David Ullrich

Mysterious ‘cold blob’ in the Atlantic suggests the AMOC is weakening A patch of ocean south-east of Greenland is the only place on Earth that is cooling, and it could be a sign that the warm water “conveyor belt” in the Atlantic is slowing down newscientist.com/article/252… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Voyager is one light day away from us. Here’s what it discovered on its epic journey The Voyager 1 spacecraft is the most distant human-made object from Earth. What it saw on its 50-year journey to the edge of the solar system revolutionized our understanding of the planets and ourselves newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

SpaceX aims to safely land Starship and booster stage after orbital flight The upcoming Starship test flight is the most ambitious to date and, if successful, will mark an important milestone in the company's mission to create a truly reusable launch vehicle that dramatically lowers the cost of space launches newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Arguments over finance dominate COP climate talks once again The COP31 climate summit in Turkey has got off to a chaotic start and a familiar dispute over who should pay for tackling climate change is already emerging as the biggest obstacle to progress newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Blood-thinning drug limits cartilage damage and relieves osteoarthritis pain A study in animals suggests a drug used to thin blood might eventually be able to slow down the development of osteoarthritis. Currently, there are no approved drugs capable of doing this newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Revised approach for assessing obesity improves on BMI Using data from more than 800,000 people, researchers have tested a system that can identify those with obesity who would benefit from treatment, and those who don't require intervention newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Extraordinary image of bioluminescent plankton captured by photographer Tom Fecht’s photo, titled Lucifer’s Vortex and part of the touring Storm exhibition from the Prix Pictet award, shows light from plankton mixing with reflections of moonlight in a wave in Brittany newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

The hidden evolutionary advantages of the teenage brain Recent research suggests teenagers’ brains are particularly suited to coping with volatility and new experiences, including socializing and venturing to unknown places newscientist.com/article/241… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Why forgetting things is a key part of the way your brain works Forgetfulness can be frustrating, but cognitive scientists reckon it underpins the brain’s capacity to efficiently process sensory information ― and its unique ability to generalize our knowledge newscientist.com/article/241… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

What terrifying sleep paralysis demons reveal about the mind-body connection After waking with the feeling of a shadowy presence pressing on his chest, neuroscientist Baland Jalal went on to study sleep paralysis. He explains what this frightening condition might reveal about consciousness newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Global carbon emissions set to fall in 2026 due to Iran energy shock Carbon dioxide emissions are projected to fall 0.4 percent this year, driven in part by higher oil prices resulting from disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

What is the electrification target at COP31 and can countries meet it? The world will need to quadruple its pace on electrification to meet the target being pushed by the COP31 presidency this week, but increasingly affordable renewable energy could put the goal within reach newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Newly described insect may live its whole life on a spider’s web A species of “web-loving bug” from China lives on a spider’s web and seems to follow its arachnid host around. The insect may be too small for the spider to bother attacking newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

How neutrinos are beginning to reveal the secrets of our galaxy Columnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein says understanding neutrinos is one of the most pressing scientific issues in physics. She shares the latest neutrino discoveries that are exciting her and that could bring us new insights about the galactic center newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

A science fiction novel has finally won the Booker prize. It’s about time The literary world has long been reluctant to allow science fiction works into the starry ranks of literary fiction. Will M. John Harrison’s landmark win for The End of Everything finally change that? newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

How to make sure your brain is performing at its peak The time of day, the amount of sleep we get and our stage in life can each affect how our brains function. But the good news is there are ways to make sure your brain is working at its best newscientist.com/article/241… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Electronic music appears to alter our state of consciousness Listening to electronic music makes neurons in our brain fire in time with the beat, which appears to alter our reaction time and sense of unity newscientist.com/article/241… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Is Schrödinger’s cat both dead and alive? No, it’s just haunted by its past A radical new approach suggests some of quantum theory’s most bizarre and inexplicable effects might be down to physics failing to account properly for time newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

Cold therapy may be worse than doing nothing for post-exercise recovery Many are convinced that ice baths or cold showers are an effective way to speed recovery after exercise, but a study finds that cold therapy may actually have the opposite effect newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…

X chromosome gene may reduce autism rates in women and girls A gene called ZFX exerts powerful effects on an entire network of genes linked to autism, which may help explain why the condition is less common in females newscientist.com/article/259… docs.google.com/document/d/1…