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Many scorpion species use blends of iron, zinc and manganese to enhance the toughness of their deadly weaponry

Europe, the fastest-warming continent, saw unprecedented wildfires and heatwaves in 2025, including a three-week hot spell that hit 30°C inside the Arctic circle

Obesity might be to blame for part of the increase in cancer among young people, a study in the UK has found, but the causes largely remain a mystery

Millions of dollars are being spent on wagers predicting measles outbreaks in the US, which could help researchers modelling the spread of the disease

The idea that everything that exists can be built from the bottom up has long held sway among physicists. Now, a new kind of science is under construction that centres conscious experience – and might unravel the universe’s biggest mysteries

Robots can now run a half-marathon faster than humans and are rapidly homing in on the 100-metre sprint record. But why are companies so keen to create speedy robots that have no obvious application in homes or factories?

The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz has seen energy prices soar, but Alice Klein pays just A$25 (£13) a month for her electricity, even when charging an electric car or running an air conditioner.

Scientists were shocked to find that the Houtman Abrolhos Islands’ coral reefs survived a prolonged extreme heatwave in 2025 virtually unharmed, which may reveal how to protect corals elsewhere

You may think of the high-fat, low-carb eating plan as a faddish way to lose weight. But the keto diet is now being used to tackle conditions from severe depression to bipolar disorder and anorexia, with transformative results

A revolutionary cancer treatment is now being applied to a wide range of autoimmune disorders. Columnist Michael Le Page finds it is proving to be even more effective than expected

Coincident with the rise of the dinosaurs, a large landmass filled most of the Arctic circle, potentially contributing to global cooling that advantaged the famous reptiles

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has been searching for exoplanets since its launch in 2018, and it turns out it may have found plenty more of them than we had thought

The idea that EV batteries age poorly is a misconception – and a new report has found they often outlive the cars themselves

Smartwatches commonly use heart rate variability to monitor stress. Columnist Helen Thomson explores what this metric actually tells us, and whether it could also predict and diagnose depression – and help improve your mental health more generally

Physicists have long assumed that the universe is uniform at very large scales, but evidence is emerging this is wrong and suggests a way to resolve some of the biggest cosmological mysteries

The rise of a new generation of radiotherapies means we will soon need much greater quantities of radioactive atoms. That's why companies are scrambling to refine them from all manner of radioactive waste

Stress is linked to many of our biggest killers, but a growing body of research suggests that certain types can sharpen the mind and strengthen the body. Here’s how to find your perfect dose

A seaside town is devastated when a small fishing boat, the Rose of Nevada, disappears at sea. Thirty years later, the boat reappears in the harbour and sets off a moving story, says Bethan Ackerley

Measuring the strength of gravity is extraordinarily difficult, and different experiments have always disagreed – but a new test is paving the way to finally understanding nature’s most enigmatic force

People with cognitive decline or early-stage dementia saw their symptoms improve when given bespoke treatment plans that targeted their personal nutritional deficiencies, ongoing infections and environmental exposures

Physicists have long suspected that there is a layer of physical reality beneath quantum theory and a new mathematical model unveils just how strange it might be

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

During the Cretaceous, 19-metre-long predatory octopuses swam the seas, and evidence from their fossilised remains suggest they may have been highly intelligent hunters

A clinical trial to reverse age-related vision conditions using stem cell treatment could finally deliver on the promise of a major discovery in ageing and regeneration made 20 years ago, says columnist Graham Lawton

Photographer Yuri Segalerba explores how dengue has spread to Nepal's Himalayan districts, and how locals are fighting back

A powerful AI kept from public access because of its ability to hack computers with impunity is making headlines around the world. But what is Mythos, does it really represent a risk and might it even be used to improve cybersecurity?

Exercise has been touted as a tool for managing and treating long covid, but much of the evidence has neglected one of its most debilitating symptoms: post-exertional malaise

Infecting mice with RSV, a common virus that causes cold-like symptoms, prevented breast cancer cells from reaching their lungs. This was due to the release of proteins that stop viruses from replicating in the lungs also making it harder for cancer cells to seed new tumours

The Epstein-Barr virus seems to affect gene expression and cell signalling in a way that causes the autoimmune condition multiple sclerosis

Discovering he is getting old before his time, David Cox tries to lower his biological age by changing his diet in a helpful new book, The Age Code, says Graham Lawton

Feedback, always on the hunt for absurd units of measurement, is delighted by recent attempts to convey the 406,771 kilometres that the Artemis II crew travelled from Earth

