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Typically, individuals work less effectively in bigger teams, but weaver ants buck this trend by increasing their power output when they pull together

The web is awash with bots that scrape data without permission. Now content creators are poisoning the well of artificial intelligence – but similar technology can also be used to spread misinformation

Experiments involving AI chatbots interacting on a simulated social media platform suggest efforts to design out antagonistic user behaviour will not succeed

Men typically lose Y chromosomes from their cells as they get older, which could be affecting their heart health

Researchers are testing whether increasing UV radiation is altering chemistry of tree leaves, increasing the likelihood and severity of wildfires

A carbon dioxide removal company in Canada is experimenting with ways to treat mining waste to capture and store more CO2

Having a full-time job in later life has been linked to improved emotional, financial and general life satisfaction - but the results vary a lot between men and women

Bone fragments found on King George Island have been identified as Dennis "Tink" Bell, a British meteorologist who fell into a crevasse in 1959

In people with traumatic brain injury, administering the psychedelic drug ibogaine seems to slow down brainwaves, which may explain why it helps treat PTSD

Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past century, but our years of good health appear not to have kept pace. Now, a new lens on what it means to age well is reshaping our view of our golden years

The numbers of many tropical birds are plummeting, and now it has been shown that heat extremes intensified by global warming are the biggest factor driving these declines

The quickest way to win the board game Guess Who? involves asking sneaky questions that involve a logical paradox, according to mathematicians

Calculations suggest stars that are very viscous could reflect gravitational waves and produce signals very similar to those produced by black holes

Increasing evidence suggests chronic constipation can be a causal factor in illnesses including cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment. So what can you do to get moving again?

Social media influencers are convinced that the number of lobes on the base of a bell pepper give us information about its sex and taste. James Wong debunks this myth with some science

In The Shrouds, Karsh, Myrna and Maury talk – a lot – about mysterious shrouds, improbable tech and ever-more-complex conspiracy theories. Nothing happens, just grief and, er, death, finds Simon Ings

The James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible gas giant the size of Saturn in the stellar system nearest our own

The deformed wing and sacbrood viruses were thought to cause asymptomatic infections in adult bees. But the viruses make the insects fly slower and faster than normal, respectively

In an unprecedentedly precise accelerator experiment, researchers directly observed how some of the heaviest known elements react and form molecules

A perfect storm of conditions priming the atmosphere for extreme heat could result in devastating droughts and deadly temperatures lasting for weeks across Europe

The latest observations of 3I/ATLAS suggest it resembles comets from the outer reaches of our solar system, but may be smaller than initially estimated

Surprising new fossil evidence undermines the idea that there was ever a mass extinction on land – and may force us to reframe the current biodiversity crisis

A declining ability to detect scents is linked to conditions including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. But restoring our most neglected sense might not only reduce cognitive decline – studies also show it could even reverse it

Physicists would dearly love to find new particles, but there's no sign of them in colliders like the LHC. Now we have found a new way of accessing a tiny slice of reality where they might be hiding

From squat toadstools to web-like mushrooms, images from Funga Obscura celebrate some of the most striking fungi on our planet

In Neurodivergent, By Nature, Joe Harkness examines the promise and reality of working in the conservation sector for neurodivergent people, and tells us why the natural world could use their help

By measuring an 11-atom molecule with a stunningly powerful X-ray laser, researchers have seen the way its atoms make slight, synchronised movements, even when they should be standing still

A single dose of the asthma medication zileuton stopped severe allergic reactions in mice by blocking food allergens from entering the bloodstream

A galaxy billions of light years from Earth houses what may be the most massive black hole in the universe, equivalent to cramming the full mass of a small galaxy into a single object

Hundreds of pieces of bone dating from 5700 years ago carry evidence of being processed and eaten by other humans, bolstering the idea that cannibalism was common in the Neolithic period

An ambitious plan to test extreme physics close to a black hole would involve a space probe weighing only a few grams, travelling at a third of the speed of light

Structured interventions that encourage a good giggle, whether they are laughter yoga or clown visits, could have health benefits

When it comes to cosmology, answering one question only leads to more. Just take light. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein dives into a reader's question

People with Alzheimer’s disease have lower levels of lithium in their brains than those without cognitive impairment, and a deficiency of the metal appears to accelerate the accumulation of amyloid plaques and memory loss – but it could possibly be reversed with a small dose of lithium

Feedback falls down a YouTube rabbit hole to discover the world of rug-cleaning videos. Some of these rugs even have maggots. Has carpet cleaning gone too far?

