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A type of mathematical problem that was previously impossible to solve can now be successfully analysed with artificial intelligence

New research into the moments between wakefulness and sleep could bring hope for insomniacs and even make us more creative problem-solvers

The largest prime number is now 16 million digits longer than the previous record found in 2018, thanks to an amateur hunter and his large collection of high-power graphics cards

Animals that hibernate need a way to keep their blood flowing as their body temperature drops, and it seems that the mechanical properties of red blood cells may be key

The US Department of Homeland Security is trialling chemical sensors that detect the first whiff of smoke in the air and alert fire crews while a potential blaze is still smouldering

Google’s NotebookLM tool is billed as an AI-powered research assistant and can even turn your text history into a jovial fake podcast. But it could also tempt you into narcissism and nostalgia, says Jacob Aron

The upcoming US presidential election will determine how the country regulates tech, combats the climate crisis and decides on access to abortion

Not all winged dinosaurs were necessarily capable of full flight, but this anatomical feature may have enabled them to travel further by flapping or gliding

The discovery that a small blue blob of neurons, the locus coeruleus, controls your mode of thinking suggests ways to increase learning, creativity, focus and alertness

Ancient weaponsmiths combined bronze and iron to fashion swords during the early Iron Age – but modern forgers glue together elements from different weapons, making it difficult for researchers to study the ancient technology

Physicists finally know whether black holes destroy the information contained in infalling matter. The problem is that the answer hasn’t lit the way to a new understanding of space-time

Countries are convening in Colombia to debate how they will achieve wide-ranging targets to stem biodiversity loss and how they plan to pay for it

The oriental hornet shows no ill effects – or behavioural changes – when it spends a week drinking an 80 per cent alcohol solution

The symbols and mathematical operations used in the laws of physics follow a pattern that could reveal something fundamental about the universe

A 1 per cent levy on global retail sales would plug a funding gap of $200 billion when it comes to saving nature. Can COP16 get the world to agree to this ambitious proposal?

The first breakthrough in finding prime numbers for over 25 years has mathematicians celebrating, with hopes that the techniques behind the new proof could further advance other areas of maths

From shops to ride-share apps, queuing is everywhere. Peter Rowlett explains how the maths behind queuing can help us spend less time in line

What life is and how the mind works fall within the compass of one bold concept. But critics say that by attempting to explain everything, it may end up explaining nothing

Moin Hussain's debut feature film Sky Peals sees a man discover his father may be from outer space. Part sci-fi, part family drama, part coming-of-age tale, it is odd and otherworldly

Netflix’s Ancient Apocalypse peddles the idea that we have overlooked an extraordinary ancient civilisation. Flint Dibble explains why that is wrong, and why real archaeology is more exciting

Friends who blow hot and cold put more strain on your physical and mental health than enemies. Here's how to spot them and handle them

Researchers used a collection of charged atoms to create a quantum superposition of an exotic type of defect

Rats perform better on memory tests when certain brainwave-producing neurons are stimulated while they sleep. If we can boost these brainwaves in people, it could help treat memory impairments in those with dementia

A story passed down in folklore led scientists to evidence of an 8-metre tsunami that hit an island in Hawaii hundreds of years ago

AI models have safeguards in place to prevent them creating dangerous or illegal output, but a range of jailbreaks have been found to evade them. Now researchers show that writing backwards can trick AI models into revealing bomb-making instructions.

People who listen to music after having surgery report lower levels of pain and require less morphine than those who don't

Cases of prostate cancer are surging alarmingly around the world. Thankfully, we are developing more accurate tests that can catch the condition early

Could the universe's missing matter be hiding in a "dark" extra dimension? We now have simple ways to test this outlandish idea - and the existence of extra dimensions more generally

Colossal, a US firm that is aiming to revive lost species such as the woolly mammoth, says it now has a near-complete genome of the extinct thylacine

Our three-day festival of science, discoveries and innovation, with talks by names from Alice Roberts to Venki Ramakrishnan, took place from 12-14 October. Here's a taste of the fun in pictures

Being bullied when young seems to alter your brain structure for years to come - with different changes seen in males and females

A mouse's tumours, scales from a butterfly's wings and a smiling cross-section of a bracken fern are some of the incredible images from the Nikon Small World photography competition

Britain should be too cold for the invasive Aesculapian snake to survive, but it is thriving by exploiting the warmth of attics, wall cavities and compost heaps

