New Scientist Australian Edition

New Scientist covers the latest developments in science and technology that will impact your world. New Scientist employs and commissions the best writers in their fields from all over the world. Our editorial team provide cutting-edge news, award-winning features and reports, written in concise and clear language that puts discoveries and advances in the context of everyday life today and in the future.

Elsewhere on New Scientist

The ultimate brain challenge • We can all build a better brain, but we are going to have to put in the work

New Scientist Australian Edition

Ring of fire burns across US skies

Drones killing without oversight? • Ukraine is using drones that can identify and attack targets without any human control. It is the first confirmed use of autonomous weapons on a battlefield, reports David Hambling

Vacuuming can reduce wildfire air pollution in homes

Site used by ancient humans was also a latrine for giant hyenas

High-dose vitamin D could cut your risk of being hospitalised

Student uses AI to decipher word in ancient, closed scroll

Earth’s core is oddly squishy and we may now know why

Analysis Nuclear arms race • Will countries resume nuclear bomb tests? As global tensions rise, there are signs Russia, the US and China want to reawaken weapons programmes, says Matthew Sparkes

Brain mapped in most detail ever • A major research initiative has catalogued thousands of types of human brain cell and their locations, producing a resource that should help study neurological conditions, finds Clare Wilson

Artificial intelligence is helping us build a periodic table of shapes

Inventions based on threatened animals are on the rise

Discarded toys produce more electronic waste than vapes

Asteroid Bennu contains key ingredients of life

Early humans lived at high altitude as much as 2 million years ago

Climate change may be improving Bordeaux wines

Two giant planets collided and vaporised in a distant star system

Blood test tweak could make intensive care treatment safer

Viking queen was a powerful figure

Melt dust to make roads on the moon

Female frogs sometimes play dead to avoid mating

Really brief

Reinventing education • Instead of panicking about students using ChatGPT to cheat, we should be using AI to rethink how we learn, argues Okezue Bell

No planet B • Something smells fishy I knew there were problems with sea-farmed salmon, but after seeing the damage inflicted by life in an ocean pen, I will never buy it again, says Graham Lawton

Magnifycent

Your letters

Missing stars • A disdain for misogyny shines through in this rich history of women’s underappreciated contributions to astronomy, finds Bethan Ackerley

Taking a hammer to it • An eye-opening read traces today’s collective rage against big tech back to the Luddite uprising, says Jeremy Hsu

New Scientist recommends

The games column • Worlds within worlds Interesting, mind-bending puzzles abound in Cocoon – some so clever they will make you gasp. With visuals reminiscent of H. R. Giger, don’t miss out on one of the biggest gaming treats of the year, says Jacob Aron

Brain bank • Your brain can build a buffer against dementia and cognitive decline. We are finally getting to grips with the mechanisms of this cognitive reserve, opening up new ways to boost it, finds Anthea Rowan

What is killing urban trees? • The trees that line our city streets are dying in droves. Boosting their microbiomes could help them live longer, says James Dinneen

Help your street trees

Seven wonders of the Milky Way • Astronomer Matthew Bothwell is your guide on a tour of our galaxy’s most spectacular,...