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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 41m

In her new book, earth scientist Anjana Khatwa writes a love letter to Earth's rocks and mountains, offering a passionate blend of science and spirituality

The Whispers of Rock is a personal journey through aeons of geology

In her new book, earth scientist Anjana Khatwa writes a love letter to Earth's rocks and mountains, offering a passionate blend of science and spirituality

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 1h

In this passage from Our Brains, Our Selves, winner of the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, neuroscientist Masud Husain recounts how novelist Marcel Proust became convinced, wrongly, that he'd had a stroke

Read an extract from Our Brains, Our Selves by Masud Husain

In this passage from Our Brains, Our Selves, winner of the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, neuroscientist Masud Husain recounts how novelist Marcel Proust became convinced, wrongly, that he'd had a stroke

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 1h

Scientists have identified five sleep profiles, each of which is linked to distinct mental health symptoms and brain activity patterns

There are five types of sleep – here's what that means for your health

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 4h

Science fiction legend Ursula K. Le Guin is honoured with a new collection out this month, and sci-fi fans can also look forward to fiction from astronaut Chris Hadfield and award-winning authors Ken Liu and Mary Robinette Kowal

The best new science fiction books of October 2025

Science fiction legend Ursula K. Le Guin is honoured with a new collection out this month, and sci-fi fans can also look forward to fiction from astronaut Chris Hadfield and award-winning authors Ken Liu and Mary Robinette Kowal

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 7h

The strong nuclear force may abruptly loosen its grip on the fundamental particles that make up matter at a special “critical point” – researchers are now getting a clearer picture of when that point is reached

Physicists are uncovering when nature’s strongest force falters

The strong nuclear force may abruptly loosen its grip on the fundamental particles that make up matter at a special “critical point” – researchers are now getting a clearer picture of when that point is reached

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 8h

Alexander Grothendieck was a titan in his field, making deep connections that fuelled a revolution in mathematics, before giving it all up and disappearing. Jacob Aron explores what his work meant

The most important mathematician you’ve (probably) never heard of

Alexander Grothendieck was a titan in his field, making deep connections that fuelled a revolution in mathematics, before giving it all up and disappearing. Jacob Aron explores what his work meant

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 8h

Older fathers are more likely to pass on disease-causing mutations to their children, due to sperm becoming increasingly selfish with age.

Selfish sperm see older fathers pass on more disease-causing mutations

Older men are more likely to pass on disease-causing mutations to their children because of the faster growth of mutant cells in the testes with age

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 9h

Autism may have subtypes that differ in their genetics and how the condition presents.

Autism may have subtypes that are genetically distinct from each other

Autism may exist in multiple forms, with the condition's genetics and signs differing according to the age at diagnosis

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 10h

The skeleton of King Richard III, which was found beneath a car park more than a decade ago, has well-preserved teeth, allowing scientists to sequence his oral microbiome

King Richard III's oral microbiome hints he had severe gum disease

The skeleton of King Richard III, which was found beneath a car park more than a decade ago, has well-preserved teeth, allowing scientists to sequence his oral microbiome

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 10h

An innovative use of skin cells could provide a route for same-sex couples or women with fertility problems to have children that both partners are genetically related to

Egg cells made with DNA from human skin fertilised in the lab

An innovative use of skin cells could provide a route for same-sex couples or women with fertility problems to have children that both partners are genetically related to

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 11h

Working memory chips just 10 atoms thick could lead to radically larger storage capacity in electronic devices like smartphones.

Memory chips just 10 atoms thick could vastly increase capacity

A memory chip just 10 atoms thick has been tested in a lab and integrated into conventional chips, demonstrating a technology that could improve the capacity of our devices

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 11h

The world, the universe and us is LIVE 🚨

@rowhoop.bsky.social, @pennysarchet.bsky.social and the team on:

🐒 How Jane Goodall changed the world
🌌 How the universe ends
🧬 How “selfish sperm” affect male fertility

podfollow.com/the-world-th...

The world, the universe and us

From the evolution of intelligent life, to the mysteries of consciousness; from the threat of the climate crisis to the search for dark matter, The world, the universe and us is your essential weekly ...

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 11h

A hair-growth serum based on plant extracts has noticeable results in less than two months.

