The world’s most elusive colour is worth billions – if we can find it 25. February 2026 (17:00) 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(New Scientist)
Breaking encryption with a quantum computer just got 10 times easier 25. February 2026 (13:00) The commonly used RSA encryption algorithm can now be cracked by a quantum computer with only 100,000 qubits, but the technical challenges to building such a machine remain numerous(New Scientist)
Cannibalism may explain why some orcas stay in family groups 24. February 2026 (19:00) Fins washing up in the North Pacific suggest that orcas from one subspecies are snacking on other orcas, and researchers think that may explain their different social dynamics(New Scientist)
How Ukraine became a drone factory and invented the future of war 24. February 2026 (17:00) Ukraine has responded to a war it didn’t start by creating an industry it doesn’t want, but could the nation's drone expertise help it rebuild? To learn more, New Scientist gained exclusive access to the research labs, factories and military training schools behind Ukraine’s drones(New Scientist)
Loophole found that makes quantum cloning possible 24. February 2026 (13:00) Duplicating the information held in quantum computers was thought to be impossible thanks to the no-cloning theorem, but researchers have now found a workaround(New Scientist)
The surprising vaccine side effects that can improve long-term health 24. February 2026 (10:00) People often focus on the bad side effects of vaccines, but they can have some great side effects too, says columnist Michael Le Page. They don’t just protect us from contagious diseases but can also lower the risk of dementia and heart attacks(New Scientist)
Saturn’s rings may have formed after a huge collision with Titan 24. February 2026 (09:00) Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, may have been even more instrumental to the system’s evolution than we thought, forming its rings, shaping its moons and even affecting the planet itself(New Scientist)
