Higher proportion of patients in England now contacting GPs online, figures show
All NHS practices were required by the government to provide web bookings from October. ⌘ Read more
Airbus to inspect some planes over ‘quality issue’ with panels
The announcement comes days after a massive recall affecting thousands of the firm’s A320 fleet. ⌘ Read more
‘Carspreading’ is on the rise - and not everyone is happy about it
In the UK and across Europe, cars are becoming longer, wider and heavier. ⌘ Read more
Thames Water running out of time to secure rescue as debt swells
As it stands, Thames Water has sufficient cash to make it to the first quarter of next year. ⌘ Read more
Thames Water running out of time to secure rescue as debt swells
As it stands, Thames Water has sufficient cash to make it to the first quarter of next year. ⌘ Read more
Italian luxury giant Prada buys Versace – at a discount
The $1.38bn (£1.04bn) deal between the two Italian fashion giants is well below the roughly $2bn Versace was sold for in 2018. ⌘ Read more
Reform politician’s racist Chinese slur ‘caused a lot of hurt’
Members of Wales’ Chinese community say seeing a politician use a racist slur is “very upsetting”. ⌘ Read more
The Papers: ‘No justice’ over Hillsborough and ‘Holly’s guilt over crash’
Wednesday’s front pages focus on the Hillsborough disaster report and the fine given to TV presenter Holly Willoughby for driving without due care. ⌘ Read more
Higher proportion contacting GPs online than by phone in England
All NHS practices were required by the government to provide web bookings from October. ⌘ Read more
Airbus to inspect some planes over ‘quality issue’ with panels
The announcement comes days after a massive recall affecting thousands of the firm’s A320 fleet. ⌘ Read more
MPs warn China spy trial failures could happen again
A damning report finds a “shambolic” system could lead to future espionage cases being dropped. ⌘ Read more
Franklin the Turtle and Sabrina Carpenter in tiff with Trump administration
Trump administration officials used Carpenter’s song and Franklin the Turtle’s image in social media posts about deportation and killing drug traffickers. ⌘ Read more
Cyclone catastrophe in Sri Lanka awakens volunteer spirit
Fishing boats deliver relief supplies to flooded suburbs as community kitchens churn out food aid. ⌘ Read more
Newcastle penalty ‘absolute VAR mistake’ - Frank
Thomas Frank says awarding Newcastle a penalty after a holding incident between Dan Burn and Rodrigo Bentancur was an “absolute mistake” by VAR. ⌘ Read more
Presenter Woods ‘OK’ after collapsing on TV
Presenter Laura Woods says she is “OK” after collapsing while leading television coverage of England’s friendly against Ghana on Tuesday. ⌘ Read more
Catherine sends Christmas message of love in ‘uncertain times’
The Princess of Wales hails the importance of “time, care and compassion” given to others, ahead of her carol concert. ⌘ Read more
Chinese mega embassy could bring security advantages, says No 10
Some believe China’s mega-embassy could be a hub for espionage in the heart of London. ⌘ Read more
National Guard shooting suspect charged with murder
According to a criminal complaint, Rahmanullah Lakanwal shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he fired and was reloading when a Guard member shot him. ⌘ Read more
Jury trials scrapped for crimes with sentences of less than three years
The reforms are being brought in to tackle unprecedented delays in the Crown Court. ⌘ Read more
National Guard shooting suspect charged with murder
According to a criminal complaint, Rahmanullah Lakanwal shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he fired and was reloading when a Guard member shot him. ⌘ Read more
Ancient human artefacts found near caves in Arabian desert
Today, the deserts of the Arabian peninsula are inhospitable – but 100,000 years ago, the area was full of animals and ancient humans ⌘ Read more
‘We will never get justice,’ say Hillsborough families as report finds fundamental police failures
A report finds 12 ex-police officers would have faced gross misconduct cases over the disaster under today’s laws. ⌘ Read more
Quarter of police forces lack basic policies on sexual offences, Sarah Everard inquiry finds
The report, four years after the 33-year-old’s murder, says urgent action is needed to prevent violent, sexual attacks against women. ⌘ Read more
‘We will never get justice,’ say Hillsborough families as report finds fundamental police failures
A report finds 12 ex-police officers would have faced gross misconduct cases over the disaster under today’s laws. ⌘ Read more
Sabrina Carpenter and Franklin the Turtle in tiff with Trump administration over use of work
Trump administration officials used Carpenter’s song and Franklin the Turtle’s image in social media posts about deportation and killing drug traffickers. ⌘ Read more
Search for British hiker who went missing in Romanian mountains
George Smyth’s mother says “the thought of life without him is unbearable”. ⌘ Read more
Why quantum mechanics says the past isn’t real
The famous double-slit experiment brings into question the very nature of matter. Its cousin, the quantum eraser experiment, makes us question the very existence of time – and how much we can manipulate it ⌘ Read more
‘We will never get justice,’ say Hillsborough families as report finds fundamental police failures
A report finds 12 ex-police officers would have faced gross misconduct cases over the disaster under today’s laws. ⌘ Read more
Black hole entropy hints at a surprising truth about our universe
Two clashing ideas about disorder inside black holes now point to the same strange conclusions, and it could reshape the foundations of how we think about space and time ⌘ Read more
Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it
We knew from prior analyses that a distant asteroid sampled in 2020 carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life, and researchers have just found the missing ingredient: sugar ⌘ Read more
What would Russia’s inability to launch crewed missions mean for ISS?