Neurosurgeon James Doty and neuroscientist Sabina Brennan ask if there is any real science in manifesting in their new books

General relativity teaches us that observing a black hole is all a question of perspective – and technique, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

People who went from using social media for at least 2 hours a day to just 30 minutes a day reported no improvement to their sleep or emotional well-being

The first “failed star” ever discovered has been a weird outlier since it was found nearly 30 years ago. New observations show that it is unusually massive because it isn’t a single star after all

A mathematical study finds that three definitions of what it means for entropy to increase, which have previously been considered equivalent, can produce different results in the quantum realm

The natural motors that power tail-like appendages in bacteria seem to have a single evolutionary origin, allowing parts from different species to be combined to create a tiny new engine

Feedback is intrigued by a study that uses rain and a "realistic three-compartment human head phantom" to explore the effects of a direct hit from lightning

There is a dirty secret in publishing: most popular science books aren't fact-checked. This needs to change, says Michael Marshall

Producing a kilogram of farmed salmon may require 4 or 5 kilograms of wild fish, which isn't a sustainable approach to feeding the world's growing population

Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico have tiny bits of plastic in their breath, and this is probably a worldwide problem

A debating technique known as the "truth sandwich" is helping archaeologists combat a false narrative about an advanced ancient civilisation forgotten in human history

While quantum computers are still in their infancy, more and more people are training to become quantum software developers

The Euclid space telescope's massive “cosmic atlas” promises to shed light on fundamental questions in physics and cosmology

Next-generation phone networks could dramatically outperform current ones thanks to a new technique for transmitting multiple streams of data over a wide range of frequencies

Filters on commercial flights seem to stop peanut particles from circulating around aircraft, making the risk of a serious allergic reaction from inhaling the allergens very low

During a fight between two male mice, one will often run to a female mouse to distract their aggressor, a bait-and-switch strategy that could help abate social conflicts

Puppies that are raised in someone's home seem to benefit from that extra human interaction, by asking for help at a younger age than those brought up in kennels

A simulator for the process of scientific discovery shows that AI models still fall short of human scientists and engineers in coming up with hypotheses and carrying out experiments on their own

A group of frogs from Madagascar have mating calls that sound like Star Trek sound effects – now their species names honour captains from the series

At high altitudes, global warming is having its strongest effect on winter temperatures – and that might mean soils there store less carbon than we expected

A new way to store numbers in computers can dynamically prioritise accuracy or range, depending on need, allowing software to quickly switch between very large and small numbers

A 6000-kilogram spacecraft will embark on a six-year journey to Jupiter to explore whether its icy moon Europa has the conditions to support life

Discoveries from the genomes of the last Neanderthals are rewriting the story of how our own species came to replace them

Millions of years ago, our ancestors lost a gene for producing vitamin C and got a taste for citrus. Since then, we've cultivated the tangy fruits into global staples like sweet oranges and sour lemons

My first sight of Saturn through a telescope inspired my love of space. Dig out your telescopes or visit your local astronomy club, and you may be lucky enough to spot our sixth planet's stunning thick band of rings, says Leah Crane

Spear-throwing tools called atlatls allow humans to launch projectiles over great distances, but Neanderthals apparently never used them – and an experiment involving a 9-metre-tall platform may explain why

In a strange commune, a daily "vitamin" suppresses emotion – until one member decides to throw away the supply. Turn Me On takes a comedic jab at hyper-utilitarianism, says Simon Ings

Systems that can harvest water from moisture in the atmosphere could offer a valuable water source in the wake of disasters

A chemical produced by gut bacteria could be the basis for a non-invasive test for endometriosis – and mouse experiments suggest it might also help treat the condition

A vaccination campaign targeting ducks, the farm birds most at risk of getting and spreading bird flu, succeeded in greatly reducing outbreaks of the virus on poultry farms in France

SpaceX claims the fifth test flight of its Starship rocket will happen “within days”, but the Federal Aviation Administration has not yet approved the launch

Autonomous taxis are already operating on US streets, while Elon Musk has spent years promising a self-driving car and failing to deliver. The newly announced Tesla Cybercab is unlikely to change that

The UK government's decision to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius surprisingly threatens the extinction of millions of website addresses ending in ".io", and no one is quite sure what will happen next

