Vibe Coding and Copyright: Will AI App Clones Spur Lawsuits?
A New Scientist column asks whether AI-generated copies of copyrighted apps will lead to legal battles, drawing on past tech disputes.
Science
Space, physics, materials, and general research.
A World Without Oxygen: Readers Imagine Anaerobic Earth
New Scientist’s Last Word column asks what Earth would look like if only anaerobic life survived.
If Our Brains Interpret Reality, What Is Actually Out There?
New Scientist readers tackle a long-standing puzzle: if perception is a brain-built interpretation, what can we know about the world itself?
Animal Senses and CO2 Fizz: Two Questions Science Still Asks
New Scientist's latest questions column highlights two unresolved puzzles about perception and carbon dioxide use.
Tom Gauld Cartoon Pokes Fun at the Late Arrival
A single New Scientist cartoon uses a mundane party mishap to satirise the familiar scientific feeling of missing the crucial moment.
Sci-Fi Columnist Recommends Time-Travel and Alien-Biology Novels
A New Scientist reviewer highlights two new novels that take very different approaches to speculative fiction.
A Cartoon Looks at Science Through a Cat's Eyes
New Scientist's latest Twisteddoodles cartoon reframes scientific life from a feline perspective.
Digital Scents Take First Steps Toward the Internet of Smell
Researchers have shown that a small set of odors can be converted into electronic signals and transmitted over the internet.
Russian surgeons claim first spinal cord transplant
A surgeon's claim of a world-first procedure using donor tissue is met with caution from researchers.
Open-Access Earth Observation Book Aims to Boost Disaster Resilience
A new open-access volume compiles Earth observation methods for disaster mitigation, highlighting AI's promise and its risks.
Cholesterol may disrupt brain's waste-clearing system in Alzheimer's
New research suggests cholesterol could interfere with the glymphatic system, the brain's mechanism for flushing toxins, potentially linking it to Alzheimer's disease.
Confocal Microscopy Winners Reveal Dynamic Mitochondria in Cells
The 2026 Nikon Small World competitions showcase how confocal laser scanning microscopy is changing views of organelle behavior.
Machine Learning Model Learns to Predict Polar Vortex Disruptions
A new AI approach trained on a physics-based simulation may make sudden stratospheric warming events easier to forecast.
Improved hurricane maps aid recognition but not risk perception
A Florida State University study finds that an updated hurricane forecast graphic helps people identify watch areas but does not increase perceived danger or protective actions.
Barrel-Shaped Jurassic Belemnite Is the Fattest Ever Found
A newly identified 160-million-year-old belemnite from Wyoming is so unusually barrel-shaped that it has no known equivalent among squid relatives.
Extreme male brain theory faces broader autism understanding
Simon Baron-Cohen's influential theory is being revisited as autism research expands beyond a male-centric view.
Parasite-Infected Mosquitoes Released in Barcelona for First Time in Europe
The release marks the first time such a biocontrol method has been used in Europe, targeting mosquitoes that can spread dengue and other diseases.
Why the West fears AI: culture, not technology
A New Scientist column argues that Western anxieties about AI stem from religious and sci-fi narratives rather than the technology itself, contrasting with Chinese attitudes.