To cut the cost of key stage 2 assessments, a UK government project proposes to use scripts generated by ChatGPT instead of real children's writing as examples supplied to moderators who check that grades are awarded fairly

A drug made up of THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, reduced the severity and incidence of nightmares in people with PTSD

The use of explosives to kill fish is widespread across the tropics, and acoustic monitoring in an Indonesian archipelago detected more than 3500 explosions in 483 days

Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought conditions, resulting in restrictions on water use in many areas and severe wildfires – here's how it's affecting farming, wildlife and trees

A reconstruction of East Africa's environment 1.75 million years ago suggests wildfires spiked during wetter times, which may have influenced human evolution

We've perhaps been conditioned to not ask too many questions, in case it comes across as rude or prying. But columnist David Robson argues that asking people open-ended questions benefits our wellbeing, and doesn't have to be complicated

Memories in mice persisted even after they lost the connections that we thought were needed for recall, expanding our knowledge of memory in the mammalian brain

Descent passed from mother to daughter rather than from father to son, a study of more than 500 Iron Age individuals from north-east England suggests

Analysis of a mathematical puzzle that Leonhard Euler deemed unsolvable in the 1700s reveals that the crucial ingredient for cracking it after all is quantum entanglement

Photographers in Spain captured spectacular images of the rare alignment of the moon and the sun, as it cast a dark shadow over much of the country

The critical current could remain stable beyond 5°C of warming, but only if the warming happens very slowly 

Almost all mammals give birth rather than laying eggs, and we have new clues about when they began to do so

How Komatsu machines help build Atlassian Williams F1 Team’s FW48

Pushing a pram while running may reduce the force produced with each foot strike, decreasing the risk of injuries

OpenAI and its competitors want to dictate the role that artificial intelligence will play in our society – it's time to take back control of the narrative

This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles

Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon

Feedback is a little nonplussed by an experiment that involved wearing (or not wearing) compressing shapewear, and then playing cards

Humans can see water but not air. So can fish see air? And would it be possible to have anti-black holes, and how could we tell if we were looking at one?

Our readers do the maths on what one of their mothers calls the family forest

One reader explains how the moon’s drift will lead to longer (and warmer) days

Bacteria-killing phage viruses souped up with DNA-destroying CRISPR appear to have helped clear up a very serious infection caused by antibiotic-resistant E. coli

Having surgery for a heart condition is thought to have triggered an immune response that put the patient into remission for his severe skin cancer, but also caused him to develop a serious allergy to bee stings

Two research teams have independently created devices within which sound waves could be separated by frequency, creating the most complete sound rainbows yet

Two leg bones found on the seabed near Taiwan have been identified as Denisovans, and their size suggests these hominins stood up to 190 centimetres tall

A total solar eclipse is set to be visible across parts of Europe, while a partial eclipse will sweep across about a quarter of the planet – here’s how to catch it

Our understanding of the internal structure of protons is largely based on classical physics, but data compiled from accelerator experiments has uncovered quantum behaviour that has never been seen before

The standard model of physics is one of the most successful scientific theories in existence, but do we need it all? Columnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein explores whether it’s carrying any excess baggage

Keeping pets seems to be fairly recent behaviour in the timeline of human evolution. Columnist Michael Marshall turns to the latest research on primates to understand how long we’ve had the impulse to adopt furry friends

Since the 2000s, our light exposure has changed drastically as we make our buildings more energy-efficient. Now, we’re discovering how this may mess with our mitochondria, contributing to diabetes, dementia and more

There are measurable changes in the way we run when we are short of sleep, which give us a clearer picture of how a lack of shut-eye affects our risk of injury

A salt-loving microorganism found in places like the Dead Sea can not just survive but actively grow in conditions close to those that may be found just under the Martian surface

In an election, how can you make sure that everyone's votes are counted but also kept entirely secret? Quantum mechanics may have the answer

A small trial suggests a supplement containing dead bacteria could offer a cheaper alternative to weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide, but further evidence is needed

An out-of-control SpaceX rocket that crashed into the moon earlier this week did, in fact, leave an impact crater, according to images from a Korea AeroSpace Administration lunar orbiter that caught before-and-after photographs

