Scientists are working around the clock to understand the biology of the covid-19 virus and how it infects human cells, which will help us design treatments to stop it | Continue reading
A new kind of brain implant can detect and turn down the harmful nerve cell activity that are signals of certain symptoms of Parkinson's disease | Continue reading
Evidence from China suggests the way to get on top of the covid-19 outbreak is through rapid testing, isolation and quarantine rather than lockdowns and big travel restrictions | Continue reading
We love to hate wasps, but they pollinate flowers, kill off pests and their venom might even help us treat cancer | Continue reading
The mysterious Liangzhu civilisation was a neolithic "Venice of the East", rivalling ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia with its engineering marvels | Continue reading
An artificially intelligent eco-assistant can persuade hotel guests and staff to reduce their electricity use by up to a third | Continue reading
What form does discrimination take in science careers, and how prevalent is it? The STEM Survey 2020 liftsthe lid on prejudice in the workplace | Continue reading
Could life on Mars have hidden from extreme weather in a cavern on the Pavonis Mons volcano? This 2011 orbiter image of an otherworldly crater has NASA asking just that | Continue reading
Kate Darling researches human-robot interaction. She explains why we are prone to forming emotional connections with robots and what we can learn from our relationships with pets and other animals | Continue reading
A new film squares up to the tough task of reinventing Marie Curie, one of science's biggest stars, by building a big picture of her work – and its future fallout | Continue reading
Westworld is soon to return with season three. Four episodes in to the impossibly glamorous, highly urbanised future, I can't wait to find out what's going on, writes Emily Wilson | Continue reading
A new film squares up to the tough task of reinventing Marie Curie, one of science's biggest stars, by building a big picture of her work – and its future fallout | Continue reading
France's highest court has ruled that many common crops are illegal because they contain genetic mutations, but enforcing the law will be near impossible | Continue reading
The 2020 Abel prize was awarded to mathematicians Hillel Furstenberg and Gregory Margulis for their use of probability and dynamics in group theory, number theory and combinatorics | Continue reading
Flexible displays for wearable devices can now be made using fish scales instead of plastic – and the new displays biodegrade within a month of being discarded | Continue reading
Book Wildhood explores the idea that penguins, hyenas, whales and wolves all experience a similar period of adolescence and what this could mean for all animals | Continue reading
Australians are not to travel overseas or gather in large groups in a bid to slow the spread of covid-19, which appears to be at relatively low levels in the country | Continue reading
The hope is that we will have a coronavirus vaccine in 12-18 months, but for that to happen we may have to rely on untested techniques - and that comes with its own risks. | Continue reading
To really reduce the potential coronavirus death toll, modelling suggests the UK needs to bring in stricter social distancing and perhaps close schools | Continue reading
Doom Eternal does contain gratuitous violence, but the evidence suggests violence in video games doesn't affect people's behaviour in the real world, says Jacob Aron | Continue reading
In response to the covid-19 pandemic, many governments are now recommending social distancing. Here's a guide on what it means for you | Continue reading
People living in Russia about 20,000 years ago built a "bonehenge" – a circular structure made of mammoth bones that could have been used to store food | Continue reading
The UK dramatically ramped up its response to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak today, with prime minister Boris Johnson calling on the country to stop all non-essential contact with other people | Continue reading
The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 | Continue reading
Most air pollution forecasts are based on maps of annual emissions and models of chemical reactions, but an AI could help predict more specific forecasts. | Continue reading
An AI can detect the presence of smells and even distinguish between scents like ammonia or carbon monoxide, which could be useful for detecting hazardous odours | Continue reading
China, South Korea, Singapore and Canada show just how important testing and quarantine are for tackling the coronavirus, says the WHO's Bruce Aylward | Continue reading
The WHO’s assistant director general Bruce Aylward says effective quarantine is essential for tackling the coronavirus, but this cannot happen without extensive testing for covid-19 | Continue reading
Negative headlines about organic farming’s carbon footprint are missing the bigger picture about its environmental benefits, say Christel Cederberg and Hayo van der Werf | Continue reading
Pregnant people don’t seem to be at greater risk of experiencing severe covid-19, and the virus doesn’t seem to pass to fetuses, but there’s still a lot we don’t know | Continue reading
There may be two different categories of type 1 diabetes that are more common at different ages. Understanding the differences could lead to new treatments | Continue reading
The UK’s stance, to try to manage the spread of immunity among people while protecting those most at risk, appears at odds with the World Health Organization's call for urgent action | Continue reading
When Mars was young parts of the planet may have been able to sustain RNA, a molecule that likely played a key role in the beginnings of life on Earth | Continue reading
Deforestation of the Amazon has continued at record levels this year, leading observers to warn the rainforest is disappearing faster than ever before | Continue reading
We thought hominins evolved to run around 2 million years ago – but a study of the famous Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis, suggests she could run too | Continue reading
This Pi Day, try calculating everyone’s favourite mathematical constant using balls and a cardboard tube, thanks to a mathematical trick involving the balls’ masses | Continue reading
Genetic analysis suggests all Arabica coffee plants are descended from a single common ancestor, and this lack of genetic diversity makes them vulnerable to extinction | Continue reading
Rates of death and disability after a stroke have fallen by a quarter in south London in the past 16 years, perhaps due to specialist stroke centres | Continue reading
The Rosetta spacecraft’s measurements of comet 67P have revealed a hidden source of nitrogen that may help us learn how giant planets – and even life – formed | Continue reading
Proxima Centauri b, a planet orbiting our nearest stellar neighbour, is being blasted with cosmic rays and solar flares – which could make it warm enough to host life | Continue reading
The UK government has pledged to make smart motorways safer by rolling out a radar detection system within the next the three years, but New Scientist can reveal that just 7 per cent of the roads are protected by the measure today. | Continue reading
Children don't seem to get ill from the new coronavirus and understanding why could help us decide how to tackle the pandemic | Continue reading
The ExoMars mission, a joint venture between the European and Russian space agencies, will be delayed for two years. It has already been plagued by issues and the coronavirus hasn't helped | Continue reading
Cycling to work has been linked to a higher risk of injury among UK commuters, but the health benefits of getting on your bike still vastly outweigh the risks | Continue reading
A project started in 1986 aims to test if seeds can be grown after 100 years in storage. Early results show that half the crops retained most of their initial ability to germinate | Continue reading
Experts still don't know why so few coronavirus cases have been reported in Africa, despite the continent’s large population and China being its top trading partner | Continue reading
A survey of people in the US has found that 50 per cent would share their genetic data for $95, no matter if a research agency or pharmaceutical company is paying for it | Continue reading
In a cornfield in India, Urbasi Sinha ran an experiment that may challenge the rules of quantum mechanics and paves the way for higher dimensional quantum computing | Continue reading