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

RIP 1.5°C • Climate slogans get in the way of real conversations about what needs to be done

New Scientist

Quake triggers a volcanic eruption

1.6°C is now best-case scenario • It has become essentially impossible to hit the totemic climate goal of keeping warming to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, says Madeleine Cuff

Where will the warming stop?

Our efforts to cope with extreme temperatures are making them worse

Analysis Infectious diseases • Why is mpox a global emergency again so soon? Cases of mpox are rising rapidly not long after the last emergency was declared over. Carissa Wong reports on what’s going on and how the spread can be stopped

Ukraine’s nuclear question • Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear power plants brought a dangerous new dimension to warfare. What should Ukraine do as it gains the chance to turn the tables, asks Matthew Sparkes

Astrology shown to be no better than random guessing

Sunflowers work together to get enough light

Star turns its planet egg-shaped • Earth-like exoplanet might be the most extreme example yet of a world contorted by gravity

Spiders use firefly light to lure more prey into their web

Analysis Artificial intelligence • Why the T in ChatGPT is AI’s biggest breakthrough – and greatest risk Tech firms hope that feeding ever more data to their artificial intelligence models will lead to human-level skills. Behind this hope is the “transformer”, but what happens if it fails to deliver, asks Alex Wilkins

Video games are actually good for mental health

Lightning can cause turmoil far into space

Analysis Psychiatry • Is young people’s mental health really worse today than it was decades ago? Smartphones, covid-19, social media and climate change may all be affecting the mental health of children and young adults, reports Carissa Wong

Cockroaches shrug off consumer insecticides

Strange meteorites traced to their source craters on Mars

Water inside Mars

Stonehenge’s Scottish connection • We have finally identified the nearest source of the altar stone at the centre of Stonehenge – and it probably came all the way from Scotland, says Michael Le Page

1 in 5 people in a coma may actually be aware of their surroundings

Wild crocodiles trained to stop eating deadly toads

That shrinking feeling • Our ability to exert conscious control over our family sizes is unique – and can be transformational, says Christopher Wills

Field notes from space-time • Look to the stars After 25 years in orbit, the Chandra space telescope is under threat. We need to protect this monument to human ingenuity, argues Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Time for dinner • BMC Ecology and Evolution & BMC Zoology

Earth’s true nature • The Gaia hypothesis – that our planet is a living entity – is well known. But a dramatic twist to the story could help save the world, finds Kat Austen

Family viewing • David Attenborough adds authority to a film about a family of endangered orangutans in Sumatra, says Jon O’Brien

New Scientist recommends

The TV column • Playing war games An unusual documentary follows US politicians and former generals as they react to a simulated attempted coup after a disputed election. It is fascinating – but leaves many...