an aspect of science. Here are the top 10 images submitted for this year's competition – check newscientist.com on 28 August for the winner.

• Minimals: Meet the smallest critters of all

  21 August 2012

  We are often awed by the power and might of animals like whales and elephants – the world's largest. But what about the critters at the other end of the scale? Take a look at the physiological adaptations of the world's tiniest vertebrates. Michael Le Page
  
  Read more: "Incredible shrunken animals: The smallest of them all"

• Marine lessons in becoming a killer

  16 August 2012

  Killer whales, Orcinus orca, are well-known for their distinctive black and white colouring and predatory instincts. They are seen in all of the world's oceans, but local populations seem to have developed their own cultures. Here are some of the killer whales' learned behaviours. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Zoologger: Cultured killer whales learn by copying"

• Principal pollinators: Meet the bumblebee brigade

  15 August 2012

  If you think you know bees, think again. As well as the familiar honeybee, there are hundreds of species of wild bumblebee worldwide, each with its own fascinating behaviours. They may not provide the sweet stuff for your toast, but we are beginning to realise how much we rely on them too. And while honeybees face the mysterious threat of colony collapse, bumblebees are even more endangered. Here we take a look at the wonders of the humble bumble. Kate Douglas
  
  Read more: "Plight of the bumblebee: Scruffy pollinator in peril"

• Discover the beauty of extreme Venn diagrams

  13 August 2012

  If you think Venn diagrams are just a bunch of interlocking circles, think again. Pushing this iconic branch of mathematics to its limits reveals just how varied – and beautiful – these diagrams can be. This gallery showcases some of the wilder possibilities, including the most recent breakthrough in Venn geometry – the first simple, symmetric diagram to encompass a whopping 11 sets. Jacob Aron
  
  Read more: "Logic blooms with new 11-set Venn diagram"

• Scenes from a universe gathering dust

  07 August 2012

  Dust is essential stuff in the cosmos: although it makes up only about 1 per cent of the normal matter, it helps stars and complex molecules to form and is the stuff that makes planets – and eventually us. Everywhere we look we see it, but where does it all come from?
  
  Read more: "Sweeping up the mystery of cosmic dust"

• Five civilisations that climate change may have doomed

  03 August 2012

  Have great civilisations fallen because of changes in their climates? This has long been suggested. Recent studies have shown that many historical collapses, or periods of war and unrest, indeed coincided with big climatic changes – though how big a role climate has played remains controversial. Michael Le Page
  
  Read more: "Climate change: The great civilisation destroyer?"

• A human guinea pig in the brown fat lab

  27 July 2012

  I spent a day finding out first-hand what it's like to take part in an experiment aimed at devising new treatments for obesity. I'm a "control", providing baseline metabolic data against which the two experimental groups can be compared. But it involves a lot more than filling in a questionnaire and twiddling your thumbs, as I found out. Andy Coghlan
  
  Read more: "Fat lab lock-in: Can spicy pills help you lose weight?"
  
  Images: Dave Stock

• What emotions are written all over their faces?

  25 July 2012

  Experiments into reading facial expressions often use photos of actors. It has been argued that the resulting facial poses are exaggerated, culturally influenced and lack the real-world context that would give clues to someone's emotional state. How good are you at reading the emotions in these real-life situations? Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "The true faces of emotion"

• Berenice Abbott: Monochrome purity in photography

  25 July 2012

  The photographer Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) is best known for her 1930s cityscapes of New York, but she went on to tackle the challenges of picturing scientific concepts. Her distinctive black-and-white images are now on show at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she did much of her science work in the late 1950s and early 1960s. An accompanying book, Documenting Science, has been published by Steidl.
  
  Read more: "Innovation made waves in physics photography"

• How easily disgusted are you? Take our revolting test

  19 July 2012

  Some kinds of disgusting things affect some people more than others. Discover what's likely to push your queasy button, from sex to nasty food

• The ascent of space stations from Salyut to the ISS

  17 July 2012

  Of the dozen or so space stations sent into orbit since 1971, none matches the sophistication of those described in science fiction. Nonetheless, these orbiting homes-from-home have helped us master the basics of survival in space and revealed the challenges we face if we want to travel to other planets. Ben Crystall
  
  Read more: "Black sky research: Now the ISS proves its worth"

• Amphibian planet: Six of the strangest

  13 July 2012

  Amphibians have evolved some truly astonishing behaviours and forms. Have a look at just a few members of this diverse group of animals.
  
  Read more: "Genetic detectives hunt the global amphibian killer"

• Worst and wildest: Five off-the-charts weather events

  10 July 2012

  Even in a stable climate, wild, extreme weather will occur from time to time. As the planet warms, though, once-unprecedented events will start to become commonplace. Here are five off-the-charts events the likes of which could become more familiar in the future. Michael Le Page
  
  Read more: "How global warming is driving our weather wild"

• The quest to drill the world's deepest hole

  05 July 2012

  Since the mid 20th century, geologists have been drilling ever deeper into the Earth's crust on ocean and on land, but they still haven't come close to the mantle. A bold plan is now under way to reach the planet's viscous interior. Richard Fisher
  
  Read more: "Mission to the mantle: Drilling through Earth's crust"

• Prime locations for life in our solar system

  26 June 2012

  The Kepler space telescope has lined up a number of planets in other star systems that might host life. But what about closer to home? Could simple life have arisen on our galactic doorstep? Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Life: is it inevitable or just a fluke?"

• How mammals lost their hair

  22 June 2012

  Humans are often described as "naked apes," but we are not the only mammals to have lost our furry coats. Hair is one of the classifying characteristics of these animals, but sometimes there are good reasons why bald is best. Kate Douglas
  
  Read more: "Why haven't bald men gone extinct?"

• Scientists who went to war

  22 June 2012

  Like necessity, war breeds invention, so it is not surprising that many great scientists and engineers have made significant contributions to warfare. Our gallery shows how conflict has sparked innovation – and sometimes regret. Caroline Morley

• Biomedical beauties: Wellcome Image Awards winners

  20 June 2012

  The Wellcome Image Awards celebrate the way photography and micrography can show unexpected biomedical structures and patterns. The winning images will be on display at the Wellcome Collection in London from 21 June. Caroline Morley

• Andy Warhol's endangered species three decades on

  20 June 2012

  In 1983 Andy Warhol produced Endangered Species, a series of silkscreen prints in his iconic vivid style. Art dealers Ronald and Frayda Feldman commissioned them following conversations with the artist about ecological issues.
  
  These and other prints will be on show in Andy Warhol: The portfolios at Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, from 20 June to 16 September. Here is a selection – and news of how the animals have fared in the past three decades. Caroline Morley
  
  (Images courtesy of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York/The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/Corbis/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London 2011)

• Superstars of technology: The Millennium prizewinners

  13 June 2012

  The Millennium Technology Prize was set up by the Technology Academy Finland to recognise innovation. Often dubbed the "technology Nobels", the prize has been awarded every two years since 2004. The two winners of the 2012 prize are Linus Torvalds, the developer of Linux, and Shinya Yamanaka, who works in embryonic stem cell research. Caroline Morley

• Four smart scientific social circles

  30 May 2012

  Anthropologist Margaret Mead has been credited with saying, "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." This is as true in the world of science as it is for politics and the arts. Without creative input, support and disagreements from their friends, many famous scientists might not have made their breakthroughs. Meet some like-minded groups to whom we are all indebted. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Genius networks: Link to a more creative social circle"

• Animal aviators: Unusual creatures take to the skies

  23 May 2012

  Powered flight has evolved on four occasions – in insects, pterosaurs, birds and bats. Gliding, on the other hand, is a skill many more animals have mastered – even some that don't have wings. The most unexpected flying animal has got to be the squid - who would have imagined cephalods could soar? – but now meet some other members of the glider club. Michael Le Page
  
  Read more: "The incredible flying squid"

• Art in oils: Photos show grandeur of our petroleum age

  22 May 2012

  For over 10 years photographer Edward Burtynsky has been making images of all aspects of the oil industry: extraction and refining, the city of Detroit, transport and motor culture, and what happens when oil's associated artefacts – large and small – reach the end of their useful life. The resulting collection of large-format photographs reveals how much we rely on this finite resource to fuel our modern lives. Currently on show at the newly redeveloped Photographers' Gallery in London, Burtynsky's Oil exhibition will tour other venues into 2013. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Rubber soul: California's 6-million-tyre mountain"

• Making perfumes past and present

  16 May 2012

  Last year, Global Industry Analysts projected that the global fragrances and perfumes market will hit $33 billion by 2015.
  
  The company's report recognised the current trends for "celebrity inspired scents" as well as growth in the men's fragrance market. But the production of perfume is an ancient industry, with techniques refined since ancient times and ingredients found in unlikely places. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Eau de BO: The allure of sweat"

• Are you a reliable witness? Test yourself

  11 May 2012

  If you see a crime being committed, your word could be enough to convict someone. Do you think you should be trusted? Find out in our test – and see how new techniques are squeezing mistakes out of the system.
  
  Read more: "Judge Mental: Saving justice from the unreliable mind"
  
  All images in this gallery are of models – not criminals

• Ghostly glows mark violent deaths of stars

  11 May 2012

  Supernovae leave glowing embers behind, but we've found far fewer than expected. We might solve this puzzle by searching for neutrinos released in the explosion. Meanwhile, see some of the most beautiful remnants of exploding stars in our gallery.
  
  Read more: "Seeking neutrino clues to missing supernovae"

• Written from the heart: Da Vinci's anatomy

  09 May 2012

  Leonardo da Vinci was very secretive about his work and famously wrote his notes in mirror writing. Most of his anatomical drawings are covered with his annotations as he reasoned about the form and function of human anatomy.
  
  His writings have been deciphered and translated and are available for exploration in a new iPad app to accompany the exhibition at Buckingham Palace as well as the exhibition catalogue. Here's a taster of what the Renaissance man had to say. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Heart drawn: Leonardo da Vinci's intricate anatomy"

• Shark on the menu: Species hunted for their fins

  02 May 2012

  Shark's fin soup is considered a delicacy in China where a burgeoning middle class likes to show off its new wealth. As shark fins attract high prices, fishing for sharks has spread across the globe. Let's see which species are on the menu. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "When humans attack: The fallout of the shark slaughter"

• Glowing report: the mysteries of bioluminescence

  24 April 2012

  In the depths of the oceans, forests, coral reefs and even the damp caves of New Zealand, living things are creating their own light. Scientist are discovering how and why these organisms glow. Caroline Morley

• Roughnecks in space: Moon mining in science fiction

  24 April 2012

  Around the middle of the 20th century, science dispensed with the fantasy that we could easily colonise the other planets in our solar system. Science fiction writers absorbed the new reality: soon, moon and asteroid settings replaced Mars and Venus. Recurring themes emerged: faceless and unaccountable multinationals rapaciously stripping minerals; the roughnecks – epitomised by Bruce Willis's character in Armageddon – who did the dirty work; libertarian oil-rig cowboys who answered to no authority except cold, hard cash; and the claustrophobic isolation of being so far away from the blue planet. Sally Adee
  
  Read more: "Rich seams of Earth's secret moons "
  
  Read more: "Water central to detailed asteroid mining mission plan"

• Body tissues: slices of life in paper

  19 April 2012

  Deli-sliced human bodies have never been so beautiful. In her Tissue Series, Lisa Nilsson uses finely rolled paper in a technique called quilling to create anatomically correct artworks. "I find quilling exquisitely satisfying for rendering the densely squished and lovely internal landscape of the human body in cross section," she says. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "A slice of life in finely furled paper"

• Micro-beauties of the sea plant world

  12 April 2012

  Most of the oxygen you are breathing was made by minuscule algae and bacteria. These plants, known as phytoplankton, provide half of the food on which all the animals on this planet depend – and, alarmingly, some say their numbers are plummeting. Here are some of the most photogenic. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Too-blue oceans: The invisible famine"

• Planet-hunter Geoff Marcy's favourite alien worlds

  10 April 2012

  The man who found 70 of the first 100 exoplanets told New Scientist which ones he likes best – here we show you what they might look like.
  
  Read more: "Galactic laser light show might lead us to aliens"

• Microbe mugshots: A line-up of persistent offenders

  05 April 2012

  Microscopic malefactors sometimes escape antibiotic punishment by playing dead. These "persisters" are responsible for some of the hardest-to-fight infections that afflict humanity – see their true faces here.
  
  Read more: "Sleeper cells: How to fight bacteria that play dead"

• What made that bang? Six mystery blasts

  03 April 2012

  From a suspicious sinking to an astronomical apocalypse, fear meets wonder in our round-up of unexplained explosions Ben Crystall Read more: "Impossible explosion: The Buncefield blast explained"

• The beneficent botany in nature's medicine chest

  27 March 2012

  Françoise Barbira Freedman's pharmaceutical company Ampika is just one of the latest to look to nature for new drugs. With most medications now sold as nondescript white tablets, though, we often don't know their organic origin. Caroline Morley
  
  Read more: "Out of Peru, the plant that tackles toothache"

• Noam Chomsky's life in pictures

  19 March 2012

  Noam Chomsky (born 1928) is a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian and activist and one of the world's most influential intellectuals. He is an institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  
  Read more: "Noam Chomsky: Meet the universal man"

• Middle-aged prodigies: Seven poster children over 40

  09 March 2012

  Middle age is usually portrayed as a rather nondescript phase of life. Nothing could be further than the truth. Middle-aged people are arguably the pinnacle of human evolution: they can do more, earn more and, in short, they run the world. Here are some who made their mark on the world only after entering their fifth decade.
  
  Read more: "Middle age: A triumph of human evolution"

• Visualization Challenge winners show spectacular science

  02 February 2012

  It's not always easy to explain a complex idea in words, but sometimes an picture can help – especially if it's beautiful and compelling. The 2011 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge picks the best photographs, illustrations, graphics, interactive games and videos that engage viewers by conveying the complex substance of science through images. Caroline Morley

• Io creating auroras on Jupiter

  02 February 2012

  Jupiter's brilliant auroras are directly controlled by volcanic outbursts from the moon Io.

• Life writ large: The biggest living things on Earth

  01 February 2012

  Big trees and blue whales are easily spotted when searching for the Earth's biggest living things – but not all of our planet's giants are so obvious. Expanses of connected fungi or coral can also claim the crown of world's largest life form, and single-celled animals can reach surprising sizes. Caroline Morley

• Scenes from the bloody manta ray trade

  18 January 2012

  Manta and mobula rays are ecotourism gold, but fishing to feed the traditional Chinese medicine trade is threatening both groups, according to a new report published jointly by conservation organisations Shark Savers and WildAid. Colin Barras

• Painting Fool's portfolio reveals artificial artist

  11 January 2012

  The Painting Fool is an artificial artist created by Simon Colton of Imperial College, London. The software generates its artwork digitally and can paint in a variety of styles. Whatever you think about the paintings – they're certainly not for everybody – the idea that software can now produce artworks that we cannot anticipate is compelling, and challenges our ideas about how creativity works. New Scientist reviews the Fool's portfolio.
  
  Read more and watch the video: "Art-ificial: The virtual virtuosos redefining creativity"

• Ghouls on film: Ghost or glitch? You decide

  05 January 2012

  What exactly are modern ghost hunters catching on camera? Are the images truly mysterious or are technological slip-ups and wishful thinking to blame? Let New Scientist be your spirit guide…
  
  Read more: "Ghouls on film: Paranormal photography goes digital"

• 2011 review: The year in space

  29 December 2011

  The year saw the final shuttle flight, the discovery of what might be a 10³¹-carat cosmic diamond and the discovery of the smallest exoplanet yet
  
  Read more: "Smart Guide 2012: 10 ideas you'll want to understand"

• 2011 review: The year in Zoologger's extreme beasts

  22 December 2011

  Zoologger is our weekly column highlighting extraordinary animals – and occasionally other organisms – from around the world. Here's our top 10 extreme beasts of the year Michael Marshall
  
  Read more: "Smart Guide 2012: 10 ideas you'll want to understand"

• Remote robots: Human-free by land, sea and air

  16 December 2011

  The recent downing of an uncrewed surveillance airplane in Iran offers a rare peek at some of the US government's most advanced military hardware. But the drone is only one of the remotely operated vehicles in the US military arsenal. Here is a look at some of the other independent interlopers being deployed on land, at sea and in the air. Phil McKenna

• Health posters show the fine art of persuasion

  08 December 2011

  Public health advice – eat more fruit and veg, don't drink and drive – hasn't changed much over the years. But our gallery of public health posters shows that the design of exhortations to behave better reflects the fashion of the time. From wartime admonitions to gentle reminders, this is propaganda with style. Andrew Purcell
  
  Read more: "Salt: killer or scapegoat?"

• Gorgeous predators pictured in the wild

  02 December 2011

  Michael Marshall
  
  Roger Hooper's exhibition in support of the conservation organisation WWF, Life in the Wild, features photographs of some of the world's most stunning creatures. Read on for New Scientist's pick of the show.

