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.

Rules of engagement • Billionaires must not be given free rein to geoengineer the planet

New Scientist

A once-in-a-millennium sight

Are we ready to dim the sun? • An exclusive New Scientist survey of climate scientists reveals concerns about schemes to tweak Earth’s atmosphere to cool the planet, find James Dinneen and Madeleine Cuff

Which of these represent the most serious risks of solar radiation modification (SRM), in your view?

At what level of warming do you think SRM deployment should be seriously considered, if any? (°C above preindustrial average)

Taming the sun’s power • There are three basic solar geoengineering methods

Does the world need a new international treaty or convention to govern potential deployment of solar radiation modification (SRM)?

Do you anticipate countries or private groups will attempt to deploy large-scale SRM this century?

Do you agree or disagree with this statement: “We should consider deploying SRM if the world’s emissions trajectory means we are certain to breach the 2°C global average warming target under the Paris Agreement.”

Feeling through another person’s hand • A brain implant has helped a man with paralysis feel objects using someone else’s hand – and might one day allow people to share experiences remotely, explains Carissa Wong

The centre of our galaxy may be teeming with dark matter particles

Fossil find rewrites how sauropods got their long necks

Early hominin had the strength of a gorilla and a very firm handshake

Artificial sweeteners may help your gut microbiome

The AI bubble is heading towards a burst, but it won’t be the end of AI • Economists, bankers and even the boss of OpenAI are warning of a rapidly inflating AI bubble. If and when it pops, what will happen to the technological breakthroughs of the past few years, asks Matthew Sparkes

Is this what killed the Neanderthals? • Neanderthal-human hybrids may have been scourged by a genetic mismatch

School phone bans may have surprising impact on socially vulnerable

A distant comet is forming new rings while we watch on

Do you like scary movies? • The prevailing wisdom is that horror fans lack empathy and are addicted to adrenaline. My research shows otherwise, says Coltan Scrivner

Future Chronicles • The end of prison By 2050, a self-monitoring system for criminals had replaced many prisons, leading to a drop in crime, predicts Rowan Hooper in his regular look at inventions yet to come

Showstoppers

Power of pragmatism • In the run-up to this year’s COP summit, Madeleine Cuff explores an excellent and poignant account by a negotiator who showed what diplomacy can achieve

Staying alive – for now • Why does it matter that rich tech bros are out to cheat death? Graham Lawton finds out in a brilliantly troubling new book

New Scientist recommends

The road not taken • A distressing documentary shows how George H. W. Bush might have helped avert climate disaster. It is a vital wake-up call, says Bethan Ackerley

Your letters

Your hidden helper • Our lymphatic system has long been overlooked, but it may hold the key to treating everything from dementia to cancer, finds Carissa Wong

Burning up • Satellites are incinerated in the atmosphere at the end of their lives, creating pollution that will...