Researchers are investigating whether artificially thickening ice blockages between Canada and Greenland could prevent huge amounts of sea ice from flowing south to melt

High temperatures and low water levels have forced several countries to shut down nuclear reactors just as citizens turn up their air conditioning, forcing energy prices to spike and raising the threat of blackouts

Why are we so susceptible to clickbait? Columnist Jacob Aron traces it to a surprising source: a mathematical framework that paved the way for much of how the modern world works

Even during a solar eclipse, it isn’t safe to look directly at the sun, but with a proper solar filter or a simple pinhole projector, you can still watch it disappear behind the moon

Carbon savings from driving EVs are so large that it makes sense to scrap a working petrol car to make the switch

An AI model from DeepMind can predict cyclones three days ahead with a level of accuracy that previous models can only hit a day later

This year has left mathematicians reeling as AI models are increasingly solving seemingly intractable maths problems. Terence Tao, the world's leading mathematician, says a rethink of the entire field is the only way out of the crisis 

The widespread belief that some foods benefit from a night in the fridge has been put to the test, and it seems to be true for some curries, but not lasagne

Combining archaeological evidence with ancient DNA and data on past climates shows us how long and winding the story of human evolution is, stretching back millions of years to when the first primates arose

A study involving 12,000 adults in the US suggests that taking action to prevent dementia during your 50s can make a big difference later in life

Altering the gut microbiomes of people with peanut allergy using faeces donated from an allergy-free individual improved their peanut tolerance in a clinical trial

The devastating wildfires in Europe demand urgent measures to make landscapes more resilient, but without action to reduce use of fossil fuels, the danger is only going to increase

This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles

Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon

Humans can see water but not air. So can fish see air? And would it be possible to have anti-black holes, and how could we tell if we were looking at one?

Readers continue to give their examples of dogs who do notice passing aircraft – but also put forward some ideas as to why they generally don’t

A reader weighs in on this one – and finds it will depend on how far you’re travelling

Readers debate how the introduction of bicycles and trains will have led to less closely related prospective partners for our ancestors – and consider various royal dynasties from this perspective

It has been assumed for decades that tick and flea treatments for pets pose no threat to wildlife or people, but there’s growing evidence that we have got it wrong

People appear to prefer short stories created by AI over those written by humans. They are also no better than chance at telling which is which

The laws of physics seemed to forbid a strange variety of black holes that could have zero temperature. Columnist Jacklin Kwan explores research that shows these strange behemoths can really exist – and how they could test the limits of thermodynamics

Botanists have finally proved what Charles Darwin was unable to nail down – that a genus of plants known to catch insects also digests them, suggesting the extent of plant carnivory has been underestimated

A few years ago, psychologist Sherman Lee experienced a "grief attack". When he set out to study them, he discovered just how powerful and all-consuming grief can be

From which diets work best to the ethics of octopus farming, here’s Liz Else’s round-up of the most interesting popular science books published this month

Lost solar power due to smoke blocking the sun cost Europe and North America nearly $2 billion in 2023 alone

For the first time since records began, there was no rain at all for parts of southern England and Wales in July, in a “truly exceptional” month of heat and sunshine

Jacob Tsimerman won a Fields medal last month – now he is leaving mathematics to work on AI safety

Ten conundrums that stumped human mathematicians for years have been cracked by OpenAI's Astra model, continuing a hot streak of AI-driven breakthroughs that are shaking up the field

AI chatbots can describe reality in words, but don’t truly understand cause and effect in the real world. Now, a fresh kind of machine intelligence that does just that is emerging

A beach umbrella might protect you from sunburn, but when it comes to keeping you cool, it makes surprisingly little difference

Beef-liver supplements are said to be more effective at raising iron levels than standard tablets, but is it true? Columnist Alice Klein looks into the evidence behind the claims

Fascist empires and deadly sea monsters are on offer in the science fiction out this month, says Alison Flood

Paradoxically, suppressing wildfires has also made European countries more vulnerable to huge blazes like those seen in France and Spain this week. With global warming also amplifying the danger, some experts are calling for a change of strategy

Global warming may make it too hot for malaria-carrying mosquitoes to survive in parts of Africa, but could also shift the problem to less affected areas

