Natalya Saprunova's photo series exploring coastal erosion and permafrost thaw across Inuvialuit territories in Canada has won the New Scientist Editors Award at the Earth Photo 2026 competition
The clock is ticking for Android as a (somewhat) open platform. If you are running Android 8 or higher, a virus has been installed on your device and is silently awaiting remote activation. Over the past few months, devices around the world have been infected with this novel strain, with as many as 4 billion Android handsets and tablets estimated to have already been contaminated, meaning that around half of all humanity may be at risk from this threat.
What if you need to do very low-level testing involving the very guts of Windows NT, but don’t need most of the userland that sits on top? In fact, what if that userland only slows you down and complicates the work you’re trying to do? The solution is Windows PE (Windows Preinstallation Environment).
M/PC is a concatenative operating system for Varvara, inspired by Openfirmware, designed to manage files on system without a file browser. It uses the postfix notation, meaning that the function success their operands.
In February 2025, Black Gate covered Molly Tanzer’s release of “Jirel Meets Death” (published with permission from Moore’s estate); and in March 2026 Black Gate’s Dark Muse News covered Tanzer’s next story, “Jirel in the Forest of Night.” These were brought to us by Brackenbury Books, the same outfit that champions New Edge Sword & Sorcery magazine.
It will be some months before the true toll of Europe's worst-ever heatwave is confirmed, but researchers can estimate a death count based on how many people died in Europe during previous hot periods
The question of how gravity interacts with the quantum world has long perplexed physicists, but a non-quantum theory of space-time could present an answer
What makes something alive? We simply don't know, but synthetic biologists are a step closer to providing an answer thanks to SpudCell, the most sophisticated attempt at creating an artificial life form yet
A proposed technique to counter global warming by spraying sun-reflecting particles near the poles would cause commercial flights to pass through clouds of sulphuric acid, posing a danger to passengers and crew
From friendship in a world of chatbots to what it means to be alive, this month’s new popular science books are asking some big questions. Liz Else rounds up the ones she’s most looking forward to
Recently, there has been a surge in slopcoded new/hobby “operating systems”. Such slopcoded projects – which, due to the nature of “AI” tools, effectively consist of stolen code – will not be featured on OSNews and submitting them is fruitless.
European governments are rolling out digital identity wallets, which are to be used by citizens to access services, and to verify their age online. As reported by Follow the Money and Android Authority, there is a serious problem with this: these wallets rely on safety services of Google and Apple.
There’s a lot you can say about macOS, but one thing Apple used to be incredibly good at were making beautifully crafted, detailed icons. As with almost every other aspect of macOS, this deteriorated sharply over the years, with the recent macOS releases with Liquid Glass being an absolute low point.
If you have a Sega Mega Drive, you obviously want to run Linux on it. That’s something you can do now. You do need to have an EverDrive, but don’t worry, the port in question contains a custom fork of Qemu for those of us that don’t.
Feedback is informed of an exciting new development in underwear design from a brand that says it infuses its products with beneficial bacteria to nourish the skin microbiome
They slice. They dice. They bash their way through hordes of foes. They are the heroes of fantasy and just below is a list of some of the greatest. Can you pick out the hero on the right who goes with the author on the left? Twelve to fifteen correct means you know your bloodthirsty authors like Conan knows ale.
The World Cup should have been a soft-power triumph for the US. Instead, visa barriers, travel restrictions and a growing sense of exclusion risk turning this global showcase into a missed opportunity
A form of fibre that boosts the release of the hunger-reducing hormone GLP-1 has been approved as safe by a European regulator, and could be added to foods within a year
Author and pulp historian Will Murray has paused his activities as the new Grant Stockbridge to tackle a different pair of pulp characters. In the first “Wild Adventures” of Secret Agent X, we get Secret Agent X vs.
