How government use of AI could hurt democracy

Countries are eager to use AI to automate some government processes, but this risks eroding citizens’ trust and feelings of democratic control – because AI mistakes can ruin their lives | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 1 day ago

We may have finally solved an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray puzzle

The IceCube neutrino detector has allowed researchers to resolve a debate about what types of particles make up ultra-high-energy cosmic rays – but much remains unknown about these rare events | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 1 day ago

Artificial cooling 'urgent' for Great Barrier Reef after warming spike

A drop in shipping emissions has caused a surge in warming at the Great Barrier Reef, fuelling calls for drastic actions such as marine cloud brightening to lower the risk of coral bleaching | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 1 day ago

Climate could warm another 0.5°C if we fail to capture far more CO2

Models suggest that meeting climate targets will be virtually impossible without steep emissions cuts paired with a huge expansion of carbon management technologies | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 1 day ago

Trees on city streets cope with drought by drinking from leaky pipes

Urban trees lining streets fare better in dry spells than those in parks – now it seems that leaky water pipes are the reason for their endurance | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 1 day ago

Hay fever relief could come in the form of a nasal 'molecular shield'

Mice experienced far fewer hay fever symptoms when a pollen-blocking antibody was applied within their nose | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Why bizarre Cold War hoverboats are making a comeback

Sea-skimming crafts – which fly just above the water – were once considered Cold War relics of a failed Soviet experiment. Now, China and the US are resurrecting the technology as a possible Pacific conflict looms | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Fatal genetic disorder treated by replacing the brain's immune cells

Microglia replacement therapy helps treat people with a rare genetic condition called ALSP, suggesting the approach could also work for other neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Inhaled insulin may free children with type 1 diabetes from injections

Inhaled insulin is effective for controlling blood sugar levels in children with diabetes, providing them with a faster-acting, needle-free option to manage their condition | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Astronomers found a completely new type of plasma wave near Jupiter

Observations from NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal that Jupiter’s strong magnetic field and the unique properties of its plasma can produce a truly novel kind of extraterrestrial wave near its poles | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Peculiar plant could help us reconstruct ancient Earth’s climate

Something strange happens to water as it moves through the stems of horsetail plants – and this unique process provides valuable clues for understanding past and present ecosystems | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS might be the oldest comet ever seen

Astronomers tracking an interstellar object flying through the solar system think it comes from a star at least 8 billion years old, almost twice the age of our sun | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 2 days ago

Surgical robots take step towards fully autonomous operations

An AI system trained on videos of operations successfully guided a robot to carry out gall bladder surgery on a dead pig, with minimal human assistance | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Stunningly intimate octopus image wins aquatic photography prize

Kat Zhou has won the Aquatic Life category in the 2025 BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition, while a shot of a death-defying leap by a lemur took the top prize | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Plans to genetically screen newborns for rare diseases are problematic

The UK's health secretary has announced a 10-year plan to check newborns for a huge range of rare conditions. There are major medical and ethical issues with this, argues neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Is this the raciest conference invite ever?

Feedback has been invited to an event next year in Shaoxing, China. It's an academic conference promising "revolutionary thinkers who are redefining human intimacy through cutting-edge robotics and AI" | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Foundation's new season has dramatic potential – but sadly falls flat

Foundation's new series is full of new characters and dramatic potential. But instead of mining those rich seams, too many plotlines have become shallow and absurd. It's hard to see a good show go bad, says Bethan Ackerley | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Will we ever feel comfortable with AIs taking on important tasks?

An example from the history of mathematics shows how views on the trustworthiness of artificial intelligence can quickly start to change | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Provocative new book says we must persuade people to have more babies

The population is set to plummet and we don't know how to stop it, warn Dean Spears and Michael Geruso in their new book, After the Spike | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Slay the new slang: check out a guide to social media’s baffling lingo

Language is evolving rapidly in a world of social media. Our millennial reviewer finds Adam Aleksic's Algospeak to be a much-needed helping hand | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

The cosmos is vast, so how do we measure it?

The awe-inspiring distances of the cosmos are hard to visualise, so how can we be certain we are measuring them correctly? Chanda Prescod-Weinstein explains | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms may be less common than we thought

Previous estimates have suggested that more than half of people who stop taking antidepressants experience withdrawal symptoms, but now a review of the evidence suggests this isn't the case, at least for short-term use. | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Evolution has made humans both Machiavellian and born socialists

Humanity’s innate treachery is behind social ills ranging from inequality to abuse of power. Lessons from our ancestors can help defeat the enemy within | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Exercise helps fight cancer – and we may finally know why

Exercise seems to help prevent cancer and reduce the growth of tumours, and that protective effect may be due to the way working out changes the gut microbiome | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Oldest proteins yet recovered from 18-million-year-old teeth

