New Scientist

New Scientist covers the latest developments in science and technology that will impact your world. New Scientist employs and commissions the best writers in their fields from all over the world. Our editorial team provide cutting-edge news, award-winning features and reports, written in concise and clear language that puts discoveries and advances in the context of everyday life today and in the future.

Elsewhere on New Scientist

Trash talk • It is too soon to write off innovative technologies that could end plastic waste

New Scientist

A very unusual jewel blooms

When did humans first travel north? • Evidence of human presence in Siberia 417,000 years ago indicates that hominins travelled north much earlier than we thought – and may even have reached North America, says Michael Le Page

Knot theory could help spacecraft shift to new orbits for free

Your DNA seems to influence how much you like listening to music

Groups of single-celled creatures could explain how embryos evolved

Cocaine may hijack the way the brain prioritises food

Narrow window for geoengineering • Shading the planet might stop the West Antarctic ice sheet melting, but only if done soon

Drug residue can be detected in fingerprints

Single atoms caught becoming waves • Quantum mechanics predicts a strange dual identity for particles, and now we have seen it in action

Ancient Maya burned dead rulers to mark new dynasty

Skin-deep wounds can affect gut health

Extreme heat in 2023 linked to slump in growth of marine life

Nocturnal ants use polarised moonlight to find their way

Ships smuggling Russian oil spotted in satellite images by AI

Is Amazon’s robotic lab a vision of the automated future? • The online retailing giant says robots will work alongside humans, but fears over job losses persist, says Alex Wilkins

What caused the floods in Dubai? • Cloud seeding almost certainly didn’t play a big role in the flooding on the Arabian peninsula, but the heavy rains may have been exacerbated by climate change, says James Dinneen

Particles create hypnotic patterns • If a particle never retraces its steps, its trail can create stunning images

Wing-based turbines generate more energy

World’s biggest ‘brain-like’ computer • Neuromorphic devices could improve the capabilities of artificial intelligence models

Ancient humans lived in a lava tube in the Arabian desert

Diet changes relieve IBS better than drugs

Bumblebees survive a week underwater

The ‘biggest’ marine reptile to have lived found on beach

Really brief

Saying the C-word • We need to modernise our emotional relationship with cancer. Our fear is doing great harm all by itself, argues David Ropeik

Artificially intelligent • A game of whack-a-mole AI companies try to curb chatbots’ worst exploits, while researchers find ways around the safety measures. Where will this end, asks Alex Wilkins

In hot water

The hunt for pure consciousness • Deep meditation can take us to states where the sense of self vanishes and time dissolves. Recognising them may be crucial to cracking consciousness and improving our daily lives, finds Alun Anderson

Views from the meditators

The film column • Missing MacGuffin In Breathe, Earth is stripped of its oxygen, the plants are dead, oceans are dried up, no one trusts anyone – but we don’t know what caused it. This one-room thriller is a lesson in not taking your scenario seriously, says Simon Ings

Your letters

Reality collider • The world’s biggest particle smasher could unravel the true meaning of quantum theory, says Michael Brooks

Make plastic fantastic again • What if we could endlessly...