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The way bonobos combine vocal sounds to create new meanings suggests the evolutionary building blocks of human language are shared with our closest relatives

Ancient humans living in what is now Ukraine 400,000 years ago may have practised or taught tool-making techniques using mammoth tusks, a softer material than bone

The artificial sweetener sucralose increases brain activity in regions involved in appetite, suggesting it makes people hungrier

Researchers used a synthetic version of moon dust to build working solar panels, which could eventually be created within – and used to power – a moon base of the future

By studying the brains of autistic girls, we now know the condition presents differently in them than in boys, suggesting that huge numbers of women have gone undiagnosed

Feedback is baffled – baffled! – as to why Facebook owner Meta's attempts to suppress a previous employee's memoir sent the book rocketing to the top of the book charts

People seem to be less impressed when others lose weight with the drug Ozempic than when they achieve it via lifestyle changes

Nostalgia for video games seems to be strongest for those played during childhood – at least for Nintendo Switch players

As China’s vast electrical grid relies more on wind, solar and hydropower, it faces a growing risk of power shortages due to bad weather – and that could encourage the use of coal plants

A cost-cutting initiative in the world of passenger aviation could see flight-deck staff reduced to just a captain, with their co-pilot replaced by AI. It may save money, but it's a risk too far, argues Paul Marks

The concept of nothing once sparked a 1000-year-long war, today it might explain dark energy and nothingness even has the potential to destroy the universe, explains physicist Antonio Padilla

From robot rights to ageing and climate change, this month’s science fiction squares up to the big topics, with new titles from authors including Nick Harkaway and Eve Smith

Why are some people drawn towards exploration and challenge – even to the point of extreme danger? Alex Hutchinson's bracing new book unpicks the complex reasons

High-speed drones will be put to the test in the extreme Arctic environment as part of a project to assess how quickly glaciers in Greenland are retreating

For decades, autistic women and girls have had to play "diagnostic bingo" before getting their true diagnosis. As new neuroscience offers a fresh understanding of the condition, the time for change is now

A more precise definition of the second is crucial to all sorts of physical measurements – but to get there, scientists have to pack up their extraordinarily fragile optical clocks and take them on tour

A company in the Netherlands says it has perfected a way to create "graft chimeras" with the skin of one plant and the innards of another

Squeezing exercise into one or two days a week seems to have similar health benefits as doing the same amount of physical activity spread out throughout the week

A termination letter obtained by New Scientist reveals that the Trump administration has gutted the office that runs the country’s only nationwide survey on drug use and mental health

Under pressure from Elon Musk’s DOGE task force, NASA is cancelling grants and contracts for everything from lunar dust research to educational programmes

Even animals with very small brains turn out to have cultural traditions, which poses a puzzler for biologists wondering what makes human culture unique

As semaglutide-based weight loss treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy become more popular, new side effects are emerging – and one is hair loss

Urine that has sat in the sun for a while seems to fertilise crops while warding off pests, without affecting the produce's taste

At the Dakshineswar temple complex in India, Hanuman langurs beg for food by grabbing visitors’ legs or tugging on their clothes – and they don’t stop until they get their favourite snacks

After a container ship struck and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, researchers began calculating the risks of similar catastrophic incidents for other US bridges – and they’re surprisingly high

Cave-dwelling orb spiders have adapted their webs so they act as tripwires for prey that crawl on the walls of the caves

An eavesdropper hiding inside a black hole could still obtain information about quantum objects on its outside, a finding that reveals how effectively black holes destroy the quantum states near their event horizons

Paranthropus was an ape-like hominin that survived alongside early humans for more than a million years. A fossilised leg belonging to a strikingly small member of the group raises questions about how it did so

The rate at which the planet is warming has sped up since 2010, and now researchers say that China's efforts to clean up air pollution are inadvertently responsible for the majority of this extra warming

Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe asteroid 2024 YR4, which earlier this year seemed to be at risk of hitting Earth in 2032. Earth is now safe, but astronomers are cheering on a possible collision with the moon

Taking aspirin was first linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer in 1988, but the research into its anti-tumour potential has been full of twists and turns since then

There are many claims about the benefits of microdosing weight-loss drugs, from anti-inflammatory effects to extending longevity. Do any of them stack up?

