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The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

Shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards, this image by photographer Sebastian Di Domenico was taken in Columbia

Feedback is prompted by readers to investigate the size of the shed in the term 'shedload', and gets down and dirty with particle physics in the quest

We shouldn't dismiss flowers as merely ornamental – these blooms are world-changers, argues a vivid new book by David George Haskell. Michael Marshall is mostly convinced

A duo of drugs that boosts our glympathic system, which clears waste from our brain, also improves the removal of proteins associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease

The remains of dogs from more than 14,000 years ago have been found in Turkey and the UK, revealing that domesticated animals were spread across Europe by hunter-gatherers

The same principles that help astronauts stay strong in microgravity can help us all resist the slow collapse of ageing – and it’s not all about hitting the gym more

A 20-year study has shown that, like photocopying photocopies, cloning doesn't produce perfect copies – with big implications for farming, conservation and de-extinction

Researchers have re-analysed a set of elephant bones and a wooden spear found in Germany in 1948, which provide compelling evidence of Neanderthals' big game hunting abilities

Researchers have re-analysed a set of elephant bones and a wooden spear found in Germany in 1948, which provide compelling evidence of Neanderthals' big game hunting abilities

Fifty years ago, Richard Dawkins shared an irresistible scientific metaphor with the world that modernised and democratised evolutionary biology. Half a century on, The Selfish Gene remains powerfully insightful, finds Rowan Hooper

A start-up has worked out how to preserve the brain after death – paving the way for immortality in a distant future. But beginning to reckon with this reality yields serious practical and philosophical questions

One in 10 homes tested in the UK, Italy and the Netherlands have dangerous levels of benzene because of slow leaks from gas hobs and ovens

Our solar system’s rocky planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – may have formed from two rings around the young sun, rather than a single disc

Infections are increasingly being linked to a higher risk of dementia. In the latest research, scientists have found that being treated in hospital for a severe infection seems to raise the risk of developing the condition over the next five to six years

We've always thought that Tyrannosaurus rex was an unchallenged apex predator during the dying days of the dinosaurs. But a fresh look at controversial fossils has prompted palaeontology’s biggest-ever U-turn

CERN is working on building an antimatter delivery service. The project passed a big test by successfully transporting 92 antiprotons around a 4-kilometre loop of road

Physicists are grappling with how the increasing presence of AI will change the nature of their profession

As the science fiction author publishes the latest novel in his Children of Time series, Children of Strife, he talks to Alison Flood about mantis shrimp, the pleasures of sci-fi and why empathy is so important in his writing

Are we evolving to be more stupid? Humans have a relatively high genetic mutation rate, which has been thought to be driving down our physical and mental fitness – but columnist Michael Le Page finds these mutations aren’t the health risk some make them out to be