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
Beyond the pandemic • Building back from covid-19 is an opportunity to address social inequities
New Scientist
Amateurs in orbit • The first mission without any professional astronauts marks the start of a new period for space tourism, reports Leah Crane
Rare genetic variants at work in centenarians
Emissions from Australian wildfires mostly captured by algal blooms
Army ants store temporary caches when raiding nests
Warming could shift jet stream with danger for Europe
Coronavirus • Is delta a bigger threat to children? Reports that the variant is more likely to see young people admitted to hospital don’t mean the virus has become deadlier, says Clare Wilson
Jagged pupils give away computer-generated faces
Improving even tiny green spaces boosts urban wildlife
Northern sea meadows • Newly discovered ecosystem is threatened by deep-sea fishing
US robot ship fires large missile for first time
The changing coronavirus • UK efforts to track the virus’s evolution and the emergence of new variants have been vital, Sharon Peacock tells Michael Le Page
Chemistry reveals if a star has eaten its own planets
Mounds of animal faeces reveal lost Arabian oasis
Bitcoin versus central banks • As some countries move to accept bitcoin as official currency, other nations are likely to develop alternatives, says Matthew Sparkes
Scorpions have a stinging tail before they can use it
Field notes Strait of Gibraltar • Why have orcas started ramming boats? Researchers, sailors and local authorities are scrambling to understand some concerning orca behaviour, reports Aimee Gabay
Black holes just got weirder thanks to quantum pressure
Sea fireflies adapted threatening glow to attract mates
Giant terrorised ancient seas • At a time when almost all life was tiny, Titanokorys would have loomed large
Almost no one encrypts emails because it is a hassle
New sign that polar bears suffer in a warming world
Kakapo parrots see off bad genes
Plastic muscles power wooden arm
Really brief
Ancient primate had tooth decay like us
Injection of genetic material could be a way to beat cancer
Frog froth could be used to treat burns
Contagion culture • The new social norm of isolating when ill with covid-19 should apply to other infectious diseases such as flu, says Jonathan Goodman
Field notes from space-time • Into the unknown We like to think that science can give us definitive answers to our questions, but uncertainty is a crucial part of the scientific process, writes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Coiled spines
Editor’s pick
Eyes wide open • A very personal portrayal of the visual world may just make you reconsider how you see things, finds Elle Hunt
Search for meaning • A book charting the history of indexing will take you from 13th-century cloisters to Silicon Valley, finds Simon Ings
Don’t miss
The answers within • In Karmalink, a young boy uses nanotechnology to decipher the clues in his dreams. It’s an original but uneven sci-fi drama, says Davide Abbatescianni
Generation Covid • This pandemic is a generation-defining moment. What will it mean for those coming of age in its grasp, asks Bobby Duffy
The climate...