Josh Howgego
@jdhowgego.bsky.social
Acting head of features at New Scientist magazine | My book, The Meteorite Hunters, is out now: https://linktr.ee/meteoritehunters
For the New Scientist podcast, I spoke to Google DeepMind's Jack Parker Holder about an emerging kind of AI model that aims to understanding not just language but whole worlds... www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GLY...
DeepMind Is Simulating Entire Worlds - What They're Building Will Shock You
YouTube video by The World, The Universe And Us
youtube.com
Congratulations to @rowhoop.bsky.social on the publication today of his brilliant new book Togetherness! www.newscientist.com/article/2528...
New Scientist recommends Togetherness, a radical new view of life
An exploration of how biological cooperation underpins all life - and why we’ve overlooked its power until now - makes thrilling reading, finds Penny Sarchet
newscientist.com
I continue to be amazed at what AI is doing in mathematics. This seems to be the most significant result so far - one researcher in @alexwilkins.bsky.social's story describes it as "absolutely a bomb". www.newscientist.com/article/2527...
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
Artificial intelligence built by OpenAI has cracked a decades-old conjecture by Paul Erdős, which mathematicians have hailed as a monumental moment for AI in mathematics
newscientist.com
I wrote this from last week's @egu.eu meeting about the idea of building a dam across the Bering Strait to stop a vital ocean current collapsing. To be clear, I don't think we should do this! But the thought experiment raises a lot of interesting questions.. www.newscientist.com/article/2525...
A vast dam across the Bering Strait could stop the AMOC collapsing
If a key ocean current collapses it could plunge northern Europe into a big freeze. Now researchers are weighing up a drastic intervention – building a 130-kilometre-wide dam between the US and Russia
newscientist.com
Wild that the era of exoplanet geology is beginning before our eyes
The dark and featureless surface of rocky exoplanet LHS 3844 b from JWST mid-infrared spectroscopy - Nature Astronomy
The JWST thermal emission spectrum of the rocky exoplanet LHS 3844 b points to a dark, basalt-like surface shaped by space weathering. The data provide tight limits on CO2 and SO2, ruling out a substa...
nature.com
People sometimes say that "dinosaurs aren't really extinct, because birds are dinosaurs". Which is true! Paleontologist Steve Brusatte told me the evolutionary story of birds and definitely left with me with fresh appreciation of them www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX5Y...
Why Birds Are The Only Surviving Dinosaurs
YouTube video by New Scientist
youtube.com
Arithmetic (roughly speaking, adding up and multiplying numbers) has a "speed limit" due to the rules of mathematical logic. Richard Elwes explains why this limit exists - and the monstrous sequences that flagrantly break it www.newscientist.com/article/2521...
The monstrous number sequences that break the rules of mathematics
Some seemingly simple sequences of multiplication and addition grow so quickly that they question the very foundations of mathematics. In doing so, they demand a whole new level of logic
newscientist.com
We're doing a series of reviews of classic popular science books and I had the pleasure of reading Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh, which I had never gotten around to looking at before. My verdict: I loved it from start to finish. www.newscientist.com/article/2523...
Fermat's Last Theorem: still a must-read about a 350-year maths secret
Simon Singh's exploration of mathematical proof – in particular Pierre de Fermat's last theorem – remains an absolute treasure, almost three decades after it was first published
newscientist.com
Delighted to say the paperback edition of my book The Meteorite Hunters is out very soon and you can pre-order it now. Comes complete with this snazzy new cover ☄️☄️ uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
My colleague @alexwilkins.bsky.social has written a brilliant piece on incredibly, surprising quickly AI is revolutionising mathematics www.newscientist.com/article/2518...
Mathematics is undergoing the biggest change in its history
The speed at which artificial intelligence is gaining in mathematical ability has taken many by surprise. It is rewriting what it means to be a mathematician
newscientist.com
Our cover story this week is a really nice read from Miriam Frankel on a new way to see back beyond the big bang www.newscientist.com/article/2514...
We’ve glimpsed before the big bang and it’s not what we expected
The big bang wasn’t the start of everything, but it has been impossible to see what came before. Now a new kind of cosmology is lifting the veil on the beginning of time
newscientist.com
Today I learned that we’ve never known what Richard Carrington (of “Carrington event” fame) looked like… but we do as of this week. Nice beard, 10/10.
Dr. Ryan French@ryanjfrench.bsky.social · 7mo agoBREAKING: This is Richard Carrington, the first person to document solar flares on the Sun & suggest their influence on aurora at Earth. The largest solar storm on record, the Carrington Event, bares his name. But, there has been no photograph available of Carrington – until now!
The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Silicon Age... and now for the Age of... er, Metal-Organic Frameworks! www.newscientist.com/article/2511...
