How worried should you be about your BMI?
Body mass index (BMI) is used as a global standard for measuring health, but does it actually tell you anything about how healthy you are on an individual level? Carissa Wong explains the problems with this flawed tool ⌘ Read more

Can species evolve fast enough to survive as the planet heats up?
The story of a wildflower that adapted to a severe drought in California raises hopes that evolution will come to the rescue of species hit by climate change, but there are limits ⌘ Read more

Chemistry may not be the ‘killer app’ for quantum computers after all
Two popular quantum computing algorithms for problems in chemistry may have very limited use even as quantum hardware improves ⌘ Read more

Why drug overdose deaths have suddenly plummeted in the US
Fentanyl-related overdose deaths fell by nearly 30 per cent in the space of a year in the US, which could represent a significant turning point in the country’s opioid addiction crisis ⌘ Read more

Rumours of a Firefly reboot abound, but should the Serenity fly again?
Star Nathan Fillion is stoking rumours that cult western-in-space television series Firefly could be rebooted. Emily H. Wilson realises she is being toyed with – but is still praying for its return ⌘ Read more

Undisclosed ads on TikTok skirt ban on profiling minors
Teenagers are being bombarded with highly targeted commercial content on TikTok, despite an EU law that prohibits profiling minors for advertising ⌘ Read more

A miniature magnet rivals behemoths in strength for the first time
Strong magnets tend to be large and power-hungry, but a new design has produced a powerful magnet that fits in the palm of your hand, making it more practical and affordable ⌘ Read more

King penguins are thriving in a warmer climate, but it may not last
Longer summers are allowing more king penguin chicks to bulk up and survive the winter, but the penguins’ main fishing area is shifting further away as temperatures rise ⌘ Read more

Why the world’s militaries are scrambling to create their own Starlink
The reliable internet connections provided by Starlink offer a huge advantage on the battlefield. But as access is dependent on the whims of controversial billionaire Elon Musk, militaries are looking to build their own version ⌘ Read more

Parkinson’s disease may reduce enjoyment of pleasant smells
The “world smells different” for people with Parkinson’s disease, a discovery that could help doctors spot the condition sooner ⌘ Read more

Orcas may be to blame for some mass dolphin strandings
Two mass strandings involving hundreds of dolphins in Argentina probably happened because the pods were being hunted by orcas, highlighting the role of predators in these mysterious events ⌘ Read more

I was accused of killing over 100 million rabbits across Australia
New Scientist reporter James Woodford recalls his run-in with rabbits I was working a Sunday shift when the news came through, and it gave me an instant sinking feeling – the big kind that you hopefully only get once or twice in a lifetime. A potential biocontrol virus that was being tested to deal with … ⌘ Read more

Sharing genetic risk scores can unwittingly reveal secrets
Statistics that quantify a person’s predisposition to diseases such as diabetes and cancer can be reverse-engineered to reveal the underlying genetic data, prompting privacy concerns ⌘ Read more

Startup is building the first data centre to use human brain cells
Cortical Labs is building two data centres that will house its neuron-filled chips. The technology is still in the very early stages of development ⌘ Read more

How our ancestors used mushrooms to change the course of human history
Mushrooms have been used by ancient humans for millennia, but archaeologists have only just uncovered their pivotal role in shaping civilisation ⌘ Read more

Project Hail Mary is a spiritual sibling to The Martian - and it’s fab
Ryan Gosling stars in the latest adaptation of an Andy Weir novel, another tale of a lone genius battling to survive in space. Bethan Ackerley thoroughly approves ⌘ Read more

What is a galaxy? That’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer
Figuring out what really counts as a galaxy could give us insights into dark matter and potentially shake up astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics, says columnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein ⌘ Read more

Mathematics is undergoing the biggest change in its history
The speed at which artificial intelligence is gaining in mathematical ability has taken many by surprise. It is rewriting what it means to be a mathematician ⌘ Read more

Human populations evolved in similar ways after we began farming
An analysis of ancient and modern DNA suggests the extent of convergent evolution in different peoples around the world is even greater than we thought ⌘ Read more

We’ve only just confirmed that Homo habilis really existed
Their species name is well known, but until recently we’ve understood very little for certain about Homo habilis. Columnist Michael Marshall reveals what new fossils are telling us about the hominins that have been considered the first humans ⌘ Read more

‘Singing’ dogs may show the evolutionary roots of musicality
Some Samoyeds adjust the pitch of their howls depending on the music being played, showing a form of vocal ability they might have inherited from their wolf ancestors ⌘ Read more

SETI may have missed alien signals because of space weather
SETI has spent decades listening for a sharp, well-defined radio signal that could indicate it was sent by distant intelligent life. Now researchers believe that space weather could distort and blur such signals – meaning SETI has been scanning for the wrong thing ⌘ Read more

Ancient ‘weirdo’ reptile graduated from 4 legs to 2 in adolescence
Sonselasuchus cedrus, discovered in fossils from Arizona, was a crocodile relative from the Triassic period that grew into an ostrich-like adult ⌘ Read more

