Quantum theory says a vacuum isn’t truly empty, but proving it directly has remained out of reach. A new experiment using immensely powerful lasers could finally expose its hidden structure – and perh...

A stronger El Niño means more extreme weather, including droughts and wildfires in some places and flooding and tropical storms in others

A stronger El Niño means more extreme weather, including droughts and wildfires in some places and flooding and tropical storms in others

Having faced the prospect that our minds are random fluctuations in a dead universe, quantum cosmologist Sean Carroll suggests that we may be stuck in an eternally repeating reality

Our sun is capable of storms far bigger than we’ve ever recorded. Studying the world’s oldest trees suggests we could be due one of these gargantuan events soon

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 – a...

Earth contains more than enough heat to power humanity many times over, but so far only a few lucky places have been able to exploit it. Now we may have a way to tap this vast clean energy source almo...

Neither matter nor force, paraparticles would be something else entirely. Fresh hints that they exist are raising hopes that they could explain reality at its deepest level

Some 40 years ago, physicists noticed certain metals were conducting electricity in a bizarre way no one could explain. New answers to how and why this happens are forcing us to question how electricity flows

The rules governing gravity and other laws of nature seem like eternal truths, but cosmologist João Magueijo has always questioned their origins. Now, he has a bold new proposal

This 2013 book by an Indigenous botanist is a quietly urgent act of healing that forces Western science to look at the world in a different way

By tracing the origins of an unusual, short-lived particle, researchers have gathered some of the strongest evidence yet that mass can emerge from fluctuations in the vacuum

For decades, scientists have tried and failed to explain how the force that binds the heart of atoms together really works. But new mathematical tools are finally prising the problem open

For decades, scientists have tried and failed to explain how the force that binds the heart of atoms together really works. But new mathematical tools are finally prising the problem open

The muon collider was once dismissed as impossible, but is now gaining steam as the successor to the Large Hadron Collider. If built, it could offer a new window to reality

The discovery of bright yet stable pigments is vanishingly rare, making them hugely valuable. Now chemist Mas Subramanian is unpicking the atomic code of colour and homing in on our most-wanted hue

The way time ticks forward in our universe has long stumped physicists. Now, a new set of tools from entangled atoms to black holes promises to reveal time’s true nature

A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

YouTube video by New Scientist

From a particle smasher encircling the moon to an “impossible” laser, five scientists reveal the experiments they would run in a world powered purely by imagination

New tools that create ultra-precise maps of our tissues are transforming our ability to diagnose and cure once-fatal illnesses

Matter with “forbidden” symmetries was once thought to be confined to lab experiments, but is now being found in some of the world’s most extreme environments

New tools that create ultra-precise maps of our tissues are transforming our ability to diagnose and cure once-fatal illnesses

Matter with “forbidden” symmetries was once thought to be confined to lab experiments, but is now being found in some of the world’s most extreme environments

In 1992, three physicists began an argument about how many numbers we need to fully describe the universe. Their surprisingly long-running quarrel takes us to the heart of what’s truly real

The Federal Trade Commission received 200 complaints mentioning ChatGPT between November 2022 and August 2025. Several attributed delusions, paranoia, and spiritual crises to the chatbot.

In 1992, three physicists began an argument about how many numbers we need to fully describe the universe. Their surprisingly long-running quarrel takes us to the heart of what’s truly real

In 1992, three physicists began an argument about how many numbers we need to fully describe the universe. Their surprisingly long-running quarrel takes us to the heart of what’s truly real

Some things we see in space appear to outpace light. Now we are learning to harness these bizarre optical illusions to understand the mysteries of neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and more

Some things we see in space appear to outpace light. Now we are learning to harness these bizarre optical illusions to understand the mysteries of neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and more

Some things we see in space appear to outpace light. Now we are learning to harness these bizarre optical illusions to understand the mysteries of neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and more

A strange kind of geometry governs how particles move inside matter. Now, for the first time, physicists have uncovered its full shape – and it could transform how we design materials

Researchers have found the first new type of magnet in nearly a century. Now, these strange "altermagnets" could help us build an entirely new type of computer

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will build an unprecedented map of the universe—and discover billions of fast-changing objects

Join New America Fellows and ASU's Sports @ Humanities Institute for a conversation about the podcast, Tested.

Early detection and proactive medicine are often equated with better care—but Suzanne O’Sullivan begs to differ The Age of Diagnosis ,1 a new book by Suzanne O’Sullivan—neurologist, clinical…

Tonka bean trees survive lightning strikes — and use the powerful electric shocks to kill their competitors.

Researchers made the first known recordings of sharks making sounds after noticing they made clicks while being handled at a marine laboratory.

One year after the first infections were reported, it's still unclear how H5N1 virus jumped into U.S. cattle—and why it keeps doing so

As part of our series looking at the legacy of the pandemic five years on, we talk to Ed Yong about how COVID changed our relationship with health news, reporting and research.