The biggest science news stories of 2023 as chosen by New Scientist
AI chatbots and a weight-loss drug swept the world, temperature records tumbled and India landed on the moon in a…
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China is readying a mission to two rocky bodies in our solar system
China's ambitious Tianwen-2 mission will soon be heading to two extremely different space rocks, and should provide vital data to…
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman lands new job at Microsoft after surprise firing
The head of one of the world's leading AI companies was fired for not being 'candid' with the board, then…
Chips linked with light could train AI faster while using less energy
A technology that packs more optical fibre connections onto chips could let them transmit 80 times as much information, speeding…
There’s a huge radioactive slab of volcanic granite buried on the moon
A block of granite on the far side of the moon used to be the inside of a volcano –…
Global forecast for 2025 sees temperatures falling back below 1.5°C
La Niña conditions are expected to lead to a slightly cooler average global surface temperature in 2025, though it does…
Protein fragments that repair skin damage could be added to cosmetics
When applied to skin on the forearms, two of these fragments increased levels of key structures that are known to…
What is ‘problematic smartphone use’ and should we worry about it?
Two studies have linked "problematic smartphone use" to higher rates of anxiety, depression and insomnia among teenagers, but the researchers…
Fragile quantum entanglement may survive chaos of chemical reactions
Strange quantum characteristics of molecules can weather the chaos of chemical reactions, which may benefit quantum technologies or unveil hidden…
Bits of an ancient planet called Theia may be buried in Earth’s mantle
Two strange, high-density blobs buried more than a kilometre underground may have come from the ancient world Theia, which is…