Walking Shark Found in Papua New Guinea Is New to Science
A new walking shark species, *Hemiscyllium dudgeonae*, has been formally identified in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. Marine biologist Christine Dudgeon first encountered the three‑quarter‑metre shark during a night dive in March 2025, and DNA analysis confirmed it is genetically distinct from the nine known congeners. The team captured 12 individuals, noting the shark’s unique spotted pattern and naming the species after Dudgeon. Researchers warn the species is likely endemic and faces severe habitat threats, making it the most endangered walking shark.
Has the Answer to Life's Origins Been Hiding in Our Cells All Along?
Researchers have identified liquid‑like droplets called biomolecular condensates—or coacervates—inside every human cell. First observed in 2009, these structures organize biochemical reactions and their malfunction is linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Recent laboratory experiments show that similar droplets can...
Inside the Start-Up Aiming for a Giant Leap in Robot Intelligence
Physical Intelligence, a San Francisco start‑up founded in 2024, is developing a robot‑brain that leverages large‑language‑model knowledge to understand natural‑language instructions and learn diverse tasks. The system has already taught robots to make coffee, fold laundry, peel vegetables and clean kitchens,...
Killer Robots Are Here – We Must Finally Decide Whether to Accept Them
Fully autonomous weapons have moved from theory to practice, with recent tests confirming drones can select and engage targets without human oversight. The technology, built on advances in AI, computer vision, and low‑cost hardware, is now affordable enough for state...
Quantum Computer Quickly Mines Cryptocurrency While Using Less Energy
Researchers at Postquant Labs have demonstrated the first successful cryptocurrency mining operation using a superconducting quantum computer. The experimental blockchain, called Quip, has been live since April and leverages quantum proof‑of‑work to validate transactions. Early results show the quantum system...
Ditching Cigarettes for Vapes May Curb the Cancer Benefits of Quitting
A new analysis of 4.5 million people finds that former smokers who switch to vaping face more than a 50 percent higher risk of dying from lung cancer compared with those who quit without e‑cigarettes. The research confirms that while vaping is...
Art and Nature Come Together in Stunning New Henry Moore Exhibition
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is hosting "Henry Moore: Monumental Nature," featuring 30 of the British sculptor's bronze works integrated into the garden’s landscapes and glasshouses. The exhibition, which runs until 31 January 2027, showcases pieces such as Large Spindle Piece,...
Sci-Fi Horror Film Backrooms Is a Triumph for Its 20-Year-Old Director
Backrooms, a sci‑fi horror film released in 2026, stems from a 2019 4chan image that sparked an internet meme. Director Kane Parsons, known online as Kane Pixels, turned his viral YouTube series into his feature debut at age 20. Backed...
Why Controversial Ideas in Science Shouldn't Always Be Dismissed
New Scientist argues that the ketogenic diet’s emerging evidence as a treatment for anorexia nervosa should be evaluated on its scientific merits, not dismissed because it aligns with controversial figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A small pilot study reported reduced anxiety and...
Hundreds of New Moons Are Revealing Our Solar System's Violent History
Astronomers have identified more than 100 previously unseen irregular moons orbiting the outer planets, dramatically expanding the known satellite population. These small, dark bodies follow highly eccentric and inclined paths, suggesting they were captured after violent collisions. The findings imply...
Fully Autonomous Drones Have Killed Human Soldiers for the First Time
For the first time, fully autonomous drones killed human combatants on the battlefield, according to a senior Ukrainian defence official. The one‑off test involved ten AI‑controlled “Terminator” quadcopter drones that flew 3‑5 km, entered a self‑targeting mode and reportedly eliminated Russian...
Half the World's Reservoirs Could Be Clogged up with Dirt by 2060
An analysis of 550,000 reservoirs using satellite data and machine learning finds that each decade the world loses over 7% of freshwater storage to sediment buildup. At the current rate, more than half of global reservoirs will be functionally dead...
