Smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada has triggered air quality alerts across the northern US, including in New York City | Continue reading
Climate data from 1979 to 2020 shows that clear air turbulence is occurring more frequently – a predicted consequence of a warmer atmosphere | Continue reading
Popular psychiatrist Daniel Amen says there are 7 subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that display different patterns in the brain. As focus on ADHD rises, this idea is getting more attention – but it isn't backed by the evidence | Continue reading
A hormone called GDF15 has been identified as the cause of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, which should lead to ways to prevent and treat the most severe cases | Continue reading
The Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii has begun erupting, spewing volcanic gas and ash across the island | Continue reading
Thwaites glacier in Antarctica would cause massive sea level rise if it melts completely, but models suggest the break-up of the ice shelf in front of it won't make it flow faster | Continue reading
Great crested newts live mostly underground, so they’re tricky to find – a researcher trained her dog, Freya, to detect the threatened amphibians deep in the soil with more than 87 per cent accuracy | Continue reading
Megan McCubbin's mini-anthology of animals at risk is full of striking tales, including ones about snow leopards and partying orcas. It should provide a powerful motivation for concerned humans | Continue reading
Brain organoids could be more effective than silicon-based AIs at certain tasks. But as they grow more complex, when should we step in to protect their welfare, asks Michael Le Page | Continue reading
The much hyped social media app Bluesky is meant to be doing things differently, but can its approach to content moderation really build a new social sphere, asks Annalee Newitz | Continue reading
Our planet is about to hit a critical 1.5°C of global warming. To rectify things, we must cut emissions, but we also need to harness technology and the natural world to suck carbon dioxide from the air | Continue reading
How can you ensure you use the fewest bags when loading your shopping? A dash of maths will help, says Peter Rowlett | Continue reading
Phil Plait, the man behind the Bad Astronomy blog, is a great guide to the wonders of the cosmos. But would it be a bad thing if his new book created a fresh reverence for our home planet among some readers? | Continue reading
Ocean Sentinels is a series of mostly underwater sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor, who hopes the statues will be colonised by corals and other threatened marine life | Continue reading
Smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada has triggered air quality alerts across the northern US, including in New York City | Continue reading
Sorting algorithms are basic functions used constantly by computers around the world, so an improved one created by an artificial intelligence could make millions of programs run faster | Continue reading
Pressure on the San Andreas fault from a now-dried lake could have been sufficient to trigger past major earthquakes in California. The lake’s disappearance could explain why there have been no such quakes for nearly 300 years | Continue reading
Primitive steroids found in ancient Australian rocks may have been made by the earliest complex cells before they evolved into animals, plants, fungi and algae | Continue reading
Passing 1.5°C of global warming isn't just a political disaster, it will have dire consequences for us all, as those living on the front line already know | Continue reading
From how well they work to side effects such as hair loss, here’s the skinny on new weight loss injections that work by blocking a hormone that normally reduces appetite | Continue reading
A junior astronomy competition is spectacularly derailed by world-changing events in this star-studded film by Wes Anderson, but what is really going on? It’s complicated | Continue reading
An egg laid by a female American crocodile with no access to males developed into a fully formed fetus in the first known case of "virgin birth" in a crocodilian | Continue reading
The brain processes voices differently depending on the volume of the speaker and if the listener is focused on them | Continue reading
The long-pursued goal of a permanent, one-dose contraceptive may have been achieved in female cats and it should work in other species too | Continue reading
Synaesthesia is sometimes called an ‘extra ability’ that means some people mix colours and words or other sensory inputs. Now, it is becoming clear that it emerges in childhood to help us learn | Continue reading
The Kakhovka dam in Ukraine has been damaged in an explosion, possibly as a result of Russian attack. The resulting floods could have a major impact on people and wildlife | Continue reading
A test taken by more than 1.5 million people shows that the latest generation of artificial intelligences are almost indistinguishable from humans, at least in a brief conversation | Continue reading
Apple’s Vision Pro headset announced at WWDC 2023 blends virtual and real-world experiences together. But it still has many of the same problems as other headsets | Continue reading
Apple’s Vision Pro headset announced at WWDC 2023 blends virtual and real-world experiences together. But it still has many of the same problems as other headsets | Continue reading
New discoveries suggest that Homo naledi, an ancient and primitive hominin, may have displayed complex behaviour despite its small brain | Continue reading
DNA from plants’ and animals’ shed cells gets caught in air filters at pollution monitoring stations, providing a valuable source of data for tracking biodiversity | Continue reading
Researchers estimate that plants transfer more than 13 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide each year to mycorrhizal fungi, which grow around their roots | Continue reading
Biologists are finally beginning to corral molecules, cells and whole organisms to carry out complex computations. These living processors could find use in everything from smart materials to new kinds of artificial intelligence | Continue reading
Airlines have plans to use biofuels made from animal fats to meet climate targets, but a report warns this could increase emissions via effects on other sectors | Continue reading
The quantum realm contains profound mysteries. Here, New Scientist editors have selected some of our most mind-bending feature-length articles about the deepest layer of reality we know | Continue reading
A much-needed new kind of antibiotic can kill bacteria such as MRSA and works in a way that makes it extremely difficult for resistance to evolve | Continue reading
A test based on seven chemicals found in uterine fluid outperformed the leading tool for diagnosing early-stage ovarian cancer – a disease that is usually spotted late and is frequently deadly | Continue reading
People in Freetown, Sierra Leone, are increasingly exposed to extreme heat due to climate change and the urban heat island effect, but covering homes in a reflective film significantly cut indoor temperatures | Continue reading
Ozopromide, which is found in octopus ink, could kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones intact. The finding could be used to develop new cancer treatments | Continue reading
An oil company in China has started drilling a hole that would be the deepest in the country and among the deepest in the world | Continue reading
A computer chip made of glass and silicone holds liquids that move from one side of the chip to the other in reaction to pressure changes. This has been used to control and automate miniaturised biochemistry experiments | Continue reading
The European Space Agency is about to attempt the first ever livestream from another planet - although the distance from Earth to Mars means there will be a short delay in broadcasting | Continue reading
The European Space Agency is about to attempt the first ever livestream from another planet - although the distance from Earth to Mars means there will be a short delay in broadcasting | Continue reading
Astronomers have found strange strings of hot gas near the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, and they may be hurtling towards Earth | Continue reading
It has been widely reported that a US Air Force drone went rogue and "killed" its operator in a simulation, sparking fears of an AI revolution - but this simulation never took place. Why are we so quick to believe AI horror stories? | Continue reading
Carbon emissions from wildfires in Canada were the highest ever recorded in May, highlighting the growing risk of blazes earlier in the year | Continue reading
A monstrous concrete pipe with a capacity of 1.6 million cubic metres is being built under London to reduce the frequency of sewage discharges into the Thames | Continue reading
Modern flintknappers experience a wide variety of injuries that could have led to life-changing consequences or death for ancient humans making stone tools | Continue reading