Human engineering appears to have moved the planet, literally. According to new research published this month, the global boom in dam construction over the past two centuries has caused measurable ...

Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with respect to the Sun, but once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds with respect to other distant stars. Scientists call this difference crucial to ...

We know Earth’s rotation on a cosmic scale, but seeing it close up requires quantum mechanics. Interferometry is the use of light waves, sound, etc., to identify changes in matter or motion. New ...

Last Word is New Scientist’s long-running series in which readers give scientific answers to each other’s questions, ranging from the minutiae of everyday life to absurd astronomical hypotheticals. To ...

Russell has a PhD in the history of medicine, violence, and colonialism. His research has explored topics including ethics, science governance, and medical involvement in violent contexts. Russell has ...

The answer, obviously, is really, really fast. Here, Universe Today‘s Fraser Cain tells us exactly how fast, and gives us answers to a few other things you may have wondered about before. For instance ...

You’ve probably seen a Foucault pendulum in a museum. This Victorian-era science demonstration is named after physicist Léon ...

Think humans play a relatively small role in how Earth moves in space? It turns out we’re changing how our very planet rotates — and it’s affecting the length of our days. For billions of years, Earth ...

Here’s a reminder: We’re not the center of the Universe. As species, as members of this planet, this solar system or even the Milky Way galaxy. We are just a speck twisting in interstellar dust. Which ...

Last Word is New Scientist’s long-running series in which readers give scientific answers to each other’s questions, ranging from the minutiae of everyday life to absurd astronomical hypotheticals. To ...

Earth will complete a rotation 1.33 milliseconds earlier than usual on Tuesday, August 5. That makes it one of the shortest days of 2025 at 86,399.99867 seconds long. How that happens, and how we can ...