Russia’s only launch site capable of sending humans to orbit has suffered serious damage that may take two years to fix. Will NASA keep supporting the ISS without Russian involvement, or is this the end for the space station? ⌘ Read more
Coral reefs have fuelled severe global warming in Earth’s past
Over the past 250 million years, periods when coral reef growth has peaked have coincided with big rises in sea temperatures ⌘ Read more
We now have a greater understanding of how exercise slows cancer
Tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to a shift in the body’s metabolism that means muscle cells outcompete cancer cells in the race to get sugar to grow ⌘ Read more
A sinister, deadly brain protein could reveal the origins of all life
We have long struggled to determine how the first living organisms on Earth came together. Now, surprising evidence hints that poorly understood prions may have been the vital missing ingredient ⌘ Read more
Man unexpectedly cured of HIV after stem cell transplant
A handful of people with HIV have been cured after receiving HIV-resistant stem cells – but a man who received non-resistant stem cells is also now HIV-free ⌘ Read more
The best new science fiction books of December 2025
From a new collection of shorter fiction by Brandon Sanderson to Simon Stålenhag’s new work, via a Stranger Things novel, December’s new sci-fi features some compelling and intriguing offerings ⌘ Read more
Was a little-known culture in Bronze Age Turkey a major power?
Archaeologists have gathered evidence from hundreds of Bronze Age sites in western Turkey that could be remnants of a civilisation that has been largely overlooked ⌘ Read more
Why Google’s custom AI chips are shaking up the tech industry
Google is reportedly in talks to sell its tensor processing units – a type of computer chip specially designed for AI – to other tech companies, a move that could unsettle the dominant chip-maker Nvidia ⌘ Read more
Upheavals to the oral microbiome in pregnancy may be behind tooth loss
Dental problems often arise or get worse during pregnancy, and a new study hints that rapid changes to the oral microbiome at this time could be at least partly to blame ⌘ Read more
Africa’s forests are now emitting more CO2 than they absorb
Logging and mining are destroying swathes of the Congo rainforest, with the result that African forests went from being a carbon sink to a carbon source in 2010 to 2017 ⌘ Read more
Plastic can be programmed to have a lifespan of days, months or years
Inspired by natural polymers like DNA, chemists have devised a way to engineer plastic so it breaks down when it is no longer needed, rather than polluting the environment ⌘ Read more
Our verdict on sci-fi novel Every Version of You: We (mostly) loved it
New Scientist Book Club members share their thoughts on our November read, Grace Chan’s Every Version of You ⌘ Read more
Read an extract from The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
The New Scientist Book Club is currently reading Iain M. Banks’s classic sci-fi novel The Player of Games. In this extract, we meet protagonist Gurgeh for the first time ⌘ Read more
Why sci-fi novelist Iain M. Banks was an ‘astounding’ world-builder
The New Scientist Book Club is currently reading the late Iain M. Banks’s Culture novel The Player of Games. Fellow science fiction author Bethany Jacobs reveals how his work inspired her ⌘ Read more
Supermassive dark matter stars may be lurking in the early universe
Stars powered by dark matter instead of nuclear fusion could solve several mysteries of the early universe, and we may have spotted the first hints that they are real ⌘ Read more
Origin story of domestic cats rewritten by genetic analysis
Domestic cats originated in North Africa and spread to Europe in the past 2000 years, according to DNA evidence, while in China a different species of cat lived alongside people much earlier ⌘ Read more
Physicists have worked out a universal law for how objects shatter
Whether it is a cube of sugar or a chunk of a mineral, a mathematical analysis can identify how many fragments of each size any brittle object will break into ⌘ Read more
Emergency response needed to prevent climate breakdown, warn experts
Scientists sounded the alarm on the dire consequences of continued inaction at a briefing in London, warning that we could be heading for “unprecedented societal and ecological collapse” ⌘ Read more
Warming and droughts led to collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation
Hotter temperatures and a series of droughts in what is now Pakistan and India fragmented one of the world’s major early civilisations, providing a “warning shot” for today ⌘ Read more
Deadly fungus makes sick frogs jump far, possibly to find mates
Chytrid fungus is a scourge to global amphibian populations, but before it kills some frogs, it can produce symptoms that may help the infected animals find mates and spread the fungus further ⌘ Read more