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.

Elsewhere on New Scientist

Power up • The technology to create a greener, safer future exists – we need the will to use it

New Scientist

Infection surge in Tokyo • Japan has extended emergency measures as covid-19 cases spike during the Olympic games, reports Matthew Sparkes

Svalbard warming is a warning • Rapid warming on an Arctic archipelago provides a glimpse into the future for other parts of the globe that are changing more slowly, reports Adam Vaughan

What to expect from the IPCC report

Chinese vaccines get boosted • Many countries are using other jabs to improve the efficacy of the Sinovac or Sinopharm ones

Black holes with magnetic field ‘hair’ shed it in hot plasma

Tiny bendy camera can produce three-dimensional images

Myocarditis more likely after infection than vaccination

Comet’s dust trail could rain down on Venus in December

AI cracks mystery of ancient deaths • Jumble of bones reveals how waves of animals perished millions of years ago

Secret messages can be hidden in whale or dolphin chatter

Direct action at sea • Activist groups such as Greenpeace are policing marine protected areas where they say the UK government is failing to, finds Adam Vaughan

Single-celled organism has evolved a natural mechanical computer

Iconic spacecraft may still be flying around the moon

QAnon conspiracy theory posts appear to be written by more than one person

Keep up with the Joneses with a handy algorithm

Oldest ever animal fossils discovered • 890-million-year-old rocks contain the remains of ancient sponges

Caffeine in nectar gets bees buzzing for certain blooms

We’ve glimpsed a black hole’s behind

Fish lets others woo mate then muscles in

Really brief

Ancient humans met migrating wild dogs

Living cheek by jowl is linked to loneliness and isolation

We’re more likely to cheat multiple victims

Leapfrogging fossil fuels • As energy access improves in low-income countries, there is an opportunity to go straight to clean technologies, says Jim Watson

Should social media come with a health warning? • The pandemic has provided yet more evidence that misinformation can have devastating consequences, writes Annalee Newitz

Your letters

Nectar hunters

How injustice sickens • From polluted air to police brutality, a bad environment makes poor and marginalised people sick. Layal Liverpool explores a book pulling no punches

Learning from a robot • After Yang is a beautiful, thoughtful movie, evoking a future where humans learn from androids, finds Davide Abbatescianni

Don’t miss

The sci-fi column • Red Planet blues Think you have seen every possible take on Mars exploration? How to Mars plays this age-old premise for laughs in a novel that is based on an extraordinary real-life plan, says Clare Wilson

A new energy world

FOUR ENERGY FUTURES

ENERGY: A STATUS REPORT • The primary cause of climate change is our release of greenhouse gases through burning fossil fuels that were buried underground for hundreds of millions of years. Creating a sustainable energy future requires most of our energy demand to be covered by electricity derived from clean, renewable sources such as solar and wind – a huge undertaking, given where we are...