Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum 13. May 2026 (18:00) After a career spent grappling with the neural underpinnings of autism, Uta Frith is unwavering in her controversial call to scrap our current view of the condition and start again(New Scientist)
Ancient teeth hint at links between Denisovans and Homo erectus 13. May 2026 (18:00) Six teeth roughly 400,000 years old have yielded some of the first ancient proteins thought to belong to Homo erectus, providing molecular clues to their relationships with other hominins(New Scientist)
Natural sunscreen found in fish eggs can be made by E. coli factories 13. May 2026 (18:00) Genetically altered bacteria can synthesise gadusol, a naturally occurring compound found in zebrafish eggs that could be developed as an alternative to existing sunscreen products that can harm marine life(New Scientist)
New rules confirm public has a right to see how UK government uses AI 13. May 2026 (14:00) Government departments and other public bodies in the UK must consider requests to release information about AI-produced content, regulators have confirmed. The move follows a successful request by New Scientist for the release of a minister's ChatGPT logs(New Scientist)
Can cloud seeding save us from water bankruptcy? 12. May 2026 (18:00) We’ve long tried to control the weather by engineering rainfall. Now such cloud-seeding efforts are escalating, creating conflict between countries and stoking conspiracy theories. But do they work?(New Scientist)
Carbon credits are flawed, but they can still help save forests 12. May 2026 (14:00) Carbon credits bought by companies to offset their emissions really have reduced deforestation, but not by as much as credit developers claim, according to a rigorous analysis(New Scientist)
Why do particle physicists like spending time in fields? 12. May 2026 (12:00) The concept of a field plays a key role in particle physics, but what exactly is it? From its origins in the study of magnetism to the quantum fields of today, columnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein goes exploring(New Scientist)
A new tectonic plate boundary could be forming in southern Africa 12. May 2026 (07:00) Gases collected from boiling mineral springs in Zambia contain the chemical signature of having come directly from the Earth’s mantle, a sign of a rupture in the tectonic plates and the possible beginning of a new continental boundary(New Scientist)
The story of the first human tool: the humble container 11. May 2026 (20:00) An analysis of ancient human artefacts finds that the container, a simple but critical tool, may have originated 500,000 years ago. Columnist Michael Marshall explores how slings, ostrich eggs and wooden trays helped our ancestors survive(New Scientist)