• Olympus BioScapes winners find art in microscopic life

  21 November 2011

  The 2011 Olympus BioScapes competition brings the beauty of micro-organisms out of the lab. Here is a gallery of our favourite images from the contest, including petite plankton, dinky Drosophila and miniscule mould spores.

• Out of the lab, into the gallery

  15 November 2011

  This year, Princeton University's annual Art of Science photo competition aims to reclaim the term "intelligent design" through stunning images of science – see "Reclaiming “intelligent design” with stunning photos" for the full story.

• Endangered species under the spotlight

  10 November 2011

  The Red List of threatened species kept by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, has just been updated. New Scientist takes a closer look at some of the species unfortunate enough to find themselves on the list.

• Planetary probe hall of fame

  07 November 2011

  We now have more than half a century of space exploration behind us. The technology and design of spacecraft has advanced massively since we first managed to send an object out of the Earth's gravitational pull in 1959. Space Probes: 50 years of exploration from Luna 1 to New Horizons, a new book by Philippe Séguéla, tours through images taken of – or by – the robotic pioneers that have taught us so much about our neighbouring planets.

• Bye-bye beautiful birds

  02 November 2011

  Ghost of Gone Birds has pulled in a horde of high profile artists and musicians to expose the stories of our lost, but not forgotten, feathered friends. From the famed Dodo, through the lesser known Guam Flycatcher, to the near-extinct Albatross, the exhibition combines beauty with more hard-hitting images that really bring home the devastation wrecked on these fragile creatures, often as a direct result of human behaviour. We’ve put together our selection to give you a taste of what’s on offer.
  
  The multimedia exhibition runs at London’s Rochelle School until 23 November, and there is a live performance by Doves frontman Jimi Goodwin and the Bird Effect Ensemble at London’s Rich Mix on 10 November. For more information, check out our CultureLab exhibition review, complete with audio from Goodwin himself.

• Ghoulish gallery of Halloween horror animals

  31 October 2011

  It’s not just ghosts and goblins that will give you a scare this Halloween - the animal kingdom puts on quite a horrifying show. New Scientist picks our fright-night favourites from the gross to the downright gory, zombie cockroaches brought back from the dead to a lizard that squirts tears of blood. And you thought your Halloween costume was scary.
  
  Which creature chills your bones the most? Vote for your favourite horror species in our Facebook poll.

• Wildlife Photographer of the Year

  21 October 2011

  The winners of the 2011 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year have been announced. The prize attracts the world's best and culminates in an exhibition at the Natural History Museum, London. From oil-covered birds to death-defying mountain goats, these are our favourites.

• Photos from inside California's star chamber

  21 October 2011

  Tiny stars are being created by the world's largest and most energetic lasers in the hope of tapping what could be a relatively clean energy source – nuclear fusion.
  
  The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is at the forefront of efforts to harness the power of fusion. It is also being used to understand how materials behave under extreme temperatures and pressures, similar to those found inside a detonating nuclear warhead.
  
  Read more: "California's star chamber: Inside a fusion furnace"

• September photo competition winners: Farms and gardens

  20 October 2011

  Commercial farming and agriculture provide the high yields of crops necessary to feed an ever-growing population, but they also shape the landscape in unique ways. We all shape our own personal green spaces, too. Our private gardens can be sanctuaries, where hedges provide privacy and nurtured flowerbeds bring colour to our homes. Urban spaces can be transformed, bringing the great outdoors into the city – where an increasing number of us now live. The plants, shrubs, trees and grass that we grow and maintain also provide important habitats for wildlife – both urban and rural.
  
  From a wind farm to a vineyard, your images show off the best of our living spaces, shaped by human hands. This gallery features our winner and all our runners-up.
  
  If you'd like to take a look at all the entries, you can also see the full gallery of submissions.

• Sea creatures get studio treatment

  17 October 2011

  Sumptuous, studio-lit images of marine creatures are a feature of Sea, a book of the work of photographer Mark Laita. Take a look at our favourite compositions here.
  
  Read more: "Studio portrait of big, brainy octopus"

• Top ten superbug super-villains

  10 October 2011

  Drug-resistant superbugs are potentially deadly strains of micro-organisms that we once had the power to control. Now these mutants take on the best of our medical weapons, wreaking havoc on the world's health. Here is our rogue's gallery of the micro most wanted.
  
  Read more: "Cheatobiotics: Send in the subversive superbugs"

• Stars of the natural world in extreme close-up

  06 October 2011

  Take a microscope's-eye view of the world with our favourite winning shots from the Nikon Small World photomicrography competition.

• Metamorphosis: Guess what I'll be when I grow up

  03 October 2011

  Photos reveal the surprising transformation that many species undergo as they grow – can you spot the adult inside the youngster?
  
  Read more: Metamorphosis: Evolution's freak factory

• Your brain's family album, from hydra to human

  27 September 2011

  Our brains followed a twisting path of development through creatures that swam, crawled and walked the Earth long before we did. Here are a few of these animals, and how they helped make us what we are.
  
  Read more: "A brief history of the brain"

• Best of British wildlife caught on camera

  27 September 2011

  The winners of the 2011 British Wildlife Photography Awards have been announced. The contest is for wildlife images of any wild species that lives in the UK. From ghostly jellyfish to a grinning fox, we pick out some stunning shots from this year's award.

• Digs above the ground: Middle East aerial archaeology

  22 September 2011

  David Kennedy at the University of Western Australia in Perth is an armchair archaeologist. He has just found thousands of ancient stone structures in the Middle East that are reminiscent of the Nazca lines of Peru – simply by using Google Earth and vintage aerial photographs. New Scientist takes a virtual tour.
  
  Read more: "Google Earth reveals Nazca-like structures in Arabia"

• August photo competition winners: Words

  21 September 2011

  As we learn more about language and the way that it evolved, the notion of words as little more than collections of random sounds is being challenged. With this in mind, our photo competition throughout August was "words".
  
  From street signs to graffiti, name-tags to advertising, we saw it all. Here are the winners and runners-up.
  
  Inspired? Next month's theme is all about farms and gardens.

• Come hither: The deceptive beauty of orchids

  30 August 2011

  Christian Ziegler is a biologist-turned-photographer, whose book Deceptive Beauties: The world of wild orchids takes a closer look at the seductive orchid

• The next wave of energy from the sea

  29 August 2011

  A recent study by the Carbon Trust predicts that by 2050 wave energy could yield as much as 190 gigawatts of electricity or more than 3 times today’s total electric output in the UK. As the industry begins to scale up, more than 100 companies are developing novel devices to harvest energy from the seas. New Scientist takes a look at some of the most promising technologies currently being deployed.
  
  Read more: "New power wave heads out to sea"

• Australia through the lens: The big dry continent

  26 August 2011

  Australia's climate is as diverse as it is extreme. Dry, parched terrain can be quickly flooded by lakes. Recently, however, the nation has been experiencing longer, more severe droughts and troublesome bushfires. New Scientist takes a photographic look at a nation drying out.

• Colour me beautiful: photography at the nanoscale

  24 August 2011

  From a rusty microcanyon to a tie-dye leaf, these stunning images from the 2011 FEI Owner Image Contest use colour in inventive ways to transform snapshots from the microscopic world. New Scientist rounds-up the winners, runners-up and other striking entries.

• Brains, delusion, mummies: Best New Scientist covers

  22 August 2011

  We've published more than 2800 magazines in our 55-year history – which one had the best cover? In this gallery, our staff make the case for their favourites – but you can make your own pick from our online archive, which begins in 1989, or from Google Books for earlier issues.
  
  Read more: "Datacasting: What will you buy tomorrow?"

• The life hereafter: Funeral technology old and new

  19 August 2011

  Six feet under is far from the only destination for the dead. For centuries, cultures around the world have practised alternatives to burial, from timeless mummification to a quick return to nature through offerings to scavengers. New Scientist rounds up the unorthodox passing and preservation of corpses past and present.
  
  Read more: "Future funerals: What a way to go"

• Mammals caught on candid camera

  18 August 2011

  When habitats are fragmented they harbour fewer and less diverse species. So a study led by major conservation groups used camera traps at seven sites in Uganda, Tanzania, Indonesia, Laos, Suriname, Brazil and Costa Rica to assess mammal populations. The researchers obtained 51,000 images of 105 species. Here are some of the best.

• Cool technologies for hot subways

  10 August 2011

  London has the oldest underground railway service in the world, and the Tube took people on over a billion journeys last year. But it's hot, and getting hotter. On 2 July 2001, 600 passengers had to be treated for heat exhaustion after three trains became stuck on the infamously hot Victoria line. With underground temperatures rising, London Underground and other networks around the world are exploring new ways of keeping cool down below.
  
  Read more: "Tubular hell: Taking the sizzle out of the subway"

• The year's best astronomy photos

  09 August 2011

  With the winner of the 2011 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition to be announced next month, New Scientist brings you a selection of the best entries. Judged by a panel of experts including Patrick Moore, the winning images will be on display at the Royal Observatory, London, from 9 September until February 2012.

• July photo competition winners: Technology

  09 August 2011

  With gadgets and machinery such a massive part of our everyday lives, we asked you to photograph the technology that has made a difference. From lighting effects to mechanical war chests, communication devices to computers, we saw it all. Here are the winners and runners-up.
  
  Inspired? Next month's theme is all about words

• New stars of innovative sustainable design

  07 August 2011

  Slum reshaping, breathing buildings and next-generation soap are just some of the ideas on display at the annual SRD Change Exhibition in Sydney, Australia. The show flaunts the best in sustainable and environmental design aiming "to create products and services that focus on tangible and positive benefits for society in every possible aspect", says Greg Campbell, the SRD Change curator.

• Exploring the dimensions with sculpture

  04 August 2011

  Tony Cragg started drawing while he was working in a laboratory at the age of 18. This first foray into art evolved as he experimented with different materials for making sculptures. By taking everyday shapes and morphing them along constantly moving axes he generates rich, new, forms that seem to condense many dimensions into the three that we are familiar with.
  
  Read more: "Sculpting shapes that don't exist"

• Sense of place: Networked art probes virtual worlds

  02 August 2011

  This year's art gallery at the Siggraph computer graphics conference beginning next week in Vancouver, Canada, explores the interface between physical and virtual realities through networked pieces that connect distinct spaces. Virtually squat a home in Florida, see the wind in real time indoors and sense the physical presence of a faraway partner in this selection of digital and technologically mediated pieces.
  
  Read more: "Trick your senses: Future of virtual reality"

• The next wave of radio telescopes

  22 July 2011

  The first radio telescopes were built in the 20th century, more than 300 years after Galileo first used an optical telescope to spot the moons of Jupiter. Now radio astronomy is making up for lost time, however. New Scientist showcases some of the projects under way this year.

• Award-winning photographer looks into our eyes

  14 July 2011

  Chris Barry is an ophthalmic photographer at the Lions Eye Institute in Perth, Australia. This year he received an Australian Institute of Professional Photography award for his work capturing the eye and its ailments in astounding detail. New Scientist looks into his eyes.

• Do it again: Round-up of regenerating animals

  13 July 2011

  The handy trick of regenerating lost tissues varies widely in animals. We humans can regenerate the tips of our fingers, but some animals can regrow their entire bodies from just a few cells. New Scientist brings you a round-up of some of the more dramatic examples.
  
  Read more: "Newts able to regenerate body parts indefinitely"

• Weather round-up for the solar system

  12 July 2011

  What's the weather like on other planets and moons in our solar system? NASA's Cassini spacecraft has completed almost 80 fly-bys of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, as it passed through its spring equinox, giving us a better idea of conditions there.
  
  But what of elsewhere? New Scientist takes a look at cyclones on Mars, the lightning storms of Jupiter, Saturn's northern lights – and a possible white winter on Pluto.

• Farewell shuttle: 30 years of space flight in pictures

  07 July 2011

  For three decades, NASA's space shuttle programme has expanded our knowledge of the cosmos and made space feel closer by establishing a continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station. New Scientist looks back on the programme's best and worst moments
  
  Read more: "Farewell shuttle: Now the space race takes off again"

• June photo competition winners: Food

  05 July 2011

  Sucrose, seagulls and squid battled it out to be our pick of the bunch in June's mouth-watering food-themed photo competition.
  
  Inspired? Next month's theme is technology.

• The not-so-natural history of horse evolution

  01 July 2011

  For thousands of years, humans have moulded horses for brawn, speed and even cuteness. New Scientist traces the course of horse evolution and breeding from their ancient origins and wild forms to the first cloned racehorse.
  
  Read more: "Speedy genes: Making horses for courses"

• The best combustion art goes up in flames

  01 July 2011

  Now in its eighth year, the 2011 Combustion Art Competition Awards held at a recent meeting of the Combustion Institute brought together a bunch of pyrotechnic scientists eager to show off their red-hot creations. New Scientist takes a look at the winners and runners-up.

• Winning designs for a better life – €500,000 on offer

  20 June 2011

  Could you come up with an invention to enhance the lives of people worldwide? Sixty-one designers, scientists and engineers who have done just that have been shortlisted for the Index: Design to Improve Life competition. The €500,000 prize money – donated by the Danish government – will be split between winners in five categories: body, home, work, play and community. Here, New Scientist presents some of our favourite contenders.

• Tentacular spectacular: Best cephalopod superpowers

  16 June 2011

  Capable of navigating mazes, using tools and solving problems, the cephalopods are the world's most intelligent invertebrates. They also have a few survival tricks up their tentacles. Changing colour, mimicking other species and bioluminescence all come naturally to this impressive bunch.
  
  Read more: "Eight arms, big brain: What makes cephalopods clever"

• Hidden ecologies: salt ponds and entombed marshes

  15 June 2011

  In the southern reaches of San Francisco Bay, ponds created to produce salt by evaporation take on other-wordly colours, thanks to blooms of salt-tolerant microbes. Using kite aerial photography, Charles "Cris" Benton has documented this altered ecology.
  
  Read more: "Beauty of devastated Californian land seen from a kite"

• May photo competition winners: Migration

  10 June 2011

  Bird migrations are well-known wonders of the natural world, but humans both rich and poor are on the move like never before – as entries for our May migration-themed photo competition showed. Here are the winners and runners-up.
  
  Inspired? Next month's theme is food.

• A century and a half of colour photography

  27 May 2011

  In 1861, the physicist James Clerk Maxwell announced his discovery of the three-colour process on which the technology of colour photography is still based. To mark the anniversary, New Scientist looks at the inventors, tinkerers and pioneers who made colour photography possible.

• NASA art remembers 50 years of space exploration

  26 May 2011

  NASA's art collection holds 50 years' worth of works by renowned artists. Opening this Saturday, an exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC features more than 70 of the agency's best pieces.
  
  Read more: "Of astronauts and artists: The romance of space flight"

• Meet the top 10 new species of 2010

  25 May 2011

  The winners are in: the top new species of 2010, as selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University in Phoenix. From glow-in-the-dark mushrooms and steel-eating bacteria to giant leeches and bizarre pancake fish, New Scientist takes a look at the ones that made the cut.

• Science-fiction classics that have rewired your brain

  20 May 2011

  Once a niche pursuit, science fiction is now a global phenomenon. The British Library in London delves into its history and significance in its new exhibition, Out of this World: Science Fiction but not as you know it. As these examples show, science fiction's alternate worlds force us to look at our own anew.
  
  Read more: "Can science fiction still predict the future?"

• Animals having fun

  16 May 2011

  In his new book, Exultant Ark, animal behaviourist Jonathan Balcombe argues that animals experience pleasure, comfort and joy and that these traits are more than just practical evolutionary survival adaptations.
  
  From foraging pikas to paw-in-paw sea otters, the personalities of creatures are brought to life through emotive and compelling images. Here are some of our favourites.
  
  Read more: "Exploring animals' emotional experiences"

• US fighting machine going green

  12 May 2011

  The US navy might seem an unlikely green champion, but it has an ambitious target to reduce its dependence on oil. US navy chief Raymond Mabus says that by 2020 half of all its energy will come from sources that aren't fossil fuels. Leading the way are measures to make the huge fleet more fuel efficient – saving millions of dollars and many barrels of fuel. Here are some of the innovations, on land as well as sea.
  
  Read more: "US navy chief: I'm on a mission to stop using oil"

• April photo competition winners: Wheels

  11 May 2011

  Wheels are ubiquitous in our modern world and their effects on the way we live cannot be underestimated. Throughout April we asked our readers to show us photographically what they mean to you. Here are the winners and runners-up.
  
  Inspired? Next month's theme looks at migration

• Evolutionary trick of bizarre insect headgear revealed

  05 May 2011

  Despite their variety today, all winged insects share a similar body plan, honed over 300 million years of evolution. Each has a thorax in three segments, with a pair of legs on each segment, and a pair of wings on the second and third segment.
  
