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

A note from the culture editor

The cosmos in a teacup • Physical imitations of extreme astrophysical phenomena are genuinely useful

New Scientist

An eye-catching jewel of nature

Covid-19 vaccine tweak could better tackle today’s variants

Ethereum’s energy-saving update also closed security flaw

Fundamental physics law tested • A concept known as the principle of least action has finally been seen in the quantum realm

Bat guano has sculpted caves for thousands of years

Bowhead whales’ cancer secret • Their cells are very good at repairing DNA, which may explain the mammals’ lasting health

Volcano eruption disrupted satellites on far side of planet

CRISPR-edited cells could help with chronic heart failure

US desert grassland collapse is linked to Pacific changes

Octopuses may have nightmares about being attacked by predators

Software update could give wind farms a big boost

Meet the memcomputer • Proof-of-principle digital device shows it could trump standard machines

Rare plant turns carnivorous when low on phosphorus

Has Alzheimer’s met its match? • Antibodies that bind to a culprit protein have been hailed a “momentous breakthrough”, but do they live up to the hype, asks Clare Wilson

Genetic minefield

Kissing has been part of romantic encounters for at least 4500 years

Wolves are scaring smaller predators into human conflict

Stretchy e-skin responds to touch like the real thing

Stone Age markings are oldest known architectural plans

Comb jellies, not sponges, might be the oldest animal group

Running fast puts more strain on shins than going uphill

Racing drivers have synchronised blinks

Octopus-inspired ink can change colour

A house made from recycled diapers mixed into concrete

Really brief

Messaging the stars • If there are intelligent aliens out there, should we try to communicate with them? And who should speak for Earth, asks Chris Impey

Field notes from space-time • Best not to ask It feels like it should be easy to define space-time, but the concept is so outside the realm of everyday life it can seem beyond comprehension, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Still life • Royal College of Surgeons of England

Your letters

Paradise exploded • An unusually profound and moving sci-fi thriller artfully transcends the familiar trope of a utopia concealing a dreadful secret, finds Neil McRobert

A world of irritation • An excellent guide unpicks the complexities of how our immune system causes allergic responses, says Elle Hunt

New Scientist recommends

The sci-fi column • Big shots Suppose the megarich can rejuvenate – but it makes them grow to titanic proportions? Nick Harkaway draws on Greek myth and noir in a fabulous thought experiment that reflects our own fixation with “making it big”, says Sally Adee

Tabletop universe • Physicists are conjuring crude models of the cosmos in glass tanks and tubes. Can these simulations reveal the secrets of space and time, asks Jon Cartwright

Where the waters run free • A visit to Europe’s only wild river national park highlights why such places are worth fighting for, reports Graham Lawton

Global free-flows

Meet your future self...