New Scientist Space - Cosmology
The best new science fiction books of August 2025
From a fresh take on Stephen King’s The Stand to a new novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky set on a poisoned world, August has a bumper crop of new science fiction novels
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient Siberian ice mummy is covered in 'really special' tattoos
Tattoos may have been widespread in prehistory, with scientists discovering a plethora of body art on a pastoralist who died in the 3rd or 4th century BC
Categories: Astronomy
Human milk could help fight infections that endanger pregnancies
The prebiotic properties of human milk could be harnessed to treat a bacterial strain known to cause problems for immunocompromised people – and trigger premature birth
Categories: Astronomy
Human trials point the way towards an mRNA vaccine against HIV
We may be a step closer to a highly effective mRNA vaccine against HIV, but tests so far reveal that the approach can cause unpleasant skin reactions
Categories: Astronomy
This string art game will boost your mathematical imagination
Inspired by the work of Victorian mathematician Mary Everest Boole, try making a symmetric curve using string and some hole-punched card, says Peter Rowlett
Categories: Astronomy
Five years later, has sci-fi cult hit Devs aged well?
Alex Garland's tech company mystery is smart and compelling, though it can also be chilly and self-indulgent. Bethan Ackerley missed it in 2020, but after five strange years, she has decided to check it out
Categories: Astronomy
Fascinating artistic depictions of sea life over millennia
Marine biologist Helen Scales's latest book, Ocean Art: From the shore to the deep, celebrates humans' enduring obsession with creatures that live beneath the waves
Categories: Astronomy
What would it take to rebuild economics around the natural world?
Saving the planet means factoring nature into our economics, argues Partha Dasgupta, in a book with fascinating ideas. But does it take passion to make people listen?
Categories: Astronomy
How invisibility cloaks could make us disappear – at least from AI
In this latest instalment of Future Chronicles, an imagined history of future inventions, Rowan Hooper reveals how invisibility cloaks could become mainstream
Categories: Astronomy
Jewellery that monitors movement? No, we can't anticipate any problems
Feedback foresees a dystopian future in which "smart jewellery" tracks the emotions and motions of its users
Categories: Astronomy
Why living in a volatile age may make our brains truly innovative
The unpredictability of our times isn't all bad, as it may help us think up some genuine new ideas, says Daniel Yon, author of A Trick of the Mind
Categories: Astronomy
Earth's extraordinary deep biosphere is our next great frontier
A fantastic alien adventure can be found on our very own planet by studying the microbial life in Earth's crust, according to Karen G. Lloyd's new book Intraterrestrials
Categories: Astronomy
Let a breakthrough in measuring body clocks ease the ills of shiftwork
New tests to gauge an individual's circadian rhythms could be put to good use helping night workers fend off the ill effects of their unsocial hours
Categories: Astronomy
Archaeologists are unearthing the most powerful women who ever lived
Astonishing new archaeological finds and ancient DNA analysis leave no doubt that throughout prehistory women were rulers, warriors, hunters and shamans
Categories: Astronomy
How life thrives in one of the most hostile environments on Earth
Creatures that lurk more than 9000 metres deep in the Pacific Ocean get their nutrients from a surprising source
Categories: Astronomy
Extra-hard hexagonal diamonds can now be grown in a lab
Hexagonal diamond up to 60 per cent stronger than normal diamonds could be used to create super-tough drilling and cutting tools for industrial applications
Categories: Astronomy
Covid-19 and flu may reawaken dormant cancer cells in the lungs
Mice with a handful of cancerous cells in their lungs experienced a 100-fold increase to this number after being infected with swine flu
Categories: Astronomy
New-to-science stick insect is the heaviest ever found in Australia
A giant stick insect species found in Australia’s Wet Tropics named Acrophylla alta can reach 40 centimetres in length and weigh 44 grams
Categories: Astronomy
Ancient pots found near Pompeii contain 2500-year-old honey
A mysterious residue inside a set of ancient Greek pots from Paestum, Italy, has now been identified as honey thanks to modern chemical analysis
Categories: Astronomy
Meltwater bursts through Greenland ice in first-of-a-kind eruption
Satellite images reveal how a subglacial lake erupted through the Greenland ice sheet – a phenomenon never witnessed before which could be driven by rising temperatures
Categories: Astronomy
