The nature of reality: Read our top quantum physics features for free

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


@newscientist.com | 1 day ago

Superbugs will struggle to evolve resistance to unusual new antibiotic

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


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Ovarian cancer test could detect disease earlier than current methods

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


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

City in Sierra Leone covers buildings in mirrors to fight extreme heat

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


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Compound found in octopus ink kills cancer cells but not others

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


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Why is China drilling a hole more than 10,000 metres deep?

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Pneumatic computer uses pressure instead of electricity

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

First ever 'livestream' video from Mars will be broadcast today

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Watch Mars ‘livestream’ by the European Space Agency – latest updates

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Hundreds of weird filaments of gas are hiding in our galaxy’s centre

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Reports of an AI drone that 'killed' its operator are pure fiction

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Wildfires across Canada have emitted record-breaking amounts of carbon

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Inside the huge London super sewer designed to fight river pollution

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Ancient humans may have risked their lives making stone tools

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


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Tiny backpack for bees can track their position and temperature

A sensor around a millimetre in size has been tested to monitor a honeybee flying around some flowers. It could also work for medical monitoring inside a person's body | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

We’ve been drastically underestimating Earth’s microbial diversity

A survey of bacteria and archaea living in 99 coral reefs across the Pacific Ocean found these ecosystems may contain more microbes than current estimates for the whole planet – suggesting everywhere else on Earth does too | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Planned moon landings could pelt orbiting spacecraft with dusty debris

The large landing vehicles planned for NASA’s upcoming moon missions could throw up large amounts of dust from the lunar surface, posing a possible danger to orbiters | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Whale shark seen bottom feeding for the first time

An ecotourism guide in Mexico filmed a whale shark gulping down material from the seabed, a behaviour that has never been observed in this species before | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Junk food diet may disrupt sleep by altering brain activity

Men who tried a high-fat, high-sugar diet developed disrupted electrical brain activity during the deepest stage of their sleep, suggesting that the food reduced their sleep quality | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Stem cells from umbilical cord 'goo' delay type 1 diabetes progression

Stem cells found within babies’ umbilical cords, normally discarded as medical waste, could help people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes reduce their need for insulin injections | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Peter Singer on animal rights, octopus farms and why AI is speciesist

Controversial author Peter Singer, who inspired the animal rights movement, explains why killing humanely reared animals may be a defensible ethical position and why he has rewritten Animal Liberation for the 21st century | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Blue Machine review: Earth's ocean as a giant engine

Helen Czerski's fascinating new book casts the ocean as an extraordinary giant engine, and helps us grasp its complex physics and its key role in climate change | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Why we should do more to protect frogs and toads

Amphibians could help cure our ills, from diabetes to fungal infections – if they don't go extinct first, says Matthew Gould | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Why I can once again eat cheese with a clear conscience

I thought there was no way around cheese being an environmental and ethical disaster, but a new approach to dairy farming has proved me wrong, says Graham Lawton | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

The Limits of Genius review: What made Newton and Einstein stupid?

Being a genius doesn't stop you looking directly at an eclipse or letting a trivial row prevent you finding a planet, says Katie Spalding in her new book | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

See the magnificent but melting glaciers of the Rwenzori mountains

Spanning Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the glaciers of this little-studied mountain range may vanish this decade. These stunning photographs capture them before they disappear | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Tin Can review: Fix your escape pod in this fantastic video game

In Tin Can, you have to patch up a spaceship's disintegrating escape pod – or die. Though the whole game takes place in a single space, exploring its extraordinary detail is a real joy, says Jacob Aron | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

How to spot Ophiuchus, the thirteenth zodiacal constellation

Often referred to as the thirteenth sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus sits alongside Sagittarius and Scorpius. Now is a great time to spot it, says Abigail Beall | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

JWST has spotted an enormous plume of water coming out of Enceladus

Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a water ocean that makes it one of the most promising places to search for life, and water is spewing out of it in a jet bigger than any we have seen before | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Desert ants build landmarks to help them find their way home

Desert ants construct mounds to help them navigate the featureless landscape of the North African salt pan | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Bacterium from oak trees could help process rare earth elements

A bacterium found in English oak buds can help separate out the rare earth elements used in technologies such as electric cars and wind turbines | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Watch NASA’s UFO team discuss its findings publicly for the first time

NASA's group that formed around a year ago to study unidentified aerial phenomena is holding its first public meeting ahead of a report expected in the next few weeks | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

NASA’s UFO team discusses its findings publicly for the first time

NASA's group that formed around a year ago to study unidentified aerial phenomena is holding its first public meeting ahead of a report expected in the next few weeks | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Reusable granules suck harmful PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ out of water

UK start-up Puraffinity has created a method of removing pollution from water using a material that selectively binds to PFAS chemicals | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

How you can use the power of exercise to feel better and think clearer

We know that exercising is good for the brain. But now that we understand why, we can say what kinds of workouts maximise the brain-boosting powers of physical exertion | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Situation at Ukrainian nuclear plant is dangerous, IAEA boss warns

Ukraine and Russia must agree to maintain safety at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to prevent a dangerous radiation leak, says the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Monkeys in Japan lost tooth enamel when their forest was destroyed

Macaques living on Yakushima Island in the 1980s experienced severe enamel hypoplasia, probably caused by extreme stress resulting from human activities | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Mathematicians make even better never-repeating tile discovery

An unsatisfying caveat in a mathematical breakthrough discovery of a single tile shape that can cover a surface without ever creating a repeating pattern has been eradicated. The newly-discovered "spectre" shape can cover a surface without repeating and without mirror images | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 6 days ago

Quantum sensors could detect space debris from its gravitational pull

Devices based on quantum properties of very cold and very small crystals could be mounted on satellites and sense space debris that could collide with them | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 7 days ago

Plague first came to Britain from Europe at least 4000 years ago

DNA from Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that caused the Black Death, has been found in the teeth of three people who lived in Britain during the Bronze Age | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 7 days ago

Virus that carries huge amounts of DNA could advance gene therapies

A modified virus that can carry around 20 times more DNA than existing viruses used for gene therapies could allow us to make complex changes to cells | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 7 days ago

We are finally closing in on the cosmic origins of the “OMG particle”

Three decades ago, we spotted the single most energetic particle ever seen, nicknamed the 'Oh-My-God particle'. Since then, we have seen many more ultra-high-energy cosmic rays – and now we are unravelling the mystery of what produces them | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 7 days ago

Does covid-19 affect pregnancies and do the vaccines reduce any risks?

The coronavirus has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes, but vaccines help to keep mothers and babies safe | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 7 days ago

Migrating bats use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate in the dark

Soprano pipistrelles can sense the polarity and inclination of magnetic field lines, and use the position of the setting sun to calibrate their internal compass | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago

Blood test can identify MS in some people years before symptoms start

A unique group of antibodies can be used to predict whether someone will develop multiple sclerosis – they were present in about 10 per cent of people with MS years before they developed symptoms | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago

Babies can identify people's faces from just 4 months old

Infants may pick up on people's faces before anything else, which could explain why they can be scared of strangers at a young age | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago

3D-printed material glows green under pressure or friction

A 3D-printed material emits a green glow when friction or pressure is applied to it. One application could be reducing the chances of a fracture when drilling into bone during surgery | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago

Nanoscale robotic ‘hand’ made of DNA could be used to detect viruses

A tiny hand crafted out of DNA has jointed fingers that can be used to grab small objects like gold nanoparticles or viruses | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 9 days ago