Walking 3000 steps a day seems to slow Alzheimer’s-related decline
Alzheimer’s-related cognitive decline could be slowed by taking as few as 3000 steps a day, possibly due to the effects of regular exercise on brain health ⌘ Read more

Antarctic glacier’s alarming retreat is the fastest ever seen
Hektoria glacier on the Antarctic Peninsula retreated 25 kilometres in just 15 months. Its rapid melt could have implications for other glaciers and the rate of sea level rise ⌘ Read more

Does the family tree of ancient humans need a drastic rewrite?
Anthropologist Christopher Bae has recently suggested we add two new species of ancient human to our family tree. The plans break the conventions for how species should be named – but Bae argues the rules themselves are flawed ⌘ Read more

SpaceX’s Starlink and other satellites face growing threat from sun
There are now over 10,000 satellites in orbit, more than at any point in history, and this growing number is starting to reveal how solar storms could disrupt internet mega constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink ⌘ Read more

Our bodies are ageing faster than ever. Can we hit the brakes?
All over the world people are ageing more rapidly and succumbing to diseases that typically affected the elderly. But there are ways to turn back the clock on your biological age ⌘ Read more

We may have found a surprisingly nearby cluster of primordial stars
The very first generation of stars, called Population III stars, are mostly expected to be too distant to see directly – but astronomers may have found some for the very first time ⌘ Read more

Orcas are ganging up on great white sharks to eat their livers
For the first time, video footage has captured orcas in the Gulf of California hunting young great white sharks, using a trick to flip them over, paralise them and get at their energy-rich livers ⌘ Read more

Quantum computers reveal that the wave function is a real thing
The uncertainty inherent to quantum mechanics has long left physicists wondering whether the observations we make on the quantum level reflect reality - a new test suggests they do ⌘ Read more

Denisovans may have interbred with mysterious group of ancient humans
We now have only the second high-quality genome from an ancient Denisovan human, which reveals there were more populations of this species than we thought ⌘ Read more

Bulletproof fabric laced with carbon nanotubes is stronger than Kevlar
A sheet of fabric that is three times stronger than Kevlar could stop a bullet despite being just 1.8 millimetres thick, thanks to the addition of carbon nanotubes that keep its molecules aligned ⌘ Read more

Your flight emissions are way higher than carbon calculators suggest
Existing tools that work out the carbon footprint of flights greatly underestimate their warming impact, say the makers of a new calculator ⌘ Read more

The gut microbiome may play a role in shaping our personality
Rats given a faecal transplant from exuberant toddlers showed more exploratory behaviour, supporting the idea that gut bacteria might affect children’s emotional development ⌘ Read more

The best new science fiction books of November 2025
From Claire North’s new novel Slow Gods to a 10th anniversary edition of a brilliant Adrian Tchaikovsky book, there’s lots to watch out for in November’s science fiction ⌘ Read more

Our verdict on Our Brains, Our Selves: A mix of praise and misgivings
The New Scientist Book Club has various issues with Masud Husain’s prize-winning popular science book about neurology ⌘ Read more

Book Club: Read an extract from Every Version of You by Grace Chan
In this passage from the opening of Grace Chan’s sci-fi novel, the November read for the New Scientist Book Club, we are introduced to her protagonists as they spend time in a virtual utopia which is becoming increasingly tempting in a dying world ⌘ Read more

If you could upload your mind to a virtual utopia, would you?
Grace Chan, author of Every Version of You, the November read for the New Scientist Book Club, explores the philosophical implications of the choices her characters make ⌘ Read more

Boy’s body was mummified and turned green by a copper coffin
The green mummified remains of a teenager buried in Italy 200 to 400 years ago have given us new insights into the preservative properties of copper ⌘ Read more

Sorry, but interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS really is a comet, not aliens
Interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS are exciting, but there is no reason to claim that they are evidence of alien spacecraft – sometimes a comet is just comet, says Robin George Andrews ⌘ Read more

Magnetic gel could remove kidney stones more effectively
Standard techniques for removing kidney stones often require repeated surgery, but a magnetic gel seems to make the process more efficient ⌘ Read more

The US is unlikely to test nuclear weapons, despite what Trump says
President Donald Trump appears to have ordered a return to nuclear testing after decades of uneasy but effective treaties banning the practice – but will it actually happen? ⌘ Read more

Dinosaur skeleton settles long debate over ‘tiny T. rex’ fossils
Palaeontologists have argued for decades over whether certain fossils are young Tyrannosaurus rex or another species entirely – now they have strong evidence that the diminutive Nanotyrannus really existed ⌘ Read more

Germanium superconductor could help build reliable quantum computers
A new type of germanium superconductor could allow classical and quantum chips to be built into one device, creating better and more reliable quantum computers. ⌘ Read more

Stem cell therapy lowers risk of heart failure after a heart attack
People who receive stem cell therapy within a week of their first heart attack have nearly a 60 per cent lower risk of developing heart failure years later ⌘ Read more

A tiny nearby galaxy is home to a shockingly enormous black hole
One of the Milky Way’s smallest galactic neighbours seems to have a supermassive black hole at its centre, upending assumptions that it was dominated by dark matter ⌘ Read more

Prehistoric crayons provide clues to how Neanderthals created art
Ochre artefacts found in Crimea show signs of having been used for drawing, adding to evidence that Neanderthals used pigments in symbolic ways ⌘ Read more

