'Time travel was just a metaphor for controlling a narrative' 30. May 2025 (11:00) The Ministry of Time author Kaliane Bradley on how she made time travel work in her bestselling novel, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club(New Scientist)
Leprosy was in the Americas long before the arrival of Europeans 29. May 2025 (21:00) The history books say Europeans brought leprosy to the Americas, but analysis of ancient DNA reveals that a form of the disease was present in Argentina and Canada much earlier(New Scientist)
Will SpaceX’s Starship rocket ever work - and what if it doesn’t? 29. May 2025 (13:25) The failure of SpaceX’s ninth Starship launch has raised fresh concerns about the future of the rocket, but is there any alternative to Elon Musk’s approach to space?(New Scientist)
Amazing images reveal new details in the sun's atmosphere 29. May 2025 (13:01) City-sized droplets and twisting streams of plasma have been picked up by incredibly detailed images of the sun’s corona, showing our star as we’ve never seen it before(New Scientist)
Qubit breakthrough could make it easier to build quantum computers 29. May 2025 (12:00) Quantum computers that correct their own errors usually require hundreds of thousands of qubits. Start-up Nord Quantique claims it can dramatically decrease that number – but many challenges remain(New Scientist)
Dark chocolate is rich in flavanols. Does that make it a health food? 29. May 2025 (09:00) Antioxidants like cocoa flavanols may benefit heart health, brain ageing and the microbiome. Columnist Alexandra Thompson investigates whether it’s time to rethink chocolate(New Scientist)
Before the Great Wall, Chinese rulers built a shallow ditch 29. May 2025 (02:01) A network of trenches, walls and enclosures built across the steppes of China and Mongolia 800 years ago seems to have been erected to control the flow of people, perhaps for tax reasons(New Scientist)
