New Scientist

New Scientist covers the latest developments in science and technology that will impact your world. New Scientist employs and commissions the best writers in their fields from all over the world. Our editorial team provide cutting-edge news, award-winning features and reports, written in concise and clear language that puts discoveries and advances in the context of everyday life today and in the future.

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Dealing with monsters • In both literature and science, banning ideas that sound scary holds us back

New Scientist

Lava heads to Icelandic spa

AI can mimic individual people • The personalities of specific people have been replicated with AI agents as part of an effort to create an alternative to polling that also raises ethical concerns. Chris Stokel-Walker reports

Anger over COP29 finance deal threatens progress on carbon cuts • A reluctant deal finalised at the climate summit may not be generous enough to encourage nations to submit more ambitious climate plans, says Madeleine Cuff

Sliver of wood grown from stem cells • Culturing wood in the lab could be an alternative to felling rare trees for lumber

Ethiopian wolves may be first known carnivore pollinators

Meteorite crystal hints at hot water on ancient Mars

Photo taken of a star in another galaxy for first time

The coming quantum revolution • Computers that exploit quantum physics to speed up calculations are making great strides, find Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Matthew Sparkes and Alex Wilkins

Chimpanzees seem to pass on technological advances to others

Analysis Public health • Are calories on menus doing more harm than good? Many restaurants in the UK and US now print a dish’s calorie count on their menu, but is this really tackling obesity, asks David Robson

Bacteria found in asteroid sample brought back to Earth – but they aren’t from space

Robotic pigeon reveals how birds fly without a vertical fin

Carbon may have helped Earth’s iron core solidify

Wild cavefish can somehow survive with almost no sleep

Einstein’s theories tested on the largest scale ever – and he was right

Heart-shaped mollusc has windows in its shell

Astronaut thinking slows in space • Effects on working memory and processing speed could be a problem for future missions

Giant hornet from Asia appears in Europe for first time

Planet 10 times the size of Earth is one of youngest ever found

Fat cells have ‘memory’ of obesity that may drive yo-yo dieting effect

A helping hand • Don’t be fooled by Elon Musk’s chatty Optimus robots. The long history of robotics should teach us to be more sceptical, says Nicole Kobie

This changes everything • How to build a better world John “Bud” Benson Wilbur isn’t often remembered today, but this forgotten civil engineer had a vision of the future we could all learn from, says Annalee Newitz

Paradise lost

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All you need to read • From Mars to the oceans, our immune systems to the sex lives of plants, New Scientist staff and writers pick their favourite popular science books of the year

Other worlds than this • Murder in space, a sexbot, a dystopian vision of the future: our science fiction columnist Emily H. Wilson picks her top five reads of 2024

Back to life • Surprising experiments that have reanimated brains and other organs suggest death could in fact be reversible. Helen Thomson investigates

Good dog! • A unique project is revealing science-based ways you can train your dog to behave better, finds Colin Barras

Test your pooch • Researchers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, have devised a series of games to test the cognitive abilities of dogs. Here’s a...