Humans tend to be captured by things around them that they perceive as pleasurable and aesthetically pleasing. This "sense of beauty" has been widely studied extensively, mostly in experiments that involved adult participants.
Not many scientific studies sound like a Bond film, but ours really does involve lasers, sharks and doctors (of research, not the evil kind).
Moonlight determines when the red-necked nightjar feeds, migrates and raises its young. A groundbreaking long-term study from Lund University shows how the migratory bird's entire annual cycle follows the moon's rhythm.
Researchers at Aarhus University have demonstrated that a simple adjustment to water filtration methods can dramatically improve the detection of marine animal DNA when using advanced, PCR-free sequencing. This methodological optimization could help clear a major bottleneck in
Pet owners may be diligent about routine care, but even a minor wound can put animals at risk for dangerous parasites. One parasite that poses a potential threat is the New World screwworm (NWS), a parasitic fly whose larvae infest wounds and can result in significant tissue
Three 2026 Breakthrough Prize winners reflect on developing Luxturna, a gene therapy that treats blindness caused by rare inherited eye diseases
To mark David Attenborough turning 100, New Scientist staff have been set a tricky task: pick your favourite of his many amazing documentaries...
A small trial found that chewing gum containing nitrate can ease the symptoms of gum disease by favouring the growth of beneficial mouth bacteria
A look at what makes scorpions so deadly, why there’s hope for preeclampsia and how President Trump is gutting wind energy
Using MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of researchers led by former MPIA (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany) Ph.D. student Sebastian Zieba (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge,
A new experimental study has identified a novel genetic locus in a common agricultural weed, Elymus repens, that provides significant resistance to the destructive fungal disease Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) and has now been successfully transferred into wheat to produce FHB
GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide—best known for treating diabetes and driving weight loss under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy—may also deliver a surprising mental health boost. In a massive study tracking nearly 100,000 people over more than a decade, researchers found that
A device you attach to your underwear reveals how often you really break wind – and it’s probably more frequently than you think
Drugs designed to clear amyloid beta from the brain—once seen as a promising path to slowing Alzheimer’s—may not actually help patients in any meaningful way, according to a major review of over 20,000 participants. Even more concerning, they may increase the risk of brain
Evolution seems to follow a script more often than expected. Researchers found that distantly related butterflies and moths have reused the same pair of genes for over 120 million years to produce strikingly similar warning colors. Rather than altering the genes themselves,
Social media is filled with posts about fitness and healthy eating aiming to inspire and encourage better lifestyles. However, a new large review study led by an Olympic athlete reveals that this seemingly motivational content can sometimes have unexpected negative impacts on
Cranfield University has launched a new soil and environmental online database and mapping tool, opening up detailed information about land in England and Wales. In collaboration with Defra, Cranfield's Land Information System (LandISPortal)—which includes the National Soil Map
With longer days, warmer weather and a little more breathing room in the schedule, summer often feels like the perfect time to bring home a new dog.
Salmon are becoming river "ghosts" as brutal droughts and violent floods cause unprecedented losses on their treacherous journey to the Pacific Ocean, scientists say. A study led by the University of Essex; NOAA Fisheries; University of California, Davis; and Cramer Fish
Newly published research from a leading computer scientist warns that the use of generative AI to design, train, or perform steps within a machine learning system could increase serious risks. Michael Lones, professor at Heriot-Watt University's School of Mathematical and
Every year, millions suffer, and thousands lose their lives to infections that were once easily treatable with the right dose of medication. The drugs are the same; human physiology is the same; the only difference is that microbes, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, have
When scientist J. Craig Venter and his team announced in 2010 that they had created the first cell controlled by a fully synthetic genome, it marked a turning point in how scientists think about life.
Coffee doesn’t just energize—it actively reshapes the gut and mind. Researchers found that both caffeinated and decaf coffee altered gut bacteria in ways linked to better mood and lower stress. Decaf even improved learning and memory, while caffeine boosted focus and reduced
Long before humans spread across the globe, a deadly disease may have quietly shaped where our ancestors lived—and even how we evolved. New research reveals that malaria didn’t just threaten early human survival; it actively pushed populations away from high-risk regions across
When cows burp, they send a substantial amount of methane gas into the air, which makes them a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. According to research published in the journal Science, a newly discovered hydrogen-producing structure within the microbes of cow
We tend to think of climate change impacts as dramatic and destructive. Storms and floods that bring down landslides and swamp streets, or raging wildfires that tear through forests and farmland.
A hidden force may be quietly shaping how you feel—and you’d never even know it. Infrasound, an ultra-low-frequency vibration below the range of human hearing, is everywhere from traffic to old buildings. In a small experiment, people exposed to it became more irritable, less
In a new study, a University of Cincinnati sociologist and his research team are shedding light on how TikTok content produced by gang members could be used to better inform law enforcement and policymakers for more appropriate action. The team led by John Leverso, an assistant
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new imaging method, known as RF-SIRF, that quantitatively detects and maps reversed DNA replication forks with single-cell resolution. The results also demonstrated a unique epigenetic code for
Physicists are rethinking one of quantum mechanics’ biggest puzzles: how fuzzy possibilities become definite reality. New research suggests that spontaneous “collapse” processes—possibly linked to gravity—could subtly blur time itself. This wouldn’t affect clocks we use today,
This annual meteor shower occurs as Earth passes through the dusty debris left behind by Halley’s Comet as it journeys around the sun
The brain’s memory center may begin life more like a crowded web than an empty canvas. Researchers discovered that early neural networks in the hippocampus are dense and seemingly random, then become more organized by shedding connections over time. This pruning process creates