Weird clump in the early universe is piping hot and we don’t know why
A galaxy cluster in the early universe is 10 times hotter than it ought to be, which may reshape how we think these enormous structures formed
El Niño was linked to famines in Europe in the early modern period
A study of 160 European famines between 1500 and 1800 shows that El Niño weather events led to the onset of some famines and extended the duration of others
The best new popular science books of January 2026
A host of new science books are due to hit shelves in January, by authors including Claudia Hammond, Deborah Cohen and Daisy Fancourt
2026 will shed light on whether a little-known drug helps with autism
The US government is approving the drug leucovorin to address rising rates of autism, despite limited evidence that it works. This year, results from the largest trial yet should give more insight into its potential
A strange kind of quantumness may be key to quantum computers’ success
Researchers at Google have used their Willow quantum computer to demonstrate that "quantum contextuality" may be a crucial ingredient for its computational prowess
The best new science fiction books of January 2026
Big hitter Peter F. Hamilton has a new sci-fi novel out this month – and Booker winner George Saunders ventures into speculative fiction with his latest book, Vigil
Ghostly particles might just break our understanding of the universe
An analysis of several experiments aimed at detecting the mysterious neutrino has identified a hint of a crack in the standard model of particle physics
Was our earliest ancestor a knuckle-dragger, or did it walk upright?
Did Sahelanthropus, which lived 7 million years ago, walk on two legs like a modern human? It's complicated
Gargantuan black hole may be a remnant from the dawn of the universe
Astronomers were puzzled by a black hole around 50 million times the mass of the sun with no stars, spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope – now simulations suggest it could be a primordial black hole, something we have never seen before
Our verdict on The Player of Games: Iain M. Banks is still a master
The New Scientist Book Club has just finished our December read, Iain M. Banks's sci-fi novel The Player of Games - and most of us were fans of this big-thinking Culture tale