An excellent guide to the labyrinthine world of COP summits 22. October 2025 (20:00) In the run-up to this year's COP in Brazil, Madeleine Cuff explores The Climate Diplomat, a poignant account by the late Peter Betts, a negotiator who showed what diplomacy can achieve(New Scientist)
Could a self-monitoring system for criminals replace prisons one day? 22. October 2025 (20:00) Future Chronicles is our regular speculative look at inventions yet to come. In this latest installment, we journey to 2050, when technology had been developed so that criminals could be monitored at home. It led to a drop in crime, writes Rowan Hooper(New Scientist)
Must-watch documentary shows how Bush Senior failed the climate 22. October 2025 (20:00) The White House Effect is a distressing look back at how President George H. W. Bush came to abandon his climate ambitions. It is essential viewing and a glimpse at a world that could have been, says Bethan Ackerley(New Scientist)
Why group exercise is better than working out alone 22. October 2025 (20:00) When it comes to boosting mental health and even improving performance, team sports and group exercise come out on top, finds Grace Wade(New Scientist)
This paper should win a prize for its refusal to make any big claims 22. October 2025 (20:00) Feedback delights in a 2018 paper that takes care to warn us it reveals “nothing like super interesting”, and embarks on a quest to find more examples of disarming honesty(New Scientist)
Serum promotes hair growth by mimicking the effects of skin irritation 22. October 2025 (18:00) Skin irritation, such as through eczema, promotes hair growth in mice, which prompted scientists to create a treatment that works via similar pathways, with no discomfort required(New Scientist)
What 350 different theories of consciousness reveal about reality 22. October 2025 (18:00) There are hundreds of coherent theories attempting to explain the origins of experience. Robert Lawrence Kuhn explores what they reveal about free will, artificial intelligence and life after death(New Scientist)
