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    Don't Miss: Spriggan, new Netflix anime adaptation of classic manga

    New Scientist’s weekly round-up of the best books, films, TV series, games and more that you shouldn’t miss

    Humans

    8 June 2022

    Netflix
    Watch
    Spriggan is one of anime’s hottest properties. Can the ARCAM corporation’s Spriggan agents protect Earth from the deadly relics of an ancient civilisation? A new adaptation is coming to Netflix on 18 June.

    Read
    Venus has captivated astronomy historian William Sheehan and astronomer Sanjay Shridhar Limaye. This illustrated account of the planet might make you wonder whether life could have evolved there after all. To be published on 13 June.
    Carloscastilla / Alamy
    Visit
    Understanding the AI revolution is a New Scientist event featuring talks from DeepMind’s Shakir Mohamed and AI anthropologist Beth Singler. … More

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    New test shows which bits of your DNA are from which biological parent

    A test uses epigenetic marks on your DNA to determine which parts of your genome came from each biological parent

    Humans

    8 June 2022

    By Carissa Wong
    It is now possible to work out which parts of someone’s genome came from which biological parent via a genetic testJozef Polc / Alamy
    A genetic technique can identify which parts of your genome came from your biological mother and which parts are from your biological father. The method could be useful in cases where an individual is carrying a disease-associated gene variant by helping to establish which other family members should consider undergoing screening for the gene.
    “It’s a very, very cool study,” says Shai Carmi at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, … More

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    A newfound, oddly slow pulsar shouldn’t emit radio waves — yet it does

    Astronomers have added a new species to the neutron star zoo, showcasing the wide diversity among the compact magnetic remains of dead, once-massive stars.

    The newfound highly magnetic pulsar has a surprisingly long rotation period, which is challenging the theoretical understanding of these objects, researchers report May 30 in Nature Astronomy. Dubbed PSR J0901-4046, this pulsar sweeps its lighthouse-like radio beam past Earth about every 76 seconds — three times slower than the previous record holder.

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    While it’s an oddball, some of this newfound pulsar’s characteristics are common among its relatives. That means this object may help astronomers better connect the evolutionary phases among mysterious species in the neutron star menagerie.

    Astronomers know of many types of neutron stars. Each one is the compact object left over after a massive star’s explosive death, but their characteristics can vary. A pulsar is a neutron star that astronomers detect at a regular interval thanks to its cosmic alignment: The star’s strong magnetic field produces beams of radio waves emanating from near the star’s poles, and every time one of those beams sweeps across Earth, astronomers can see a radio pulse.

    The newfound, slowpoke pulsar sits in our galaxy, roughly 1,300 light-years away. Astrophysicist Manisha Caleb of the University of Sydney in Australia and her colleagues found it in data from the MeerKAT radio telescope outside Carnarvon, South Africa.

    Further observations with MeerKAT revealed not only the pulsar’s slow, steady radio beat — a measure of how fast it spins — but also another important detail: The rate at which the spin slows as the pulsar ages. And those two bits of info revealed something odd about this pulsar. According to theory, it should not be emitting radio waves. And yet, it is.

    As neutron stars age, they lose energy and spin more slowly. According to calculations, “at some point, they’ve exhausted all their energy, and they cease to emit any sort of emission,” Caleb says. They’ve become dead to detectors.

    A pulsar’s rotation period and the slowdown of its spin relates to the strength of its magnetic field, which accelerates subatomic particles streaming from the star and, in turn, generates radio waves. Any neutron stars spinning as slowly as PSR J0901-4046 are in this stellar “graveyard” and shouldn’t produce radio signals.

    But “we just keep finding weirder and weirder pulsars that chip away at that understanding,” says astrophysicist Maura McLaughlin of West Virginia University in Morgantown, who wasn’t involved with this work.

    The newfound pulsar could be its own unique species of neutron star. But in some ways, it also looks a bit familiar, Caleb says. She and her colleagues calculated the pulsar’s magnetic field from the rate its spin is slowing, and it’s incredibly strong, similar to magnetars (SN: 9/17/02). This hints that PSR J0901-4046 could be what’s known as a “quiescent magnetar,” which is a pulsar with very strong magnetic fields that occasionally emits brilliantly energetic bursts of X-rays or other radiation. “We’re going to need either X-ray emission or [ultraviolet] observations to confirm whether it is indeed a magnetar or a pulsar,” she says.

