Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer

A study of fossils from the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago shows that forests in many parts of the world were wiped out, disrupting the carbon cycle and ensuring that Earth remained hot for millions of years

The growth of domestic solar installations opens the possibility of hackers targeting their smart inverter devices as a way to cause widespread power-system failures

Not quite crystals and not quite a glass, quasicrystals are an oddity whose properties are not well understood – but now we know how they can remain stable

Working in tandem, a quantum computer and a supercomputer modelled the behaviour of several molecules, paving the way for useful applications in chemistry and pharmaceutical research

Rocky bodies called protoplanets were thought to have formed slightly earlier in the inner solar system than those beyond the asteroid belt, but now a meteorite from the outer solar system is rewriting that view

Forest-based carbon-offset projects need a buffer to guarantee their climate benefits will last – but they may not have nearly enough in reserve

From David Attenborough to Hannah Fry via Bryan Johnson, our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley selects her favourite science and technology documentaries of the year to date

The acidity of drinks like Red Bull can erode dental enamel, but a lab experiment suggests this could be avoided via calcium fortification

Small, 3D-printed devices, designed to be implanted directly under the skin, could allow people with type 1 diabetes to produce their own insulin

While randomising a deck of cards gets more difficult as you add more cards, it turns out that the same isn't true for the qubits of quantum computers, which may prove surprisingly useful

Scientists have found evidence of new brain cells sprouting in adults - a process that many thought only occurred in children

The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted in June to stop recommending certain kinds of flu vaccines, a notable shift in vaccine guidance

Single-celled organisms called archaea aren't generally thought to cause human disease, but one species has been implicated in colorectal cancer

An analysis of the provenance of the Matarrubilla stone, a large megalith at Valencina in Spain, indicates that the monument’s builders must have had advanced seafaring technology

Light exposure at night may disrupt our body's internal clocks, or circadian rhythms, that keep physiological processes ticking along

How can you guarantee a huge payout from any lottery? Take a cue from combinatorics, and perhaps gather a few wealthy pals, says Jacob Aron

A lab experiment that simulated Mars conditions showed that green algae can grow in plastic containers made from the same algae, setting the stage for a self-sustaining system to build habitats on the planet

Red heart or thumbs up? Sending emojis to close friends makes them see you as more attentive and likeable than text-only messages do – no matter which emojis you use

An ancient human site in Germany features animal bones that were smashed into small pieces and heated to extract fat 125,000 years ago, showing that Neanderthal culinary skills were surprisingly sophisticated

We have now learned why wounds in our mouth don't scar, which could lead to treatments that prevent such blemishes on the skin

Australia has offered a lifeline to the people of Tuvalu, whose island is threatened by rising sea levels. But the deal comes with strings attached – and there will be millions more climate migrants in need of refuge by 2050

The downsides of diagnosis and an epic trek following a Slovenian wolf are among our culture editor's top popular science books of the year to date, featuring a range of authors from Robert MacFarlane to Suzanne O'Sullivan

Beware the tech leaders making grandiose statements about artificial intelligence. They have lost sight of reality, says Philip Ball

Feedback is horrified to see AI's attempts at reworking classic novels, and is concerned that the computers might not quite understand the point of literature

In this latest instalment of Future Chronicles, an imagined history of future inventions, we journey to the 2030s, when hormone implants enabled users to boost everything from pain tolerance to libidos, writes Rowan Hooper

From generation ships to climate change, there has been some stellar sci-fi out in the past six months. Our columnist Emily H. Wilson picks her favourites

These dramatic images show the researchers out to understand the storms that produce the biggest hail

Many claims are being made about Mycobacterium vaccae, a microbe that is found naturally in soil. James Wong sees if they stand up

By looking at the shifting of stars in photos from the New Horizons probe, astronomers have calculated its position in the galaxy – a technique that could be useful for interstellar missions

A key milk protein for making cheese and yoghurt has been produced in bacteria for the first time, paving the way for better tasting but more sustainable animal-free products

The genome of a man who lived in Egypt over 4500 years ago offers a new window on the ancient society and hints at connections with Mesopotamia

Diet and exercise will only get you so far, but there is a magic bullet that could make us all live longer, says professor of global public health Devi Sridhar

An object thought to have come from another star has been seen entering the solar system at high speed, and is expected to whip around the sun in the coming months