Nobel prizewinner Omar Yaghi says his invention will change the world
Chemist Omar Yaghi invented materials called MOFs, a few grams of which have the surface area of a football field. He explains why he thinks these super-sponges will define the next century
newscientist.com
Excited to be speaking at Astrofest this coming Saturday, alongside lots of other brill speakers. I'll be telling the story of micrometeorites and how these tiny, shiny specks of cosmic dust can be found on any urban rooftop. europeanastrofest.com
Home - European AstroFest 2026
RETURNING TO A PLANET NEAR YOU IN FEBRUARY 2026 Kensington Conference and Events Centre | 6 & 7 February 2026 Educate. Learn. Share. CONFERENCE Listen to top speakers spanning the fields of profession...
europeanastrofest.com
In which I mount my argument that effective altruism is one of the worst ideas the century so far…
Rowan Hooper@rowhoop.bsky.social · 7mo agoPodcast: the worst ideas* of the 21st century 💥Social media 💥Bitcoin 💥Carbon offsets 💥Effective altruism 💥Alternative fuels *(in science and tech) open.spotify.com/episode/0Kbr...
This was so much fun to do. Thanks for inviting me! And brilliant to meet Isabel and Tom, who are total pros
Harrogate International Festivals@harrogatefestivals.bsky.social · last yr.Joshua Howgego on space rocks. Isabel Losada on hopeful rebellion. Tom Phillips on history’s funniest meltdowns. Sip, laugh, think, repeat with Berwins Salon North this July 🥂 Find out more 👇 https://bit.ly/BSNJULY25 @isabel-losada.bsky.social @tom-phillips.com @berwins.bsky.social
Bit late to post this, as I've been so busy! But it was a pleasure editing our latest special, looking at how to understand some of the most mind-bending concepts in science, from quasiparticles to metaphysics to symbiosis. www.newscientist.com/article-topi...
Scientific concepts | New Scientist
How experts think about some of the most mind-blowing ideas in science.
newscientist.com
Important meteorite news, incoming! www.newscientist.com/article/2486...
Meteorite causes rethink of how and when our solar system formed
Rocky bodies called protoplanets were thought to have formed slightly earlier in the inner solar system than those beyond the asteroid belt, but now a meteorite from the outer solar system is rewritin...
newscientist.com
Lovely to be back at the Cheltenham Science Festival — still has that same chilled summer vibe I remember from years ago. And excited to speak at 20:30 about the marvels of meteorite hunting!
All we hear about these days is growth, growth, growth. I think there are more interesting conversations! Which is why I went to Amsterdam some months ago to understand its mission to become a circular city... youtu.be/wdsobgg9o3w
How Amsterdam will transform into a circular city by 2050
YouTube video by New Scientist
youtu.be
Very much looking forward to heading back to Cheltenham Science Festival - had so much fun as a volunteer a decade ago. I'll be chatting with @helenlpgordon.bsky.social and @markmiodownik.bsky.social about the wonders of meteorites on 8 June. Come join us! www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/meteo...
Meteorites | Cheltenham Festivals
Look through the prism of meteorites for this gripping and illuminating exploration of deep space and our relationship to the natural world. Natural histor
cheltenhamfestivals.org
Visit any chemistry lab today and you'll see a lot of liquids. That's because the received wisdom is that chemical reactions are often best done in solution. But an alternative vision is starting to take off: what if we instead just smash dry powders together? www.newscientist.com/article/2479...
How an ancient alchemy technique is transforming modern chemistry
Today’s chemistry is a wet business, mostly done by mixing compounds in liquid solvents. But a push towards using dry powders instead is proving surprisingly effective
newscientist.com
A person cannot live on air alone. But they can get at least some of their nutrients by breathing them in - or so it seems. The new science of aeronutrients is one of those "can't believe I never thought about this!" ideas that don't come along often -- love it. www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
The wild idea that we all get nutrients from the air that we breathe
Growing evidence suggests a source of nutrition might be right under our noses. But how important are such aeronutrients – and can we harness them to better treat deficiencies?
newscientist.com
What if Parkinson's disease isn't one condition, but two? Alex Thompson's cover this feature this week reports on what could be a huge and hugely helpful insight into this disease www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
A dramatic rethink of Parkinson’s offers new hope for treatment
Mounting evidence suggests there might be two separate types of the world’s fastest-growing neurological condition. Can this fresh understanding lead to much-needed new treatments?
newscientist.com
Delighted to see that Sara Russell has reviewed my book The Meteorite Hunters for @nature.com and calls it "wonderfully engaging, admirably accurate and up to date — a must-read for budding planetary scientists" www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘I’m touching space’: the fascinating insights meteorites can bring us
Two books discuss how these space rocks are entwined with science, commerce, policy and life.
nature.com
This week at New Scientist HQ we're joining with the celebrations of the centenary of Quantum Mechanics. We have a amazing package of features probing the theory's beginnings, impact and true meaning... check it all out here: www.newscientist.com/article-topi...
Quantum mechanics news, articles and features | New Scientist
newscientist.com
Just got back from a holiday The Azores! Which was just such a privilege. Saw dolphins and walked in lush forests. Would recommend…
Very pleased to be speaking at this year's Cheltenham Science Festival -- (about meteorites, naturally!) I remember being a volunteer there years ago and having a great time, so it will be lovely to go back!
It turns out the solar system may have lost a planet, and no, I'm not talking about Pluto www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
Weird meteorite may be relic of lost planet that no longer exists
A meteorite discovered in north-west Africa in 2023 didn’t come from a large asteroid or any of the known planets of the solar system – but it might have formed on a planet that was destroyed long ago
newscientist.com