Author: New Scientist - – New Scientist

Yuri Milner has backed a plan to research sending tiny, laser-powered spacecraft to the nearest star at 20 per cent of the speed of light

NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts programme funds long-shot concepts for further study. This year's include a paper-thin spaceship and a steampunk Venus rover

Video captured off the coast of Panama shows a surprising underwater swarm of red crabs, spotted further south than ever before. Where are they headed?

Bigelow Aerospace has announced its intentions to launch an inflatable space habitat in 2020, and hopes NASA will let it expand the International Space Station

Obstacles to psychedelics research help stop anyone uncovering medical benefits that could destabilise the UK government's tough stance on drugs, says Ian Dunt

Scans reveal effects of the drug that correlate with ego dissolution, giving clues to how the brain creates a sense of self

Past extinctions have left tree species with no way to spread their seeds. If the island's critically endangered lemurs disappear, whole forests may follow

A second team in China has published the results of their attempts to edit the genes of human embryos using the CRISPR method  

Virtual tourism is about to take off, giving people the chance to visit the world's most beautiful – and inaccessible – places without leaving home

New estimates say there are now 3900 tigers in the wild, 700 more than five years ago, and the plan is to double their numbers by 2020