An object from another star has been seen entering the solar system at high speed, and is expected to whip around the sun in the coming months

Pictures of a distant supernova remnant show two concentric rings, providing clear evidence that exploding white dwarf stars go boom twice in the blink of an eye

Bones found at the site of an ancient fish-processing plant were used to genetically identify the species that went into a fish sauce, often known as garum, eaten throughout the Roman Empire

It is possible to make a material absorb more radiation than it has to re-emit, violating the laws of physics in a way that could make energy-harvesting devices more efficient

Operators lost contact with the MethaneSAT satellite on 20 June, a significant blow to efforts to track – and stop – methane emissions

The arrow of time can teach us more about how the universe began – and how it will end, says quantum columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

You may think you know static electricity, but its true nature has long eluded scientists. We’ve now made a huge leap towards finally figuring it out

People with Chiari malformations have a skull shape similar to Neanderthals, suggesting that the condition may be caused by DNA inherited from archaic humans

Antarctic sea ice extent has fallen dramatically in recent years – the effects include accelerated ocean warming, faster loss of inland ice sheets and severe impacts on wildlife

Micrometeorites are thought to shower down on planets throughout the universe, so the discovery that they help protocells form could tell us something about the chances of life elsewhere

From Austin Taylor to Nadia Afifi, there is lots to look forward to in the sci-fi out this month - including a novel which might be our culture editor Alison Flood's pick of the year so far

Eggs and embryos from people with polycystic ovary syndrome have altered patterns of so-called epigenetic tags, which could explain how the condition is inherited

AI models change their medical recommendations when people ask them questions that include colourful language, typos, odd formatting and even gender-neutral pronouns

Researchers have documented orcas seemingly gifting rays, seals and fish to scientists and divers, which could suggest they have theory of mind and engage in altruism – even across species

Researchers have documented orcas seemingly gifting rays, seals and fish to scientists and divers, which could suggest they have theory of mind and engage in altruism – even across species

A long-lasting formulation of an antiviral drug greatly reduced people’s risk of a symptomatic flu infection in a trial, and should even be effective against new strains

Over tens of thousands of years, waves of Homo sapiens set out across Europe and Asia, only for their societies and cultures to mysteriously vanish. At last, ancient DNA is revealing why

People with PCOS who struggle to conceive tend to have lower levels of a gut microbe that has been linked to endometrial function

A flexible fabric called X-Wear could replace some parts of medical scanners, which would make taking X-rays and CT scans far more comfortable and convenient

With the help of powerful computers, researchers discovered a four-sided shape that naturally rests on one side, and built a real-life version from carbon fibre and tungsten

Large sea anchors could be used to drag water under a bold plan to keep the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation moving – but some experts are sceptical

Culture editor Alison Flood rounds up the New Scientist Book Club's take on our latest read, a time-travelling romance

In this passage from near the opening of Lake of Darkness, the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, we are given an insight into how deep-space travel works in Adam Roberts’s universe

The author of Lake of Darkness, the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, on why, in a world awash with fictional dystopias, he set out to write the opposite

There have been hundreds of reports of sightings of a “fireball” in the skies over the southern US – it may have been a meteor breaking up as it falls through Earth’s atmosphere

DNA sequencing shows young trees are more likely to have gene variants that confer partial resistance to a fungus that has been wiping out ash trees across Europe

After a nap, people who entered the second stage of sleep were more likely to spot a solution to a problem than those who slept lightly or not at all

Geologists have long debated whether a stony formation in Canada contains the world’s oldest rocks – new measurements make a compelling case that it does

With their country threatened by sea level rise, the people of Tuvalu have been offered an escape route through an agreement with Australia, and many are contemplating leaving their home

The recent erratic behaviour of the polar jet stream isn't out of the ordinary, researchers have found by compiling data from the past 125 years

Helping yourself get to sleep isn’t just about avoiding screens before bedtime. From cognitive shuffling to sleep-restriction therapy, columnist Helen Thomson finds out what actually works

A study based on household surveys suggests that from October 2023 to January 2025, around 75,000 people in Gaza died violent deaths, while Gaza's health ministry estimates 46,000 for the same period

A boomerang discovered in a Polish cave was originally dated as 18,000 years old, but it may have been contaminated by preservation materials. A new estimate suggests the mammoth-ivory artefact is 40,000 years old

