New Scientist
Homo bodoensis: New ancient human species might have been identified — but not all experts agree
A new species of extinct human has been named: Homo bodoensis. The species hasn’t been identified based on new fossils, ...
UK relaxing restrictions on testing CRISPR gene-edited crops
Law changes later this year will make it easier to run field trials in England on crops that are gene-edited ...
Exoplanets and alien life: Next generation orbital telescopes open windows to the universe
There are about 25 billion stars in our galaxy that are just like our sun, and astronomers suspect that about ...
Food from thin air? Transforming carbon emissions into protein could clean up pollution and reduce land needed to feed billions of people
Around the world, forests are being cut down to grow protein-rich soya to feed to animals. Using solar power to ...
Viewpoint: ‘Smart pesticide use’ — Here’s a way we can protect crops while preserving beneficial insects
Currently, products are developed and marketed to kill pest insects immediately. This has become the goal of crop treatments, and ...
‘A woman’s blood could signal that birth is approaching’: Test in development uses biomarkers to predict delivery date
At the moment, women are given a due date that is 40 weeks from the first day of their last ...
‘Lucy the Human Chimp’: Meet the chimpanzee raised with people and Janice, her caretaker, who tried to integrate her back into the wild
Lucy the Human Chimp, a new television documentary from HBO and Channel 4, explores... the story of one unique relationship: ...
Nature’s mistake? Meet the ‘world’s ugliest orchid’
[A new species], Gastrodia agnicellus, was discovered earlier this year in the deep shade underneath leaves on the forest floor in Madagascar ...
Has a less deadly version of COVID evolved in Europe?
In England, the proportion of people infected by the coronavirus who later died was certainly lower in early August than ...
Video: How to boost your immune system to guard against COVID and other illnesses
Scientists have recently developed ways to measure your immune age. Fortunately, it turns out your immune age can go down ...
Elon Musk unveils Neuralink brain implant in live pigs that could lead to integrating computers into humans
In an announcement on 28 August, Neuralink unveiled prototypes of its device and showed off pigs with the devices implanted ...
12 lifestyle changes to cut risk from dementia
[A major] review identified the biggest known risk factors for dementia as smoking, excess alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, head injury, depression, hearing loss and exposure to air ...
CRISPR provides ‘functional cure’ for patients with beta thalassemia, sickle cell disease, preliminary study shows
Result of this ongoing trial, which is the first to use CRISPR to treat inherited genetic disorders, were announced [June ...
Facing the coronavirus and uncertainty: Why do some of us shrug it off, while others hoard toilet paper?
MANY people seem to be dealing with the recent coronavirus outbreak in one of two ways: by panicking or shrugging ...
Coronavirus mystery: Why aren’t there more cases in Africa?
Experts still don’t know why so few cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in Africa, despite China – ...
Extraterrestrial protein found inside meteorite? If true, discovery bolsters pursuit of alien life
A team of researchers claim to have found a protein inside a meteorite. It would be the first protein ever ...
Do you want to live or die? ‘Mind reading’ could help patients with severe brain injuries answer the question
When a person sustains a severe brain injury that leaves them unable to communicate, their families and doctors often have ...
Human brains have more in common with our ‘ape cousins’ than previously thought
Our brains could have more in common with our ape cousins than previously thought, which might require us to rethink ...
‘It’s the wild west out there’: Courts frequently use controversial psychological tests
A third of the psychological tests used in US court proceedings aren’t generally accepted by experts in the field, a ...
Ancient mummy ‘speaks’ with reconstructed vocal tract
David Howard at Royal Holloway, University of London, and his colleagues have reconstructed the vocal tract of Nesyamun, a priest ...
Your dog may be paying closer attention to your words than you realize
Dogs pay much closer attention to what humans say than we realised, even to words that are probably meaningless to ...
Genetic sequencing for everyone? UK trial program challenged as ‘ethically questionable’
Plans for the National Health Service to sequence the DNA of every baby born in the UK, starting with a ...
Does marijuana help with depression and anxiety? This study finds scant evidence to support growing claims
A major study has found little evidence that cannabis helps with depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions, despite growing ...
Early intervention: Sequencing fetal DNA could identify genetic disorders
A new test allows doctors to diagnose genetic disorders in fetuses early in pregnancy by sequencing small amounts of fetal ...
Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess really did die in Spandau prison, DNA test confirms
It is one of the greatest remaining conspiracy theories of the second world war. In May 1941, Adolf Hitler’s deputy führer, Rudolf Hess, ...
Up to 270 of 450,000 British women who missed breast cancer screens because of computer error died…or maybe not
It was announced...that, between 2009 and 2018, a computer error meant that 450,000 women aged around 70 in the UK were ...
Can ‘G-spotplasty’ surgery boost sexual satisfaction in women?
Three women have received a surgery intended to improve G-spot sensitivity and increase sexual satisfaction. The procedure tightens tissue in ...
