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

Time to think smart • Current travails suggest we need a radical overhaul of the way we tackle problems

New Scientist Australian Edition

UK variant spreads in US • Ten US states have recorded cases of the UK variant, while Australia has brought in measures to curb its spread, report Donna Lu and Adam Vaughan

Vaccine dosing controversy • Faced with surging covid-19 cases and a fast-spreading virus, the UK has altered its vaccination strategy. Is that wise, asks Clare Wilson

Vaccine roll-out around the world

Can the UK hit its vaccine target? • The UK may struggle to vaccinate nearly 14 million people by mid-February

Positive mood and good friends can boost response to vaccines

Robot duo set to plant trees • Pair of automatic foresters could plant thousands of seedlings in a day

White dwarfs seen eating remnants of destroyed planets

UK may allow gene editing in crops • If a consultation leads to the use of tiny DNA changes to improve the nutrition of food, it could be a potential benefit of Brexit, finds Michael Marshall

2020 was the joint hottest year on record

Sneaky spiders trap frogs • Huntsman spiders stitch leaves together to lure in tree frogs

Pollution made Hurricane Harvey worse

Black holes leak energy when they eat nearby plasma

Origins of music linked to daredevil behaviour

Groundwater may turn salty • The world’s food chain relies on groundwater, but it may be becoming unusable

Jumping into a wormhole could make it collapse

Some dinosaurs sat on their eggs like birds do

AI illustrator draws surreal images from text prompts

Slices of space rock reveal watery secrets

Rare cancers jumped from mother to child

Does ride-sharing raise car ownership?

Really brief

Huge sharks ate unhatched siblings

Spare meat turned wolves into pet dogs

Living cells turned into data stores

Rise of the electric cars • 2020 was the best ever year for electric cars. The days of fossil fuel-powered vehicles are numbered, says Adam Vaughan

Welcome to the green decade • We have been in many last chance saloons with climate change, but there are now reasons to believe we might finally go out and take action, writes Graham Lawton

Your letters

Virgo 3.0

Dementia’s identity crisis • A film that explores a lesser-known form of dementia poses interesting questions about agency and well-being, says Francesca Steele

Taming the flames • As a warming world brings more wildfires, we have a lot to learn about how best to live with them, finds Sandrine Ceurstemont

Don’t miss

Playing nicer • The real Vikings have traded their image as violent marauders for a bit of nuance, but new game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has it both ways and features people playing nice while still wanting to invade and rule, says Jacob Aron

Rethinking intelligence • Our dominant idea of what makes people smart is exacerbating world problems and needs a radical overhaul, says researcher Robert J. Sternberg

REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS…

MEASURING ADAPTIVE INTELLIGENCE

Taming CRISPR • The powerful gene-editing technique will transform medicine – if we can control it. Now we may have a way, finds Gege Li

Evolutionary arms...