2026 will be the hottest year on record, leading scientist predicts 01. May 2026 (19:24) The second half of this year will almost certainly see the start of an El Niño phase that could lead to extreme heat across much of the globe, and James Hansen expects that to make this year surpass 2024 as the hottest on record(New Scientist)
NHS England rushes to hide software over AI hacking fears 01. May 2026 (14:32) National Health Service rules state that all software created with public money should be publicly available, but fears of computer-hacking AI models like Mythos have prompted a change in policy(New Scientist)
The 4 biggest myths about hydration, according to an expert 01. May 2026 (14:00) Should you really be drinking eight glasses of water a day? What about reaching for a sports drink after exercise? Physiologist Tamara Hew-Butler is here to bust these hydration myths and more.(New Scientist)
Oak trees use delaying tactics to thwart hungry caterpillars 01. May 2026 (12:00) An infestation of caterpillars can make an oak tree postpone when it opens its leaves next year by three days, wrong-footing the insects when they attack again(New Scientist)
Will Colombia summit kick-start the end of the fossil fuel era? 01. May 2026 (11:58) With progress at COP climate meetings stalling, 57 countries took part in the first of a new series of conferences aiming to develop roadmaps away from fossil fuels, but big emitters like China and the US were absent(New Scientist)
Why I explore our inevitable love for robots in my novel Luminous 01. May 2026 (11:35) Silvia Park, author of the May read for the New Scientist Book Club, reveals how a book that was originally intended to be for children took a darker route following a death in the family(New Scientist)
Read an extract from Luminous by Silvia Park 01. May 2026 (11:35) In this extract from Luminous, the May read for the New Scientist Book Club, we meet a mysterious robot discovered in a salvage yard in Seoul, in a future reunified Korea(New Scientist)
The rings of Uranus are even stranger than we thought 01. May 2026 (10:00) Uranus’s outermost two rings are surprisingly dissimilar, which opens up a mystery about the tiny moons and moonlets that form them(New Scientist)
An unorthodox version of quantum theory could reveal what reality is 01. May 2026 (08:00) The implications of quantum mechanics suggest reality isn't as solid as we think it is, but physicist David Bohm had a spin on the theory that restores reality. Columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan explores how we could test Bohmian mechanics – and if it will ever become more widely accepted(New Scientist)