Serum based on plant extracts boosts hair growth in weeks

Applying a daily serum that contains extracts of a tropical plant improved hair density and strand thickness in just 56 days

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 12h

A drug derived from cannabis eases chronic lower back pain without serious side effects or signs of addiction.

Cannabis extract found to be effective for lower back pain

A clinical trial has found that VER-01, a drug derived from cannabis, eases chronic lower back pain without serious side effects or signs of addiction

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 12h

Almost 200 engravings created around 12,000 years ago have been discovered in Saudi Arabia, including depictions of camels etched into cliff faces over 40 metres high

Ancient artists created giant camel engravings in the Arabian desert

Almost 200 engravings created around 12,000 years ago have been discovered in Saudi Arabia, including depictions of camels etched into cliff faces over 40 metres high

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 13h

Just because a food is ultra-processed doesn’t mean it is unhealthy. Regulation and eating advice must reflect this, say Julia Belluz and Kevin Hall, co-authors of Food Intelligence: The science of how food both nourishes and harms us

Why not all ultra-processed foods are bad for you

Just because a food is ultra-processed doesn’t mean it is unhealthy. Regulation and eating advice must reflect this, say Julia Belluz and Kevin Hall, co-authors of Food Intelligence: The science of how food both nourishes and harms us

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 13h

For decades, forest, grasslands and other land ecosystems have collectively absorbed up to a third of the carbon dioxide we emit each year - but this climate buffer may be collapsing far sooner than anyone expected.

One of Earth’s most vital carbon sinks is faltering. Can we save it?

For decades, forest, grasslands and other land ecosystems have collectively absorbed up to a third of the carbon dioxide we emit each year - but this climate buffer may be collapsing far sooner than anyone expected

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 14h

In swamps and marshes, people occasionally see mysterious blue-tinged flashes of light above water, which have commonly been associated with ghosts or spirits. Now physicists may have finally worked out what causes them.

We may finally know what causes will-o’-the-wisps

Mysterious flashes of light seen in swamps and bogs could be caused by burning methane or other gases, ignited by sparks that fly between bubbles in water

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 14h

Learning to play an instrument has long been linked to improved reading skills among children, and we may finally understand why

How playing a musical instrument helps children learn to read

Learning to play an instrument has long been linked to improved reading skills among children, and we may finally understand why

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 15h

Work on medical uses of mind-altering substances was sidelined for decades by the political backlash against drugs, a misstep that has echoes in today’s intolerance of some fields of study

Why abandoning psychedelic research in the 1970s was a blow to science

Work on medical uses of mind-altering substances was sidelined for decades by the political backlash against drugs, a misstep that has echoes in today’s intolerance of some fields of study

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 15h

A timeline of genetic changes in millions of years of human evolution suggests advances in cognitive abilities may have led to our vulnerability to mental illness.

Evolution of intelligence in our ancestors may have come at a cost

By tracing when variations in the human genome first appeared, researchers have found that advances in cognitive abilities may have led to our vulnerability to mental illness

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 16h

Can you escape your genetic inheritance, and do lifestyle changes actually make a difference? Daniel Cossins set out to understand what the evidence on Alzheimer’s really means for him.

What’s my Alzheimer’s risk, and can I really do anything to change it?

Can you escape your genetic inheritance, and do lifestyle changes actually make a difference? Daniel Cossins set out to understand what the evidence on Alzheimer’s really means for him

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 16h

Types of therapy may ease irritable bowel syndrome more effectively than existing go-to treatments.

Therapy may be the most effective way to ease irritable bowel syndrome

People with irritable bowel syndrome are often only given treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy after others have failed, but research suggests this approach is more effective than we thought

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 16h

Naked mole rats live an extraordinarily long time, compared with similar animals. We're starting to understand how they do it, and whether we can use their strategies to prolong our own lives.

We've discovered another reason why naked mole rats live for so long

The longevity of naked mole rats may partly be due to them having a variant of a key protein that boosts DNA repair – a discovery that could help extend our own lives

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 17h

In most mammals, females live longer than males, but in birds the trend goes the other way . A study of over 1000 species points to possible reasons for these differences.

Evolution may explain why women live longer than men

In most mammals, females live longer than males, but in birds the trend goes the other way – a study of over 1000 species points to possible reasons for these differences

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