‘Most of it is good’: Tim Berners-Lee on the state of the web now
The man who invented the web is aware of the many issues it faces, from problematic social media use to the rise of unfettered AI. He also has a plan to remedy the situation ⌘ Read more

Analogue computers could train AI 1000 times faster and cut energy use
Computers built with analogue circuits promise huge speed and efficiency gains over ordinary computers, but normally at the cost of accuracy. Now, an analogue computer designed to carry out calculations that are key to AI training could fix that ⌘ Read more

Can’t focus after a bad’s night sleep? Your dirty brain is to blame
During sleep, your brain cleans itself by flushing through cerebrospinal fluid to prevent damage to brain cells. If you’re lacking in sleep, this happens when you are awake - and seems to cause momentary lapses in attention ⌘ Read more

Quantum-inspired algorithm could help reveal hidden cosmic objects
Combining a quantum-inspired algorithm and quantum information processing technologies could enable researchers to measure masses of cosmic objects that bend light almost imperceptibly ⌘ Read more

US public health system is flying blind after major cuts
The Trump administration has laid off government workers integral to major public health surveys, meaning the country will lack crucial information on births, deaths and illnesses nationwide ⌘ Read more

Hurricane Melissa is being fuelled by exceptional ocean heat
The monster hurricane pummelling Jamaica is powered by abnormal sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean, which were made at least 500 times more likely by global warming ⌘ Read more

Men may have to exercise more than women to get same heart benefits
Among over-50s, women seem to require less exercise than men to get the same reduction in heart disease risk, suggesting health guidelines need to be updated ⌘ Read more

No space, no time, no particles: A radical vision of quantum reality
If we admit that quantum numbers are the true essence of reality – not particles, space or time – then a surprising and beautiful new vision of reality opens up to us ⌘ Read more

Why zero is the most important number in all of mathematics
It took a long time for zero to be recognised as a number at all, let alone one of the most powerful ones – but now it’s clear that every number is made up of zeroes, says Jacob Aron ⌘ Read more

Unpicking the genetics of fibromyalgia sheds new light on its causes
Fibromyalgia, which causes chronic pain all over the body, is poorly understood, but two studies – made up of millions of participants – are helping us get to the roots of the condition ⌘ Read more

Teenager builds advanced robot hand entirely from Lego pieces
A four-fingered robotic hand built from Lego Mindstorms pieces can push, pull and grip with almost as much force as a leading 3D-printed hand ⌘ Read more

We may finally know why birds sing at dawn
Birds all over the world break into a dawn chorus every morning – now experiments in zebra finches suggest both a mechanistic and a functional explanation for this phenomenon ⌘ Read more

Testosterone helps libido in menopause – can it treat other symptoms?
A growing body of research suggests testosterone replacement therapy can alleviate menopausal symptoms such as a decrease in libido, mood swings and brain fog. But some in the field are sceptical ⌘ Read more

Civet coffee: The real chemistry behind this bizarre luxury drink
Scientists are finding out how coffee beans are transformed when they pass through the guts of Asian palm civets in the hope of replicating the process without using animals ⌘ Read more

The Martian permafrost may be hiding veins of habitable liquid water
Buried underground near the surface, frozen regions of Mars could have tiny hidden channels full of liquid water, which could be a habitable environment for microscopic organisms ⌘ Read more

Cloud microbes’ colours could help us detect life on other planets
Microbes high in Earth’s stratosphere produce pigments to protect them from UV light – so similar molecules could be biosignatures of life elsewhere in the galaxy ⌘ Read more

Solar energy is going to power the world much sooner than you think
Solar electricity is growing rapidly, but can it really dominate the global energy system? Here is what it will take for us to power the planet on sunshine ⌘ Read more

Tweaked lithium-ion battery can be pierced without catching fire
Lithium-ion batteries are prone to catching fire when damaged, but a simple change of electrolyte material can put a stop to the vicious chemical cycle that causes the problem ⌘ Read more

‘Weaponised’ CAR T-cell therapy shows promise against solid tumours
So far, immune cells that have been engineered to kill cancers, known as CAR T-cells, haven’t worked well against solid cancers - but a study in mice suggests that could soon change ⌘ Read more

Wegovy has heart health benefits even if weight loss is minimal
Studies have suggested that Wegovy directly boosts heart health, beyond just the benefits of losing weight, and now that has been demonstrated in a robust trial in people ⌘ Read more

Serum promotes hair growth by mimicking the effects of skin irritation
Skin irritation, such as through eczema, promotes hair growth in mice, which prompted scientists to create a treatment that works via similar pathways, with no discomfort required ⌘ Read more

What 350 different theories of consciousness reveal about reality
There are hundreds of coherent theories attempting to explain the origins of experience. Robert Lawrence Kuhn explores what they reveal about free will, artificial intelligence and life after death ⌘ Read more

Google says its quantum computer can reveal the structure of molecules
A new quantum computing protocol may be able to augment a standard technique for understanding molecules in chemistry, biomedicine and materials science ⌘ Read more

Gene-edited pigs resistant to swine fever could boost animal welfare
Classical swine fever reduces productivity and harms animal welfare, but pigs have now been genetically edited to make them completely resistant to the disease ⌘ Read more

Colour e-paper screen offers high-res video with low energy use
Future smartphones and other devices could have colour e-paper displays, thanks to a new technique that lets such screens display video while minimising energy usage ⌘ Read more