Subscribe now

Columnist

Tackling topics from the cutting edge of dark matter research to the latest developments in the tech world, explore the incisive opinions of New Scientist's expert columnists.

Physics

Where Schrödinger’s cat came from – and why it’s getting fatter

Schrödinger called his metaphorical cat “quite ridiculous” but the quantum weirdness it represents has become a useful benchmark for the quantum computing industry, finds our quantum columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Comment

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/ NASA?s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie, made up of 62 individual images, on July 23. A rock nicknamed ?Cheyava Falls,? which has features that may bear on the question of whether the Red Planet was long ago home to microscopic life, is to the left of the rover near the center of the image. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Technology

Could brain-computer interface let us inhabit robot avatars on Mars?

Comment

2CBM20E Humorous blue public toilet sign, Koh Samui, Thailand

Environment

How toilet waste is being rebranded as a valuable resource

Comment

MRI brain scans

Mind

Why you should slow down your brain’s ageing – and how to do it

Comment

Visual impression of the ultra-high energy neutrino event observed in KM3NeT/ARCA. The colours indicate the light seen by the ?eyes? on each module, where the different colours represent different observation times. The almost horizontally reconstructed track of the particle is shown as a line from right to left. Courtesy KM3NeT.

Physics

Why particle physicists are going wild for a record-breaking neutrino

Comment

PPW5E4 The Nose art installation in St. Lorenz, Austria

Health

How we could achieve dog-level sense of smell – and what it would mean

Comment

High quality 3D rendered image, perfectly usable for topics related to big data, global networks, international flight routes or the spread of a pandemic / computer virus. Textures courtesy of NASA: https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/images/55167/earths-city-lights, https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/images/73934/topography

Technology

How Moore's law led us to a flawed vision of the future

Comment

Physics

Why exactly is the quantum world so weird?

Comment

Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) perched on Bempton cliffs. Yorkshire, UK. Cute bird portrait in spring.; Shutterstock ID 2162124261; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Environment

A spat over sand eels threatens puffins and other iconic seabirds

Comment

How does astronomy fit into astrophysics – and does it matter?

Physics

How does astronomy fit into astrophysics – and does it matter?

We need to think more carefully about how we categorise the universe, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Comment

Technology

How the future rise of AI lawyers could force Big Oil to pay up

Comment

Society

How futurism took an abrupt right turn in the 20th century

Comment

Environment

Rewild the UK with lynx soon? Not a cat in hell’s chance, sadly

Comment

Physics

Why we should talk about invisible matter, not dark matter

Comment

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop