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.
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Our complex history • New fossil finds tell us we’re far from understanding how modern humans evolved
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Delta to dominate world • This surging variant of the coronavirus is on course to outcompete all the other versions of the virus globally, reports Adam Vaughan
More tangles in our human story • Two newly unveiled human fossil discoveries suggest we still haven’t unravelled all the twists and turns in our family tree, find Alison George and Michael Marshall
The neurological impact of covid-19 • Changes to consciousness, cognition and behaviour can result from even mild cases
Plan to dump iron in the oceans to capture carbon
Covid-19 vaccines and periods • Is there a real link between covid-19 vaccination and changes to menstrual cycles? Chrissie Giles investigates
Jupiter’s strange atmosphere was born in shadows
Liver dialysis is one step closer • A new form of a treatment for liver failure has shown promise in a small trial
AI could help to clear up fingerprint mysteries
Captive meerkats don’t put as much effort into social niceties
Rare supernova may reveal make-up of Milky Way’s halo
UK ship hit by GPS spoof • The location of HMS Defender appeared to have been altered
Birds’ bright feathers become dull after wildfires
AIs don’t understand simple physics • People can predict how objects interact as they roll and collide, but AIs struggle to do so
Magnetic vision could help migrating birds navigate
Unsinkable metal films can ‘jump’ out of water
Clouds on Venus don’t have enough water to support life
Far-flung galaxies give us a date for when cosmos lit up
ETs may have beady eyes on us right now
Injectable device could tackle pain
Really brief
Mars crater ripe for life for million years
Dinos may have braved cold to live in the Arctic year round
Ethnic disparities in early dementia signs
A new era for stargazing • We haven’t found proof of life on other planets, but a wave of new telescopes will give us the best chance yet, says Chima McGruder
No planet B • The climate after the pandemic As well-vaccinated countries see a path back to normality, the hoped-for greener lifestyle changes seem to be slipping though our fingers, says Graham Lawton
Your letters
Surfing sharks
Tangled up in forests • Jungle connects the human story with tropical forests, from their origins to their current perilous conditions, says Michael Marshall
A plastic revolution • Bakelite was a breakthrough material when invented in 1907. A documentary hints at its costs, says Katie Smith-Wong
Don’t miss
The sci-fi column • Into the wilds Becky Chambers, the award-winning author of the Wayfarers series, builds a different world in her latest book A Psalm for the Wild-Built. But it shares the same warm optimism, finds Jacob Aron
The seven ages of you • No single stage is the prime of life, as each decade brings new strengths. The trick is to identify them, says David Robson
Engineering immunity • Antibodies are a vital weapon in our immune system’s arsenal. Now we can redesign them from scratch to better fight disease, says immunologist Daniel M. Davis
Is the Higgs boson hiding something? • Almost a decade...