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A woman with severe Alzheimer's disease who hadn't spoken more than monosyllables in years began initiating conversation after a single dose of psilocybin

A spider living in the rainforests of Queensland, Australia, builds a snare trap reminiscent of a Roman-era ballista weapon that it uses to catapult green tree ants into a web 30 centimetres above

The brain undergoes a full renovation during menopause. Although these changes are profound, we’re learning that the long-term impact needn’t be all bad

Researchers say a surgery that let pigs with completely severed spinal cords walk again may lead to human trials, and then perhaps even full head or brain transplants. Columnist Helen Thomson is intrigued but sceptical of whether the technique can be successful in humans

Several start-ups have tried to grow seaweed to remove atmospheric CO2, but this could affect the levels of nutrients in the ocean and hamper other CO2-sucking processes

When does your brain reach adulthood? We're now understanding the many ways the organ continues to mature decades after society first deems you an adult

The next generation of AI models are meant to be trained by people paid to have conversations with them, but several of these workers have admitted to New Scientist that they simply get chatbots to do it instead. This "AI inbreeding" may reduce the power and usefulness of future models, warn experts

Older mice that received a faecal microbiome transplant from younger animals went on to have improved brain plasticity, which suggests their brains could overcome a neurological condition that is typically successfully treated only in childhood

Something is absorbing light on the surfaces of Pluto and Saturn’s moon Titan, and figuring out what it is could be crucial to understanding Titan’s complex chemistry

Efficiency ratings on portable air conditioners don’t give consumers the full picture, and one type of aircon unit is so inefficient that it should be banned, says Michael Le Page

Carbon monoxide in Uranus's deep atmosphere indicates that the planet contains more ice than rock, suggesting it formed more like Neptune than we thought

The disruption of your gut microbiome is a major consequence, and possible cause, of ageing. Columnist Graham Lawton looks into recent trials examining whether it can be replenished through diet and prebiotics, probiotics or postbiotics

Palaeontologists have found new evidence that the early ancestors of amphibians, reptiles and mammals did not have a larval stage with external gills like modern frogs or salamanders

An extremely unusual tectonic movement took place 15 minutes after the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, causing almost the whole of Japan to move 5 millimetres to the east

An extremely unusual tectonic movement took place 15 minutes after the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, causing almost the whole of Japan to move 5 millimetres to the east

Beautifully written, this guide to distinguishing between truth, misinformation and lies, first published in 1995, remains an essential read for anyone who considers themselves a critical thinker, says Leah Crane

As the sun expands over the coming billions of years, Earth will become inhospitable to any life more complex than a microbe – but that might take longer than we thought

Archaeologists have discovered traces of a wooden structure built 5000 years ago, 5 kilometres from Stonehenge, which appears to have been an even older monument for marking the summer solstice

Archaeologists have discovered traces of a wooden structure built 5000 years ago, 5 kilometres from Stonehenge, which appears to have been an even older monument for marking the summer solstice

We already know the vaccine against human papillomavirus, or HPV, greatly reduces infections and cases of cervical cancer, and now we have the first evidence it prevents deaths too