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

Salt solution • A simple addition to table salt could solve a serious public health problem

New Scientist

A gentle giant ready to attack

Time may be a quantum illusion • If nature is genuinely quantum, time may arise from the entanglement that links together quantum objects, reports Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Risk of bird flu outbreak in cows causing a human pandemic is less than feared

Ancient snake drawings are the largest known rock art in the world

Device laced with living bacteria helps treat skin disease

The beauty of chaos • Stunning image reveals the intricate structure of supersonic plasma

China’s moon lander heads back to Earth

Analysis Health • Menstruation is occurring ever earlier and we’re struggling to work out why The onset of periods is happening sooner in life for younger generations in the Western world, and there could be multiple factors behind it, says Grace Wade

Giant ancient goose weighed as much as a cow

Cleaner ship emissions may warm the planet far faster than expected

Analysis Artificial intelligence • Can Google fix its disastrous new AI search tool? For decades it has been the go- to way to find information, but now the leading search engine has told people to eat rocks. What next, asks Matthew Sparkes

Babies squeal and growl with purpose as a way to prepare for speaking

Fern has a genome 50 times larger than that of humans

Snaring crisis has no easy fixes • The widespread use of animal traps in South-East Asia is a major threat to wildlife, but snare removal programmes can only do so much, reports James Woodford

‘Unlucky’ star may be trapped in dance with black hole

Tetanus vaccine might protect against Parkinson’s disease

AIs join computer bug hunt • Tools similar to ChatGPT are able to identify errors in computer code, letting people claim rewards for finding them – but there are downsides, reports Alex Wilkins

Ancient Egyptian skull shows oldest known attempt at treating cancer

Baby chicks link sounds and shapes just like we do

Racial trauma • Race is a social construct, but racism can cause real harm to both the body and the mind, says Layal Liverpool

No planet B • Turn to the trees The burgeoning use of wood as a building material is a path to more sustainable construction, and it may have psychological benefits too, writes Graham Lawton

Devilishly scary

Are you conscious? • An impressive book challenges the idea at the heart of much AI research – that simulating consciousness is identical to the real deal, says Jonathan R. Goodman

The Amazon fights back • Activist Nemonte Nenquimo’s autobiography reads like a compelling novel, but it’s really insider anthropology, says Kate Douglas

New Scientist recommends

The sci-fi column • A tale of two halves Jurassic Park and ER made Michael Crichton a household name. When he died, he left behind a manuscript, which thriller writer James Patterson was asked to finish. Does the result, Eruption, work, asks Emily H. Wilson

Your letters

The salt fix • We have a new target in our war against dietary sodium, and this one is much more palatable, finds Graham Lawton

How to boost your potassium

The happiness trap • The idea that we should always look on the bright...