Sci-fi fans can enjoy a new Red Dwarf novel – the first for 30 years – this month, as well as sci-fi horror from Paul Tremblay and a journey to Planet Happy with Riley August
Scientists worry that a surge of meltwater from Greenland could irreversibly collapse the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, but new modelling suggests the weakening of the current could be reversed if CO2 levels come back down
The most comprehensive database ever compiled of how fast arachnids can run has shown how leg anatomy and evolutionary history influence spiders’ running speed
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is beginning its extraordinary survey of the southern sky, which will use the largest camera ever built to map the solar system, the galaxy and beyond
Astronomers have recently started looking for black holes bigger than galaxies. Brian Lacki explains how these “stupendously large black holes” might be used by alien civilisations, and what makes them such an intriguing possibility
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When standard leukaemia treatments failed, 13-year-old Alyssa Tapley was told she had only weeks left – but then she was offered an experimental procedure
Last time we discussed the character of Parker, Donald E. Westlake’s master thief and heist planner. This time, we’ll look at why we’re talking about Parker at all, here in the hallowed spaces of this fine magazine.
There’s something poetic about the World Cup taking place in North America while Microsoft keeps scoring own goals like this. Microsoft updated its Surface buying guide to describe 8GB RAM as “great for everyday use like browsing, streaming, schoolwork, and productivity apps.” A companion FAQ adds that 16GB or more is what unlocks Copilot+ PC features.
Astral is a hobby operating system written in C for 64bit architectures, with a collection of ported software like X.org, fvwm, the xbps package manager, and tons more. I think it’s quite a neat system – the code’s on GitHub – made even neater by the fact it can run not only Minecraft, but now also has a working port of Wine that can run a few games.
Imagine your favorite team just scored an incredible, last-second goal at the World Cup. So you log online to celebrate with other fans. But, using data it’s already collected on you, the social media platform you like to post on wrongly guesses that you’re under 16 so it forces you to go to a third-party verification app and provide images of your face or your government-issued ID.
For decades, we’ve thought that childbirth is uniquely challenging for humans, but it turns out that many other primates find the birth process just as difficult
Sleep is essential, yet humans have evolved to need so little of it. When evolutionary anthropologist David Samson delved into our ancient past to find the reasons why, he discovered surprising ways to get a better night’s rest
Women who were vaccinated against covid-19 in the luteal phase of their menstrual cycle reported having a breakthrough infection sooner than those vaccinated during their follicular phase
I had recently reviewed Ken Faig Jr.’s collection Lovecraftian People and Places (2022) from Hippocampus Press. In 2025, he came out with a sequel, More Lovecraftian People and Places. For those not aware, Ken Faig Jr.
Tiny 3D-printed diving suits allow cockroaches to walk underwater for up to 3 hours with no ill effects, which could enable a cyborg insect swarm to explore disaster zones and perhaps even Mars
“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep (Gat — Prohibition Era term for a gun.
The High Crusade (Berkley Medallion, March 1978). Cover artist unknown Two other good novels by Anderson are The High Crusade (SF), a humorous look at 14th Century humans getting loose in the universe with a captured spaceship, and Three Hearts and Three Lions (Fantasy), which follows a modern (1950s) Earthman who is cast onto a parallel Earth where fantasy and magic are real.
If I say “comic book superhero” who do you think of? Superman? Iron Man? Batman? Wonder Woman? Spiderman? Captain Marvel? (The real one please, and don’t give me any of this “Shazam” crap.) Those and many others are all perfectly legitimate choices, of course, only they’re not really heroes — super or otherwise — are they? They’re adolescent daydreams, and no matter how dark or gritty they have gotten in the years since their shiny Golden or Silver Age peaks,...
It’s been quiet for a few days since I’ve been sick, but I’m feeling a bit better since today marks the official end of my one month of using Windows 11 that you people donated for. An article about my experience is definitely upcoming, including whether or not I’ll actually stick with Windows 11 on my laptop or go back to Linux, but before we get there, let’s talk about Microsoft once again capitulating to the reality that a lot of people really don’t want to let go of Windows 10.
It’s been an incredibly long few weeks, and as a result my previously-planned Hater’s Guide just isn’t possible within what little time I have left in this week, which is why I’m starting an ongoing series — Notes From The Bubble
A rare variant of a gene called TP53 means Tracy Hutchinson has an extreme risk of developing cancer anywhere in her body, causing endless anxiety and requiring regular whole-body MRIs and other screening
DNA from ancient humans has been found on a prehistoric cave painting and on cave walls, demonstrating the potential to one day identify individual artists and resolve the debate over Neanderthals' artistic abilities
George Griffith was born George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones on August 20, 1857 in Plymouth, England to George Alfred Jones and Jeanette Henry Capinster Jones. The family did not have roots to any specific place as his father’s role as a clergyman kept him moving from parish to parish.