Weight-loss surgery seems to lower the risk of colorectal cancer by changing where bile acids enter the small intestine, raising the possibility of developing treatments that mimic these effects

Mice created using genetic material from two sperm cells have gone on to have offspring off their own, but the prospect of one day using the technique in humans has potential to cause controversy

Neurologist Pria Anand recounts curious tales of the workings of the human mind in an elegant debut that is being compared to the late, great Oliver Sacks

The public is tuning out the seemingly slow warming of the world, but it doesn't have to be that way, argue Grace Liu and Rachit Dubey

It is uncanny how human fears about robots mirror those about immigrants. But maybe they aren't out to take our jobs or destroy us all, says Annalee Newitz

A study into a spider species in which the females are prone to eat the males after sex is welcomed into Feedback's new collection of self-evident scientific studies

This shot by the acclaimed photographer, taken from a helicopter, is part of a new exhibition of his work at New York City's International Center of Photography

Natural history museums teach us about our world, but they aren’t telling us the whole story, writes curator Jack Ashby in Nature's Memory

Packed with puzzles and narrative threads, Matt Wixey's novel Basilisk is an exhilarating read that is hard to put down

It is tricky to count things that are moving around – but this handy maths technique can help, says Katie Steckles, whether it is animals or vanishing spoons that you're trying to keep track of

Cancer cells can acquire energy-generating structures called mitochondria from nearby nerve cells, which seems to aid their spread, a discovery that could lead to new treatments

Adults and AI models fail to recognise messages with harmful intent expressed with Gen Alpha slang or memes, raising concerns about youngsters’ online safety

Since 1970, heart attack deaths have fallen almost 90 per cent in the US, though deaths from chronic heart conditions have significantly risen

The night lizards may have been the only terrestrial vertebrates that survived in the region of the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs

Enigmacursor darted around North America in the Late Jurassic 145-150 million years ago and its skeleton now be on display in London’s Natural History Museum

Over the past 150 years, the rise in Caesarean sections and changes in diet could have led to smaller pelvises among women – which may make vaginal birth more difficult but could also reduce common conditions associated with childbirth

A simulation of the "aerial screw" designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1480 suggests it would use less power than modern drone rotors to generate the same lift, and make less noise too

A high-speed crash between two dwarf galaxies might explain a unique feature in space – and provide useful information on dark matter

Our climate seems to be more sensitive to greenhouse gas emissions than some researchers had hoped, meaning the world will have to up its decarbonisation efforts

Humans established a wild population of brown forest wallabies in the Raja Ampat Islands thousands of years ago for their meat and fur in one of the earliest known species translocations

We're a step closer to two men being able to have genetic children of their own after the creation of fertile mice by putting two sperm cells in an empty egg

In just 10 hours of observing the night sky, the powerful new telescope detected more than 2000 new asteroids, including a few that will pass near Earth

Drone footage has captured killer whales breaking off stalks of kelp and rubbing the pieces on other orcas, a rare case of tool use in marine animals

What are quantum particles doing before we measure them? Getting to grips with this century-old debate takes us to the heart of whether there is an objective reality

Astronomers have been trying to detect atmospheres on planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1, but bursts of radiation from the star make this challenging

We have discovered legions of strange particles that seem to only have a ghostly existence inside materials. Even so, they are the basis of much modern technology - so are they actually real?

Two life forms living together helped spark the evolution of all complex life. By learning to appreciate this process more fully, we might be able to harness it to heal our planet too

From four-dimensional hexagons to the mind-bending amplituhedron, geometrical shapes are wilder than we learn at school - and they are a crucial tool for understanding reality

From acquaintances to besties, our relationships fall on a wide continuum. Research into the ingredients for meaningful and lasting connections can help you strengthen them

There’s an argument rumbling about why our ancestors evolved language. And surprisingly, one of the possible explanations has nothing to do with communication

Geoengineering comes in many forms and the risks and potential benefits vary widely. But many researchers now feel it’s time to investigate this controversial idea

Conditions in our little pocket of the universe seem to be just right for life - and the much-debated anthropic principle forces us to wonder why

All of us hold metaphysical beliefs, whether we realise it or not. Learning to question them is spurring progress on some of the hardest questions in physics