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

A harmful divide • Ending medical science’s enduring neglect of women’s health must be accelerated

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Japan’s earthquake devastation

Set a virus to catch a virus • A virus engineered using CRISPR technology spread its DNA to other viruses in a mouse study, which could be used to make pathogens harmless, finds Michael Le Page

Monkeys in Thailand took up stone tools when covid-19 stopped tourism

Radio bursts from space exhibit ‘sad trombone’ effect

Home-use headset eases depression • Brain-zapping device relieves symptoms as well as antidepressants do

Microbes identified that give cheddar its distinct flavour

Dead satellites seed upper atmosphere with bits of metal

People’s ‘speed of sight’ varies and this may explain sporting prowess

A harmless way to keep sharks away from beaches

AI discovers new class of antibiotics to kill resistant bacteria

Much of North America may face electricity shortages starting in 2024

Aloe vera plants turned into supercapacitors

We are now more certain about quantum uncertainty

AI learns to recognise objects quickly like a chick

The pandemic aged children’s brains • Adolescent brains changed faster during covid-19 lockdowns, and the effect was bigger in girls

Probiotics seem to reduce long covid symptoms

Game of Life mystery is solved • Mathematicians have found a solution to a problem that has puzzled them for decades

Swimming together lets fish expend much less energy

Springs made from rusty glass could power nanorobots

Google wants to translate physical problems for quantum computers

Hurricane damage to forests could release huge carbon stores

Dark stars may be waiting inside a mirror universe

Slow arms make a tumble more likely

All snowflakes fall in the same way

Chimpanzees recognise photos of their old friends

Really brief

Go with the flow • Our view of time has changed as we have learned more about the vast span of the cosmic calendar. Yet it is still precious, says Martin Rees

Artificially intelligent • Robotic lab techs Autonomous labs can perform experiments thousands of times faster than a human and they don’t need to sleep. Are they the future, asks Alex Wilkins

Toothsome find

Your letters

Dark sky at night… • At a novel sci-art festival celebrating the many cultural and scientific needs for dark skies in a time of serious light pollution, Alex Wilkins looks for hope

Order and disorder • It’s time we fell in love with thermodynamics, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

New Scientist recommends

The film column • New Year, new apocalypse From a thriller set on the International Space Station to Nicolas Cage reeling from monsters, end days are everywhere. Luckily, 2024 also has some cracking blockbusters and intriguing independent features, says Simon Ings

Fire in the hole! • As well as making history, the first attempt to explore a magma chamber could pave the way to unlimited clean energy, says Graham Lawton

Ready to blow • Neutrinos from the next nearby supernova could explode our best model of particle physics – if we are ready to detect them, says Stuart Clark

Will we be ready for the next nearby supernova?

Anxious times...