Fear of disease hasn't motivated us to exercise. Perhaps instead it is time to highlight the enjoyable aspects of movement, says Dawn Teh

Melissa Hogenboom's Breadwinners reveals the unseen gender-based power dynamics and cognitive biases that shape our everyday lives. It will make you angry – and rightly so

People aged 16 to 24 appear to get less out of NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression than those aged 25 to 65

The US health secretary is cutting funding for mRNA vaccines because he claims they are less effective than other types – but that is not what the evidence shows

Mitochondrial mutations don't seem to build up in women's eggs as they age, which suggests they may have evolved a mechanism to avoid this

A proclivity for dancing seems to be found in at least 10 species of cockatoo, and the birds will even jive to white noise or a financial podcast

People with chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, appear to have eight genetic signals that differ from those without the condition

As the list of health benefits of semaglutide drugs grows, perhaps it is time to think about assessing their impact on people without medical conditions

Researchers analysed thousands of natural protein sequences and got assistance from AI in order to design a new hydrogel adhesive that can stay sticky underwater or even within a living body

Unexpected archaeological discoveries are rewriting the story of how the big, bad wolf became our first and most beloved pet

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi was a likely stepping stone for ancient hominins to reach nearby Flores, the home of the mysterious Homo floresiensis

The acting administrator of NASA, Sean Duffy, announced a directive to build a powerful nuclear reactor on the moon, but it is unclear what it would power – or even if his plan is legal

There are three types of cognitive reserve that can protect against decline as we age. Columnist Helen Thomson explores the lifestyle choices that can help you build a more resilient brain – and finds that midlife is a critical time to implement them

Just eight sessions of a bespoke form of psychotherapy seems to ease lower back pain even three years later

Piles of dirt can cheaply store renewable energy as heat – and that stored energy can reactivate the machinery of retired coal power plants, letting them provide backup power for the electricity grid

We use the Navier-Stokes equations every day, for applications from building rockets to designing drugs. But sometimes they break – and we don’t know why

When rocks fracture in underground faults, they generate a variety of chemical compounds that could provide more energy sources for microbes in Earth’s depths

Scientists are exploring various proposals to repurpose existing spacecraft in order to chase after the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS and take a closer look – but time is against them

People lost twice as much weight if they ate a diet of minimally processed food compared with ultra-processed alternatives

Differences in the skulls of carnivorous dinosaurs suggest some dinosaurs ripped flesh while others crushed bones

Mathematicians who call themselves ultrafinitists think that extremely large numbers are holding back science, from logic to cosmology, and they have a radical plan to do something about it

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill-sized device for treating rheumatoid arthritis, marking the first time the therapy has been approved for an autoimmune condition

A new detection tool can accurately spot deepfake videos featuring any AI manipulation, from face swaps to completely synthetic AI-generated content

When people were randomised to receive either a placebo or Ozempic, they became biologically younger with the latter drug

Inspired by the work of Victorian mathematician Mary Everest Boole, try making a symmetric curve using string and some hole-punched card, says Peter Rowlett

Your circadian rhythm influences mood, metabolism and even how well you respond to medical treatment. Now we finally have the tools to harness it to help us live longer and feel better

Astonishing new archaeological finds and ancient DNA analysis leave no doubt that throughout prehistory women were rulers, warriors, hunters and shamans

Alex Garland's tech company mystery is smart and compelling, though it can also be chilly and self-indulgent. Bethan Ackerley missed it in 2020, but after five strange years, she has decided to check it out

Decades ago, a renegade physicist suggested that gravity isn't so much a force as just a byproduct of the universe's tendency to get more disordered. Now this idea might finally be testable

Particles of light travelling through a maze of devices seem to have passed a famous test for entanglement – without being entangled at all

The tendency for AIs to give misleading answers may be in part down to certain training techniques, which encourage models to prioritise perceived helpfulness over accuracy

At least 300,000 men died during Napoleon’s retreat from Russia - now the latest genetic techniques have identified two pathogens that may have contributed to some of the deaths

