Many covid-19 vaccines occasionally cause side effects such as blood clots or heart inflammation, but, overall, they appear to be beneficial in preventing heart and circulatory conditions | Continue reading
Although they are carnivores, black-backed jackals are partial to the melon-like fruits of the !nara plant and help to disperse its seeds across the desert | Continue reading
Projections of flood risk due to sea-level rise on the Samoan islands underestimate the rate at which the islands are sinking after two earthquakes hit in 2009 | Continue reading
The hingemouth, an African freshwater fish, can stick out a proboscis for feeding or breathing thanks to the unique arrangement of its jaw anatomy | Continue reading
The SLIM lander and the Odysseus lander both set down on the lunar surface on their sides, but they have each been able to send data back to Earth | Continue reading
Hearing live music tugs at our heartstrings more than a recording, probably because it increases activity in an emotion-processing region in our brain | Continue reading
The drumming sound of the 12-millimetre-long fish Danionella cerebrum can hit 140 decibels – now scientists have figured out how they do it | Continue reading
Ancient and fragile papyrus samples are at risk of being damaged by fungi, but a wasabi-based treatment can disinfect them without damage | Continue reading
Astronomers have spotted a white dwarf star with a patch of metal near one of its magnetic poles, which probably formed when the star devoured a small planet | Continue reading
A small trial has strengthened the idea that foods containing the special form of starch could lead to weight loss and improve blood glucose control | Continue reading
Moons circling exoplanets would be some of the most promising places to look for life outside our solar system. Now, we might finally be about to find these elusive objects | Continue reading
Moons circling exoplanets would be some of the most promising places to look for life outside our solar system. Now, we might finally be about to find these elusive objects | Continue reading
The mathematical study of how repeating tiles fit together usually involves pointed shapes like triangles or squares, but these aren't normally found in the natural world | Continue reading
It may soon be possible to recreate the persona of someone who has died by training an artificial intelligence on their emails and texts - but is it a good idea? | Continue reading
Astronomers have spotted a gargantuan protocluster – the primordial beginnings of a galaxy cluster – by searching near a quasar in the early universe | Continue reading
Mathematics is at the heart of modern science but we shouldn’t forget other ways to reason, says author and researcher Roland Ennos | Continue reading
Last year, the world's oceans broke many warming records. Environment reporter James Dinneen went to the world's largest gathering of ocean scientists to find out how bad the situation is and what can be done about it | Continue reading
Adding alkaline chemicals to the huge volumes of wastewater discharged into the oceans each year could increase the amount of CO2 that gets sequestered, but the idea has been controversial | Continue reading
A device that measures minuscule gravitational forces could help us understand how gravity works on the quantum scale | Continue reading
Astronomers have found a new moon around Uranus and two orbiting Neptune – the first moons discovered orbiting these planets in a decade and the faintest ever spotted | Continue reading
Newly released emails have revealed that the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin was aware of concerns over the potential energy use and carbon emissions of the cryptocurrency, but felt there was no alternative | Continue reading
A mimic of Martian soil can be turned into strong fibres. Such a material could be used to help build a base or grow plants on the Red Planet | Continue reading
Four-legged robots typically need an arm to open doors or pick up objects, but this mechanical canid can carry out tasks with its front leg | Continue reading
Biochemist Casimir Funk realised that certain compounds in our diet are essential for keeping us healthy – but he wasn't the first to isolate a vitamin | Continue reading
Dune seems to have defeated most directors who dared try turning the epic novel into good cinema. How does Denis Villeneuve fare in the second half of his two-part take on Frank Herbert's book? | Continue reading
Martin MacInnes, the author of New Scientist's latest book club pick, the Booker prize-longlisted sci-fi novel In Ascension, on how he came to write it (and a bit of a spoiler) | Continue reading
In this tantalising extract from Martin MacInnes’s new science fiction novel, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club, his protagonist Leigh has an epiphany while underwater | Continue reading
It may seem counterintuitive, but trophy hunting leads to a lot of land being protected instead of being used for agriculture or logging – which can ultimately benefit animals | Continue reading
Pigs that have been given genetically engineered immunity to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, a major and costly disease, could be on the market within two years | Continue reading
A study of around 9000 US adults has found that people are more in favour of removing toxic social media posts when they attack a member of the LGBTQ community than those targeting Christians or billionaires | Continue reading
Intuitive Machines has landed its Odysseus spacecraft on the moon, making it the first private company to achieve a feat previously only accomplished by national space agencies | Continue reading
We can already cool objects with fridges and with lasers. Now there is a third cooling technique involving special quantum states – and it could, in theory, allow us to reach the lowest temperatures yet | Continue reading
Pantetheine, which helps enzymes to work and is found in every organism, can be formed by simple reactions and may have played a role in the origins of life | Continue reading
Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed that a nearby supernova researchers have been watching since it exploded in 1987 left behind a hot neutron star | Continue reading
The warming avoided by planting CO2-absorbing forests could be around 15 to 30 per cent lower than previously estimated due to feedbacks such as dark trees reflecting less sunlight | Continue reading
The developer version of OpenAI’s leading large language model can be repurposed as an AI hacking agent, researchers have found. That could make it far easier for anyone to launch certain cyberattacks online | Continue reading
An artificial intelligence can interpret a mouse's brain activity to tell scientists where the animal is located and the direction it is looking | Continue reading
In a quantum engine, a single atom can emit radiation that bounces around a reflective cavity and creates enough pressure to push down a piston | Continue reading
About 80 per cent of people who received infliximab straight after diagnosis with the inflammatory bowel condition had controlled their symptoms after a year, compared with just 15 per cent of those following a standard regime | Continue reading
The relatives of men who produce very little or no sperm may be more likely to develop certain types of cancer than the general population | Continue reading
This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles | Continue reading
In the fire hose of online media, politics is getting mixed up with fandom. This problem is at the root of the Taylor Swift conspiracy theory – and it could take us into much more dangerous waters, says Annalee Newitz | Continue reading
In Charles Duhigg's new book, we discover why some people are great at getting others to alter entrenched views, where conversation fits in and how neuroscience underpins it all | Continue reading
There are 86 billion neurons in your brain, roughly the same number as there are galaxies in the observable universe. Whether the mind is more complex than the cosmos, however, is up for debate | Continue reading
Feedback is astonished at the results of research into the mortality of tea and coffee-drinking Danes | Continue reading
The concern over factory-made fare, especially many plant-based meat substitutes, is often misplaced and lacking evidence, says biologist Jenny Chapman | Continue reading
As AI advances daily, a timely and wide-ranging book explores our past, present and future relationship with the technology that co-evolved with us | Continue reading
After the International Space Station is hit by a mystery object, astronaut Jo Ericsson must fix an escape module to get home – against the clock and shifting realities. The visuals are amazing but the science wonky, says Bethan Ackerley | Continue reading