Understanding Anorexia’s Grip on the Brain Could Unlock New Therapies
Anorexia nervosa remains deadly, with about one‑third of patients never recovering despite existing therapies. Recent neuroscience research shows the disorder rewires brain circuits linked to reward, habit and emotion, making eating aversive. These findings are prompting novel interventions such as...
Becoming a Parent May Make You Love Your Partner Less
Researchers at the University of Wrocław followed nearly 300 childless couples over two years and identified 71 who became parents during the study. Their data show that, while pregnancy itself does not alter affection, love scores and commitment dip sharply...
Mysterious ‘Cold Blob’ in the Atlantic Suggests the AMOC Is Weakening
A persistent cooling anomaly, dubbed the “cold blob,” has been identified southeast of Greenland, marking the only region on Earth that has cooled over the past 150 years. Satellite and ocean‑temperature records show the area has dropped up to 1 °C relative...
Stonehenge's Altar Stone Probably Wasn't Transported by a Glacier
Researchers have chemically matched Stonehenge’s 6‑tonne altar stone to sandstone outcrops in northeast Scotland, confirming a 750‑kilometre journey. While an ice‑flow scenario could have dropped the monolith at Dogger Bank, the timing and required conditions make human transport far more...
Escher: The Paradoxical Artist Beloved by Mathematicians
M.C. Escher’s mind‑bending prints—tessellations, impossible staircases, and infinite loops—continue to fascinate mathematicians and scientists. The New Scientist piece highlights how his work visualizes complex concepts such as symmetry groups, topology and the notion of infinity, and notes a traveling exhibition...
Superintelligent Machines May Well Need Us After All
AI’s mathematical capabilities have leapt forward, highlighted by OpenAI’s recent disproof of an 80‑year‑old conjecture and its assistance in cracking a half‑century‑old problem. Yet the article stresses that these breakthroughs gain legitimacy only through human mathematicians who verify and extend...
Alice Roberts: 'We Are Fundamentally, at the End of the Day, Animals'
British biological anthropologist Alice Roberts, now a professor of public engagement at the University of Birmingham, has released a new illustrated volume titled "Humans: The Evolution of a Species." The book, edited with contributions from an international team including journalist...
CERN’s New Chief on the Gamble that Could Fix Our Picture of Reality
Mark Thomson has taken the helm as CERN’s director general just as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) shuts down for a multi‑year upgrade. The lab is planning a £13 billion (~$16.6 billion) next‑generation collider to push beyond the Standard Model’s limits. Upgrades...
Ditch the Niceties in AI Prompts to Save Energy Use, Say Researchers
UN researchers warn that AI’s energy appetite is soaring and propose a simple fix: trim polite words from prompts. Their study shows that removing filler such as “please” or “thank you” can slash ChatGPT’s power draw by up to 25%,...
The Best New Popular Science Books of June 2026
June 2026 sees a wave of popular‑science titles that blend rigorous research with vivid storytelling. Alice Roberts curates *Humans: The Evolution of a Species*, offering illustrated chapters on body‑part evolution. Endocrinologist Saira Hameed demystifies hormone signaling in *Signals*, while Rowan...
Hearing Loss Is Bad for the Whole Body – but New Treatments Are Coming
Hearing loss is increasingly recognized as a systemic health risk, linked to dementia, cardiovascular disease and higher mortality. Researchers at Columbia University and other institutions cite epidemiological data showing the condition’s rapid rise among aging populations. New drug pipelines aim...
The Best New Science-Fiction Books of June 2026
June 2026 sees a wave of new science‑fiction releases that blend climate dread, time‑travel drama, and speculative social commentary. The list highlights M. John Harrison’s award‑winning *The End of Everything*, Joseph Eckert’s time‑bending *The Traveler*, Isabel J. Kim’s immigration‑twist *Sublimation*, and Adrian...
Mirror Life: Scientists Clash over Threat of Lab-Engineered Bacteria
A new modelling study suggests that lab‑engineered bacteria built from mirror‑image molecules would struggle to survive outside controlled environments because they require a synthetic “mirror food” supply. The researchers argue this inherent dependency limits the risk of accidental release. However,...