In the opening to Rachel Kushner's Booker-shortlisted novel Creation Lake, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club, we meet undercover operative Sadie Smith as she secretly reads the emails of an eco-activist group

Our Future Chronicles column explores an imagined history of inventions and developments yet to come. We visit 2032 and meet artificial animals that love their owners, without the carbon footprint of biological pets. Rowan Hooper explains how it happened

A new book from the science-writing legend is an Attenborough-esque romp through some of the wonders of the natural world. Just beware the title's misfiring metaphor

Feedback uncovers new research into the difference in personality between pet owners, and discovers an apparent strength of spirit in those who plump for canines

A new technique uses glowing molecules, laser light and microscopes to measure distances as minuscule as 0.1 nanometres – the width of a typical atom

Nearly 6000 species and subspecies of earthworms have been identified by scientists – but the true number could top 30,000

The ion tail of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) could appear as a blue streak across the northern hemisphere sky during October, in a rare event thought to happen only every few decades

Hurricanes have kept forecasters guessing this year, but with the arrival of intense storms like Helene and Milton it is clear that warming ocean waters are having an effect on the weather

A mathematical proof shows that some quantum states can resist nature’s tendency to disorder – but only under very specific conditions

Ancient volcanic rock from South Africa has been found to harbour primitive bacteria, which may shed light on some of the earliest forms of life on Earth

Two of the three science Nobel prizes in 2024 have been won by people working in AI, but does this mean that AI models are now vital for science?

New technologies will radically change the experience of living with and caring for someone with Alzheimer's, says Professor Fiona Carragher, chief policy and research officer at Alzheimer's Society, UK

The latest neuroscience shows that, contrary to a lot of productivity advice, the drive to make the most of every waking moment will diminish your capacity for creative thinking

How well do we look after people who are seriously sick? Astonishingly, research is scant – which makes Neil Vickers and Derek Bolton's ambitious new book, Being Ill, very welcome

Hurricanes often produce tornadoes that add to the destructive power of the storm – and climate change may make such tornadoes more common

Popular weight-loss medications including Ozempic and Wegovy contain a drug that seems to decrease cravings for food and drugs – and now there’s evidence that it might make exercise less rewarding, too

The Nobel committees seem to have an unfortunate habit of overlooking women and Black people when it comes to science – this must change, says Alexandra Thompson

The discovery that certain smells can be linked to specific neurons is helping us understand how the brain encodes concepts

We might not be able to cool the world down again after overshooting the 1.5°C warming limit – and even if we can, a lot of irreversible damage will have been done

If gravity is a truly quantum entity, something as simple as measuring the strength of an object’s gravitational field should change its quantum state

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have been awarded the 2024 Nobel prize in chemistry for research on predicting protein structures and designing new proteins

More than 600 types of viruses that infect bacteria have been found living on toothbrushes and showerheads – and many of them have never been seen before

An army of tadpoles and a stretching lynx are just some of the incredible photos winning accolades at the annual competition

Brain scans of people tasting squirts of hot sauce have revealed how positive and negative expectations can influence brain activity patterns for pleasure and pain

It is thought that humans can only maintain relationships with around 150 people, a figure known as Dunbar's number, but it seems that AI models can outstrip this and reach consensus in far bigger groups

Key climate indicators from greenhouse gas levels to ice loss have reached record levels this year in what researchers call a “critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis”

Gears just a few micrometres wide can be carved from silicon using a beam of electrons, enabling tiny robots or machines that could interact with human cells

The 2024 Nobel prize in physics has gone to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for discoveries that enabled machine learning and are key to the development of artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT

Daniele Oriti’s pursuit of a theory of quantum gravity has led him to the startling conclusion that the laws of nature don’t exist independently of us – a perspective shift that could yield fresh breakthroughs

Neuroscientists have been surprised to discover that the human brain is teeming with microbes, and we are beginning to suspect they could play a role in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's

While the 20th century saw rapid rises in average life expectancy at birth, more recent years have seen a slowdown, suggesting we may be reaching the limit of human lifespan

A pair of ctenophores, or comb jellies, can fuse their bodies together, merging their digestive and nervous systems, without any issues with immune rejection

Two more people in the US have tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, highlighting the need for expanded influenza surveillance to prevent a potential pandemic

Motion sensors in smartphones can be turned into makeshift microphones to eavesdrop on conversations, outsmarting security features designed to stop such attacks