New Scientist Australian Edition

New Scientist covers the latest developments in science and technology that will impact your world. New Scientist employs and commissions the best writers in their fields from all over the world. Our editorial team provide cutting-edge news, award-winning features and reports, written in concise and clear language that puts discoveries and advances in the context of everyday life today and in the future.

The curse of knowledge • Commercial health tests promise peace of mind, but do they really deliver?

New Scientist Australian Edition

From spelunking to the stars

Has Antarctic crossed tipping point? • We are beginning to understand the loss of sea ice in Antarctica – and it could represent a permanent shift with potentially catastrophic consequences, discovers Madeleine Cuff

Egg cells made with DNA from human skin fertilised in the lab

NASA’s asteroid deflection test had a puzzling outcome

How do your feelings of happiness vary as you grow older?

Happiness declines slowly, then all at once • Happiness, as measured on a scale from 0 to 10, declines as we grow older, with a rapid drop-off past the age of 64

Birds may share universal warning call • Several species of bird from different continents use and understand each other’s anti-cuckoo calls, a discovery that may tell us more about the origins of language, explains Chris Simms

Shackleton’s ship was doomed before it even set sail

Cannabis extract offers alternative back pain treatment

Autism may have different subtypes • DNA analysis suggests autism exists in a variety of forms that are diagnosed at different ages

Ravenous rogue planet rampages through space

Should we worry AI will create deadly bioweapons? Not yet, but one day • AI tools are being used to design proteins and viruses, but rising fears over them enabling bioweapon attacks may be misplaced, finds Michael Le Page

We’ve solved the mystery of highly reactive oxygen

Evolution could hold the key to women’s longevity

Life-sized camel carvings • Almost 200 prehistoric engravings have been found in Saudi Arabia

Uncovering the ins and outs of belly buttons

Music is instrumental in learning how to read

We may know what causes will-o’-the-wisps

Our brain ‘swivels’ in search of sounds • Human ears no longer pivot towards certain noises, but our brains may do something similar

A black hole jet has been captured in incredible new detail

How Jane Goodall changed the way we see animals – and the world • The conservationist and primatologist, who chronicled the social lives of chimps, leaves a lasting legacy on how we view the natural world, says Rowan Hooper

A slice of sense on UPFs • Not all ultra-processed foods are bad for us – regulation and eating advice must reflect this, say Julia Belluz and Kevin Hall

No planet B • Pie in the sky A conspiracy theory that bad actors use contrails from aircraft to poison us distracts from the very real effects of aviation on the climate, says Graham Lawton

What we lose • Wildlife Photographer of the Year Natural History Museum, London

On Earth’s foundations • A personal odyssey through aeons of our planet’s geology offers a passionate mix of science and spirituality, finds Dhruti Shah

Burning questions • Hannah Ritchie answers key climate queries in her optimistic, data-led guide to reaching net zero, says Madeleine Cuff

New Scientist recommends

The film column • The outer fringes Blue Planet Red promotes the baseless idea that Mars was once inhabited by an advanced civilisation. But in documenting a generation of otherwise sensible researchers, it is inadvertently poignant, says Simon Ings

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