  Benjamin Prud'homme and colleagues at the National Centre of Scientific Research in Marseille, France, have just found an exception. Despite their spectacular appearance, the "helmets" of treehoppers attach to the first segment of the thorax, in the same way as wings. The team say they are essentially an extra pair of highly modified wing-like appendages.
  
  Journal reference: Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature09977

• World champion photographs come to London

  28 April 2011

  The winners of the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards were announced yesterday. The competition and associated festival brings to London the cream of today's photography, both professional and amateur: with over 105,000 entries from 162 countries, selecting winners was no mean feat. These are some of New Scientist's favourites.

• The unlikely charm of cockroaches

  26 April 2011

  With nearly 5000 different species, cockroaches are one of the most successful of Earth's creatures. They are considered pests by most – but New Scientist begs to differ.
  
  Decide for yourself as we introduce you to some strange, curious and beautiful roaches, each with their own special characteristics.
  
  Read more: "The secret superpower of the cockroach"

• Bee guts and embryo hearts: Next-generation imaging

  14 April 2011

  Taking on the realm of microscopes, the powerful scanners at the University College London Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging render bee stomachs and embryo hearts in remarkable detail. The new centre employs advanced imaging techniques to examine important questions in bioresearch. New Scientist takes a peek at some noteworthy scans.

• Surreal seductions: Birds of paradise strut their stuff

  14 April 2011

  Male birds of paradise have developed extraordinarily elaborate ways of attracting females. Photographs and specimens on display at a new exhibition at the Australian Museum in Sydney show the range of these birds' distinctive plumage, and the lengths males will go to impress a potential mate.
  
  Read more: "Surreal seductions: How birds of paradise find a mate"

• Five wild RAP stars celebrate 20 years of conservation

  13 April 2011

  Over the past 20 years, Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) has completed 80 surveys identifying more than 1300 new species in 27 countries. The outcomes of the initiative have been documented in its new book Still Counting…. New Scientist takes a look at some of the stars of the show.

• Snapshots from a cosmonaut's photo album

  13 April 2011

  On the 50th anniversary of humankind's first trip to space, a new collection of photographs takes us on a journey to the Russian space centres that made Yuri Gagarin's historic achievement possible.
  
  Read more: "Behind the scenes of cosmonaut history"

• Nine more heroes of human space flight

  12 April 2011

  On 12 April 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to reach space when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth. Since Gagarin, 520 men and women from 38 countries have followed him. New Scientist brings you some of the most notable records in human space flight.
  
  See more: "Experience the first space flight for yourself"

• Field Notes: Weaver birds may hold secret of ageing

  11 April 2011

  In the South African portion of the Kalahari desert, a bird with an unusual social life is helping biologists work out whether a life of leisure slows down the ageing process

• March photo competition winners: Scale

  11 April 2011

  In March we asked for your best photos on the theme of "scale". Your interpretations played with size, physical scales and perspective. Here are the winners and runners-up.
  
  Inspired? Next month's theme is that greatest of inventions: wheels

• Colliding galaxies

  07 April 2011

  Some 5 billion years from now, the Milky Way is expected to collide with the Andromeda galaxy. To preview what's in store for us, New Scientist takes a look at other colliding galaxies, each at a different stage of evolution.
  
  Read more: "Empty universe: Cosmology in the year 100 billion" (with video)

• Where should the US store its nuclear waste?

  06 April 2011

  A commission appointed by the US Department of Energy is studying different options for dealing with spent fuel from nuclear power plants. New Scientist weighs the pros and cons of each

• Doodles of discovery: Moments of insight live on

  05 April 2011

  From sketches on the margins of lecture notes to painstaking illustrations, the sparks of insight that moved scientific understanding forward can take many forms. Flip through these pages from the Royal Society's collection to discover how some of science's great thinkers recorded their moments of inspiration.

• Weird geometry: Art enters the hyperbolic realm

  01 April 2011

  Hyperbolic space is a Pringle-like alternative to flat, Euclidean geometry where the normal rules don't apply: angles of a triangle add up to less than 180 degrees and Euclid's parallel postulate, governing the properties of parallel lines, breaks down. That fascinates mathematical artist Vi Hart, who creates hyperbolic "tilings" from a range of different materials. View our gallery to get to grips with this alternative geometry.
  
  Read more: "Mathematical artist: Why hyperbolic space is awesome"

• Plants that act like people

  31 March 2011

  Aside from an active social life, plants display a whole range of other human-like behaviours. New Scientist looks at plants that can choose their mate, others that cry out for help and some that can even fake an illness.
  
  Read more: "Heard it on the grapevine: The secret society of plants"

• Supermoons and sparkling nebulas: what’s new in space

  22 March 2011

  See how the moon loomed full in the sky and the shuttle Discovery touched down for the last time, plus other recent space highlights in pictures

• Space superlatives: The universe’s extreme performers

  15 March 2011

  From a puffed-up monster planet to a galaxy cloaked in dark matter, the universe harbours extreme wonders that defy measurement and even our understanding of nature. New Scientist rounds up of some of the brightest, fastest and hottest players in the cosmos.
  
  Read more: "Extreme universe: Eight cosmic record-breakers"

• High-tech remixes vs low-tech originals: You decide

  11 March 2011

  In collaboration with curatorial and creative partner Jotta, Intel has commissioned 13 artists to reinterpret 13 masterpieces, using new technologies to bring them into the digital age. The results are on show in Remastered: A visibly smart production from Intel, on show at One Marylebone,1 Marylebone Road, London NW1 4AQ, until Sunday.
  
  Read more: "Remastered masterpieces given a new lease of life"

• The robots in Google's race to the moon

  09 March 2011

  With designs as diverse as the teams that have created them, the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize promises both stunning successes and catastrophic failures. The rovers must withstand a journey to the moon, landing and a 500-metre trip across the lunar surface, and after all that, send images and data back to Google's earthbound servers. New Scientist takes a look at the contenders.

• Gallery: Nathan Myhrvold's world-changing inventions

  07 March 2011

  Solving the world energy crisis, finding aliens, eradicating malaria and mitigating the effects of climate change – these are just some of the challenges Nathan Myhrvold and his teams have taken on. New Scientist takes a look at how their innovative technologies could tackle the world's biggest problems.
  
  Read more: Nathan Myhrvold: From Microsoft to molecular gastronomy

• February photo competition winners: Water

  04 March 2011

  This month's photo competition focused on water in all its forms. Taking the plunge, our readers entered a stunning array of images interpreting the theme. From floating droplets and dewy seeds, to the water-repellent legs of a water strider, this month’s competition didn’t fail to impress. Take a look for yourselves.

• Sonic doom: Noise in pictures

  02 March 2011

  High-level, constant noise can affect mental and physical well-being. From the noisiest job to the quietest place on Earth, New Scientist takes a look at the problems noise causes and how we can keep things quieter.
  
  Read more: "Sonic doom: Making a sound barrier"
  Video: Click here to build your own sonic crystal

• Natural beauty: Wellcome Image Awards gallery

  23 February 2011

  The winners of the 2011 Wellcome Image Awards have been announced: 21 images were chosen both for their ability to enhance scientific understanding and for their aesthetic appeal. New Scientist takes a look at some of the best.
  
  Read more: "Colour me beautiful: Wellcome Image Awards winners"

• Visualization Challenge: Making unseen worlds visible

  17 February 2011

  From frenetic molecules to colliding galaxies, the winners of the eighth annual International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge present imaginative renderings of the often abstract realm of science. The contest, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science, seeks to engage the public by capturing science visually in new and interesting ways.

• At it like rabbits: Bizarre animal sex in pictures

  11 February 2011

  As a new exhibition, Sexual Nature, opens at the Natural History Museum in London, New Scientist takes a closer look at some of nature's astonishing range of reproductive techniques.
  
  Read more: "Hedgehog sex, penis bones and other mating mysteries"

• January photo competition winners: Renewal

  08 February 2011

  January’s photo competition theme was renewal, and our competition entrants did a great job of adding their own interpretation. From a moth hatching from a chrysalis to a carnivorous wasp, to daisies in the dawn we have a selection of stunning photographs to remind us that there is constant renewal in the world, and the circle of life.

• Lasers create five new 'stars' in night sky

  04 February 2011

  Many big observatories point a single laser at the sky to measure atmospheric turbulence. Recently, the Gemini South telescope tested a five-laser system, reports Kelly Beatty of Sky & Telescope magazine.

• Expect the unexpected at Kinetica Art Fair 2011

  04 February 2011

  Bringing together art from around the globe, Kinetica Art Fair 2011 boasts quite a collection of robots, flashing lights and interactive fun. Here’s a selection of what there is to see. You can read our review here.

• Visceral stimulation: Life comes to art

  31 January 2011

  The artworks on show at Visceral: The Living Art Experiment at Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, challenge our assumptions of what life is – and what it means.
  
  Read more: our interview with curator Oran Catts

• NASA's dreaming: Future space technologies

  27 January 2011

  From antimatter rockets to flying robots, NASA's wish list of technologies for space exploration stretches the imagination. The ideas appear in the agency's proposals for technologies from propulsion to robotics it might develop in the decades ahead.
  
  The US National Research Council has been asked to evaluate the plans and is discussing them in a series of meetings this week in Washington DC.

• Magical mathematical squares made of Tetris bricks

  26 January 2011

  The magic square is the basis for Sudoku, pops up in Chinese legend and provides a playful way to introduce children to arithmetic. But all this time it has been concealing a more complex geometrical form, says recreational mathematician Lee Sallows. In his geomagic squares, each digit of the magic square is replaced by a Tetris-like shape. View our gallery to see a selection of Sallows's geomagic squares – and what they mean.
  
  Read more: "Ancient puzzle gets new lease of 'geomagical' life"

• A new temple for iconic images of nature

  19 January 2011

  A new gallery, Images of Nature, opens at the Natural History Museum in London this week. Its contents explore the interplay between scientific research and imaging techniques, taking visitors on an historical tour from illustration to modern high-tech scans. We take a look at some of the iconic images exhibited, and the stories behind them.

• Gulf oil spill: From news to epic art photography

  19 January 2011

  The Gulf oil spill was big news in 2010; now in 2011 it’s making big prints for fine art photographer Edward Burtynsky. A new exhibition at Flowers gallery in Mayfair, London, shows the best of Burtynsky’s large-scale aerial photography, taken in May and June last year at the height of the emergency response to the spill. The images are the latest part of Burtynsky's in-depth study of global oil, its industries, use and environmental effects. His images straddle the line between news and fine art: find out for yourself below.

• Glowing tentacles and furry pillars: corals we'll miss

  11 January 2011

  Corals cover less than 1 per cent of the ocean floor but they support over one-third of the world's marine life. The Zoological Society of London has drawn up a list of the tropical species we should be most concerned about, as part of its EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) of Existence project. The list highlights 10 species vital to our understanding of coral evolution that could help predict the how reefs will respond to climate change.

• December photo competition winners: Light

  07 January 2011

  During December we asked for your photographic interpretations of the month's theme: light. We received an illuminating collection, ranging through moonlight, sunsets, reflections and artificial light. The winner saw beauty reflected in the eye of an egret, but our runners-up had equally creative interpretations of the theme. See for yourself.

• Computer cities: From scrap to skyscraper

  04 January 2011

  Franco Recchia builds miniature cities out of computer scrap. "In these works of art I mostly utilised heat sinks, RAMs, disk controllers, electronic connectors, chipsets, microprocessors and TV tuners," he says. "The idea is to give life again to what otherwise is destined to be lost – or worse, thrown away."
  
  His work is on show at the Agora Gallery in New York until Friday.

• Zoologger: The 12 coolest animals of 2010

  29 December 2010

  Take a tour of the best of New Scientist's weekly bestiary, featuring invulnerable bats, solar-powered hornets and some deeply peculiar sea creatures

• 2010 review: 10 most popular space stories

  27 December 2010

  New Scientist takes a look through its telescopes of time at the most-read space stories of 2010. Top stories included the discovery of mysterious radiation coming from a nearby galaxy and hints of life found on one of Saturn's moons.

• 2010 review: The year in technology

  23 December 2010

  From cyberwarfare and ray guns to all sorts of extra dimensions in games and video, the future got an awful lot closer in 2010. Here's New Scientist's pick of the biggest technology stories of the year.

• 2010 review: 12 best pictures of the year

  22 December 2010

  Our picture editors bring you the most striking images of the year, taken from our Picture of the Day feed.

• Toy-de-force: Build your own steampunk Lego

  22 December 2010

  We're going to show you how to build a south-pointing chariot, an ancient bit of Chinese engineering – out of Lego.
  
  What makes this a neat little piece of steampunk engineering is the fact that if you build it right, the chariot will always point south no matter which direction it travels in, giving you a perpetually correct reference point. And there isn't a single magnet: it's all done with gears.
  
  Read more: "Toy-de-force: Inside the steampunk Lego lab"

• The most ground-breaking video games of 2010

  14 December 2010

  Which video games had that little bit extra? New Scientist asks the cognoscenti.

• Light diet: Sunshine-eating animals in pictures

  14 December 2010

  A surprising number of animals get energy from sunlight: the list includes salamanders, sea slugs, giant clams, sea squirts, jellyfish, corals, anemones, hydras and sponges. To find out why fish and cows do not photosynthesise – and whether we could create ones that do – see our feature Light diet: Animals that eat sunshine.

• The Celldance festival

  13 December 2010

  Every year the American Society for Cell Biology’s Celldance competition – a play on the Sundance festival – rewards imagery that best captures cell processes. New Scientist takes a look at the highlights.

• Picturing Science

  06 December 2010

  Picturing Science, a new exhibition at the Riverside Gallery in Richmond, London, explores the colliding representations of art and science. "Although science is seemingly the logical, rational, ordered antithesis of artistic creativity, artists and scientists still share a common drive to innovate, explore, dissect and reveal," says curator Mark De Novellis. The exhibition draws on the sciences from biology to astrophysics to explore these common themes. New Scientist takes a look at some highlights.

• November photo competition winners: Geometry

  04 December 2010

  November’s competition theme was "Geometry". We had an amazing array of entries, many drawing inspiration from nature, architecture and science. The winning entry, by Ehsan Sanaei Ardakani, combined the geometric beauty of the city bazaar in Ardakan, Iran, with the colour, contrast and shapes cast against a stark blue background.

• Climate-change messages visible from space

  29 November 2010

  Public art displays large enough to be seen from space appeared at 18 locations worldwide in the lead-up to the United Nations climate change talks in Cancún, Mexico. The project, 350 Earth, calls for a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from the current 380 parts per million to a more sustainable 350.
  
  Although aerial photos presented the messages most clearly, the events were designed to be photographed by Digitalglobe satellites orbiting 644 kilometres above. With the satellites travelling at over 27,000 kilometres per hour, there was a short window of opportunity to get the installations into place.

• Life thriving after trawling in an ocean desert

  26 November 2010

  Bottom trawlers often destroy marine habitats by flattening corals and pinnacles – but much of the ocean floor is covered in sand and mud. Animals living here exploit ephemeral features such as sand kicked up by crabs for protection. Now, along the continental shelf off south-central California, The Nature Conservancy is working to find out if trawlers provide such animals with new habitat. Here are some shots the team brought back from the depths of their study area.

• Big black market for big cats in Asia

  24 November 2010

  In illegal markets along the borders between Burma, Thailand and China, vendors openly trade tiger parts and those of other endangered species. With the International Tiger Conservation Forum in St Petersburg, Russia, this week, wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and WWF have published a report condemning the markets.

• Wildlife through the lens

  22 November 2010

  The latest photography competition organised by the wildlife photographers William and Matthew Burrard-Lucas asked for striking images of animals revealing an interesting aspect of their behaviour. The brothers received 5000 entries – New Scientist looks at the winners, runners-up and commended images.

• Best views of life in close-up

  17 November 2010

  Each year the Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition showcases the best images of life science captured through microscopes. This year's winners range from rat brains and beetle legs to damselfly eyes and weevil portraits.

• CSI: wildlife – solving crimes against animals

  17 November 2010

  Animal DNA is increasingly being used to help crack human crimes from dogfighting to murder. But since 1989, the world's only wildlife forensics laboratory, run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Ashland, Oregon, has been using both high and low-tech forensic techniques to solve crimes against wildlife.
  
  Read more: Gene detectives track the rhino killers

• 115 years under the surface: Happy birthday, X-rays

  08 November 2010

  One hundred and fifteen years ago today, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered that certain electromagnetic rays – X-rays – could form images on fluorescent plates. They turned out to be one of the most significant medical advances in history. Our gallery takes a look at some of their uses.

• Photo competition: The texture of science

  08 November 2010

  October’s competition theme was “the texture of science”. We had an amazing array of entries, many of which drew their inspiration from the wide variety of textures found in nature. The winning entry, by Mary O’Brien, did just this, having spotted a green iguana taking the sun at the Rio Grande in Puerto Rico.

