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.

Rising heat • Can climate change stay in the news agenda following Europe’s heatwave?

New Scientist

New twist in Homo naledi story • An analysis of the Homo naledi fossils discovered in the Rising Star caves suggests that all the individuals were female, but there is debate over what this means, says Colin Barras

Possible signs of ancient life on Mars are rich in complex carbon

Europe’s heatwave is the hottest and most humid ever

Huge crater in Australia may be the oldest impact structure on Earth

Flowering plants flourished in time of the dinosaurs

Cave artist’s hidden signature • The DNA of ancient humans has been collected from cave walls and rock art for the first time, offering tantalising new clues about the artists, discovers Alison George

Single gene triggers embryos • A master switch has been discovered that turns on human embryonic development, a finding that could help improve IVF success rates, reports Michael Le Page

Hidden black hole could explain mystery at the heart of our galaxy

Diving suit helps cyborg cockroaches breathe underwater

Plug-in home battery revolution • Growing numbers of homeowners are installing batteries that store electricity when it is cheap, which could help the climate and save people money, finds Alec Luhn

Some of the last Neanderthals were surprisingly genetically diverse

Tiny chip is size of a fingernail • IBM has revealed a powerful chip that packs in twice as many transistors as the current state-of-the-art by adding a second layer of silicon circuitry, reports Matthew Sparkes

Phages hijack vaccine immunity to kill cancer cells

Psilocybin helps woman with Alzheimer’s

Elite Maya people had teeth preserved far from tombs

AI deciphers ‘unreadable’ scrolls • Scrolls from the Roman library of Herculaneum that were carbonised by a volcanic eruption have been read in their entirety for the first time, reports Hayley Bennett

Space delivery system launches • Little is known about SpaceX’s Starfall system, but it is likely to be used for transporting materials made in space back down to Earth, finds Alex Wilkins

The world’s fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second

Longevity gene therapy skirts FDA approval

‘Fusogenic’ neurosurgery let paralysed pigs walk again – are humans next? • Helen Thomson finds that a new technique to re-fuse pig spinal cords is stirring controversial ideas about head transplants

Alien Earth • A new series documenting the microscopic jungle reveals how technology can give us an unprecedented view of nature from new vantage points, says Annalee Newitz

Small wonders

Three more great explorations of forensic science

Forensic science in the dock • An esteemed forensic anthropologist gives candid and unsettling insight into the criminal justice system and how it really works, finds Linda Geddes

New Scientist recommends

Connecting the dots • The year so far has produced four must-watch science-fiction movies – and they all have one thing in common, says Bethan Ackerley

Your letters

How we became the sleepless ape • Humans’ unusual and daring sleep habits could be the secret to our success, says David Samson

Should we ‘palaeo sleep’?

Antarctica’s doomsday glacier • Thwaites glacier is collapsing, with huge consequences...