The oldest protein fragments ever recovered have been extracted from fossilised teeth found in Kenya's Rift Valley, revealing the remains belonged to the ancient ancestors of rhinoceroses and elephants | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Why falling in love with an AI isn’t laughable, it’s inevitable

It’s easy to sneer at people who say they’ve fallen in love with ChatGPT. But we've been developing confusing feelings for bots for decades longer than you might think, writes Alex Wilkins. With so many people feeling lonely, can that be a good thing? | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

Colossal's plans to "de-extinct" the giant moa are still impossible

After a controversial project claiming to have resurrected the dire wolf, Colossal Biosciences has now announced plans to bring back nine species of the extinct moa bird | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

A youthful brain and immune system may be key to a long life

Maintaining good overall health is key to living a long life, but we may want to particularly focus on the state of our brain and immune system | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 3 days ago

1500 deaths in the recent European heatwave were due to climate change

We now have the ability to rapidly assess the impact of climate change after extreme weather events – a first of its kind analysis has shown that it nearly tripled the death toll from the most recent European heatwave | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Herpes virus could soon be approved to treat severe skin cancer

A cancer-killing virus could soon be approved for use after shrinking tumours in a third of people with late-stage melanoma | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

The truth about ivermectin’s supposed health benefits

Interest in the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin skyrocketed during the covid-19 pandemic, but evidence for many of its supposed health claims are lacking | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

What will be the climate fallout from Trump's 'big beautiful bill'?

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” just signed by President Trump will slash support for clean energy, leaving the US far short of its Paris Agreement pledge | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

70,000 years ago humans underwent a major shift – that’s why we exist

Ancient humans in Africa changed their behaviour in a major way 70,000 years ago, which could explain how their descendants managed to people the rest of the world | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Geoengineering could avoid climate tipping points, but not if we delay

Putting aerosols in the stratosphere to reflect sunlight could prevent the shutdown of key ocean currents, but only if it is done soon, a computer model suggests | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

'Flashes of brilliance and frustration': I let an AI agent run my day

Ordering takeaway food, writing emails, reworking presentations: AI assistants are promoted as a way of outsourcing mundane tasks to free up your time for more interesting pursuits. So, what are they actually good for – and what are the risks? | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 4 days ago

Forests' vanishing snow is also bad news for carbon storage

The loss of snow cover in temperate forests is set to slow their growth and reduce their ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere, an overlooked consequence of climate change | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Mathematicians are chasing a number that may reveal the edge of maths

Some numbers are so unimaginably large that they defy the bounds of modern mathematics, and now mathematicians are closing in on a number that may mark the edge of this bizarre abyss | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Rapid bursts of ageing are causing a total rethink of how we grow old

Suddenly feeling old? Evidence now suggests that rather than a long, steady decline, we dramatically age around three specific times in our lives. Might it be possible to stay younger for longer? | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Did something just hit Saturn? Astronomers are racing to find out

Around seven asteroids or comets are thought to hit Saturn ever year, but we have never spotted one in the act. Now, it seems one astronomer may have caught the moment of impact and the hunt is on for other images to verify the discovery | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

US government tests new vapour-sniffing drug detector at the border

Drugs and explosive chemicals are difficult to detect, but a device more sensitive than a dog’s nose can pick up their traces in seconds | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Vapour-sniffing drug detector tested at the US-Mexico border

Drugs and explosive chemicals are difficult to detect, but a device more sensitive than a dog’s nose can pick up their traces in seconds | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

AI could be about to completely change the way we do mathematics

Computers can help ensure that mathematical proofs are correct, but translating traditional maths into a machine-readable format is an arduous task. Now, the latest generation of artificial intelligence models is taking on the job, and could change the face of maths research | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

'Hybrid' skull may have been a child of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens

The skull of a 5-year-old girl who lived 140,000 years ago has similarities with modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, suggesting her parents might have belonged to different species | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 5 days ago

Fig trees may benefit climate by turning carbon dioxide into stone

Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 7 days ago

Ancient mass extinction shows how Earth turned into a super-greenhouse

A study of fossils from the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago shows that forests in many parts of the world were wiped out, disrupting the carbon cycle and ensuring that Earth remained hot for millions of years | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago

Cyberattacks could exploit home solar panels to disrupt power grids

The growth of domestic solar installations opens the possibility of hackers targeting their smart inverter devices as a way to cause widespread power-system failures | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago

We finally understand why quasicrystals can exist

Not quite crystals and not quite a glass, quasicrystals are an oddity whose properties are not well understood – but now we know how they can remain stable | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago

Quantum-enhanced supercomputers are starting to do chemistry

Working in tandem, a quantum computer and a supercomputer modelled the behaviour of several molecules, paving the way for useful applications in chemistry and pharmaceutical research | Continue reading


@newscientist.com | 8 days ago