Low-intensity steady-state cardio has been touted as a way to lose weight and put less strain on your body while exercising. Science of exercise columnist Grace Wade looks into whether it works

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have the power to block the forces driving obesity, but the knock-on societal effects may not necessarily be so positive

Anecdotal reports suggest drugs like Ozempic may curb not just appetite but also impulsive or addictive behaviour, hinting at links between metabolic health and our brains

The race is under way to make faster, cheaper and better GLP-1 drugs that will go beyond reducing obesity levels to treating some of our most difficult conditions

A naturalist finds a hallucinogenic mushroom with the power to cure all ailments in the animated series Common Side Effects. Big Pharma is hot on his trail in this beautifully made show, says Bethan Ackerley

GLP-1 drugs have revolutionised the treatment of obesity, but the very reason they are effective is also why it's vital to prioritise exercise when taking them

Since the second world war, US economic prosperity and major technological developments have hinged upon the government’s commitment to funding scientific research. The Trump administration is ending that

The US has confirmed more than 480 measles cases across 19 states, the highest total since an outbreak in 2019 sickened more than 1200 people

The long-standing question of how animals came to have an anus may have been solved by studies of which genes are active during development in various animals

Some researchers propose that countries should start to rack up a carbon debt once they exceed their carbon budget, obliging them to do more to draw down carbon dioxide, but the idea is unlikely to form part of international climate agreements

A weatherproof box and motion-trigger camera help photographer Will Burrard-Lucas capture images of rarely seen African elephants

A Climate of Truth is a penetrating and enlightening analysis of the many crises we face. But it demands impossible standards of flawed human beings, finds Graham Lawton

When researchers asked people to work on a computer with their phones 1.5 metres away, the amount of time they spent on their phone went down – but they just scrolled social media on their laptop instead

Red specks in the early universe are puzzling astronomers, but a proposed explanation suggests they are the progenitors of supermassive black holes

Photosynthesising microbes in soil may increase their activity as temperatures rise, offsetting some of the carbon emissions expected to be released from peatland and permafrost

A quantum algorithm for solving mathematical problems related to knots could give us the first example of a quantum computer tackling a genuinely useful problem that would otherwise be impossible for a classical computer

From useful nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to cellulose for construction, there is treasure to be mined in our sewage, says Graham Lawton

After nearly 36 years of searching, astronomers have finally confirmed Neptune has auroras, thanks to data from the James Webb Space Telescope

Feedback is pleased to discover the latest research into the wine-identifying abilities of rats, but feels the rodents still have a long way to go before they are truly obnoxious to be around

The rise of large language models like ChatGPT that can churn out computer code has led to a new term - vibe coding - for people who create software by asking AI to do it for them

By opening their eyes and hearts to the many distinctive – but overlooked – urban habitats, city dwellers can reconnect with nature, says Menno Schilthuizen

From race and IQ to sex and gender, Herman Pontzer's new book Adaptable is an ambitious and enjoyable exploration of how understanding ourselves better can help us bridge divides

Bizarre parasitic wasps preserved in amber about 99 million years ago had trap-like abdomens that they may have used to immobilise other insects

An "unprecedented view" of how the body changes during and after pregnancy has revealed many long-lasting impacts on the liver, kidneys and more

In the past year, treatments such as Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound have become household names. But there are many questions left to answer, not least what the future holds for weight-loss medications and society at large

The size and shape of a giraffe’s spots seem to influence how well the animals survive when temperatures get hotter or colder than normal

A galaxy inside a bubble may be evidence that the universe was starting to become transparent 330 million years after the big bang

Masaki Kashiwara has won the 2025 Abel prize, seen by some as the Nobel of mathematics, for his contributions to algebraic analysis and representation theory

Researchers have identified the border between quantum physics and some as-yet-unknown post-quantum realm by mathematically analysing all possible measurements of simple quantum systems

Transparent wood, made by stripping organic polymers and replacing them with a mixture of egg whites and rice extract, could be used as windows and smartphone screens

A species of houndshark called Mustelus lenticulatus makes sharp clicking noises when handled. Until now, sharks as a group were thought to be universally quiet

Women with premenstrual syndrome reported big improvements in their symptoms after taking placebo pills, despite knowing they did not contain any active ingredients

A new test of AI capabilities consists of puzzles that humans are able to solve without too much trouble, but which all leading AI models struggle with. To improve and pass the test, AI companies will need to balance problem-solving abilities with cost.

Floating platforms of wood could draw up seawater and help it to freeze, seeding the formation of new sea ice

Scientists have replicated the luxurious mouthfeel of foie gras using the liver and fat of ducks reared and slaughtered normally, avoiding the controversial techniques involved in traditional production

Ciaran Martin, the former head of cyber security at GCHQ, says the UK government was "naive" to expect a request for Apple to weaken its encryption services to remain secret. He thinks governments must come to terms with the fact that uncrackable encryption is here to stay.

