New Scientist Feed

Researchers wanting to make use of locusts’ keen sense of smell to sniff out certain chemicals have found that injecting their brains with nanoparticles seems to make odour identification more reliable

The global average temperature in January 2024 was 1.7°C above pre-industrial levels for the month, meaning the planet has breached the 1.5°C benchmark for the past 12 months

A type of distant planet long thought to have water oceans on its surface may be too hot for liquid water, and magma oceans might be more likely

Nanoparticles designed to release antibiotics deep inside the lungs reduced inflammation and improved lung function in mice with symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon

According to data from Caribbean sponges, the world passed 1.5°C of warming a decade ago, but debating these arbitrary limits distracts from the bigger picture

February is a good time to spot two stunning constellations, both of which are named after figures from Greek mythology, says Abigail Beall

Mahalia Belo’s debut feature film, based on Megan Hunter’s story of how a new mother and baby survive in a seriously flooded London, allows room for more sensitivity than most climate movies

These stunning images are finalists in the World of Fungi category in the International Garden Photographer of the Year contest

In 1858, two ornithologists set out to find the great auk. Gísli Pálsson's intriguing account of their failed quest argues it may have shaped modern ideas about extinction and conservation

For most of humanity’s existence, we have observed the universe using light, but these days photons aren’t the only game in town, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Feedback is excited to learn that the wrinkly rodents may be the keepers of anti-ageing intelligence

Hybrid working has its benefits, but employees will be happier and more productive with more face-to-face contact, says evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar

The compelling story of how Jacqueline Alnes fell under the spell of “fruit-only” diet influencers as she battled a mystery illness highlights how modern life makes us all vulnerable

A group of more than a dozen orcas has disappeared after being trapped in freezing Japanese waters for about a day – it isn’t known if they escaped or have died

Close measurements of Mimas’s orbit suggest there could be an ocean 30 kilometres deep beneath the small moon’s icy exterior

Physicists’ search for a theory that explains all reality in one framework appeared to have stalled. But now they are reinvigorating the hunt by exploring a wild landscape of abstract geometry

A subspecies of the Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard was found by a landmine clearance team, the first official sighting since 1931

In space, growing plants could be important for food, oxygen and even astronauts' psychological well-being – but growing anything beyond Earth is more difficult than it might seem

A Chinese company is building wind turbines with 131-metre-long blades, the longest ever used in an onshore power plant