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.

Elsewhere on New Scientist

We must go the extra mile • Renewed political will is vital to help the “forgotten” millions left with long covid

New Scientist

Chinese station caught from above

AI could discover wonder materials • We know of about 48,000 inorganic crystal structures, which can give materials a range of properties. Now, an AI from Google DeepMind has predicted millions more, finds Alex Wilkins

A new way to estimate maximum lifespan could help us extend it

Odd way black holes lose energy may solve cosmic puzzle

Physicists find ultimate limit for how accurate clocks can be

Robots with spongy paws could navigate uneven terrain

Did Homo naledi bury its dead? • Earlier this year, researchers claimed that extinct hominin Homo naledi buried its dead and produced rock art, but now others say the evidence is “non-existent”, finds Michael Marshall

Analysis Dietary guidance • Is it healthy for older people to be slightly overweight? UK dietitians say people over 65 need greater fat reserves. Why are they contradicting most other guidelines, asks Clare Wilson

‘Insect-eye’ compass navigates by the sun even on cloudy days

Earliest supernovae spotted? • The James Webb Space Telescope may have glimpsed the explosions of the earliest stars

AI deduces sewing pattern from a photo of clothing

Saviour or sinner? • Carbon dioxide removal tech, once seen as an impractical and unhelpful distraction amid efforts to cut emissions, now has big money backing it. Will it pay off, asks James Dinneen

Mysterious high-energy cosmic ray smashes into Earth

Lack of sleep before surgery may mean a painful recovery

AIs can trick each other into doing things they aren’t supposed to

Nutrient found in milk and beef shows anticancer promise

Old coal mines could store wind energy • Plan to use excess output from wind turbines to heat water in pits may be tested next year

Babies may start to learn language before they are born

Space travel and erectile problems

Flying defibrillators offer quick response

Penguin chest spots help birds recognise their partners

Really brief

Keeping our cool • Despite pessimism, limiting global warming to well below 2°C is with in our grasp, says Jakob Thomäe

Wild Wild Life • Beavering away Many farmers are opposed to reintroducing beavers, but these engineers can help protect us from flooding and droughts as the climate hots up, finds Michael Le Page

Dust to dust

Your letters

Give the gift of science • From AI’s attempts to create a masterpiece to how to be more dog, there’s nothing like a book as a gift. Just take a look at our round-up, says Simon Ings

Our picture editor shares 2023’s best photobooks

Wrap up the best of sci-fi • Discover the science fiction to give to the optimists, pessimists, hedonists or intellectual thrill-seekers in your life, says Sally Adee

The wonder particle • Could a resurgent hypothetical particle called the axion solve all of the biggest mysteries of the universe? Jonathan O’Callaghan investigates

All the answers

Long covid, four years on • With millions of people affected by lingering symptoms after covid-19 infection, have we finally got a handle on this complex, post-viral condition and how to treat it, asks...