science
The secret to guessing more accurately with maths
What do a 20th-century physicist, an 18th-century statistician and an ancient Greek philosopher have in common? They all knew how to extrapolate with incredible accuracy. Columnist Jacob Aron explains how to combine their methods to improve your ability to guess Source link
Why Yuri Gagarin wasn’t the first in space – and who beat him to it
Everyone knows Yuri Gagarin as the first person to go to space. But was he? Physicist Vladimir Brljak tells the tale of the intrepid balloonists who first flew beyond the blue terrestrial sky, challenging the definition of where our world begins to end Source link
Alzheimer’s may start with inflammation in the skin, lungs or gut
The Alzheimer’s field is being turned on its head as mounting evidence points to the disease beginning outside the brain many years before symptoms start. This may mean we have to totally rethink how we approach preventing and treating the condition Source link
Phantom codes could help quantum computers avoid errors
A method for making quantum computers less error-prone could let them run complex programs such as simulations of materials more efficiently, thus making them more useful Source link
Crisis in cosmology: If we’ve got dark energy wrong, what could it be?
This is a New Scientist special package about shock results that have upended cosmology. What do they mean for our models of the universe, and what are the alternative explanations? Source link
Spreading crushed rock on farms could absorb 1 billion tonnes of CO2
Putting silicate rocks from mine waste on fields could improve crops and limit global warming, but some researchers question where all that rock is going to come from Source link
The best new science fiction books of March 2026
The latest in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series is out this month, along with a speculative retelling of Moby-Dick and a forgotten classic from 1936 Source link
Human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom in a week
Neuron-powered computer chips can now be easily programmed to play a first-person shooter game, bringing biological computers a step closer to useful applications Source link
Our verdict on Juice by Tim Winton: Australian climate novel is a hit
The New Scientist Book Club enjoyed our February read, Tim Winton’s far-future-set Juice. Head of books Alison Flood rounds up member thoughts Source link
Is geothermal energy on the cusp of a worldwide renaissance?
The UK’s first geothermal plant in Cornwall is part of a wave of projects aiming to meet growing electricity demand, some of them enabled by technology from oil and gas fracturing Source link