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

Know your limits • Why it is important to understand what we can and can’t know

New Scientist

Capturing the storm • Heavy rain in California continues to harm the state, but plans to store rainwater could help stave off drought, reports James Dinneen

AI will advise a defendant in court • An artificial intelligence is set to tell a defendant what to say during a court case over a speeding fine. It is likely to be the first case defended by an AI, reports Matthew Sparkes

First satellite launch from the UK failed to make orbit due to an ‘anomaly’

Twisted branches may explain the longevity of ancient trees

Genetic map made of the cells linked with endometriosis

AI chatbots could stagnate due to shortage of training data

Genetic adaptations to urban life found in city-slicker lizards

Slow road to gender parity • Men set to publish more papers than women for the next 100 years

Sloths grip stronger than humans and other primates

How childhood adversity may influence the adult brain and mental health

Background cooling effect of volcanoes underestimated

Quantum hack isn’t ready yet • A claim that quantum computers can break modern encryption methods has been met with cautious scepticism – but it could happen one day, finds Matthew Sparkes

Field notes Dole, France • Are robotic insect farms the future of food? A French company is hoping its dried mealworms will replace some of the meat in our diets. Alex Wilkins pays its pilot factory a visit

Communication within certain brain regions becomes faster as we age

Supernovae may create interstellar meteorites

Supersized wind turbines could bend in the breeze

Wi-Fi pings might let hackers run down your battery

Pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure in pregnancy linked to 19 gene variants

Reef fish feel knock-on effects of invasive rats

New part of our brains discovered

Penises enhanced with artificial flesh

Changes in Amazon linked to climate in far-flung areas

Really brief

Just like us? • Attributing human motivations and feelings to animals such as bees stifles scientific enquiry instead of encouraging it, says Marlene Zuk

No planet B • Don’t sweat it quite so much Ten years ago, we feared that catastrophic global warming of between 4oC and 5oC by 2100 was a real risk. Today, that is no longer plausible, says Graham Lawton

Insects in peril

Your letters

Worth paying attention to • Gloria Mark has studied distraction since 2004. Her first book is a welcome injection of evidence into the issue of declining attention spans, says Elle Hunt

A window on the past • This is a gripping look at palaeobiology, a field achieving incredible insights into ancient life on Earth, finds Simon Ings

Don’t miss

The games column • What to play in 2023 From exploring the world of The Expanse to Starfield, a sci-fi role-playing game set in the 24th century, there is much to look forward to this year. Let’s just hope there are no more delays, says Jacob Aron

The limits of knowledge

On the edge • Over the next few pages, we explore five questions that take us to the outer limits of knowledge

WHAT IS INSIDE A BLACK HOLE?

WILL WE EVER SOLVE THE LIAR PARADOX?

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A...