The food industry has made big promises to reduce emissions and become more sustainable, but a review concludes that many of the pledges are not backed up by evidence

A robot built by Sony AI is rapidly learning how to beat the world's very best table tennis players

Simon Singh's exploration of mathematical proof – in particular Pierre de Fermat's last theorem – remains an absolute treasure, almost three decades after it was first published

A final-stage trial has started of an mRNA vaccine against the bird flu strain infecting many animals – and occasionally people – worldwide

Most of Titan’s surface is oddly flat and smooth, and it may be because it is coated by as much as a metre of fluffy organic material that snowed down from the icy moon’s thick atmosphere

Some seemingly simple sequences of multiplication and addition grow so quickly that they question the very foundations of mathematics. In doing so, they demand a whole new level of logic

The ongoing conflict around the Strait of Hormuz has become a situation in game theory known as a war of attrition. The maths behind it can help explain what's going on, says Petros Sekeris

Pushing against years of scepticism, an analysis suggests quantum computers may offer real advantages for running machine learning and similar algorithms in the near future

Filtering a protein that may cause sepsis out from the blood has shown promising signs for improving survival

Experiment with nanodiamonds reveals that they are less rigid than other diamonds, adding to our understanding of how they could be used in new technologies

A traditional vaccine primes the immune system to build better defences. Researchers think we can do something similar to increase our resilience to the pressures and worries of life

An injured kea with just half a beak has used what's left as a weapon that gives him dominance over a captive colony of the birds

“I’m stressed” is a phrase that many of us use, but now there are ways to shed light on how stressed you actually are

Forty years after the world’s biggest nuclear disaster, the safety of Chernobyl hangs in the balance – though not because of the radiation risk

Most hospital patients don't brush their teeth regularly, but doing so could cut their risk of developing pneumonia during their stay

The protein craze is in full swing and beef consumption is on the rise, particularly in the US, where health agencies are promoting red meat as part of an optimum diet. So, how much beef should we really be eating, and how does it impact our well-being?

Antibodies mistakenly attacking the brain are linked with conditions including schizophrenia, dementia and OCD, prompting a revolution in how we think about mental health conditions

A film about the quest for “ghost elephants” is as much about not knowing and asking the right questions as about exploration, finds Davide Abbatescianni

Electric vehicles could store renewable energy when there is excess supply and give it back to the grid when demand peaks, but car companies disagree on the best way to do that

New Scientist reporter Matthew Sparkes secured unrivalled access to Chernobyl's most crucial scientific sites, where researchers are fighting to protect the area and ensure it remains safe amid the constant threat of attack from Russia

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

Changing your opinion can be difficult, and it’s sometimes even seen as a flaw. But research shows being open-minded has a host of benefits. Columnist David Robson finds there are a few simple ways to encourage yourself to withstand the discomfort that gets in the way of mental flexibility

Cyclic cosmology, or the big bounce, is the idea that the universe will eventually crunch back together and then go through another big bang. Columnist Leah Crane finds that, appropriately, it’s coming back

From huge geese to flying cars, these photographs from a new exhibition at the Rijksmuseum reveal how we have been manipulating images for over a century

People who are terminally ill are commonly reunited with lost loved ones in their dreams and have visions of doors, stairways and light, which are said to help them accept the dying process

The Lyrid meteor shower will soon hit its peak. Here's how to spot it, including by using the New Scientist stargazing companion

A detailed analysis of the best-preserved Neanderthal infant skeleton ever found suggests that our ancient relatives grew much faster as young children

An imaginative and compelling book reveals how radio waves help us tune in to our universe – and even search for alien civilisations, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Feedback discovers that a conspiracy theory has formed that various celebrities have been replaced by clones, and sees just a few small problems with the idea

Patients are requesting that blood transfusions come from people who they know have not been vaccinated against covid-19, which can cause dangerous delays

Monkeys with around 300 electrodes implanted in their brain were able to steer avatars around different virtual environments

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has finished the most detailed survey of the universe to date, and the resulting map will help researchers understand an apparent weakening of dark energy

The day when a quantum computer manages to break common encryption, or Q-Day, is fast approaching, and the world is not close to being ready

A planet-warming El Niño climate phase is now developing, and some models predict it could turn out to be the strongest on record

The gap between genetics and archaeology leaves us with an unclear picture of where the Neanderthals originated. Columnist Michael Marshall details a surprising new hypothesis that suggests they may have come from us

How do you portray momentum in space accurately? Columnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein takes a look at the origins of our understanding of motion, which runs from Isaac Newton back to the Zhou dynasty a millennia ago