In the ongoing debate over the benefits and harms of smartphone use in children, initial data from a US survey suggests the devices can actually improve well-being and social connections, but social media use may be more harmful

There's a small chance of very high warming even with moderate future emissions, according to a computer model exploring what could happen in the next thousand years

We’ve pumped huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that needs to be paid back. Large animals like wolves, bison and whales may already be tackling the problem

Simulations suggest that water can become a superacid under extremely high heat and pressure conditions. This may also explain how planets like Uranus and Neptune get diamond rain

Melting ice is revealing new coastal zones in the Arctic, but while this new landscape might fuel speculation about natural resources, it is vulnerable to rockfalls and landslides that can cause dangerous tsunamis

Chemical analysis suggests the 400-million-year-old fossil Prototaxites was neither plant, animal or fungus – hinting at a mysterious life form that went extinct long ago

The hormonal upheaval in the run-up to menopause can cause cognitive difficulties. But researchers are also finding that this can be a critical window for protecting long-term brain health

Traditional advice tells us to only move growing plants to a pot one size larger. The science shows that you don't need to bother with this slow transition, says James Wong

String theory may be our best attempt at a theory of everything, except that it can't describe an expanding universe like ours. Now a radical new twist on the idea could finally fix that – but it requires us to completely reimagine reality

Money is a deeply emotive subject, our attitudes to it vary wildly and we are reluctant to bring it up in conversation. Could new research help us to be less weird about it?

Birds do it, chimps do it, even monarch butterflies do it – and by paying more attention to how animals self-medicate, we can find new treatments for ourselves

Weather Girl, a play in London's Soho Theatre about a weather forecaster who finally snaps as the climate apocalypse looms, is frantic and funny

Abigail is created to replace her owner's dead wife, just as robots are set to gain rights. Emily H. Wilson explores Lucy Lapinska's Some Body Like Me, the latest addition to "robo-rights" literature

Tutankhamun ruled ancient Egypt shortly after a period of religious instability, and objects from his tomb suggest he took advantage to invent new funerary rituals

It's not a just a revolutionary and safe vaccine technology – mRNA could help make the best and most expensive drugs in the world affordable for everyone

The Odysseus spacecraft made a rough landing on the moon last year, toppling over and rendering much of its equipment unusable, but an onboard NASA radio telescope called ROLSES-1  was able to make some observations

Spending a lot of time outdoors may be the best way to prevent myopia, or delay its progression, but this isn't always practical. Now, research suggests that bringing the outside in may be a valid workaround

Many of us have a brain that is older than our years. But there are plenty of things you can do to counteract this, says neuroscience columnist Helen Thomson

Isar Aerospace is preparing to launch its Spectrum rocket from a base in Norway, which would make it the first orbital launch from continental Europe outside Russia

Stone tools are considered the first form of technology devised by ancient humans – but they might not have been invented from scratch

While earlier weather-forecasting AIs have replaced some tasks done by traditional models, new research uses machine learning to replace the entire process, making it much faster

When a vast library of texts amassed by Mesopotamian King Ashurbanipal was burned to the ground about 2700 years ago, the clay tablets were preserved by the heat. Selena Wisnom's new book reveals more

In the enjoyable and science-backed book Me, But Better, Olga Khazan embarks on a year-long experiment to see if she can really become a more agreeable person

Young female black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys often want to hold other females’ infants, but mothers are much more permissive of experienced caregivers

Lithium-6 is a crucial material for nuclear fusion reactors, but isolating it is challenging – now researchers have found a way to do this without using toxic mercury

A dinosaur fossil discovered in Mongolia boasts the largest ever complete claw, but the herbivorous species only used it to grasp vegetation

At the largest gathering of physicists in the world, the American Physical Society says it won’t back down in the face of executive orders to limit diversity programmes

Last month's discovery of the most energetic neutrino yet detected is incredibly exciting for us particle physicists – but it also raises many questions, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Feedback, a Lego fan, delves into a new science-related set, and learns that the model of a DNA double helix is the wrong way around. Time for some jokes about mirror organisms...

Improving our understanding of sudden climate shifts is welcome. But framing this as creating an "early-warning system" is wrong on so many levels it is hard to know where to begin, says Bill McGuire

Having a tattoo has been linked to a higher risk of conditions like lymphoma and skin cancer, but the situation isn't clear-cut

Adam Kucharski's new book Proof is a life raft in a sea of fake news and misinformation