The New Scientist Book Club’s read for July is Claire North’s space opera Slow Gods. In this extract from its second chapter, we learn about the upbringing of its protagonist on the planet Tu-mdo
Claire North, whose space opera Slow Gods is the July read for the New Scientist Book Club, discusses how a population might deal with knowledge that their planet will be destroyed in 100 years
The world of quantum video games is vast – there are hundreds that are either inspired by quantum mechanics or use quantum computers in their development. Columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan explores how these could change our understanding of quantum physics, or even help us make better devices
The current temperatures in western and central Europe would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago, and unprecedented humidity levels make this heatwave especially dangerous
I heard her say, faint as the breath of nightflowers under the stars, “The fabled land of Zimiamvia. Is it true, will you think, which poets tell us of that fortunate land: that no mortal foot may tread it, but the blessed souls do inhabit it of the dead that be departed: of them that were great upon earth and did great deeds while they were living, that scorned not earth and the delights and the glories of earth, and...
Growing numbers of homeowners are installing batteries that store electricity when it is cheap, which helps balance the grid and cuts emissions, and cheaper plug-in batteries will soon let more people do the same
The loss of Antarctica’s doomsday glacier would transform our planet. Now scientists are revealing the secrets of this remotest of places, and asking the question: is its demise inevitable?
This August a total solar eclipse is set to be visible across parts of Europe, while a partial eclipse will sweep across about a quarter of the planet – here’s how to catch it
The extreme heat currently being felt in Europe isn’t the new normal – much worse is to come, and we are doing far too little to adapt, says Michael Le Page
Scrolls from the Roman library of Herculaneum that were carbonised by a volcanic eruption have been read in their entirety for the first time, thanks to scans and AI software
An instrument on the Perseverance rover has identified large, complex carbon compounds alongside unusual patterns on the surface of rocks that resemble traces of microbial activity
The Broken Sword (Ballantine Adult Fantasy #24, January 1971). Cover by George Barr Read Part One and Part Two of this article here at Black Gate. The Broken Sword is arguably the best book Anderson ever wrote, and it was the “first” novel length fantasy he published.
We have developed genetic technologies that could wipe out entire species of pests that are harmful to us. Columnist Michael Le Page says the flesh-eating screwworm is the most likely first target
These images from photographer Kristin Bethge document Brazil's milk bank system, which provides some of the world's cheapest and safest donated milk to hundreds of thousands of babies
Feedback isn't sure what to make of a ground-breaking piece of research into the understudied topic of "subjective individual variability in onion tearing and its relationship to chemosensory sensitivity"
The first six months of the year have brought us popular science reads on everything from consciousness to cosmology. Liz Else rounds up her favourites
From the age of legal adulthood to the concept of "profound autism", policy-makers are turning to neuroscience to help shape laws and policies, but the science simply isn't ready
An analysis of tooth proteins suggests all 23 Homo naledi individuals found in the Rising Star cave in South Africa were female, which strengthens the case that they were placed there deliberately
Jessica Atkin knows more than anyone else about what it would take to supply food for a moon base. She reveals how to build a lunar farm and what astronauts can expect to dine on
Genetic analysis of Neanderthals in north-western Europe reveals that this population was surprisingly genetically diverse, hinting that inbreeding didn’t lead to the species' demise
Oestrogen levels fluctuate throughout a woman's menstrual cycle, which may impact how efficiently a drug that targets the brain can reach its destination
The area surrounding our galaxy’s central supermassive black hole contains three strangely different populations of stars – but one hidden black hole could explain all of them
A study claims that the North Pole Dome crater in Western Australia was caused by an asteroid strike 3 billion years ago, but other researchers dispute the proposed age
Every little thing in a graphical user interface that we take for granted today, no matter how small, was thought up by someone, at some point. Case in point: the little red squiggly lines underneath misspelled words.
I’ve had my share of issues with network shares on any operating system, but since I mostly use KDE these days I found this deep dive into how, exactly, network shares work in KDE quite interesting.
Fans can make you hotter rather than cooler, but the temperature at which you should turn them off depends on several factors, including your age and the humidity level
A cave in Belize contains teeth from dozens of important Maya people buried elsewhere, which may attest to a ritual intended to ensure their passage to the underworld
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