• Scenes of thought: The brain in pictures

  05 November 2010

  What does your mind look like? A new book, Portraits of the Mind by Carl Schoonover, looks at how scientists have visualised the brain through the centuries.

• Pictures captured at the world's extremes

  01 November 2010

  Extreme Exposures, an exhibition at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, celebrates photographers who have made their names with images of wildlife, climate and landscapes in extreme environments.
  
  From lush rainforests and alligator-infested swamps to freezing ice floes, Extreme Exposures vividly shows how some of the world's most challenging environments are also some of its most beautiful.

• Interactive sculptures make mesmerising motions

  27 October 2010

  Sculptor Ivan Black reinterprets notions of motion through his hands-on artworks. His latest exhibition, Vanishing Point: A shift in perspective, in a south London warehouse, is an exploration of the joys, intricacies and physics of movement. The sculptures emulate the geometry, repetition and movement inherent in nature, while allowing visitors to engage with this beauty hands-on. The exhibition is showing at Hotel Elephant until 14 November.

• Testing the 12 pillars of wisdom

  26 October 2010

  New Scientist has teamed up with neuroscientist Adrian Owen to devise the ultimate intelligence test. This gallery illustrates the principles used – you can also [read more about how the test was developed] or [take it now].

• Putting the craft in spacecraft

  26 October 2010

  NASA has teamed up with craft website Etsy to celebrate the end of the space shuttle programme in homemade style. They are on the lookout for handmade craft pieces and artwork inspired by space exploration. The wining entries may even enjoy a trip on board the final shuttle launch

• Catching shadows: Photography without cameras

  25 October 2010

  You don't need a camera to take an excellent photograph. Shadow Catchers – an exhibition now showing at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London – showcases the work of five contemporary artists who form images by exposing photographic paper directly to light, without the normal intermediaries of negative and enlarger. Here are a few of the exhibition's highlights.

• Brilliant SF books that got away

  25 October 2010

  From The War of the Worlds to Nineteen Eighty-Four, some science fiction goes down in history. But what about the brilliant books that got away? We asked scientists and writers to nominate their lost sci-fi classics, and we've set a competition for flash fiction inspired by them – read on to find out more.

• 'It's just an animal': Award-winning photoessay

  22 October 2010

  Mark Leong, a US photographer living in China, has won the Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year award. He won the prize, announced this week as part of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, for his six-picture photoessay "It's just an animal", which captures the ignorance and cruelty that feeds the multi-billion-dollar international trade in wildlife products.

• Mammal rush: furry new kids on the block

  14 October 2010

  Discovering a new mammal species used to be a big deal, but that is now changing. Over 400 new mammals have been identified since 1993. New molecular techniques are identifying species that in the past could not be distinguished on the basis of their anatomy alone. This, combined with surveys in remote areas, mean new mammals are popping up regularly. New Scientist takes a look at some of the most striking discoveries.

• Visions of toxic industrial splendour

  14 October 2010

  Aerial photography was prohibited in communist-era Poland. Since the ban was lifted 17 years ago, Kacper Kowalski has been paragliding over the industrial heart of his homeland, taking shots of its denuded yet eerily beautiful landscapes.
  
  Read more: Kacper Kowalski's landscapes

• Extreme close-up: from mosquito hearts to soy sauce

  13 October 2010

  Take a picture down a light microscope and you get a micrograph, an image revealing the fascinating detail of the microscopic world. Every year since 1974 the Nikon Small World competition has showcased the very best micrographs. This year’s winners range from mosquito hearts and wasp nests, to seaweed and crystallised soy sauce.

• Deep space drama: Top 10 views of the southern skies

  08 October 2010

  The European Southern Observatory (ESO) operates some of the world's most advanced ground-based telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope array (VLT) and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert, Chile. They recently posted their top 100 images: here are the top 10.

• Photo competition: Science in motion

  06 October 2010

  The theme for September’s photo competition, "science in motion", was interpreted in so many inventive ways that we were spoiled for choice. We have put together this gallery of our favourites; the winner is Andrea Gabrieli's photo of Genovese snow, providing a rare visual element to air turbulence.

• New species discovered in Papua New Guinea

  06 October 2010

  Brightly coloured frogs, spiny ants and a katydid with pink eyes were among the finds when Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Programme explored the remote rainforests of the Nakanai and Muller ranges

• Genetic fruit, thoughtful trees: Academy treasures

  05 October 2010

  The art collection of the US National Academy of Sciences has explored the relationship between the arts and sciences for more than 30 years. A new exhibition showcases the collection's best: over 40 works of art including sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs and paintings will be on show in Washington DC until April 2012.

• Census of Marine Life reveals bizarre deep-sea sights

  04 October 2010

  The first global Census of Marine Life is the culmination of 10 years of marine exploration by 2700 researchers from 80 nations. It shows that life in the oceans is richer, more connected and more vulnerable than previously thought. It also shows that there is a huge amount that we still don't know.
  
  Here is a look at some of the strange new species reported today, plus some other bizarre creatures from the abyss.

• Maker Faire: From icy love to electrical Play-Doh

  28 September 2010

  The World Maker Faire in New York last weekend showcased a range of curious inventions, such as a suit that helps you hug a glacier

• Revolutionary medical images now coming in the mail

  17 September 2010

  A new series of stamps issued by the British Royal Mail celebrates some of the most important medical discoveries in the country since the late 19th century

• Progressive Automotive X Prize: the winners

  16 September 2010

  Almost three-and-a-half years after the X Prize Foundation formally launched a competition to find a reasonably priced car with a fuel efficiency of 100 kilometres per 2.35 litres of petrol (100 miles per gallon), the winners have been announced. The initial field of 136 vehicles from 111 teams was gradually whittled down to just seven car models – all of which can be viewed in our gallery.

• High-tech art that is nothing without you

  15 September 2010

  A new solo exhibition by chemist-turned-artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer opens on Saturday in Manchester, UK, showcasing the best of his large-scale, technology-rich installations.
  
  Using robotics, projection, data, sound, communication devices and sensors, his installations both engage and incorporate the viewer, relying on data gathered from the public through surveillance and biometric technologies. Here is our pick of the back catalogue.

• The star photographers who captured the night sky

  10 September 2010

  The competition to be Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2010 was fierce. We reveal the shots that the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, deemed most stellar: capturing eclipses, the Northern Lights, the dim and distant Veil nebula, and more.
  
  All winning images are on show at the Royal Observatory from today. The exhibition is free of charge and runs until February.

• Bloody scenes from the shark fin trade

  08 September 2010

  Sharks attacking humans is big news; humans attacking sharks, not so much. Conservation photographers Paul Hilton and Alex Hofford are trying to redress this imbalance. In revealing the extent of the bloody trade in shark fins, their book Man and Shark is a testament of our cruelty towards these majestic creatures.
  
  Read more:The shark soup massacre and how to stop it

• Problem-solving designs on James Dyson award

  25 August 2010

  The James Dyson Award has attracted engineers and designers from 18 countries, each tasked with designing something that solves a problem. Fifteen finalists will be announced on 14 September, but in the meantime, here are some of New Scientist's favourites, including a life raft that produces drinking water from salty brine, and a hub system to convert a pedal bicycle into an electric-powered mobile environment monitoring station.

• Picture of the day

  09 August 2010

• The richest areas of the ocean

  02 August 2010

  The Census of Marine Life has published its reports on life in key regions of the sea (PLoS ONE, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011871). We look at seven of the most diverse

• Art on a chip: Accidental beauty at the nanoscale

  26 July 2010

  Spend enough time with your eyes glued to a microscope and you will happen upon some beautiful structure, cell or circuit. Scientists who work at the nanoscale often create and manipulate their experiments to make them even more appealing to the eye. It is in this vein that the journal Lab on a Chip has created a Flickr page, Art on a Chip. Here are a few of our favourites.

• Fascinating frogs hopping to extinction

  20 July 2010

  Thirty species of frog have been wiped out from the El Copé National Park in Panama by the deadly chytrid fungus (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0914115107). Many survive in neighbouring regions, but the finding illustrates the threat posed by the fungus: the frogs wiped out represented 40 per cent of the region's amphibian diversity. We look at some of the prettier/weirder (delete as you see fit) species to have been lost.

• Parasite parade: Meet nature's intimate aliens

  16 July 2010

  They get a bad press, but parasites are beautiful under the microscope. These images are part of an exhibition, Parasites in Focus, that is currently touring Australia, supported by the Australian Society for Parasitology.

• Fluorescent felines meet pre-plucked chickens

  14 July 2010

  Genetically modified animals are with us, and an awful lot of them glow under UV. Meet them in our gallery below.
  
  Read more: Altered animals: Creatures with bonus features

• Mummies of the world gather in Los Angeles

  13 July 2010

  Most people think about ancient Egyptian pharaohs when they think about mummies. But a new exhibition in Los Angeles promises to change that: it features an 18th-century Hungarian family, a Chilean woman with tattooed breasts and a monkey in a skirt.

• Bird's eye views of what industry does to land

  07 July 2010

  The environmental organisation SkyTruth uses satellite images to monitor mining, drilling, logging and pollution – here is some of what it's seen.
  
  Read more: SkyTruth founder: Remote sensing for the people

• Secrets of backboned life found on undersea mountains

  07 July 2010

  An expedition led by the Census of Marine Life dived down to the Mid-Atlantic ridge, the vast undersea mountain range running down the centre of the ocean. They found a host of new species, and discovered that many supposedly rare species were living in great numbers

• X-games in space: Record-smashing probes

  01 July 2010

  By spacecraft standards, Voyager 2 is an endurance athlete. On 28 June, the longest operating space probe celebrated having spent 12,000 days – almost 33 years – in space. But it's not the only spacecraft to have set a record for extreme achievement. New Scientist chronicles the missions that have pushed the envelope

• Artistic agenda: The state of eco-art

  24 June 2010

  Fast-food chicken bones, red lentils, sardine heads and microbes – not the contents of a kitchen bin, but raw ingredients for a new wave of art. Its aim is to raise awareness of issues around biodiversity, genetically modified food, overpopulation and climate change. As the Museum of Arts and Design in New York explores the genre in its exhibition Dead or Alive, six artists explain to New Scientist what drives them to make their eco-statements.

• Stings, wings and hairy eyes: honeybee close-ups

  17 June 2010

  Do bees really have knees? According to artist Rose-Lynn Fisher's new book BEE, they do. Using a scanning electron microscope, Fisher has taken 60 photographs of bee anatomy – at magnifications of up to 5000 times.
  
  Here, in her own words and pictures, Fisher takes us on an up-close tour of "the endless structures and forms that make a little bee".

• Top shots from the bird catwalk

  14 June 2010

  "It's like Vogue for birds," says Erin Estell, a bird trainer at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of photographer Andrew Zuckerman's latest book, Bird. Estell worked closely with Zuckerman as he caught the beauty of these birds on camera.
  
  Read more: Birds as you've never seen them before

• The fantasy fish of Samuel Fallours

  11 June 2010

  In 1719, the book dealer, medicine merchant and one-time spy Louis Renard published a unique book by artist Samuel Fallour. Fishes, Crayfishes, and Crabs was the world's first colour book of fish. Now, almost 300 years later, marine scientist Ted Pietsche reprints all 460 of Samuel Fallours's paintings in his book Tropical Fish of the East Indies – and reveals which of them were figments of the artist's imagination.
  
  Read more: Samuel Fallours and his fantasy fish

• Zoologger: Globetrotters of the animal kingdom

  09 June 2010

  Every year many animals travel thousands of kilometres to feed and mate. We look at some of the most remarkable journeys.
  
  Read more: Long haul: How butterflies and moths go the distance

• Would the real Indiana Jones please stand up?

  02 June 2010

  Arthur Demarest, the leading Mayan archaeologist, has had a career worthy of Indiana Jones. And when you get compared to Indy you know you've made it as a popular archaeologist. But who does the hat really fit? New Scientist has put a line-up together so that you can decide.
  
  Read more: Maya man: No future for archaeology without ethics

• Forensic astronomer solves Walt Whitman mystery

  01 June 2010

  A painting by a Hudson River School artist helped researchers identify the celestial event described in Whitman's poem Year of Meteors. Read an interview with the astronomical sleuth who led the investigation

• Voyeurism, surveillance and the camera

  28 May 2010

  The new exhibition Exposed: Voyeurism, surveillance and the camera at Tate Modern, London, explores the ways photography has changed us.
  
  Read more: How the camera has made us all voyeurs

• Mathemagical visions: a Gathering for Gardner album

  25 May 2010

  Every two years, mathematicians, magicians and puzzle enthusiasts gather in Atlanta, Georgia, for four days. This time they were joined by photographer Kendrick Brinson – here's what she saw. Read more: Magic numbers: A meeting of mathemagical tricksters

• Handbrakes and nine lives: keeping Falcon 9 crew safe

  21 May 2010

  As one the front runners to ferry US astronauts to space under NASA's new plans, SpaceX is under pressure as it prepares for the first launch of its Falcon 9 rocket in the coming weeks. However, safety features such as a "handbrake" make the rocket safer than many of its predecessors

• Deep images reveal the shady past of cannibal galaxies

  20 May 2010

  Set a modest telescope to track a nearby spiral galaxy, take a photograph with a very long exposure, and you'll find that the galaxy's bright spiral is surrounded by dim streams – the shredded remains of other galaxies torn apart by their larger "host". Read more: Hunting for scraps from galactic cannibal feasts

• Why did the octopus grow a shell?

  19 May 2010

  The ancient Greek thinker Aristotle had a theory about why female argonaut octopuses have a shell: he suggested that they used it as a boat to float on the ocean surface. New research disproves this theory, but sheds new light on their actual purpose.

• Drawing autism: Art from the spectrum

  18 May 2010

  Artists diagnosed with autism created the paintings, drawings and collages in this gallery. These pictures, and many more, are published in Jill Mullin's new book Drawing Autism. "While some of the artists in the book struggle to communicate verbally, art is a means for them to express emotions and thoughts," says Mullin.
  
  Read more: The advantages of autism

• Pinocchio frog and dwarf wallaby: New species found

  17 May 2010

  An expedition to the remote Foja mountains of Papua New Guinea by Conservation International and the National Geographic Society has revealed a host of new species, from a bizarre frog to a new imperial pigeon

• Light shows, ray guns and blades: the laser is 50

  06 May 2010

  The original "solution looking for a problem", the laser is now 50 years old but still seems futuristic. This gallery charts the evolution of a technology that underpins everything from the fibre-optic backbone of the internet to the search for clean fusion energy.

• Living world: Five species that cheated extinction

  23 April 2010

  Even a handful of survivors is enough to save a species – here are five that came back from the brink
  
  Read more: Why the tropics are hotbeds of evolution, How to save an island and The shape of life to come

• Hit parade: The biggest bangs in history

  19 April 2010

  The colossal Toba supervolcanic eruption 74,000 years ago was big – but not the biggest in Earth's history. Here's our rundown of chart-topping blasts from the past

• Hard-to-see sea life: a close look at watery microbes

  18 April 2010

  Results from the latest Census of Marine Life study are in, highlighting spectacular examples of hard-to-see underwater microbes, part of a wider study involving four research groups looking at some of the smallest sea species.

• Wonder lust: Evolution road trip

  14 April 2010

  Pack your suitcase for a 3-billion-year journey, exploring the key sites in the history of life on Earth.
  
  Read more: Wonder lust: Scientific expeditions without a PhD

• See the world's oldest organisms

  13 April 2010

  From 600,000-year old Siberian bacteria to two-leaved tree tumbo in the Namib desert, Rachel Sussman has travelled the world taking photos of ancient organisms. Read more: Capturing the world's oldest things on film

• The brain's other half: picturing the white matter

  31 March 2010

  The ability to show the quality of connections within the brain is leading to better understanding of creativity, intelligence and mental illness – and some spectacular pictures to boot. Read more: A slow mind may nurture more creative ideas

• Quiz: Can you spot the matching fingerprints?

  22 March 2010

  Fingerprints from the same person can look different, and prints from different people can look eerily similar. Can you spot the genuine matches in our fingerprint quiz?
  
  Read more: Fingerprint evidence to harden up at last

• Orang-utans can swim – we've got pictures to prove it

  19 March 2010

  Orang-utans normally steer clear of water. In the wild they rarely go near rivers and lakes, to avoid the crocodiles and snakes that lurk there. So it came as a surprise to conservationists when a group of orphaned orang-utans that had been relocated to Kaja Island in Borneo started getting wet for all sorts of reasons: one pair was even seen having sex in water. "My guess is that the male chose the location because there was less chance of him being interrupted by other, more dominant males," says Anne Russon of York University in Toronto, Canada.
  