An antioxidant found in certain mushrooms is thought to neutralise damaging molecules in uterine cells that may contribute to period pain

A study of more than 10 million siblings suggests that firstborns are more likely to be autistic and have allergies, while conditions like migraine and shingles tend to affect their younger sibling

Removing CO2 from the atmosphere by capturing the carbon from burning biomass is supposed to save the planet, but it looks like the flagship project will never happen

Some gut bacteria recycle discarded sex hormones, like oestrogens, back into the body. The level of these bacteria seems to be higher in industrialised societies, which could have big implications for our health

A small comet has been spotted slowing down and then speeding up again – but in the opposite direction, which we have never seen before

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Chernobyl lay on the path to the capital Kyiv. When the plant was occupied by Russian troops, meteorologist Lyudmila Dyblenko fearlessly continued taking vital measurements to monitor the nuclear exclusion zone

Ever since the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in 1986, scientists have needed to monitor radioactive conditions inside. That job currently falls to Anatoly Doroshenko, who explains the dangers and importance of his work to New Scientist

If the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation shut down, the knock-on effects could release hundreds of billions of tonnes of CO2, raising global temperatures even further

The maths problems that secure your online bank transactions and emails may soon be undermined by quantum technology. It’s imperative we act now, before it’s too late

Working in secret for more than two years, a group of mathematicians has set out to resolve one of the longest and most bitter battles in modern mathematics

For decades, scientists have tried and failed to explain how the force that binds the heart of atoms together really works. But new mathematical tools are finally prising the problem open

John Pendry is known for creating an invisibility cloak. Twenty years on, he has used the same principles to fashion an even more powerful kind of metamaterial that can teach us about the wild frontiers of physics

Luminous by Silvia Park and Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer are both thoughtful and well-written science fiction novels, featuring robots in richly realised worlds. But there the similarities end, says Emily H. Wilson

Training programmes for people with aphantasia – the inability to create mental images – are challenging neuroscientists' understanding of how we create thoughts

The astronauts of the Artemis II mission around the moon have made it home safely to Earth, marking the end of a triumphant mission and the beginning of a longer road to stay on the moon

Some cats will suddenly refuse to touch brands of cat food that they have eaten for years. Changing the way the food smells might solve the problem

A handful of plankton fossils buried in a small chunk of rock show that the oceans were teeming with life before the Late Ordovician mass extinction, the second most severe on record

Physicists have shown how time can effectively be reversed for some quantum systems, which would allow for new ways to harvest energy

The incompleteness theorem is accepted as part of the mathematical canon today, but columnist Jacob Aron says it was a bombshell when Kurt Gödel first introduced it. Gödel’s seminal work directly contradicted one of the great minds of mathematics and limited the field forever

Two extremely precise experiments agree with a previously shocking measurement of just how big the proton is, which may help future searches for new particles

Researchers who observed a murderous conflict unfolding in a once-unified group of wild chimpanzees say there are parallels with civil wars in human societies

Elizabeth Banks stars as an author shrunk by her scientist husband Matthew Macfadyen in this major new series – but it fails to live up to its promise, finds Josh Bell

A drug known only as compound X helped to remove the problematic proteins associated with Parkinson's disease from the brains of mice, and improved their balance and mobility

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has updated the Red List status for three of Antarctica’s most famous species after a dire assessment of their prospects under climate change

A fresh and important book reveals the messy reality of our ever-mutating cells – and why the quest to defeat ageing is futile, says Michael Le Page

Feedback is delighted by the discovery of a very specific scientific sculpture park in China – and wonders if readers can top it

A woman with three different autoimmune conditions had all of them treated simultaneously by genetically modifying her immune cells to kill off the rogue ones causing problems

Measurements by buoys at four latitudes in the western Atlantic provide the strongest evidence yet that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is weakening

A new book from photographer Jon McCormack collects his shots of patterns in nature from around the world, from flamingoes to icebergs

A method that relies on hitting materials with neutrons can measure how much quantum entanglement hides within them, which could enable new kinds of quantum technology

A decline in ancient megafauna in the Middle East coincided with a shift towards smaller, lighter toolkits in the archaeological record – though scientists are still in debate about why

By tracing the origins of an unusual, short-lived particle, researchers have gathered some of the strongest evidence yet that mass can emerge from fluctuations in the vacuum

James Watson’s The Double Helix is probably one of the greatest science books of all time – but Michael Le Page finds he can’t recommend that anyone actually reads it