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

Disentangling depression • We may be entering a bold new era in the treatment of this debilitating condition

New Scientist

Clash over coal • Police in Germany removed activists protesting the planned expansion of a coal mine after the government gave the go-ahead, reports Madeleine Cuff

El Niño may push us past 1.5°C mark • A predicted shift in the world’s climate pattern would increase the global average temperature

Tonga eruption will have short-term warming effect

Analysis Climate action • What will happen if we pass the key 1.5°C milestone? A single year above 1.5°C of global warming won’t mean we have failed to meet the tougher Paris goal, but the political fallout would still be huge

Warmer egg incubators make male chicks more sociable

Scientific journals overly print papers by their own editors

Ultrasound rejuvenates cells • Treatment with low-frequency ultrasound has restarted cell division in ageing human cells and reinvigorated old mice, reports Michael Le Page

Ranchers in the US test virtual fences to track and move cattle

Supermassive black hole keeps snacking on the same star

Exxon predicted climate change • Scientists working for the oil company in the 1970s foresaw how the planet would warm

Trilobites used trident-like horns to fight over mates

Analysis Artificial intelligence • Should schools ban AI chatbots? Many educators want to limit access to these powerful tools, but some say it would be better to make them part of the curriculum, finds Jeremy Hsu

Chocolate’s melting mouthfeel depends on fatty exterior

One brain network may be involved in six different mental health conditions

Protected areas fail to stop loss of insects and spiders

Analysis Public health • Is it time to ban gas stoves? There is mounting evidence that cooking on gas creates dangerous indoor air pollution and authorities are starting to take notice, finds Madeleine Cuff

Genetic tracking scheme for viruses could warn of dangerous outbreaks

Lizards learn to fear wildfire more than predators

Huge iceberg breaks away from ‘doomsday glacier’

Our galaxy seems to be missing half of its regular matter

Wrinkles reduced by mRNA injections

Vaginal swabs could predict preterm birth

Largest flower found frozen in amber is a new species

Really brief

Time for a drink? • Most hospitals ban all drinks for 2 hours before surgery, but there is growing evidence these guidelines are out of date, says Clare Wilson

This changes everything • If planets could talk My new novel looks at what it means when a planet becomes a character in the story. I spoke to some scientists to see how this might work, says Annalee Newitz

Zooming in

Your letters

The inner challenge • Meditation seems to divide people into converts and questioners. Former sceptic Jonathan R. Goodman discovers a book that changes his mind

The flames within • A fascinating primer explores the crucial role of inflammation in our bodies and how it can go awry, finds Grace Wade

Don’t miss

The TV column • Rise of the killer fungi A deadly Cordyceps fungus is key to the plot of The Last of Us, a hit video game adapted into a TV show. From Hannibal to Whitechapel, such fungi often steal the...