  Journal reference: Journal of Comparative Psychology, DOI: 10.1037/a0017929

• Moonlets and maelstroms: mysteries of Saturn revealed

  18 March 2010

  During its six-year scrutiny of Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft has resolved many questions about the ringed world – but it has captured unexplained phenomena too.

• Art through instability: how drawings move the brain

  18 March 2010

  When does your brain perceive a still image as moving? See how 18th and 19th-century Japanese artists used individuals in unstable positions, and other tricks, to convey motion.
  
  Read more: How to move the brain with a Japanese line drawing

• Behind the scenes at Kew Gardens

  12 March 2010

  Kew Gardens, London, recently invited New Scientist to take a look at its internationally renowned conservation, classification and research work. From 16 to 19 March you can see for yourself: Kew is opening its doors to the public for behind-the-scenes tours.

• Natural history museums – a photographer's playground

  09 March 2010

  Museums have always drawn photographers. Along their lonely corridors, the shelves of specimens, piles of stuffed animals and high-tech storage units next to Victorian jars provide a rich source of inspiration. We asked three photographers just what draws them to such institutions.

• Build your own space station

  04 March 2010

  New Scientist prepares for the next step in human space exploration by building our very own space station – with a little help from Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas, Nevada, who provided the 1/30-scale model of their planned inflatable station

• Satelloons and lunar lasers: communicating in space

  01 March 2010

  Last week, NASA broke ground on three new radio dishes near Canberra, Australia. In the coming years, the new antennas will help boost the capabilities of NASA's Deep Space Network, which is used to communicate with spacecraft that travel far beyond Earth's orbit. But the agency has other, more ambitious plans in store. New Scientist takes a look at the history and future of NASA's space communication projects.

• Greener gadget designs

  26 February 2010

  Augmented-reality shopping, power-generating chairs, and a miniature indoor photovoltaic panel walked away with top honours at the third annual Greener Gadgets design competition, held in New York yesterday. The competition aims to inspire more eco-friendly consumer products – see the winners and shortlisted entries below.

• The changing image of spam

  26 February 2010

  Since 2008, anti-spam experts at BitDefender have processed the millions of spam messages that they intercept every week to highlight the words that appear most often. Here are five snapshots from the past two years that illustrated spammers' changing tactics. For more, visit BitDefender's Malware City blog.

• Getting the Royal Society stamp of approval

  25 February 2010

  The UK's Royal Mail today celebrated the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society by putting out a set of new stamps.
  
  Charlotte King takes a look at the giants of science celebrated on the stamps.

• Six tricks that alien trackers could use

  23 February 2010

  So far, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has focused on listening for radio signals deliberately sent our way. But even if alien civilisations are not trying to get our attention, their activities could produce detectable signs. Here are a few things we might detect, most of which are discussed in a recent paper by Richard Carrigan of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois.

• Messages from the Stone Age

  22 February 2010

  Our ancestors seem to have had a regular system of 26 symbols, which may have been the origins of written language. First discovered in France, these symbols crop up throughout the prehistoric world, leading some to wonder whether they originated in Africa and travelled with early humans as they migrated across the globe.

• Visualization Challenge: Prizewinning pictures

  19 February 2010

  The winners of the International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored by the journal Science and the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

• Weightlifting ants and crafty crows

  18 February 2010

  Winners and runners-up in a competition held by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to showcase images of the latest research.

• When feathered dinosaurs ruled the Earth

  17 February 2010

  From the tiny Anchiornis huxleyi to a feathered ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex and the huge Gigantoraptor, Xu Xing's fossil finds have helped to unearth the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.

• NASA poised to launch solar watchdog

  10 February 2010

  The sun will soon come under its closest scrutiny yet with NASA's $808 million Solar Dynamics Observatory, which launched on 11 February. The spacecraft will study how solar activity gets its start, revealing more about the sun's wide variability, which can knock out space satellites and power grids and affect Earth's climate.

• England's dark sites on public view

  08 February 2010

  A British art group took New Scientist on a magical mystery tour of England's most secret government sites – from the locations of past military experiments to the birthplace of the forerunner of the computers we use today.

• Five commercial space projects win NASA funding

  03 February 2010

  On Tuesday, NASA announced $50 million in grants to companies working on spacecraft and other hardware for use in launching humans into space. The money, drawn from the $1 billion in government stimulus funds NASA received in 2009, will help pay for the following five projects.

• Set in stone or written to disc: data through the ages

  02 February 2010

  Each of us generates, processes and consumes more data than ever before. But by some measures that information is also more ephemeral than ever before.

• Seeing the sounds of the sea

  01 February 2010

  The songs of whales and dolphins can be beautiful to the ear. Now acoustics engineer Mark Fischer has created a way to make them visually pleasing too. What's more, his technique captures more information about the sound than traditional ways of visualising whalesong.

• Do you know your aliens?

  26 January 2010

  Creatures from an alien civilisation are an everlasting source of fascination for movie-makers, who have attempted to imagine how an alien might look and behave. Try your hand at identifying some of their odder conceptions and the movies they came from – and click on to the following frame to see if you are right.

• Flash, whoosh, blur: how to represent movement

  21 January 2010

  Movement – we do it, animals do it, but mostly none of us consciously thinks about it. So much so that for most of history we didn't know exactly how bodies moved. In a new exhibition at London's Estorick Collection, stage director and TV personality Jonathan Miller takes us on a journey through our attempts to represent movement in science and art. Read more: Art and science in motion

• Transparent frogs, tiny geckos and snail-sucking snakes

  15 January 2010

  An expedition to the coastal rainforests of Ecuador has discovered transparent frogs, tiny geckos and snail-sucking snakes.

• The next big thing: new gadgets at CES

  14 January 2010

  A host of new gadgets was unveiled at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, this month. Here's a selection, including a helicopter that's iPhone-controlled and a slime that promises to clean your computer keyboard.

• Images of space-age dreams

  14 January 2010

  From Russia's Yuri Gagarin cosmonaut training facility to NASA's Apollo control centre, photographer Vincent Fournier takes us inside the often inaccessible institutions of the space industries. However, his photographs are not meant to be documentary images: instead, they mix reality with fiction to create a dreamy, retro-infused world. For this reason, he prefers that they are seen without explanatory text. The Space Project is on display at The London Art Fair until 17 January.

• Top 10 space stories of 2009

  31 December 2009

  The most popular space stories of the year include an exploration of the havoc a solar storm could wreak on Earth and a visualisation of what it would look like to fall into a black hole.

• 2009 review: The year in space

  23 December 2009

  Astronomers found water on the moon and saw the most distant object yet, but space radiation hit a record high and the Spirit rover struggled for life

• Top 10 physics stories of 2009

  23 December 2009

  The most popular physics stories of the year include a report on an artificial black hole and an investigation into the best way to slice a pizza.

• The Royal Institution's festive feasts for the mind

  22 December 2009

  From Michael Faraday to David Attenborough plus adorable lemur – many eminent figures have delivered Christmas science lectures at the UK's Royal Institution. The organisation has put on 180 series of Christmas lectures since 1825, delivered by a total of 105 lecturers including eight Nobel prizewinners. Here, Frank James, the Royal Institution's science historian, describes his favourite from each decade.

• Total recall: The milestones of 2009

  21 December 2009

  If your memory doesn't last much longer than the half-life of copernicium (less than a millisecond), refresh those brain banks with our review of the year, ranging from solar storm Armageddon to a vegetarian spider

• Quiz: Ten curiosities to identify

  18 December 2009

  The staff at the Wellcome Library in London have scoured the shelves for the weirdest and most wonderful objects in their collection, the ones that made even them scratch their heads when they first set eyes on them. Can you do better and guess what these oddities are?

• A window into the synaesthetic mind

  17 December 2009

  People with grapheme-colour synaesthesia associate letters and numbers with particular colours. Try a selection of tests that distinguish people with this condition from the rest of us

• Masterworks in Petri dishes

  11 December 2009

  Einstein in E. coli, an apple tree grown from fungi and a fluorescent Mario are just some of the masterworks cast in agar jelly by creative microbiologists, on display at www.microbialart.com

• Unfolding the Earth

  10 December 2009

  A new way to unpeel and flatten out the Earth's skin without distorting it – dubbed myriahedral projection – provides a new perspective on our planet.
  
  Journal reference: The Cartographic Journal (DOI: 10.1179/000870408X276594)

• The great alone: Scott and Shackleton's Antarctic

  09 December 2009

  Robert Scott's ill-fated trip to Antarctica and Ernest Shackleton's attempt to cross it are great tales of human endurance. Here we present photos taken by their on-board photographers, Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley, presented in the book The Heart of the Great Alone.

• Nature's homosexual pin-ups

  07 December 2009

  Evolutionary puzzle or force for change? Same-sex liaisons are more common in the animal kingdom than you might expect. See some of them here

• The world's smallest snowman

  04 December 2009

  In a bid to create festive cheer, scientists at the National Physical Laboratory have created the world's smallest snowman and other micro-delights

• Inside the world of steampunk

  03 December 2009

  The first art genre created on the web, steampunk reimagines today's technology as if it had been invented in Victorian England. Last month the first ever exhibition dedicated to steampunk opened at the University of Oxford, and we've picked out our favourite exhibits.
  
  Plus: Read our blog to find out why steampunk is so popular now

• Calendar competition: the winners

  01 December 2009

  Earlier this year we asked our readers to send in photos showing how science and technology has affected their lives and the world around them. The best images made it into the New Scientist 2010 calendar. See the winners and runners-up here.

• The world's fastest computers

  30 November 2009

  Twice a year the operators of the world's fastest computers eagerly await their latest ranking compiled by the Top500 project. The chart is based on the maximum rate at which a computer can crunch numbers using what are called floating point operations. November's list has just been released: enjoy our gallery of the five fastest calculators on the planet.

• The eye-catching best of fluid dynamics

  26 November 2009

  This week, physicists at the Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, exhibited their best experimental images in a "gallery of fluid motion"

• The sweeter side of volcanoes

  25 November 2009

  If you think that all volcanoes have to offer are fireballs, ash and noxious gas, let geologist and photographer Berhard Edmaier educate you. His new book Earth on Fire is a fantastic showcase of geothermal phenomena around the world, from the well known to the not so well known. We've picked out a few of our favourites.

• A final warning from the Arctic

  24 November 2009

  The Greenland ice sheet is five kilometres thick and melting fast. The effect of adding all that water to the oceans may become terrifyingly apparent around the world in the coming decades, but the effects of climate warming are already clear in the Arctic itself. Here's the evidence, in words and pictures by Alun Anderson, former editor-in-chief of New Scientist and author of After the Ice: Life, death and politics in the new Arctic (published this month by HarperCollins-Smithsonian in the US and Virgin Books in the UK).

• Pickled evidence for evolution

  21 November 2009

  Next Tuesday is the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. To mark the occasion, author Mary Ellen Hannibal and photographer Susan Middleton scoured the 20 million animal specimens preserved on the shelves of the California Academy of Sciences. They've presented the best in their new book Evidence of Evolution.

• The quest for Mandelbrot fractals in 3D

  18 November 2009

  A group of fractal image makers claim to have made the best three-dimensional portrayal to date of the Mandelbrot set, one of the best-known fractal equations. Yet the path there was not straightforward, says Jacob Aron.
  
  Read the full story here or browse through the images below.

• Meteor showers: good for skygazers, bad for satellites

  16 November 2009

  Several space missions have been damaged or destroyed by meteoroids over the years – David Shiga rounds up the casualties

• A joyride through the nanoscale

  13 November 2009

  Chemist George Whitesides has collaborated with MIT and Harvard photographer-in-residence Felice Frankel to produce No Small Matter, a book of images of the micro and nanoworld.

• Highly efficient car contenders

  09 November 2009

  Competitors for the Progressive Automotive X Prize gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, last weekend to kick off the next phase of competition. Twelve of the 42 qualifying teams brought their cars to display at the SEMA automotive trade show. $10 million in prize money will be awarded to teams in a cross-country stage race next year for cars with a fuel efficiency of 100 kilometres per 2.35 litres (100 miles per gallon) or better.

• Triple shadows and fake reflections: Future graphics

  06 November 2009

  Now into its second year, the ACM Siggraph Asia conference brings together computer graphics professionals and researchers to showcase the latest developments in graphics. Here are our picks of the research.

• Ten inventions that changed the world

  04 November 2009

  To mark its centenary, in June the Science Museum in London had its curators select the 10 objects in its collection that had made the biggest mark on history. These then went to a public vote to find the most important invention of past centuries. Visitors to the museum and online voters cast nearly 50,000 votes. Find out the winners below.

• Carl Jung's Red Book: Soul pictures

  03 November 2009

  For years, people only heard whispers of Carl Jung’s The Red Book or Liber Novus. But it was real, and now we can all see the Swiss psychologist at work on his own psyche. His elaborate writing and the drawings show what many now believe shaped Jung's theories on archetypes, the collective unconscious and the process of becoming an individual.

• Giant jewels and spray toads: The world's rarest species

  03 November 2009

  More species than ever before are facing extinction, according to the latest Red List of Threatened Species from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. See some of the most endangered below.

• From sanctuary to snake pit: the rise and fall of asylums

  30 October 2009

  Most people associate the word "asylum" with squalor and brutality – an impression strengthened by portrayals in books and films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – but they were originally designed to be places of sanctuary. Christopher Payne visited and photographed 70 such institutions across the US for his book Asylum: Inside the closed world of state mental hospitals, which documents how their fall from grace reflects changing attitudes to mental illness

• Images of space transformed by chips

  28 October 2009

  This year's Nobel prize for physics was partly awarded to Willard Boyle and George Smith for inventing the charge-coupled device (CCD), the sensor that acts as the retina of digital cameras. But long before it reached consumers, the technology was used in astronomy. Explore these images to see how CCDs showed us space as never before.

• How to catch the Sahara's sun for Europe

  26 October 2009

  An ambitious project called Desertec plans to build huge solar power plants in the Sahara desert to feed clean energy to Europe. Political opposition aside, the scheme's backers also face technical hurdles and must decide which of the solar technologies below can deliver on such a scale.

• The year's best wildlife photos

  22 October 2009

  The winners of the 2009 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have been announced.
  
  The best photographs from the competition are on show at the Natural History Museum, London, from tomorrow. Here are our favourites.

• Where will NASA send its astronauts next?

  20 October 2009

  A White House-appointed panel has rated five visions of the future of US human space flight. New Scientist added up the numbers

• What should museums throw out?

  19 October 2009

  An archive of NASA photos, a 19th-century surgical mask and a hippo skull: there's no room, so one has to go, but which one?

• Lunar plumes and Martian dunes: the week in space

  16 October 2009

  This week, astronomers spotted a faint plume of material that was lofted above the moon by the impact of NASA's LCROSS mission

• Bill Coster: Master bird photographer

  16 October 2009

  In his book Creative Bird Photography, Bill Coster gives a masterclass in capturing telling moments of bird behaviour through a combination of colour, composition and drama. These pictures show his take on bird life from bathing to courting to fighting.
  
  Read New Scientist's review of Creative Bird Photography: Flight, camera, action: Improve your bird photos

• The year's best pictures from the world of medicine

  15 October 2009

  Wellcome Images is part of the Wellcome Trust, a charity that funds health research. For ten years it has awarded prizes for pictures that creatively explore the fields of medicine, social history, healthcare and biology. These are the 19 winners for 2009.

• Plant celebrities take to the red carpet

  10 October 2009

  Photographer Jonathan Singer says he gets his shots of orchids and other extraordinary plants first time every time, giving each its moment in the spotlight. A collection of his photographs is published in Botanica Magnifica, out now.

• Hunting for water on the moon: a brief but splashy history

  09 October 2009

  NASA's LCROSS mission is the latest in a series of attempts to divine water on the moon – some have hinted that our nearest neighbour may be something of a watery oasis, while others suggest that view is just a mirage

• A step-by-step guide to producing nuclear fusion

  09 October 2009

  ITER aims to tap the immense power of nuclear fusion. Find out how it will work in this step-by-step graphic.
  
  Read more: ITER: The way to a benign and limitless new energy source

• The world's smallest art prize

  08 October 2009

  Crossing a microscope with a camera gives you a micrograph, a tiny photograph that allows artists and scientists to show the beauty inaccessible to the naked eye. Every year the Small World competition run by optics giant Nikon celebrates this hidden world. This year the winners range from an anglerfish ovary to the sex organs of plants via a rusted old coin.

• Sustainable living in two parking spaces

  06 October 2009

  Prefabricated housing may not be fashionable, but the ready-built approach is needed to make the world's growing cities more sustainable. That's the motivation of a competition organised by the Vancouver, Canada, branch of non-profit body Architecture for Humanity. They challenged architects to submit designs for sustainable prefab homes with just a 20-by-20-foot plan, about the size of two parking spaces.