Start-Ups Are Racing to Revolutionise Mathematics with AI
AI start‑ups backed by over $200 million in venture capital are hiring top mathematicians to build systems that can solve complex proofs and, in turn, create more capable artificial intelligence. Companies such as OpenAI, Google, and newcomers like Axiom Math are racing...
3D-Printed Lymph Nodes Could Widen Access to CAR T-Cell Therapy
Researchers have shown that 3D‑printed lymph‑node scaffolds can grow CAR‑T cells more quickly and at a lower cost. The bioprinting method compresses the manufacturing timeline from several weeks to just a few days, potentially cutting expenses by up to 70...
'The Book Is in the Future, but Everything Is Seeded From Our Present'
Helen Phillips’ novel *Hum* won the 2026 Climate Fiction prize, a £10,000 (≈ $12,800) award backed by Climate Spring that celebrates storytelling about climate realities. The novel, set in a sweltering near‑future metropolis, follows a mother’s fight to safeguard her family amid...
Our Verdict on Luminous by Silvia Park: A Fascinating Take on Robots
Silvia Park’s near‑future novel *Luminous* imagines a reunified Korea where robots are woven into daily life, told through three interlocking narratives—a police procedural, a youth adventure, and a fractured family drama. The book probes emotional, spiritual, and practical dimensions of human‑robot...
Unsettling Dance Piece Explores How AI Is Warping Human Relationships
The Alexander Whitley Dance Company’s new work *Mirror* debuted at Sadler’s Wells East and will move to the Royal Opera House on 4 June. Inspired by Shannon Vallor’s ethics book *The AI Mirror*, the piece dramatizes how artificial intelligence reshapes intimacy, trust, and...
The Late Ian Watson's Sci-Fi The Embedding Is Intriguing – but Dated
Ian Watson’s debut novel *The Embedding* resurfaced after his death in April 2026, prompting columnist Emily H. Wilson to revisit the 1973 first‑contact story. The book, praised by *The Spectator* as the most spectacular sci‑fi since Lem’s *Solaris*, centers on linguistics...
Embryos Made without Sperm or Eggs Reveal Why Many Pregnancies Fail
Scientists in Vienna have created embryo organoids, called blastoids, entirely from stem cells without sperm or eggs. These models replicate the structure and early gene activity of a natural blastocyst, allowing researchers to observe implantation and other first‑week events in...
Will Lab-Grown Sperm Let Infertile Men Have Children of Their Own?
A US start‑up, Paterna Biosciences, says it can turn testicular stem cells into sperm in the lab, potentially offering a solution for men whose infertility cannot be treated with existing methods. The company claims the technique could enable almost all...
Does Gravity Create Reality? A Shocking Path to a Theory of Everything
Physicists are rethinking the path to a theory of everything by modifying quantum mechanics to incorporate gravity, rather than forcing gravity into quantum frameworks. This “gravity‑first” approach proposes new equations that treat gravity as a fundamental component of quantum theory....
Mercury May Have Gained All of Its Unexpected Water in a Single Day
Scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Messenger mission have identified a rapid event that could have deposited meters‑deep ice in Mercury’s permanently shadowed polar craters within a single Mercurian day, roughly 176 Earth days. The ice, discovered in craters that never...
Experimental mRNA Vaccine May Protect Against Multiple Ebola Viruses
Researchers have created an experimental mRNA vaccine that protects rodents from three orthoebolavirus strains, including the Bundibugyo virus driving the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The study shows the vaccine elicits robust antibody responses...
Australia Is Battling Its Largest Diphtheria Outbreak in Living Memory
Australia is experiencing its largest diphtheria outbreak since the 1930s, with 230 confirmed cases and one adult death reported in 2026. The surge is concentrated in remote Indigenous communities across the Northern Territory and Western Australia, following an imported case...