Neuromorphic cameras, which only record data when a pixel's brightness changes, may be advantageous for capturing extremely bright and dim objects in the same image and tracking fast-moving objects

The New Scientist Book Club has just finished reading Adam Roberts's novel Lake of Darkness. Some of us loved it – but some of us weren't so sure about this far-future set slice of hard science fiction

Alex Foster, the author of the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, Circular Motion, on imagining a world that is spinning ever faster

In this passage from the opening of Circular Motion, the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, our protagonist boards a vessel which can circle the world in a matter of hours – with dangerous consequences for the Earth’s rotation

People who consume some artificial sweeteners are less likely to respond to certain cancer therapies, potentially because of the impact on their gut microbiome

Marine biologist Helen Scales's latest book, Ocean Art: From the shore to the deep, celebrates humans' enduring obsession with creatures that live beneath the waves

Saving the planet means factoring nature into our economics, argues Partha Dasgupta, in a book with fascinating ideas. But does it take passion to make people listen?

After an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, early tsunami warning systems kicked in and helped millions of people safely evacuate

The discovery that brain ageing may be driven by jammed-up protein factories could lead to better ways to help us stay sharp as we get older

The recoded bacterium uses only 57 of the 64 possible genetic codes, freeing up seven to be used for different purposes

The Trump administration is attempting to argue that greenhouses gases don’t endanger people to reverse regulations limiting these harmful emissions – climate scientists are pushing back

Around 8 million years ago, an ancestor of modern tomatoes in South America hydridised with a plant called Etuberosum, and this reshuffling of genes gave rise to the potato

In this latest instalment of Future Chronicles, an imagined history of future inventions, Rowan Hooper reveals how invisibility cloaks could become mainstream

A stroke of lighting that lasted more than 7 seconds and flashed across 829 kilometres is officially the longest ever recorded

Several researchers who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences’ plans to revive extinct animals say they have been targeted by online articles trying to discredit them

From a fresh take on Stephen King’s The Stand to a new novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky set on a poisoned world, August has a bumper crop of new science fiction novels

Feedback foresees a dystopian future in which "smart jewellery" tracks the emotions and motions of its users

The unpredictability of our times isn't all bad, as it may help us think up some genuine new ideas, says Daniel Yon, author of A Trick of the Mind

A fantastic alien adventure can be found on our very own planet by studying the microbial life in Earth's crust, according to Karen G. Lloyd's new book Intraterrestrials

Tattoos may have been widespread in prehistory, with scientists discovering a plethora of body art on a pastoralist who died in the 3rd or 4th century BC

The prebiotic properties of human milk could be harnessed to treat a bacterial strain known to cause problems for immunocompromised people – and trigger premature birth

We may be a step closer to a highly effective mRNA vaccine against HIV, but tests so far reveal that the approach can cause unpleasant skin reactions

New tests to gauge an individual's circadian rhythms could be put to good use helping night workers fend off the ill effects of their unsocial hours

Creatures that lurk more than 9000 metres deep in the Pacific Ocean get their nutrients from a surprising source

Hexagonal diamond up to 60 per cent stronger than normal diamonds could be used to create super-tough drilling and cutting tools for industrial applications

Mice with a handful of cancerous cells in their lungs experienced a 100-fold increase to this number after being infected with swine flu

A giant stick insect species found in Australia’s Wet Tropics named Acrophylla alta can reach 40 centimetres in length and weigh 44 grams

A mysterious residue inside a set of ancient Greek pots from Paestum, Italy, has now been identified as honey thanks to modern chemical analysis

Satellite images reveal how a subglacial lake erupted through the Greenland ice sheet – a phenomenon never witnessed before which could be driven by rising temperatures

An iron-air battery in the Netherlands, which can store energy for 100 hours or more to make renewable power sources more consistent, has become the world’s first “rust” battery to connect with an electricity grid

A battery made from cheap and non-flammable iron and salt could provide emergency power in one of California’s high wildfire risk zones

An analysis of thousands of forest plots reveals an underappreciated link between animal biodiversity and carbon storage

Russian ambush drones have been seen in Ukraine fitted with cheap solar panels, which enable them to lurk indefinitely, waiting for a target to come near