• Prosthetics with aesthetics

  05 October 2009

  Prosthetics are usually designed to blend in with the human body without attracting attention. But they can also be fashion objects: tools to expand a person's abilities and distinctive additions to a person's identity.

• The growing beauty of green architecture

  04 October 2009

  If all the roofs in a large city were planted, they could absorb a significant amount of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of removing thousands of trucks from the road. These buildings show what some imaginative architects have done with the idea

• Cosmic lagoons and planetary plains: the week in space

  02 October 2009

  This week, astronomers revealed a breathtaking image of the Lagoon Nebula and an infrared portrait of dust floating in the plane of the Milky Way

• Our ancestor Ardi walked tall

  01 October 2009

  Analysis of the fossil Ardipithecus ramidus, one of the earliest known hominids, suggests that our ancestors weren't knuckle-walkers. Ewen Callaway explains what the bones tells us about "Ardi"'s behaviour and diet

• Monsters of the skies: giant beasts that ruled the air

  30 September 2009

  Recently, researchers concluded that a huge eagle that once stalked New Zealand's forests was a fierce predator that may have hunted humans – Anna Davison rounds up other ancient airborne behemoths

• Keith Tyson: 'Nature is better at painting than I am'

  29 September 2009

  Science is often an inspiration for Keith Tyson, who won the British Turner prize for contemporary visual art in 2002. For his latest work, he took this to the next level – pouring paint onto aluminium and letting natural processes do the rest.

• Reclaiming the night sky: award-winning astrophotography

  25 September 2009

  Iranian photographer Babak Tafreshi has won the 2009 Lennart Nilsson scientific photography prize. According to the award panel, his images "reclaim a night sky that most modern people have lost" – see some of them here

• The world's best impact craters

  24 September 2009

  Approximately 150 impact craters are known on Earth, but most are severely eroded or hidden beneath tonnes of rock. Still, a few spectacular examples are visible with aerial photography, satellites or instruments that can peek beneath the surface.

• Solar cells in unusual places

  23 September 2009

  The latest concepts in dye-sensitised solar cell design will be showcased at the Royal College of Art in London between 23 and 30 September as part of the London Design Festival.

• March of the outdated machines

  21 September 2009

  Since the first digital electronic computers were built in the 1940s their descendants have helped change the world. These exhibits from three museums attempting to keep the story of computers past alive summarise some of the advances made.

• 'Night-shining' clouds seen from Earth and space

  21 September 2009

  Noctilucent clouds float much higher than other clouds, allowing them to shine when the sun is below the horizon. A new experiment aimed at creating an artificial cloud at the edge of space could shed light on the mysterious high-altitude objects

• Visions of data

  18 September 2009

  As new ways of analysing the world around us are developed, new ways to visualise that information are needed. The recent Eurovis Symposium, held in Berlin, brought together international researchers with new ideas about how to make data easier to interpret and act on.

• Raptorex – a prototype T. rex

  17 September 2009

  Long before Tyrannosaurus rex ruled the planet, its diminutive ancestor Raptorex was terrorising smaller animals in what is now northern China.

• The art of thriving

  16 September 2009

  A frog without a name, eye to eye with a mantis shrimp and a critically endangered monkey swinging through the vines clutching her baby to her chest – these are just some of the striking pictures taken by the world’s finest nature and wildlife photographers showing in the Thrive! exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery this Friday and Saturday. See our gallery for more photographs of nature’s beauty and fragility.

• Cracks on Mars hint at dried-up lakes

  16 September 2009

  Vanished lakes may have left behind networks of cracks on the floors of Martian impact craters

• Planetary explorers: Space rovers

  14 September 2009

  Humanity has sent many probes to the moon and planets, but only a handful of these machines have been able to travel over their surfaces. We round up the space rovers

• Students snap images of Earth from space for $150

  14 September 2009

  Earlier this year, a team of Spanish students launched a balloon into space for €1000. Now a team from MIT has accomplished a similar feat for $150

• The sci-fi future of surgery

  10 September 2009

  Advances in robotics are pushing the limits of what surgeons can achieve, whether in the form of worm-inspired capsules to crawl through your gut, or systems swallowed in pieces that assemble themselves inside the body. Explore the medical robots below and see a video of them in action.

• Glass Viruses

  09 September 2009

• Upgraded Hubble telescope snaps dazzling new images

  09 September 2009

  The first batch of images taken since Hubble's repair in May includes portraits of celestial dragons and giant butterflies

• London museum exhibit puts scientists on show

  08 September 2009

  The quirky-looking building looks capable of hatching the mother of all spiders, but houses a new exhibition that lets visitors interact with scientists working on museum collections

• Secrets of the centenarians: Life begins at 100

  07 September 2009

  People over 100 are the fastest-growing demographic in the world. Find out about famous centenarians in our gallery

• Exomoons and blazing wildfires: the week in space

  05 September 2009

  This week, a huge piece of space junk flew past the International Space Station and a California fire threatened an observatory once used by Edwin Hubble

• Giant crystals and spherical flames: science in microgravity

  03 September 2009

  The International Space Station may still be under construction, but microgravity research has been under way for decades. We round up some of the coolest experiments so far

• Best visions of the night sky

  01 September 2009

  Star trails, horse heads and shadowy moons are some of the sights captured by stargazers across the world vying for the title of Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

• Don't drop it! Inside an astronaut's tool bag

  26 August 2009

  Earlier this month, an unusual meteor burned up in the skies over Mexico as the toolkit dropped by shuttle astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper last November finally re-entered Earth's atmosphere.
  
  It made an expensive shooting star: the contents of the bag were valued at $100,000. So what kind of instruments do astronauts use, and why are they so expensive?

• Failure to launch: abandoned NASA projects

  21 August 2009

  Facing budget and technical concerns, the agency may abandon the development of its Ares rockets – amateur space historian Henry Spencer looks back at other big NASA projects that never got off the ground

• An infinity of things: Henry Wellcome's vast collection

  20 August 2009

  Pharmaceutical entrepreneur and philanthropist Henry Wellcome acquired one of the largest private collections of medical objects. See some of the bizarre things he collected, from Napoleon’s toothbrush to Darwin’s walking stick

• Future trucks: Cleaning up the kings of the road

  17 August 2009

  Trucks have long been some of the most environmentally damaging vehicles on the roads, but a host of new designs could change all that

• Radical Nature: Art and architecture for a changing planet 1969-2009

  17 August 2009

  See the pick of the bunch from an exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, that explores how the beauty and wonder of nature have provided inspiration for artists and architects

• Cities of light

  14 August 2009

  It's hard to know for sure what the GDP of poorer countries is, because their economic statistics are often missing or unreliable.
  
  Researchers from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, think they have come up with a solution by measuring how much light a country shines out at night, as seen from orbit.
  
  In these pictures see how the light power of different regions compares.

• Hamster balls and lunar hoppers: meet the X Prize teams

  12 August 2009

  More than a dozen teams are racing to claim the $30 million Lunar X Prize for landing a robot rover on the moon. See some of the most advanced prototypes built so far and read more here.

• All eyes on space: The global gamma-ray network

  12 August 2009

  Gamma-ray telescopes are helping unravel the secrets of the universe. See the most important ones in this gallery

• New species of the Himalayas

  10 August 2009

  A new WWF report, The Eastern Himalayas: Where Worlds Collide, describes more than 350 new species discovered in the region in the last decade - all of them now threatened by climate change

• A spotter's guide to human viruses

  10 August 2009

  The microscopic agents that infect humans are a diverse group of nasties. Find out about ten of the most important in our psychedelically coloured guide

• Starry cocoons and double moons: the week in space

  07 August 2009

  This week, astronomers found a rare triple asteroid and uncovered images of Neptune and one of its moons that had gone unnoticed for 20 years

• Blue Crystal: An ice hotel for the burning desert

  04 August 2009

  German designers have come up with an ambitious proposal for the world's biggest man-made iceberg. Titled Blue Crystal, the five-storey structure would form a hotel, resort, and entertainment complex anchored off the coast of Dubai

• The best neutrino detectors in the universe

  04 August 2009

  The ghostly particles zip through space mostly unimpeded – to catch them, researchers use mines, ice fields, lakes and even whole moons

• Innovation: Award-winning product design of 2009

  31 July 2009

  The 2009 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) competition winners have just been announced. Co-sponsored by BusinessWeek magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the awards are "dedicated to fostering business and public understanding of the importance of industrial design excellence to the quality of life and economy", says the IDSA.
  
  Here are some of New Scientist's favourites from this year's awards, including a cookbook you can taste, shoes made from trash, and a genius cheese grater

• Snapshots from inside an exploding star

  31 July 2009

  Physicists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago have used the IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer to model the extreme physics of a supernova explosion

• Inside the human body, Victorian-style

  29 July 2009

  The Wellcome Collection in London has a new exhibition called Exquisite Bodies, exploring the often bizarre Victorian approach to medical teaching and public titillation

• Exploited Earth: The Prix Pictet photography prize 2009

  28 July 2009

  The Prix Pictet is an international photography award for remarkable images that focus on environmental sustainability. See this year's shortlisted entries here

• Cosmic spokes and pummelled planets: the week in space

  24 July 2009

  This week, an eclipse that might reveal a gravity anomaly darkened the skies over China, and Hubble imaged Jupiter's new bruise

• What NASA's return to the moon may look like

  23 July 2009

  Although an expert panel is now reviewing NASA's future plans, the agency has been developing concepts for lunar bases that could be built by 2030

• Spaceplanes and scramjets: A 50-year history

  22 July 2009

  Engineers have struggled for decades to make reusable spaceplanes - see their best attempts in our gallery

• Window on the body: CT scans become art

  20 July 2009

  Radiologist Kai-hung Fung makes beautiful and informative art from the CT (computed tomography) scans of his patients, digitally manipulating them to look more appealing. His image of the inside of our sinuses won the 2007 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. See this and some of his more recent works in our gallery

• Spy probe images Apollo landing sites

  17 July 2009

  NASA's newly launched Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has snapped images of hardware left on the moon by the Apollo astronauts, striking a blow against conspiracy theories that the landings were a hoax

• What if the Eagle had landed on Earth?

  17 July 2009

  Our airless moon may still preserve the bootprints of the Apollo astronauts, but those prints cover only a tiny fraction of its surface.
  
  To make the scale of the missions more understandable, we've mapped the lunar excursions in the free program Google Earth. This gallery gives you a taste of the experience for London, but you can explore for yourself by downloading our Google Earth layers for London, New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Sydney.

• Pinwheels, lenses and eggs: a gallery of galactic shapes

  17 July 2009

  The universe's galaxies are the nurseries of stars, and in one known case life, and come in an impressive range of shapes and sizes. But only recently has it become possible to simulate how that diversity came about.
  
  Explore the images below to discover the different kinds of galaxy in the universe, and read our feature to learn how astronomers are starting to build their own virtual galaxies using complex simulations.

• Gallery: dark flash photography

  15 July 2009

  A camera that uses an infrared and ultraviolet flash to illuminate scenes takes sharp images without the distracting and dazzling effects of a standard flash

• We have lift-off: the people who launched Apollo

  15 July 2009

  When Life magazine wanted to cover the first moon landing and the development work that had made it possible, it turned to journalist and writer Norman Mailer, whose extended essay spanned three issues.
  
  Forty years later, his text has been reissued in a limited-edition book illustrated with rarely seen photos extracted from NASA and Life archives.

• Shuttle blasts off with new 'porch' for space station

  15 July 2009

  The shuttle Endeavour has lifted off successfully after a month of delays – it is carrying a platform for experiments that will attach to the outside of the space station

• Probe hints Venus once had oceans and plate tectonics

  14 July 2009

  Europe's Venus Express orbiter suggests that some of the planet's surface is made of granite, which on Earth needs water and plate tectonics to form

• Designs compete to harness the oceans' power

  10 July 2009

  In recent months, many new ideas for harnessing the abundant but elusive energy of waves and tide have entered tests, or even full-scale use.
  
  Explore the designs below and read our article for more details.

• The enemy within: 10 human parasites

  10 July 2009

  Symbiotic relationships between a parasite and a host can have beneficial effects, even changing human personality and evolution. Often, however, the damage outweighs the positives. New Scientist investigates some of the most common human parasites and the damaging effects they can have

• Space porches and star nurseries: the week in space

  10 July 2009

  This week's images include the coldest object in space, a Mars rover in a sandpit and some stunning astronomical scenes.

• 'Egg cup' craters may reveal Mars's past climate

  08 July 2009

  Quirky craters that sit atop raised plateaus on the Martian surface could be products of the planet's variable climate

• Lunar uranium and Martian sand traps: the week in space

  03 July 2009

  This week, a new lunar orbiter sent back its first images and engineers prepared a mock Mars rover to help free Spirit, which is stuck in a sand trap on the Red Planet

• Satellite creates best topographic map of the Earth

  30 June 2009

  An instrument aboard the Terra satellite has generated the most complete digital topographic map of the Earth ever made, covering 99% of the planet

• In search of NASA's next rocket

  27 June 2009

  Ares I has been beset by technical problems – see the rockets that had been considered fringe alternatives but could now be chosen instead

• Darwin's camera: How photography met evolution

  26 June 2009

  When he turned to the evolution of behaviour and facial expressions, Darwin and his collaborators pushed the boundaries of photography. Phillip Prodger's new book Darwin's Camera looks at Darwin's collaborators - see some of the best pictures in this gallery

• Gallery: Electric cars get a jump-start in US bailout

  26 June 2009

  The US Department of Energy has announced $8bn in support to help firms make the next generation of cars more efficient than ever before.
  
  Although some of the money will go to improving the efficiency of conventional engines, most will be spent on electric vehicles which most auto firms now think are the best bet for making transport cleaner and greener.

• Ice caverns and underground labs: the week in space

  26 June 2009

  This week, researchers found hints of misty ice caverns on a Saturn moon and dedicated a dark matter lab in the deepest mine in the US

• Carnivorous robots eager to eat your pests

  24 June 2009

  UK-based designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau believe that, if robots are ever to be welcomed into people's homes, they'll need to fit in with the rest of the furniture, and earn their keep. Their prototypes trap and digest pests like flies and mice to gain energy - see video demonstrating how they work.

• One-third of sharks at risk of extinction

  24 June 2009

  A third of open ocean sharks are threatened with extinction, according to the first global study to assess the conservation status of 64 species. Tuna fisheries, already facing strong criticism for overfishing, and the practice of "finning" sharks for soup ingredients take much of the blame.

• Eight animals that can count

  23 June 2009

  Counting is not unique to humans: a huge range of animals understand numbers, from salamanders to honeybees

• Animal autopsy: Inside the world's biggest animals

  23 June 2009

  The new Channel 4 documentary series Inside Nature's Giants delves into the depths of some of nature's most formidible creatures - quite literally. The film makers used CGI, wildlife photography and dissection to explore the inner workings of a whale, a crocodile, a giraffe and an elephant.

• Hubble hiccups and hidden jet streams: the week in space

  19 June 2009

  This week, NASA launched a mission to crash into the moon, and the team working on the repaired Hubble Space Telescope got its first technical scare

• Lunar flashes and double stars: The week in space

  12 June 2009

  This week, astronomers reported imaging a possible planet-forming disc around a pair of stars and a Japanese probe hit the moon

• Cloners versus sexuals: The great breeding wars

  11 June 2009

  Why bother with sex when you can clone yourself? Only now are we starting to understand why sex usually wins out over cloning. This gallery, which accompanies our feature article, explores some of the strangest means of reproducing that evolution has thrown up.

• 10 scientific objects that changed the world

  09 June 2009

  To mark its centenary, the Science Museum in London had its curators select the ten objects in its collection that made the biggest mark on history. These then went to a public vote to decide Explore them in this gallery, and cast your vote in the public poll to decide the most significant of all.