How an intern helped build the AI that shook the world
Chris Maddison was just an intern when he started working on the Go-playing AI that would eventually become AlphaGo. A decade later, he talks about that match against Lee Sedol and what came next ⌘ Read more

The moment that kicked off the AI revolution
It’s been 10 years since Go champion Lee Sedol lost to DeepMind’s AlphaGo. Has the technology lived up to its potential? ⌘ Read more

NASA changed an asteroid’s orbit around the sun for the first time
NASA’s DART mission slammed into the small asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, and the impact slowed its orbit around the larger Didymos – and also the pair’s path around the sun ⌘ Read more

Chemistry clues could detect aliens unlike any life on Earth
Looking for molecular evidence of life on other worlds is tricky, but a test based on the reactivity of carbon compounds could be a useful indicator ⌘ Read more

The best new popular science books of March 2026
A new book from Rebecca Solnit, promising to bring us hope in these “difficult times”, is among our pick of popular science titles out this month – along with a guide on how to talk to AI, and a look at modern warfare ⌘ Read more

Shift in the Gulf Stream could signal ocean current collapse
Models show that as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation gets weaker, the Gulf Stream will drift northwards. There are signs that this is already happening, and a more abrupt shift could warn of more severe climate impacts ⌘ Read more

Earth is now heating up twice as fast as in previous decades
Since 2014, the planet has been warming by about 0.36°C per decade, according to an analysis of five temperature datasets, raising fears that climate tipping points could be crossed earlier than expected ⌘ Read more

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 ⌘ Read more

Just one dose of psilocybin relieves symptoms of OCD for months
Taking psilocybin – the psychedelic component of magic mushrooms – eased symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder among people who did not respond to conventional treatments, and the effects lasted at least several months ⌘ Read more

Two marsupials believed extinct for 6000 years found alive
Indigenous people in Papua, Indonesia, have helped scientists track down two animals that were thought to have gone extinct thousands of years ago: a relative of Australia’s greater glider and a palm-sized possum with a bizarre, elongated finger ⌘ Read more

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 ⌘ Read more

The secret of how cats twist in mid-air to land on their feet
An exceptionally flexible region of the spine enables falling cats to twist the front and back halves of their body sequentially to ensure a safe landing ⌘ Read more

Sea levels around the world are much higher than we thought
Most coastal risk assessments have underestimated current sea levels, meaning tens of millions of people face losing their homes to rising waters earlier than expected ⌘ Read more

Top predators still prowled the seas after the biggest mass extinction
The end-Permian extinction 252 million years ago wiped out over 80 per cent of marine species, but many ecosystems still had complex food webs despite the losses ⌘ Read more

Claude AI: Why are there so many internet outages?
AI chatbot Claude going down is just one example of a recent IT outage. One of the main vulnerabilities of the modern internet is to blame ⌘ Read more

How worried should you be about microplastics?
Microplastics have been found accumulating everywhere from our water to our body tissues, but many of the claims have come under fresh scrutiny. Chelsea Whyte cuts through the research to tell you whether you really need to worry ⌘ Read more

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 ⌘ Read more

Selfish Y chromosome may explain why some families mostly have sons
A family in Utah with a disproportionate number of boys has been traced back over hundreds of years, revealing that its lack of female members is probably due to a selfish Y chromosome ⌘ Read more

Why the US is using a cheap Iranian drone against the country itself
The US and Iran are trading blows in the Gulf with a simple drone that costs as little as $50,000 to make. But why is a slow, cheap and relatively primitive drone seeing use in 2026 alongside hypersonic missiles and stealth jets? ⌘ Read more

Can Michael Pollan crack the problem of consciousness in his new book?
The science writer delves into the vast subject of consciousness in his new book A World Appears – and draws some surprising conclusions, finds Grace Wade ⌘ Read more

Would aliens do physics, or is science a human invention?
Shaped by a different biology or culture, other intelligent civilisations – if they’re out there – might understand the universe in a completely different way than we do. Physicist Daniel Whiteson explores what that could tell us about physics and ourselves ⌘ Read more

First drone passengers may be combat casualties and criminals
Drones aren’t yet licensed to carry passengers, but some may already be airlifting wounded personnel off the battlefield and could be employed for smuggling people ⌘ Read more

A crisis in cosmology may mean hidden dimensions really exist
Physicists are scrambling to understand why dark energy is weakening. In a surprising twist, we must now reconsider the possibility that our reality contains extra dimensions ⌘ Read more

The bombshell results that demand a new theory of the universe
Last year, our most detailed map of the universe yet suggested our understanding of dark energy has been wrong for decades. The shock result is reigniting the search for a better cosmic story ⌘ Read more

A bizarre type of black hole could solve three cosmic mysteries in one
Black holes that turn matter into energy could explain dark energy and answer two other cosmic questions. Now, the challenge is to find them ⌘ Read more

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? ⌘ Read more

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 ⌘ Read more