science

AI predicted that a forgotten breast cancer drug could be repurposed to treat many respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses, and subsequent animal tests suggests it may be right Source link

Ducks with corkscrew penises, fish changing sex – what do we really know about sex and reproduction on Earth? Less than we think, reveals a mind-boggling new book. Elle Hunt explores Source link

Traditional encryption methods have long been vulnerable to quantum computers, but two new analyses suggest a capable enough machine may be built much sooner than previously thought Source link

A virus seems to have jumped from marine animals into people for the first time ever, and it is causing serious vision problems Source link

Improved hardware can send ten times as much data through existing fibre optic cables, potentially providing a way to massively upgrade the internet’s infrastructure without the cost and inconvenience of laying any new cables Source link

Hundreds of millions of people live close enough to data centres used to power AI to feel warmer average temperatures in their local area Source link

A new spacecraft concept called NOVA could keep asteroids from hitting our planet by using a huge magnet to gradually pull them apart while shifting their trajectories Source link

Kim Stanley Robinson opens his classic science fiction novel Red Mars in 2026. As the New Scientist Book Club embarks on reading it in April, he looks back on its origins – and how the idea of moving to Mars holds up today Source link

A device that relies on quantum effects and oversized atoms may be a more reliable way to measure temperature that doesn’t require calibration Source link

Shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards, this image by photographer Sebastian Di Domenico was taken in Columbia Source link