• Savant art: A window into exceptional minds

  03 June 2009

  See a collection of art created by various prodigious savant artists from around the world – each one chosen because it shines some light on the way the mind of a savant works

• Eight more bizarre species that are new to science

  03 June 2009

  The International Institute for Species Exploration has just released its latest annual list of the most spectacular animals and plants to be newly identified by scientists. Some were included in our recent feature, Bizarre animals that are new to science – here are the ones we couldn't squeeze in

• The final mission to repair Hubble

  01 June 2009

  See the best images from the final shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope

• The Last Word: Nine strange clouds and how they formed

  27 May 2009

  Over the years, The Last Word has received some astonishing images of clouds. Here is a selection of the best

• Grey-sky thinking: Nine extraordinary clouds

  22 May 2009

  Clouds turn the sky into a big art gallery, complete with icy jellyfish and clouds that look like breaking waves. Two new books explore the varieties, and our gallery illustrates some of the most intriguing types

• The doomed quest for the North-West Passage

  19 May 2009

  London’s National Maritime Museum has a new exhibition, The North-West Passage: An Arctic obsession, exploring Britain's fascination with the North-West Passage. Read more: Explorers, don't forget your inflatable cloak

• The Last Word: Animals that eat wasps

  19 May 2009

  Although you may find the idea of eating a wasp distasteful at best, there are plenty of animals out there that happily include them in their diet. Last Word readers sent in these examples

• The art of science: Cement flowers and quantum cascades

  15 May 2009

  Move over, C. P. Snow: Princeton University's Art of Science competition takes as its starting point Leonardo da Vinci's embracing maxim: study the science of art and the art of science

• Ötzi the iceman: Up close and personal

  14 May 2009

  The new Iceman photoscan website lets you explore the body of the famous Alpine mummy in unprecedented detail. See some of the best images and find out how he lived and died

• Winged submarine is Ferrari of the depths

  14 May 2009

  The world’s first production “winged submersible” should prove a boon for research and moviemaking – and for those that can afford it, says Peter Aldhous, thrills too

• Birds swell the ranks of critically endangered species

  13 May 2009

  191 bird species have been added to the IUCN red list, the roster of the world's most threatened species. Here are some of the endangered birds

• 'Lone' longitude genius may have had help

  12 May 2009

  Even in the 18th century mariners couldn't accurately measure longitude at sea, leading to dangerous navigation errors. Country carpenter John Harrison is credited with changing that, by building timepieces more accurate than any before.
  
  But a horologist who dismantled one of his masterpieces has uncovered evidence that Harrison did not work alone.

• Understanding birds through their songs

  11 May 2009

  Birdsong is more than just a way of identifying birds: it's a way of identifying with the birds themselves, says author Donald Kroodsma. Get to know them with these audio samples and sonograms. Plus, see a review of his book

• Five new robots march into hall of fame

  08 May 2009

  The ground-breaking machines have been selected to join 18 real and fictional robots already included in the collection – meet the new entrants and the pick of the previous selections

• Bizarre animals that are new to science

  07 May 2009

  About 15,000 new species are still discovered every year, from psychedelic fish to pink millipedes, and from lungless frogs to the Dracula fish. Take our tour of some of the strangest species to be discovered in recent years

• Gallery: Rescuing black bears from China's bile farms

  05 May 2009

  Despite being considered critically endangered in the west, in China it is still legal to farm Asiatic black bears for their bile - and only the lucky few escape. Plus see our related feature

• Fossil whale found with fossil shark tooth

  05 May 2009

  Palaeontologists have discovered the fossilised tooth of a great white shark lodged in a four-million year whale bone

• Sponge larvae: Your unlikely ancestors

  30 April 2009

  Claus Nielsen of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, has proposed that multicellular animals evolved from single-celled organisms in six major steps. Here is a simplified version of his proposed steps. (Return to main article)

• Three questions we asked the answer engine

  29 April 2009

  The web is buzzing with news of a site to launch next month that claims to answer any question - New Scientist got a chance to pose Wolfram Alpha some questions

• Exploring the exploding internet

  29 April 2009

  The internet has grown at a remarkable speed since its inception. We trace how much it has grown, and how it was possible

• Kew Gardens' weirdest and wackiest plants

  28 April 2009

  To celebrate Kew Gardens' 250th anniversary, we've selected some of their strangest plants, including a plant looks like a penis, and a giant self-destructing palm

• Flickr users make accidental maps

  24 April 2009

  Using geotag data attached to 35 million photos uploaded to Flickr, David Crandall and colleagues at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, created accurate global and city maps and identified popular snapping sites.

• Think being a scientist is boring? Think again

  24 April 2009

  A UK exhibition called Leading Lights aims to challenge negative perceptions about science careers by showcasing pioneering young scientists and engineers

• Plasma bubbles and cosmic fountains: the week in space

  24 April 2009

  This week, Hubble celebrated its 19^th birthday with a cosmic 'fountain of youth' and a colossal black hole blew bubbles of plasma into space

• Art detectives use forensics to spot forgeries

  22 April 2009

  Is that painting really a masterpiece, or a cheap fake? Peter Paul Biró and Nicholas Eastaugh analyse pigments, fingerprints and DNA to find out.
  (return to article)

• Great escapes: Eight emergency species rescues

  22 April 2009

  Conservation biologists often go to extreme lengths to prevent species from being wiped off the planet. As a tribute to their efforts, we've collated our favourite examples of the measures that have been used rescue a species, from reverse vasectomy on an endangered horse to the cloning of an animal from beyond the grave. See the associated feature

• Snapper snaps: Prize-winning underwater photography

  20 April 2009

  The winning images from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School's Underwater Photography Contest 2009 include a whitetip shark, boxer crabs, and a pygmy seahorse

• What Voyager's golden record tells ET about Earth

  18 April 2009

  Douglas Vakoch of the SETI Institute says any future messages sent to ET should reflect the human race as it really is - warts and all. Click through this gallery to see what an alien civilisation might learn about earthlings from images on a golden record placed on each of the twin Voyager interstellar probes. Since launching in 1977, the spacecraft have travelled to the edge of the solar system.

• Correspondence chess: From snail mail to satellite phones

  17 April 2009

  Playing chess with an unseen opponent is common nowadays, thanks to the internet, but the web is just the latest technology that gamers have turned to.
  
  Return to article

• Gallery: Green innovation challenge

  16 April 2009

  See winners - from a solar oven to green hubcaps - of an international competition to find innovations that could help combat climate change

• Future-proof homes for a warmer world

  15 April 2009

  See how architects are trying to future-proof homes against the higher sea levels and more frequent hurricanes our changing climate is bringing our way

• The secret landscapes of stone

  14 April 2009

  Richard Weston's dazzling images of crystals and minerals reveal the intricacies of their structures in unprecedented detail

• World's highest-energy laser to create mini-stars

  13 April 2009

  In early April, the $3.5 billion National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, was given the green light to begin a series of experiments. Researchers hope they will culminate in the first ever self-sustained, stable fusion reaction that will release many times more energy than the energy used to trigger the reaction. The stadium-sized facility will train 192 laser beams on tiny targets, producing pressures and temperatures that could illuminate the interiors of giant planets and pave the way to the first fusion reactors.

• Cosmic hands and galactic cigars: a celebration of astronomy

  09 April 2009

  In early April, astronomers joined forces to participate in a world-wide event called 100 Hours of Astronomy, the cornerstone event of the International Year of Astronomy. The celebration included live, online tours of the world's best telescopes and dozens of sky-watching "star parties". New Scientist rounds up the best images that were released to commemorate the event.

• Cars competing to be 100mpg champions

  08 April 2009

  The list of teams entered into the Progressive Auto X Prize was announced today - the contest will award prizes totalling $10m for vehicles that can go 100 miles on the equivalent of a gallon of fuel

• Gallery: Bionic eye cam to shine a light on society

  06 April 2009

  Canadian film maker Rob Spence, who damaged his right eye in a childhood accident, is determined to replace it with a digital camera. "Team Eyeborg" has just succeeded in fitting Spence with an artificial eye containing a working LED – a step towards a camera-containing synthetic eye.

• Gallery: International Garden Photographer of the Year

  02 April 2009

  The finalists of the UK's International Garden Photographer of the Year award have just been announced. See stunning photographs of a garden tiger moth up close, the sharp spines of an agave and a common blue butterfly taking a shower...

• Code red: How deep reef fish keep in touch

  02 April 2009

  Red light rarely reaches deeper than 20 metres into the sea, yet plenty of deeper-dwelling fish flash fluorescent red markings. Are they sending covert messages to each other?

• Where's the remotest place on Earth?

  02 April 2009

  Getting away from it all is easier said than done, as new maps of the world's connectedness reveal

• CSI Wildlife: Forensics takes on wildlife smugglers

  27 March 2009

  A small forensics lab is taking on the $20 billion industry of illegal wildlife trafficking. Find out how they're doing it

• What every aspiring inventor needs to know

  26 March 2009

  London's Science Museum has a new exhibition to help you find inspiration for inventions and learn how to protect your ideas - and it's presented by Wallace and Gromit

• Galileo's legacy: The technology of the heavens

  26 March 2009

  Two Galileo exhibitions in Florence and Philadelphia showcase ancient astronomical instruments like sundials, astrolabes and orreries

• Zooming in on Mars in glorious 3D

  26 March 2009

  Get out your 3D spectacles! Hundreds of new red-cyan anaglyph images of Mars have been released by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Although other Mars missions have taken 3D images, HiRISE is the most powerful camera to ever orbit another planet. It resolves features as small as 1 metre across - roughly the scale of a person. Here are five of the most striking images.

• The snow monkeys of Hell's Valley

  24 March 2009

  Wildlife photographer Heather Angel has spent many hours observing snow monkeys relaxing in hot spas, making snowballs and using tools. See some of her best images

• Gallery: beautiful planetary nebulae

  23 March 2009

  Planetary nebulae are the final butterfly-like state that heralds the end of a Sun-like star's energy-generating life. Lasting no more than a few tens of thousands of years, planetary nebulae help seed space with heavier chemical elements that can be incorporated into the next generation of stars.

• Green fingered robots tend garden

  19 March 2009

• Students capture stunning images of Earth

  19 March 2009

  A team of teenage Spanish students launched a balloon into space for just €1000 and captured these beautiful photographs of our planet from space

• How did the largest dinosaurs get so big?

  18 March 2009

  The largest sauropods reached 35 metres in length and weighed 80 tonnes. Why have no land animals, before or since, achieved such sizes?

• How the hidden contents of the womb became visible

  12 March 2009

  Just 250 years ago, we had no idea about what went on inside the womb to produce a baby. A new exhibition called Making Visible Embryos shows how all that changed

• Second Genesis: The search for shadow life

  11 March 2009

  The burgeoning field of astrobiology has a less well-known offshoot right here on Earth: the search for a "shadow biosphere" - a second, independent form of life unrelated to the sort we know

• Gallery: The evolution of the spacesuit

  10 March 2009

  In February 2009, NASA signed a contract with an engineering firm to develop spacesuits that could be used on the shuttle's replacement, the Orion capsule. New Scientist takes a look at the evolution of spacesuits over the last five decades, and at some potential designs for the future.

• Gallery: Six gadgets that could help green our lives

  09 March 2009

  A recent competition called for novel designs that could cut our environmental impact. See some of the best, from window blinds that collect solar energy to a hand-powered printer

• Pentagonal ice

  06 March 2009

  A team of UK researchers has grown ice crystals in which the water molecules are arranged into pentagons rather than the hexagons found in every natural snowflake.
  
  The unusual ice was grown on a copper surface under a vacuum at -173°C. It owes its pentagonal form to the way the water molecules bond with the underlying copper.
  
  See our gallery of conventional hexagonal snowflakes Journal reference: Nature Materials (DOI: 10.1038/nmat2403)

• Jellyfish sushi: Seafood's slimy future

  04 March 2009

  With many commercial seafood species close to collapse, it's time to look for tasty alternatives. Will jellyfish and algae fit the bill?

• Formula 1 technology spins off into the real world

  02 March 2009

  See examples of how technology that was first developed to send Formula 1 cars hurtling round a track at 360 km/h has escaped into the world beyond

• Beyond the jumpsuit: the future of space fashion

  27 February 2009

  At $95,000 or more a ticket, tourist flights to the edge of space will be a special occasion for even the most privileged of passengers. "You're going to want to wear something special for that once-in-a-lifetime event," says Chuck Lauer of Rocketplane Global, an aerospace firm that plans to offer suborbital tourist flights and helped to organise a recent space-themed fashion show at Couture Fashion Week in New York City. View some of the out-of-this-world designs in our gallery.

• Photography: Life and death beneath the waves

  26 February 2009

  See stunning images of a caring octopus mum, the eyes of a conch, a slaughtered shark, and more

• Gallery: Guess the nanoscale image

  26 February 2009

  The nanoscale illustrations here are all based on data from X-ray diffraction. Can you guess what each image represents?

• The most important telescopes in history

  25 February 2009

  In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, New Scientist takes you on an armchair tour of some of the most important telescopes ever built. For more information on these and other pioneering telescopes, read Eyes on the Skies: 400 Years of Telescopic Discovery by Govert Schilling and Lars Lindberg Christensen (Wiley-VCH, 2009).

• Test your bloodstain analysis skills

  25 February 2009

  Bloodstain analysts claim to be able to identify how a bloodstain was created simply by looking at it. Can you do as well as the experts?

• Animals in action: The best natural history photography

  23 February 2009

  Lucy Dodwell picks out the best wildlife photographs from the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards, including dolphins charging a "bait ball" and much more

• A dozen bizarre devices from medicine's dark past

  19 February 2009

  These extraordinary objects are among 2500 featured in Brought to Life, the London Science Museum's new multimedia website exploring centuries of medical history

• Ocean survey reveals hundreds of 'bipolar' species

  16 February 2009

  Of the thousands of species that populate Antarctica and the Arctic, it seems hundreds are "bipolar": they are found at both ends of the 11,000-kilometre span between the poles

• Quiz: Spot the family resemblance

  13 February 2009

  It turns out that people can identify family members in groups of non-human primates, hinting that those primates may also be able to spot kin. See how you do in our primate face test

• A glimpse of Darwin's student life

  12 February 2009

  The rooms Darwin lived in while he was a student at the University of Cambridge have been restored to how they were in his time

• Reflecting on a new generation of mirrors

  12 February 2009

  Mathematician Andrew Hicks designs unusual mirrors that reflect wide panoramas or even show text the right way round

• Anatomy gallery: Cabinet of curiosities

  11 February 2009

  These images of historical dissections and mutants were taken by Philadelphia printmaker James Mundie on a tour of European anatomy museums in 2008

• Meet the scoundrels of astronomy

  10 February 2009

  History is littered with astronomers who doggedly pursued fame at the expense of the scientific method. While researching a biographical encyclopaedia, Thomas Hockey of the University of Northern Iowa compiled a list of "really bad" astronomers. Some were combative, while others seem to have stolen ideas or manufactured data, infiltrating the astronomical community "like wolves among the sheep". Hockey discussed them last month at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

• When Darwin met Art

  10 February 2009

  An exhibition called Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Selection and the Visual Arts highlights both the paintings that inspired Darwin, and the art that Darwin himself inspired.

• Young Darwin's evolution adventures

  10 February 2009

  Sadly, few photos remain of Darwin as a young adventurous naturalist, but animator AnneMarie Walsh has created cartoons of some of the key moments.

• Does your face give away your personality?

  10 February 2009

  Our experiment examined whether some subtle aspects of our psychological make-up might be related to facial appearance. Find out how it worked here.

• Gallery: What's the point of being warm-blooded?

  06 February 2009

  See thermal images of warm- and cold-blooded animals, and find out why warm-bloodedness evolved

• Designs of 2009

  06 February 2009

  The Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2009 reward innovative design across a range of categories, from architecture to furniture, graphics to transport.
  
  The exhibition runs from 12 Feb - 14 June at the Design Museum in London, UK, and the awards ceremony takes place at the Museum on 18 March.

• Auroras: The greatest light show on Earth

  06 February 2009

  A flotilla of NASA satellites is finally uncovering the mechanisms that cause the solar wind to illuminate the polar skies: read more about what powers auroras

• Valentine's Day: Love is in the air

  05 February 2009

  Clouds never cease to amaze, and these heart-shaped clouds don't disappoint...

• Gallery: Whale evolution - from land to sea

  04 February 2009

  Whales evolved from land mammals sometime between 50 and 30 million years ago. New Scientist discovers what the transition species might have looked like

• Gallery: The next mission to the outer solar system

  30 January 2009

  In February, NASA and European Space Agency officials will meet in Washington, DC, to decide between two missions to the outer solar system.
  
  Should they aim for Saturn's moon Titan, or send a pair of orbiters to explore Jupiter and some of its satellites?

• Shooting beauty: Prize-winning photos of birds

  28 January 2009

  The winning images of the International Wildbird Photographer 2008 Award were announced this week. They include gentoo penguins, a graceful whooper swan in midflight, and the inside of the huge bill of a dalmatian pelican.

• Gallery: Putting human consumption into perspective

  27 January 2009

  What does the oil used in the US in two minutes actually look like? Or a million disposable plastic cups? Photographer Chris Jordan illustrates the staggering scale of human consumption

• Gallery: Ten sci-fi devices nearing reality

  26 January 2009

  In this special feature, we assess the prospects of 10 of the coolest gadgets that in 30 years' time may change our lives as much – or maybe more – than cellphones, iPods and the internet.

• The history of small print

  23 January 2009

  In 1959, Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman set a tiny challenge. "There's plenty of room at the bottom," he said, before offering $1000 from his personal funds to anyone who could produce written text at 1/25,000 scale - the size required to print the entire Encyclopedia Britannica on the head of a pin.
  
  It would be 25 years before that challenge was met. Since then, small print has got even smaller: a team at Stanford University has just produced tiny holographic letters just 1.5 nanometres tall.
  