Protein is everywhere, but studies – mostly in non-human animals – suggest that limiting our intake could extend our lifespan

Surgery that aims to enhance the clearance of Alzheimer's-associated proteins from the brain has been banned in China, but only after thousands of people had the procedure

The total solar eclipse on 12 August will only be visible to a lucky few, but eclipses happen all over the world – here are the next ones to look out for, wherever you may be

In this extract from Peter Heller’s novel, the August read for the New Scientist Book Club, we are introduced to pilot Hig, who lives alone after most of the world was killed in a superflu pandemic

Set in an empty world after a superflu pandemic wipes out most of humanity, Peter Heller's The Dog Stars - the August read for the New Scientist Book Club - will be released as a film later this month.

To predict when we’ll have a truly useful quantum computer, we need to know precisely what one is. Columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan finds that’s harder to pin down than you might think

We all have bits of DNA from a long-lost “ghost ancestor” inside us – and by putting all the different bits together, we might be able to reconstruct their genome

The mummies of two people who lived in Chile more than 400 years ago carry DNA from smallpox, providing the first molecular evidence that the virus was brought to the Americas from Europe

Genetic tests of mammoth remains have found a stark contrast in the sex ratio between sites where the animals died naturally and those associated with humans, offering hints about how our ancestors hunted

A tiny sensor that unfolds within the body could continuously monitor our heart activity and breathing after showing promise in rats

Rebecca Skloot told the story of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells were taken without her permission in a bestselling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Reading it left Alison George with an uneasy feeling - so she spoke to Lacks's family

Networks of pipes carrying chilled water have proven to be an efficient way to cool hospitals and universities. Now, they are expanding into cities as heatwaves increase in the US and Europe

A treatment that turns off the bit of the immune system that goes haywire in Guillain-Barré syndrome may be the first targeted therapy approved for the autoimmune condition

Three problems that are out of reach for conventional computers have been cracked by quantum computers and show how important the machines could become for scientific research

Certain sleeping positions can lead to babies developing flattened heads, and an analysis of ancient skulls from Italy reveals that this condition affected people in the 9th century BC

The cosmological principle is the foundation of modern cosmology – but its usefulness doesn’t necessarily make it true, says columnist Leah Crane

A stunningly intact marine reptile named Austronaga minuta that lived around 245 million years ago may have looked like a miniature version of more famous later ocean predators, like plesiosaurs

There was unusual consensus amongst New Scientist Book Club members about our read for July, with readers falling over themselves to praise this big-concept slice of science fiction

Measures like bans on advertising junk food to children are essential for instilling healthy eating at a young age, but we shouldn't let adults off the hook when it comes to improving our diets

This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles

Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon

Feedback is delighted by a deep dive into why people sometimes wear "artificially elongated fingernails". But does it do more than just scratch the surface?

If the sun suddenly disappeared, how long would life on Earth last, from humans and plants to subterranean bacteria? And why do humans so readily adopt fiction into our lives, and feel emotion about characters as though they were someone close to us in real life?

An Australian reader with an abundance of flies in their locality tries to answer a question that has intrigued many of our readers

A jaguar that has been dubbed Gaspar traversed 2100 kilometres of the Amazon, crossing farms and roads. But why he set off on this mission is unclear

Rats are a scourge on island wildlife all over the world. But an island off the coast of Ireland is showing how to successfully gain the upper hand 

Climate change is affecting the yields and flavour of the traditional Japanese tea matcha, but studying its seedlings' genetic tolerance for heat could future-proof the crop

After the Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago, trillions of tonnes of rock vapour was launched into space before falling back to Earth at ballistic speeds, creating a global blast of heat strong enough to broil life on land

Flame-generated thunderstorms known as pyrocumulonimbus clouds can make wildfires even more intense, and they are expected to become more common in Europe

The first of a new generation of drugs that works in a completely different way to existing ones has been approved. Columnist Michael Le Page says this approach could transform treatments for all kinds of conditions

A drug advisory committee in the US has recommended approval for several experimental peptides. But there have been no large-scale tests of these new compounds in humans, finds columnist Grace Wade