In a wetland on the south coast of England, archaeologists dug up one of the oldest and most complete wooden tools ever found in Britain, which is around 3500 years old ⌘ Read more
In a wetland on the south coast of England, archaeologists dug up one of the oldest and most complete wooden tools ever found in Britain, which is around 3500 years old ⌘ Read more
A neuroscientist underwent dozens of brain scans over three months to better understand the neurological effects of hormonal contraceptives ⌘ Read more
A type of mathematical problem that was previously impossible to solve can now be successfully analysed with artificial intelligence ⌘ Read more
New research into the moments between wakefulness and sleep could bring hope for insomniacs and even make us more creative problem-solvers ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
The upcoming US presidential election will determine how the country regulates tech, combats the climate crisis and decides on access to abortion ⌘ Read more
Countries are convening in Colombia to agree on wide-ranging targets to stem biodiversity loss and make a plan to pay for it ⌘ Read more
The oriental hornet shows no ill effects – or behavioural changes – when it spends a week drinking an 80 per cent alcohol solution ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
The symbols and mathematical operations used in the laws of physics follow a pattern that could reveal something fundamental about the universe ⌘ Read more
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? ⌘ Read more
Researchers used a collection of charged atoms to create a quantum superposition of an exotic type of defect ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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. ⌘ Read more
People who listen to music after having surgery report lower levels of pain and require less morphine than those who don't ⌘ Read more
Being bullied when young seems to alter your brain structure for years to come - with different changes seen in males and females ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico have tiny bits of plastic in their breath, and this is probably a worldwide problem ⌘ Read more
A debating technique known as the "truth sandwich" is helping archaeologists combat a false narrative about an advanced ancient civilisation forgotten in human history ⌘ Read more
While quantum computers are still in their infancy, more and more people are training to become quantum software developers ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
Filters on commercial flights seem to stop nut particles from circulating around aircraft, making the risk of a serious allergic reaction from inhaling the allergens very low ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
The Euclid space telescope's massive “cosmic atlas” promises to shed light on fundamental questions in physics and cosmology ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
A simulator for the process of scientific discovery shows that AI agents still fall short of human scientists and engineers in coming up with hypotheses and carrying out experiments on their own ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
At high altitudes, global warming is having its strongest effect on winter temperatures – and that might mean soils there store can less carbon than we expected ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
Systems that can harvest water from moisture in the atmosphere could offer a valuable water source in the wake of disasters ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
Nearly 6000 species and subspecies of earthworms have been identified by scientists – but the true number could top 30,000 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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? ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper have been awarded the 2024 Nobel prize in chemistry for research on predicting protein structures and designing new proteins ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
An army of tadpoles and a stretching lynx are just some of the incredible photos winning accolades at the annual competition ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
Discoveries from the genomes of the last Neanderthals are rewriting the story of how our own species came to replace them ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
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 ⌘ Read more
A mathematical proof shows that some quantum states can resist nature’s tendency to disorder – but only under very specific conditions ⌘ Read more
The estimated greenhouse gas emissions caused by the war in Ukraine are equivalent to around 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, and Ukraine plans to include the associated climate damage in its compensation claim against Russia ⌘ Read more
As the winner of the Longitude Prize on Antimicrobial Resistance is announced, chair of the prize committee Martin Rees, the UK's Astronomer Royal, explains why it pays to reward ideas ⌘ Read more
Tiny diamonds and quantum sensors can be used to measure conditions inside cells or living organisms, potentially offering a way to detect diseases or study biology in minute detail ⌘ Read more
How could we tell the difference between an ordinary black hole and one connected to a tunnel through space-time? ⌘ Read more
Faster-than-light warp drives are theoretically possible to build, and if aliens are using them, we should be able to detect the gravitational waves produced when one goes wrong ⌘ Read more
Scientists have identified a new species of pterosaur from a 100-million-year-old fossil in Australia, which appears to have had a massive tongue to push prey down its throat ⌘ Read more
A small trial has found that electrical stimulation of arm muscles while people do physiotherapy exercises leads to more improvement ⌘ Read more
Are points of infinite curvature, where general relativity breaks down, always hidden inside black holes? An audacious attempt to find out is shedding light on the mystery of quantum gravity ⌘ Read more
The largest collection yet of detailed medical data and tissue samples from astronauts should help researchers better understand the impacts of space flight on health ⌘ Read more
Earth is lagging behind other worlds with its single moon, so on this episode of Dead Planets Society we are giving it more – and giving those moons moonmoons to orbit them ⌘ Read more
The plastic-digesting capabilities of the fungus Parengyodontium album could be harnessed to degrade polyethylene, the most abundant type of plastic in the ocean ⌘ Read more
People taking semaglutide, also called Ozempic and Wegovy, either for weight loss or type 2 diabetes, were less likely to become addicted to alcohol ⌘ Read more
Huge stars might have formed in the first million years of the universe if there was enough matter clumped together, according to a computer model ⌘ Read more
The same genetic tools being used to resurrect the woolly mammoth and dodo could help many other vulnerable species that have yet to die out ⌘ Read more
An analysis of their vocalisations suggests that African savannah elephants invent names for each other, making them the only animals other than humans thought to do so ⌘ Read more
We know that there is ice at the Martian poles and underground, but until now it wasn't clear it could exist on the surface of the Red Planet ⌘ Read more
Biological processes such as DNA replication or cellular structure formation may become more accurate when done as quickly as possible, offering new hints into life's origins ⌘ Read more
When bacteria were put in alternating environments, some became better at evolving to cope with the changes – evidence that “evolvability” can be gained through natural selection ⌘ Read more
The protective bubble around the sun retreated dramatically after colliding with a freezing interstellar cloud, leaving much of the solar system exposed to radiation that shaped our evolution, a study suggests ⌘ Read more
The meaning of the word "bot" on Twitter/X seems to have shifted over time, with people originally using it to flag automated accounts, but now employing it to insult people they disagree with ⌘ Read more
SpaceX successfully launched its Starship rocket on the same day that Boeing’s Starliner craft made its first crewed flight, a sign that the space industry is hotting up ⌘ Read more
Mexico and the southern US have seen extreme temperatures due to a heat dome, a weather phenomenon that will become more intense with climate change ⌘ Read more
When writers are allowed to get help from ChatGPT, they accept lower pay, fuelling fears that AI will lower the value of skilled workers ⌘ Read more
Going deep into lunar rock could give us an opportunity to see if protons can decay into something else – a finding that could help us unify conflicting physics theories ⌘ Read more
Dominant male Verreaux’s sifakas always have the largest testicles in their group to make the most sperm, and they can grow their gonads to make sure of it ⌘ Read more
Physicists have coaxed a cloud of atoms into having a temperature beyond absolute zero and placed them in a geometric structure that could produce an unknown form of matter ⌘ Read more
Judges are only human and can make mistakes, so could an artificial intelligence make better and more efficient decisions? ⌘ Read more
The mystery of how a single-celled predator extends its "neck" by more than 30 times its overall length has finally been solved ⌘ Read more
A genetic analysis of ancient horses reveals that breeding techniques developed by people in the Pontic-Caspian steppes enabled the rapid spread of horse-powered travel ⌘ Read more
SpaceX's Starship has been to orbit and back in its fourth flight test, with both rocket stages soft landing in the ocean, though parts of the spacecraft appeared to be damaged during descent ⌘ Read more
People who had higher levels of xylitol in their blood were more likely to have a heart attack or stroke within the next three years, with lab experiments suggesting the sweetener promotes blood clotting ⌘ Read more