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 ...

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 ...

Star trails above the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, Hubei province, China. Large dams like this one are shifting the Earth's poles away from its axis of rotation. In an ideal model of our planet, the ...

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 ...

Which way does the Earth rotate? That e-mail question comes from William in Milan, a viewer who says he has heard both clockwise and counterclockwise. A general statement concerning the direction of ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...