New Scientist
-
Smallpox DNA in ancient Inca mummies shows virus came from Europe | New Scientist
The mummies of two people who lived in Chile more than 400 years ago carry DNA from smallpox, providing the first molecular evidence that the virus was brought to the Americas from Europe
-
Woolly mammoths butchered by humans were mostly female | New Scientist
Genetic tests of mammoth remains have found a stark contrast in the sex ratio between sites where the animals died naturally and those associated with humans, offering hints about how our ancestors hunted
-
The genome of a long-extinct ancient human is hiding within us | New Scientist
We all have bits of DNA from a long-lost “ghost ancestor” inside us – and by putting all the different bits together, we might be able to reconstruct their genome
-
Greatest science books: Henrietta Lacks's descendant on her legacy - and Rebecca Skloot's book | New Scientist
Rebecca Skloot told the story of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells were taken without her permission in a bestselling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Reading it left Alison George with an uneasy feeling - so she spoke to Lacks's family
-
Origami-inspired sensor could continuously monitor our vital signs | New Scientist
A tiny sensor that unfolds within the body could continuously monitor our heart activity and breathing after showing promise in rats
-
Why the most central law in cosmology may need to be broken | New Scientist
The cosmological principle is the foundation of modern cosmology – but its usefulness doesn’t necessarily make it true, says columnist Leah Crane
-
Is district cooling the solution we need for extreme heat in cities? | New Scientist
Networks of pipes carrying chilled water have proven to be an efficient way to cool hospitals and universities. Now, they are expanding into cities as heatwaves increase in the US and Europe
-
First-of-kind Guillain-Barré drug switches off part of immune system | New Scientist
A treatment that turns off the bit of the immune system that goes haywire in Guillain-Barré syndrome may be the first targeted therapy approved for the autoimmune condition
-
Quantum computers are starting to become useful as scientific tools | New Scientist
Three problems that are out of reach for conventional computers have been cracked by quantum computers and show how important the machines could become for scientific research
-
Flat head syndrome discovered in Iron Age skeletons | New Scientist
Certain sleeping positions can lead to babies developing flattened heads, and an analysis of ancient skulls from Italy reveals that this condition affected people in the 9th century BC
-
Spectacular fossil preserves internal organs of ancient marine reptile | New Scientist
A stunningly intact marine reptile named Austronaga minuta that lived around 245 million years ago may have looked like a miniature version of more famous later ocean predators, like plesiosaurs
-
Last Word: Why don’t dogs look up when a low-flying plane passes overhead? | New Scientist
One correspondent with a particularly intelligent dog begs to differ with this question, while another looks to deepen the mystery
-
Last Word: Are flies following a strategy when they keep hitting windows? Part 3 | New Scientist
An Australian reader with an abundance of flies in their locality tries to answer a question that has intrigued many of our readers
-
Did NASA's Viking landers find life on Mars after all, asks new book | New Scientist
Steven Benner’s Meet The Neighbors is an intriguing tale of misunderstood planetary biochemistry. Paul Marks is engrossed
-
Tom Gauld on the Great Wise One | New Scientist
Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon
-
A handy guide to the science of super-long fingernails | New Scientist
Feedback is delighted by a deep dive into why people sometimes wear "artificially elongated fingernails". But does it do more than just scratch the surface?
-
Last Word: This week’s new questions | New Scientist
If the sun suddenly disappeared, how long would life on Earth last, from humans and plants to subterranean bacteria? And why do humans so readily adopt fiction into our lives, and feel emotion about characters as though they were someone close to us in real life?
-
New Scientist Book Club's verdict on Claire North’s space opera Slow Gods: a big thumbs-up | New Scientist
There was unusual consensus amongst New Scientist Book Club members about our read for July, with readers falling over themselves to praise this big-concept slice of science fiction
-
Twisteddoodles on twin studies | New Scientist
This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles
-
Worry about what your children eat, but don't forget your own diet | New Scientist
Measures like bans on advertising junk food to children are essential for instilling healthy eating at a young age, but we shouldn't let adults off the hook when it comes to improving our diets
-
Last Word: What changes will occur on Earth as the moon moves further away? | New Scientist
From tides to eclipses, the slow departure of our moon will affect life on Earth, say our correspondents
-
Extraordinary ichthyosaur fossil shows its last meal was a pterosaur | New Scientist
The remains of an orca-sized ichthyosaur include evidence of what it ate – before it too got eaten by an even bigger marine predator
-
Jaguar makes epic 2100-kilometre journey across the Amazon | New Scientist
A jaguar that has been dubbed Gaspar traversed 2100 kilometres of the Amazon, crossing farms and roads. But why he set off on this mission is unclear
-
An island has been waging war on rats. They think they've finally won | New Scientist
Rats are a scourge on island wildlife all over the world. But an island off the coast of Ireland is showing how to successfully gain the upper hand
-
Asteroid strike caused global firestorm that incinerated the dinosaurs | New Scientist
After the Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago, trillions of tonnes of rock vapour was launched into space before falling back to Earth at ballistic speeds, creating a global blast of heat strong enough to broil life on land
-
Matcha is under threat from climate change – can genomics save it? | New Scientist
Climate change is affecting the yields and flavour of the traditional Japanese tea matcha, but studying its seedlings' genetic tolerance for heat could future-proof the crop
-
Unprecedented 'fire clouds' are fanning the flames in France | New Scientist
Flame-generated thunderstorms known as pyrocumulonimbus clouds can make wildfires even more intense, and they are expected to become more common in Europe
-
An entirely new kind of drug will help us treat the untreatable | New Scientist
The first of a new generation of drugs that works in a completely different way to existing ones has been approved. Columnist Michael Le Page says this approach could transform treatments for all kinds of conditions
-
Peptides are the latest wellness trend – but do they work? | New Scientist
A drug advisory committee in the US has recommended approval for several experimental peptides. But there have been no large-scale tests of these new compounds in humans, finds columnist Grace Wade
-
Mystery hominin left big footprints at ancient lake in Africa | New Scientist
Over 1.4 million years ago, a group of eight ancient hominins walked across a shallow mudflat, but their footprints don’t match those of Paranthropus boisei or Homo erectus
-
Getting a bit more gas from the North Sea doesn't matter climate-wise | New Scientist
Climate campaigners are angry at reports that the UK government is set to allow oil and gas drilling projects to go ahead, but the focus must be on ending fossil fuel consumption, not production, says Michael Le Page
-
We’ve found the best example yet of an enormous wandering black hole | New Scientist
Astronomers have caught a supermassive black hole straying far from the centre of its galaxy using light from a star being ripped apart
-
Your body changes as you age and so should your diet – here’s how | New Scientist
As you get older, your body’s response to food changes significantly. But by making the right changes to what you eat from midlife and beyond, it might be possible to add a decade to your life
-
Eye implant that restores vision lost to age approved for use | New Scientist
An eye implant and a pair of high-tech glasses that enable people with a severe form of vision loss to read have been approved for use by a European regulator
-
How ultra-processed foods may damage your long-term brain health | New Scientist
An increasing number of studies have linked ultra-processed foods with depression, anxiety and even dementia. Columnist Helen Thomson explores how strong the evidence is for the brain effects of a diet full of these foods