Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
The proposed change to how the National Institutes of Health handles grant applications has been criticized by scientists as reducing transparency
Microplastics interact with water to create highly reactive molecules, a new study finds
As AI churns out mathematical proofs, a DeepMind study raises a bigger question: What do we lose when we focus only on the answers?
From ice groaning to a very noisy troop of monkeys, Wilderness Songs by Justin Anderson shows some of the best nature stories are told through soundscapes as well as words ā with added QR codes, finds Dhruti Shah
When There Are Wolves Again by E. J. Swift somehow delivers both a determined call for more wildernesses globally ā and a great novel. Sci-fi columnist Emily H. Wilson is thrilled she gave it another chance
Why do humans enjoy black-and-white photos or videos, but have less tolerance for images that have only two other colours? If two chromosomes are better than one, why not three?
Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images El NiƱo brings weather of opposite extremes ā floods, droughts, cyclones, wildfires ā to opposite sides of the planet. But we often forget that most of this extreme weather is highly predictable.For example, all eight strong El NiƱos in the past 70 years have caused drought in Indonesia. All major models predict the current record El NiƱo will lead to a dry autumn and winter there. So itās little surprise that Indonesia is struggling with worsening drought and wildfires. Similarly predictable effects will be seen worldwide over the next year. Because of this predictability, some experts argue that there are no ānaturalā disasters. With enough pr...
Dr Kandi Ejiofor (right) and epidemiologist Tim Spector unpack the risks in modern diets on the Mind and Body StageAlistair Veryard The hall hummed with joyous curiosity at this yearās New Scientist Live at Excel London, which ran from 10 to 12 October and attracted thousands of visitors of all ages. With topics including the search for extraterrestrial life, what AI is teaching us about consciousness and the maths behind PokĆ©mon, there was a delightful range to explore. Highlights included physicist Jim Al-Khalili diving into the deepest mysteries of time and psychologist Kimberley Wilson on how to build lifelong brain health. Other packed talks ranged from how we evolved, from anthropologi...
Tom Gauld
Twisted Doodles
Researchers say they've developed a simple mathematical formula that can predict when certain ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots will "go rogue," suddenly switching from helpful responses to potentially harmful ones. In a new study published Oct. 8 in the journal Patterns, physics professor Neil Johnson and doctoral student Frank Yingjie Huo, both at The George Washington University, show how the order in which a chatbot is given certain prompts can drastically reshape its answers, leading to "tipping points" that can send the chatbot down a rabbit hole of bad advice. However, Johnson and Huo say their formula can easily predict these tipping points.There have been horror sto...
Fish meal is a commercial, protein-rich product created from raw fish and their byproducts, such as the heads and bones. It tends to be made from smaller fish species, including anchovies, sardines and herring. The fish are cooked, dried and ground into a powder, and then used to feed livestock, farmed fish and pets. But it is not a straightforward market. In this excerpt from "Every Last Fish: A Deep Dive into the World of Fishes and Fishing" (Granta Books, 2025), journalist and author Rose George looks at how vast quantities of staple fish are taken from the sea off West Africa and turned into fishmeal for farming in Europe and China, instead of ending up on the plates of people in Africa....