    The discovery team still has additional observations to analyze. “We do have a truckload more data on it,” says astrophysicist Ian Heywood of the University of Oxford. The researchers are looking at how the object’s brightness is changing over time and whether its spin abruptly changes, or “glitches.”

    The astronomers also are altering their automated computer programs, which scan the radio data and flag intriguing signals, to look for these longer-duration spin periods — or even weirder and more mysterious neutron star phenomena. “The sweet thing about astronomy, for me, is what’s out there waiting for us to find,” Heywood says. More

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    Do your own experiment to see if your teabags really are compostable

    If you make your own compost at home, you can participate in a citizen science project that investigates whether products are as biodegradable as they claim

    Humans

    1 June 2022

    By Layal Liverpool
    Alistair Berg/Getty Images

    HOW biodegradable is your teabag? Are plastics labelled as biodegradable really what they claim to be? You can have a go at answering these questions and more by conducting your own home composting experiment.
    If you live in the UK, you can submit your findings via the Big Compost Experiment citizen science project and contribute directly to waste innovation research. Start by choosing some items labelled as biodegradable or compostable. You might find inspiration from the project’s ongoing Teabag Trials, which encourage volunteers to test out the supposedly environmentally friendly teabags that are now on offer from various brands.
    Before … More

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    When the scientific publishing industry goes rogue

    Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

    Humans

    1 June 2022

    Josie Ford
    Rogue editors
    If you ever feel in need of some light entertainment alongside insights into the decline of research integrity and the scientific method, try perusing a website called Retraction Watch.
    As New Scientist has previously described, some fear that papers in peer-reviewed journals – once seen as the most authoritative source of information – are increasingly untrustworthy, because scientists’ careers these days hinge on their publication tally, incentivising quantity over quality. Retraction Watch documents official retractions of papers – either due to honest errors or outright fraud – often accompanied by wry commentary and the occasional eye-roll.
    Feedback thought we already knew … More

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    Doctor Who: Worlds of Wonder review: The science behind the show

    A mind-expanding new exhibition in Liverpool, UK, sets out to explore how science has influenced the making of Doctor Who

    Humans

    1 June 2022

    By Clare Wilson

    The science behind the Face of Boe is explored at Doctor Who: Worlds of wonderSarner International courtesy of National Museums Liverpool
    Doctor Who: Worlds of wonder
    World Museum, Liverpool, UK Until 30 October

    IF YOU know one thing about Doctor Who, it may be that the TARDIS, the titular Doctor’s spaceship, is based on a physical impossibility: it is “bigger on the inside”. Externally, it looks like a small, blue telephone box, but those who enter find themselves in a multi-dimensional labyrinth.
    While such a premise might seem fantastical, in fact, many of the ideas from the … More

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    Ritual review: A gripping guide to rites and customs around the world

    From the death rites of animals to gang initiations, rituals are found everywhere. This new book explores why

    Humans

    1 June 2022

    By Simon Ings

    This fire ritual in Bulgaria involves a barefoot dance on smouldering embersCylonphoto/Getty Images
    Ritual
    Dimitris Xygalatas
    Profile

    “I always feel my stomach churn when I look at someone being impaled by a spear through the cheeks,” writes Dimitris Xygalatas, an anthropologist at the University of Connecticut specialising in the study of extreme rituals. The version of the Thaipusam Kavadi ritual found in Mauritius is his favourite – if that is quite the word. Devotees endure many piercings, from a few needles through their cheeks to several hundred spikes perforating their entire … More

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    The Red Arrow review: A compelling read about depression and physics

    The physics in this meandering but engrossing novel adds flavour rather than substance, with the focus more on mental health

    Humans

    1 June 2022

    By Anna Demming

    The Red Arrow takes place on a train – with the odd metaphysical detourSephirot17/Getty Images
    The Red Arrow
    William Brewer
    John Murray

    DAYDREAMERS often love train journeys. When it comes to navigating a maze of fancy and reflection while hurtling at high speed from A to B, few do it with such deft eloquence as William Brewer’s introspective protagonist in The Red Arrow.
    The novel is named after the train Frecciarossa, on which the protagonist is travelling for the whole course of the novel, although most of the time his mind is … More