Mathematicians Stunned by AI's Biggest Breakthrough in Mathematics Yet
OpenAI’s new artificial‑intelligence model has solved the 80‑year‑old planar unit‑distance problem, a conjecture first posed by Paul Erdős. The breakthrough, announced on 21 May 2026, marks the first AI‑generated proof that experts deem publication‑ready for top journals. Leading mathematicians such as Misha...
Women’s Better Memories May Delay Alzheimer’s Diagnosis by Years
A new study finds that women can appear cognitively normal for almost three years longer than men after Alzheimer’s pathology begins, because stronger verbal memory masks early symptoms. Conventional memory tests, which rely heavily on recall tasks, often miss these...
Women’s Body Temperature Rises From Age 18 to 42 but We Don’t Know Why
Researchers at SRI International analyzed temperature logs from a 1990s study of 750 women aged 18 to 42 and discovered a steady rise in resting body temperature of about 0.05 °C over that span. The increase occurs across both halves of...
Photos Reveal Unexpected Details From the World's First Atomic Test
Newly declassified photographs from the 1945 Trinity test provide unprecedented visual detail of the world’s first atomic explosion. The high‑resolution images reveal the exact shape of the mushroom cloud, the placement of instrumentation, and the presence of safety personnel that...
New Scientist Recommends a Devastating Account of Farming Honeybees
Jennie Durant’s new book *Bitter Honey* exposes how U.S. honeybee colonies have been turned into an industrial commodity, with roughly three million hives shipped nationwide each spring for pollination services. The colonies are housed in refrigerated warehouses, fed sugar‑syrup and protein...
This Is the Most Underrated Sci-Fi Film Franchise of the 21st Century
New Scientist columnist Bethan Ackerley reports that a fifth installment of the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise has been officially confirmed. The series, comprising Rise, Dawn, War, and Kingdom, has been praised by critics, averaging a 78% Rotten Tomatoes...
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s Evolution Classic Still Holds Up
The Selfish Gene marks its 50th anniversary with a new edition that revisits Richard Dawkins' gene‑centric view of evolution. First published in 1976, the book reshaped public understanding of natural selection and remains a cultural touchstone. While early editions predated...
Intoxicating and Astonishing: Why 'The Selfish Gene' Almost Never Was
In February 1976 a handwritten note sent Richard Dawkins’s manuscript of *The Selfish Gene* to Oxford University Press editor Michael Rodgers. Rodgers was instantly convinced of its brilliance and spent the summer lobbying OUP’s global branches to publish it. The book...
The Distant World that Is Our Best Hope of Finding Alien Life
Astronomers have identified the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e as the most promising candidate for detecting alien life beyond the Solar System. The world is roughly Earth‑sized, orbits within the habitable zone of its ultra‑cool dwarf star, and recent James Webb Space Telescope...
Solar Farm on the Ocean Outperforms Land-Based Solar in Taiwan
A study of Chenya Energy’s 181‑megawatt floating photovoltaic (FPV) farm off Taiwan’s western coast shows it generates 12% more electricity and 11% net profit, outpacing a nearby 100‑megawatt land‑based solar plant that delivered 8% profit. The performance boost stems from...
Wind-Assisted Cargo Ships Could More than Halve Shipping Emissions
The shipping sector accounts for roughly 3% of global CO₂ emissions, a share that is still rising. New‑tech sailing solutions—ranging from purpose‑built rigs to automated sails fitted on existing vessels—promise to cut those emissions by more than half. Companies are...
Flotation Tanks Deployed to Combat PTSD After Devastating Wildfires
A shipping container with three mobile flotation tanks is being sent to Maui to address a growing PTSD crisis after the 2023 wildfires that killed 102 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The tanks, traditionally found in high‑end spas, are...
Floatation Tanks Deployed to Combat PTSD After Devastating Wildfires
A shipping container with three mobile floatation tanks is being sent to Maui to help residents cope with post‑wildfire PTSD. The tanks, typically found in upscale spas, create a sensory‑deprivation environment that can lower cortisol, reduce hyper‑arousal, and improve sleep....