  Browse the images below to see ground-breaking work in creating tiny type

• World's oldest weapons-grade plutonium found in a ditch

  20 January 2009

  Plutonium-239 found inside a broken, rusty safe has been shown to be of historic significance: dating from December 1944 it is the very first weapons-grade plutonium refined at the site, or anywhere in the world.
  
  The find was made at the Hanford Site, Washington State, which supplied the US nuclear weapon program from its beginnings until the 1980s. The site is dangerously contaminated by radioactive waste indiscriminately buried underground over years.

• Optical illusions prize winners

  20 January 2009

  Each year the Visual Sciences Society hosts its Illusion of the Year competition. This year's contest takes place 10 May in Naples, Florida. Go to their website to see more illusions and to submit an entry. In the meantime, here's a selection of previous entries

• FBI kit rolled out to protect Obama's inauguration

  19 January 2009

  With as many as 1 million people expected to throng the streets for the inauguration of president Barack Obama, the FBI is rolling out a fleet of vehicles and technology to make the event secure.
  
  This will include a mobile command post, an armoured assault vehicle, and a toughened chamber designed to contain and transport a bomb.

• Amazing observatories of the ancient world

  15 January 2009

  To help celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, take an armchair tour of the most intriguing ancient observatories, guided by three leading archaeoastronomy experts: John Carlson of the University of Maryland, Ed Krupp of Griffith Observatory, and David Dearborn of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The tour proceeds backwards in time, beginning with sites that were built most recently.
  
  
  
  You can also read archaeoastronomer Clive Ruggles' plea for these sites to be preserved and protected: Save our astronomical heritage.

• Advanced painting techniques in ancient Egypt

  15 January 2009

  Some of the world's oldest masterpieces return to public view at the British Museum, London this week after the museum's biggest conservation project.
  
  The paintings once decorated the tomb chapel of Nebamun, an accountant at the Temple of Amun at Karnak, who died around 1350 BC. They were intended to impress and entertain Nebamun's friends and relatives, who would visit the chapel to pay their respects, and so ensure his place in the afterlife.

• How to make your own spikes of ice

  13 January 2009

  Ever been to get ice cubes out of the freezer and found spikes rearing out of them? Or noticed spikes towering out of your bird bath?
  
  During the recent cold snap here in Europe, many readers contacted The Last Word to ask how they form. We answered this question a while back but here it is again, with your images. Also, find out how to create your own ice spikes on the last slide.

• Rovers celebrate five years of highs and lows on Mars

  13 January 2009

  This month, NASA's twin Mars rovers are celebrating their fifth anniversary on the Red Planet, long outlasting the three months they were scheduled to survive (find out the three secrets to their success). This gallery highlights the rovers' biggest discoveries and most stunning images.

• Frizions: Making art from ice and polarised light

  09 January 2009

  These images are frizions. They were all created by NASA scientist Peter Wasilewski. A selection of frizions is currently on display at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau, Alaska.
  
  Click through the slides to find out how Wasilewski creates them.

• Visions of the ice caps before climate change

  08 January 2009

  The polar ice sheets are now a familiar sight on the television news, but people once considered the Arctic and Antarctic so remote, unchanging and extreme that they seemed more mythical than real.
  
  The first polar paintings were made by explorers with some artistic training. These and many others are on display at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, in To the Ends of the Earth: Painting the Polar Landscape.

• Species at risk from global warming

  07 January 2009

  The polar bear has become an icon for the perils of global warming, but many other species are more urgently threatened, according to biologist William Laurance. Here are some of the animals at risk.

• Nanobristles Twist to hold particles

  07 January 2009

  These neatly spiralled bristles may look like a biological structure, but they are actually human-made. Boaz Pokroy and colleagues at Harvard University have discovered it is possible to make the arrangements by submerging flexible polymer bristles in a liquid that is then evaporated.
  
  The twists can even tightly grip tiny spheres, and be made to later release them on demand.

• Freaks of nature

  07 January 2009

  Snakes with two heads and cats with two faces may seem like morbid entertainment, but they have a lot to teach us about development and evolution.
  
  All images were taken from Freaks of Nature by Mark S Blumberg.

• Top 10 space stories of 2008

  23 December 2008

  The most popular space stories of the year include a gallery of spooky cosmic images and an exploration of whether the universe existed before the big bang.

• Gallery: The 10 most unusual objects to have flown in space

  22 December 2008

  Forget spacesuits, solid rocket boosters and robot arms - more sentimental and whimsical objects have reached escape velocity

• The inner workings of cells

  19 December 2008

  The winners of a new competition that highlights the best images of cells and their internal mechanisms have just been announced.
  
  The IN Cell Image Competition is run by GE Healthcare to promote their IN Cell Analyzer, a system for producing detailed images of cells' workings.
  
  More than 80 beautiful images were sent in by scientists all over the world using the IN Cell Analyzer system. An expert scientific panel short-listed 30 entries which then went on to the public vote.

• Festive decorations from nature

  18 December 2008

  These stunning microscope images - many of which resemble festive decorations - are all winners of the Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition, now in its sixth year.

• Most stunning images of 2008

  17 December 2008

  See a selection of the most stunning images from our Galleries this year, including the propagation and reflection of a blast wave, a helix planetary nebula and a baby kangaroo suckling in a pouch...

• Virtual autopsies dissect humans and animals

  16 December 2008

  These 3D scans of human and animals bodies recently earned the Lennart Nillson Award for scientific photography and were created by Anders Persson, director of the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization at Linköping University, Sweden.
  
  Persson and his colleagues have refined CT scanning, even allowing police to perform "virtual autopsies". Their images have featured prominently in CSI.
  
  The award commemorates Lennart Nilsson, a pioneering medical photographer.

• Visions of the future, drawn in the past

  15 December 2008

  Many a small boy has wished he had X-ray vision. For nearly fifty years, the UK boys' comic Eagle made it so. Every week, it featured clear yet complex cutaway drawings of everything from new London buses to nuclear-powered aeroplanes.
  
  Here is a taste of the dozens of cutaways featured in The Eagle Annual of the Cutaways, a new book collecting some of the best from the comic's history.

• The damage that derailed the Large Hadron Collider

  11 December 2008

  The world's most powerful particle accelerator switched on in September, causing great excitement, but just nine days later a helium leak shut the LHC down.
  
  Now CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has released photos of the damage, which an internal report revealed last week will keep the world's most complex machine out of action until late July 2009 at the earliest.

• Paintings of the disappearing rainforests

  08 December 2008

  There are lots of books out there that illustrate the irrevocable damage that we are doing to the rainforests - but this is one with a twist.
  
  The images in Rainforest: Light and Spirit are not photographs, but paintings by artist Harry Holcroft, who has travelled the world's rainforests for the past four years.

• Teddy bears and celestial smiles: The week in space

  06 December 2008

  This week, four teddy bears rode a balloon above much of the atmosphere, and Venus, Jupiter and the Moon made a smiley face in the sky.

• Mars in 3D

  05 December 2008

  These images are all taken from Mars 3-D by Jim Bell, which documents the travels of NASA's two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. (Read our review of the book)
  
  To get the most out of the images view them through polarised glasses.

• Anamorphic art

  04 December 2008

  An anamorphic image is one that can only be interpreted when viewed from a particular angle or through a transforming optical device like a mirror.
  
  Such images interest artists, graphic designers and mathematicians alike, and all will be meeting on 12-13 December to explore anamorphic images and discuss the technical aspects of how to create and interpret them.

• A journey through the world of dinosaurs

  02 December 2008

  These stunning computer-generated images of dinosaurs are taken from Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte (Quercus). (Read our review of the book and see other books we recommend buying as gifts for Christmas)

• Journey through the birth, life and death of stars

  02 December 2008

  The Sun, which is the closest star to Earth, is just one of an estimated 100 billion billion stars in the universe.
  
  These images show stars in various stages of development. They are taken from Stars: A journey through stellar, birth, life and death by Raman Prinja (New Holland Publishers)

• Antarctic census reveals more species than the Galapagos

  01 December 2008

  The first comprehensive "inventory" of sea and land animals around a group of Antarctic islands has revealed that the region is surprisingly rich in biodiversity, having more species even than the tropical Galapagos Islands. The study is part of the Census of Marine Life.

• Snowflakes as you've never seen them before

  01 December 2008

  These snowflake photos were taken by Kenneth Libbrecht of CalTech, using a specially-designed snowflake photomicroscope. They show real snow crystals that fell to earth in northern Ontario, Alaska, Vermont, the Michigan Upper Peninsula, and the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

• How to visualise the immense

  01 December 2008

  Advances in computer science are making physics research more visual than ever. This gallery of scientifically accurate images was selected by the magazine Physics World from the New Journal of Physics and shows how computer visualisation is changing everything from human bone analysis to simulations of warp bubbles in space.

• Seeing the unseen

  26 November 2008

  See pics..... from a new exhibit called Brought to Light Photography and the Invisible (1840-1900) on at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

• Living Africa

  26 November 2008

  See startling and beautiful photographs of life in Africa including a hippo roaring, an ostrich crossing the desert and elephants fighting.
  
  The pictures come from a book out this month called Living Africa by photographic artist Steve Bloom
  
  Warning: some readers may find some of these photographs disturbing

• Ape artists raise funds for conservation

  20 November 2008

  See vivid paintings by bonobos and orangutans from an art exhibition called Apes Helping Apes, organised by the Great Ape Trust to raise money for great ape conservation

• Glow-in-the-dark sea creatures light up the deep

  18 November 2008

  Researchers have just found a fluorescent anemone deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Find out more about glowing sea creatures in this slideshow.

• Winning images of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008

  14 November 2008

  Elephants in the twilight, children watching sharks at the shore, and a shocking image of the face of a monkey... these are some of the winners and commended entries of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

• Baby stars and cosmic votes: the week in space

  07 November 2008

  This week's gallery includes images of stellar baby booms in a nearby galaxy and US astronauts who cast their votes from space.

• New treasures from out of the blue

  07 November 2008

  Giant oysters, spaceship-like jellyfish and the common ancestor of deep-sea octopuses are just some of the new species discovered by the Census Marine Life, due to be completed in 2010

• Science supermachines in the scrapyard

  06 November 2008

  When a particle accelerator reaches the end of the road, the physicists hold a wake for its death. Then the electromagnets are powered down, cryogenic liquids drained and lights turned off. What happens next is less certain. Some part are reused, other sent to scrapyards, or turned into art.
  
  Read our feature length article on what happens to these massive machines when they come to the end of their life.

• Thirteen reasons to change the world

  06 November 2008

  These striking photographs from What Matters by David Elliot Cohen are a stark reminder of the challenges faced every day by people around the world, from climate change to recycling

• When genetics meets art

  03 November 2008

  From endosymbiosis to cloning and malaria resistance to living with HIV, these paintings by artist and geneticist Hunter O'Reilly explore various biological processes and issues we face today

• The submarine pioneer who shaped spaceflight

  03 November 2008

  Swiss deep-sea explorer and engineer Jacques Piccard, who reached the deepest depths of the world's oceans and pioneered the construction of deep-diving submersibles, died this weekend at the age of 86, in his Lake Geneva home.
  
  Piccard's legacy reaches from the depths of the ocean to the heights of space. His work on submersibles was funded by the US Navy, who used his designs to build later subs, while an epic month-long underwater mission he undertook helped NASA learn how to keep people working in cramped space stations for long periods.
  
  

• Marine life: the weird and the wonderful

  03 November 2008

• Winners of the 2008 New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography

  31 October 2008

  The top 25 images from the New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography, run in conjunction with the Australian Museum, are touring Australia, but you can see some of them here, including a peek inside a kangaroo's pouch, an anvil crawler electrocuting the night sky and a blast wave from the explosion of a percussion cap...

• Living jewels

  30 October 2008

  Beetles are sometimes called "living jewels" in reference to the diverse array of iridescent colours they display. The optical effects are produced by photonic crystals and sophisticated reflectance mechanisms, as these images show. (Images from Journal of the Royal Society Interface, DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2008.0354.focus; provided by Ainsley Seago)

• Wildlife photographer of the year: The winners

  30 October 2008

  The winners have been announced for the 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum in London and the BBC Wildlife Magazine.
  
  The breathtaking images include chimps fighting over a bushpig, a snake and a frog in deadlock, and an encounter with a 14 metre long whale...

• Ghostly gallery: Spooky images from space

  30 October 2008

  To celebrate Halloween, New Scientist has assembled a gallery of hair-raising images from space.

• The atlas of the real world

  27 October 2008

  These maps show the world through different eyes. The sizes of countries are changed according to the proportion of different resources they share, and by their contributions to human society.
  
  The maps are taken from the new book The Atlas of the Real World, published by Thames and Hudson and produced by the researchers behind the Worldmapper website.

• Spooky space pictures: a Halloween gallery

  27 October 2008

  To celebrate Halloween, New Scientist Space has assembled a gallery of spine-tingling images from space. Part 2 of the gallery will be posted later in the week - check back if you dare.

• 'Fishbowl' spaceships and giant stars: The week in space

  24 October 2008

  In the past week, engineers unveiled plans for a bizarre-looking spaceship, and astronomers revealed a stellar nursery that harbours some of the heaviest stars known.

• Unsustainable living - photography prize 2008

  21 October 2008

  The Prix Pictet is an international photography award for remarkable images that focus on sustainability. It launched this year and is presided over by Kofi Annan, Nobel laureate and former Secretary General of the United Nations.

• Weird and wonderful world of creepy-crawlies

  17 October 2008

  These invertebrate photographs were submitted to the Up Close and Spineless competition, and are on display at the Australian Museum from 18 October 2008. They include photographs of a huntsman spider catching a lift on a cow horn, a bright green scarab beetle, and a cute grasshopper...

• Small world: Award-winning microscope photography

  17 October 2008

  Images of the microscopic never fail to amaze and since 1974 the Nikon Small World prize has recognised the very best work in the field. This year's winners range from dazzling views of tiny animals to surprisingly artistic scenes from inside shaving cream, in a portfolio of work from both scientists and artists.

• Colliding rocks and curious comets: The week in space

  15 October 2008

  In the past week, a small space rock hit Earth and astronomers released images of a mysterious comet and seasons on Uranus

• Artists explore the state of our planet

  14 October 2008

  These images were among the juried selections for the 10th International Digital Print Exhibition, organised by Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI).
  
  They are on display at the New York Hall of Science until January 25, 2009, and include pictures of electricity-generating moths and polar bears with jet packs...

• Messenger finds web of debris on Mercury

  08 October 2008

  The spacecraft's latest flyby provides the first clear pictures of a third of the planet, revealing long bright streaks of material across the surface

• Chemistry Nobel for green jellyfish protein

  08 October 2008

  The 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists who isolated green fluorescent protein (GFP), which is now used by researchers worldwide

• The best wildlife photography of 2008

  07 October 2008

  The shortlist has been announced for the 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The remarkable images include flocks of birds twisting into exotic shapes, brightly-coloured tropical fish and bats in mid-flight.

• The world's mammals at risk of extinction

  06 October 2008

  The most comprehensive survey of the world's mammals shows that a quarter of them are at risk of extinction. The 2008 IUCN Red List looks at the 5,487 mammals known to live on Earth. This gallery shows some of the most threatened, and some of the success stories.

• Patent diagrams provide a peek at invention

  02 October 2008

  For more than 30 years New Scientist has run a column presenting the most interesting, entertaining and sometimes chilling new patents. Here are seven of the best from over the years.

• Solargraphs show half a year of sun

  01 October 2008

  These pinhole photographs, exposed for six months, capture the journey of the sun from the winter to the summer solstice

• Robotic yellow submarine is 'Mars Rover of the sea'

  01 October 2008

  The new sub, developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, can hover in place and make its own decisions. It is designed to allow more complex missions in the deep ocean.

• Supernovae, spacewalks and snow: The week in space

  01 October 2008

  Over the past week, astronomers reported finding a nearby supernova that had been overlooked for a decade, Chinese astronauts performed their first spacewalk and a robotic spacecraft plunged spectacularly into Earth's atmosphere. See these images and more in our weekly gallery.

• 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge Winners

  25 September 2008

  Making science fascinating to an audience beyond the lab is not always easy. But the winners of the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge pull it off in impressive style. Breathtaking photographs and graphics reveal intricate details of our world - from the 3D path made by a rapidly-spinning string, to the tiny, barbed suckers of a half-metre-long squid. The awards are sponsored jointly by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

• The future of photography

  12 September 2008

  Photography entered the digital age in the early 90s and the resulting wave of technical innovation has put cameras everywhere, from satellites to cellphones. But bigger changes in the technology are yet to come. Here are some cutting edge examples of new ideas about camera and photos - learn more in our report on the future photography.

• Marine life: the weird and the wonderful

  29 August 2008

  The 2006 Census of Marine Life is in, and this year's trawl includes scores of weird and wonderful creatures brought back from the deep.