Pressure From Individual Particles Measured for the First Time
Researchers at Yale have built an optical‑trap sensor that suspends a 100‑nanometre silica bead in a laser beam, allowing them to measure the pressure exerted by a single particle for the first time. The device detects forces at the femto‑newton scale, far below the limits of conventional pressure gauges. By resolving individual particle impacts, the sensor promises to improve experiments conducted in ultra‑high vacuum and to aid searches for elusive particles such as dark‑matter candidates or sterile neutrinos. The breakthrough demonstrates a new level of precision in nanomechanical metrology.
What to Read This Week: The Excellent Beyond Belief by Helen Pearson
Helen Pearson’s new book *Beyond Belief* makes the case for evidence‑based policy, showing how experiments and systematic reviews can improve outcomes in development, policing and corporate management. The reviewer praises its readable, punchy style that turns a typically dry subject...
Extinct Relative of Koalas Discovered in Western Australia
Researchers at the Western Australian Museum have identified a second extinct koala species, *Phascolarctos sulcomaxillaris*, from fossils dated 137,000 to 31,000 years ago. The new species differed from the modern eastern koala in skull shape, jaw mechanics and chewing muscles,...
The 50-Year Quest to Create a Quantum Spin Liquid May Finally Be Over
Scientists have presented evidence that herbertsmithite, a mineral first isolated from the 1970s Kali Kafi mine in Iran, behaves as a quantum spin liquid—a state of matter where electron spins remain entangled and fluid at absolute zero. The finding suggests that...
Woman in Cancer Remission without Treatment in Highly Unusual Case
A woman with a connective‑tissue tumor in her arm entered remission without any conventional treatment after a diagnostic biopsy appears to have sparked an immune attack on the cancer. The case is one of only nine documented instances where a...
The Problem of Cosmic Inflation and How to Solve It
Leah Crane’s New Scientist piece revisits cosmic inflation, the theory that the universe expanded by roughly 10³⁰ times in the first 10⁻³⁶ seconds after the Big Bang before stopping abruptly. While inflation elegantly resolves the horizon, flatness and monopole problems of classic...
Man Destined to Get Alzheimer’s Saved by Accidental Heat Therapy
Doug Whitney, who carries the high‑risk Presenilin 2 mutation that typically triggers early‑onset Alzheimer’s in the late 40s, has remained symptom‑free into his 50s. Researchers suspect his prolonged exposure to extreme heat while working as a ship‑engine mechanic provided an accidental...
2026 Will Be the Hottest Year on Record, Leading Scientist Predicts
Leading climate scientist predicts 2026 will become the hottest year on record, surpassing the 2024 benchmark of 1.5 °C above pre‑industrial levels, driven by accelerating anthropogenic warming and an anticipated strong El Niño. The El Niño is expected to develop in the second...
NHS England Rushes to Hide Software over AI Hacking Fears
The National Health Service in England is pulling all of its publicly funded software from GitHub and other open‑source platforms, citing the risk of AI‑driven hacking. New guidance mandates that every repository be private by default, with public access only...
Oak Trees Use Delaying Tactics to Thwart Hungry Caterpillars
Researchers at the University of Würzburg found that oak trees delay leaf‑bud opening by about three days after a severe caterpillar outbreak. The postponement was detected using Sentinel‑1 radar imagery over 2,400 km² of Bavarian forest between 2017 and 2021. Trees...
Will Colombia Summit Kick-Start the End of the Fossil Fuel Era?
A coalition of 57 nations convened in Santa Marta, Colombia, to create roadmaps for moving away from fossil fuels after COP30 stalled on the issue. Hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the gathering included the EU, the UK, Canada, Nigeria...
Why I Explore Our Inevitable Love for Robots in My Novel Luminous
Silvia Park’s novel *Luminous*, the May 2026 New Scientist Book Club pick, began as a children’s story but turned dark after the death of her dog. The grief sparked an exploration of how humans may bond with robot children that serve as...
Read an Extract From Luminous by Silvia Park
The excerpt from Silvia Park’s novel *Luminous* paints a near‑future Seoul where a young woman, Ruijie, battles a progressive neuro‑degenerative disease with titanium‑braced exoskeletons. She scavenges a junkyard of decommissioned war machines, including the hulking SADARM‑1000, while confronting the blurred line...
An Unorthodox Version of Quantum Theory Could Reveal What Reality Is
Physicist David Bohm’s pilot‑wave interpretation, an unorthodox take on quantum mechanics, is gaining renewed attention. The approach posits a real guiding wave that determines particle behavior, sidestepping the probabilistic collapse of the Copenhagen view. Recent experimental setups have demonstrated phenomena...
'Green' Cryptocurrency Uses 18 Times More Energy than Makers Claim
Chia Network, a cryptocurrency billed as a green alternative to Bitcoin, has been found to consume roughly 18 times more electricity than the company originally claimed. The protocol relies on proof‑of‑space‑and‑time, using idle hard‑disk capacity instead of Bitcoin’s energy‑hungry proof‑of‑work...