New Scientist

As one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century, James Watson pioneered the field of genetics and left behind a complicated legacy

Jacob, an 11-year-old lion, has defied expectations by surviving for years after losing a leg – now we know his success is down to an innovative hunting strategy

Many plants including cocoa, coffee and avocado cannot be gene-edited but a technique involving grafting could change that, opening the door to more productive and nutritious varieties

Lise Barnéoud's Hidden Guests shows how this fascinating new field brings with it profound implications for medicine, and even what it means to be human, finds Helen Thomson

For the first time, video footage has captured orcas in the Gulf of California hunting young great white sharks, using a trick to flip them over, paralise them and get at their energy-rich livers

Palaeontologists have argued for decades over whether certain fossils are young Tyrannosaurus rex or another species entirely – now they have strong evidence that the diminutive Nanotyrannus really existed

Photographer Tim Flach's new book Feline explores the mysterious and irresistible world of cats, from the domesticated to the wild, and why we love them

In Ed Sayers's breathtaking documentary, a global community of film-makers capture the wildlife in their local areas. It's a bold departure from the glossy perspective of traditional nature documentaries, says Simon Ings

Birds all over the world break into a dawn chorus every morning – now experiments in zebra finches suggest both a mechanistic and a functional explanation for this phenomenon

Microbes high in Earth’s stratosphere produce pigments to protect them from UV light – so similar molecules could be biosignatures of life elsewhere in the galaxy

Naturalist Chris Packham speaks at New Scientist Live about the six species that changed his life

As orcas continue to attack boats in the Strait of Gibraltar, those studying them think they know why

Chilli powder is touted as a cheap, easy, safe option to protect your garden from foxes and squirrels. James Wong casts a scientific eye on this popular remedy

Our bond with cats – which has seen them go from hunter to house pet – may be more diverse than with any other animal. And Jerry D. Moore's Cat Tales: A history rounds up the lot, says Bethan Ackerley

A 230-million-year-old fossil found in Argentina shows that the evolution of sauropod dinosaurs’ long necks began earlier than previously thought

A beautifully preserved skeleton found on the UK’s Jurassic Coast has been identified as a new species of the marine reptiles known as ichthyosaurs

From an alien-looking flat-faced longhorn beetle to an abandoned baby rhino, images at London’s Natural History Museum show what we stand to lose from the decimation of global biodiversity

Some conservation groups are calling for an effective ban on genetic modification, but others say these technologies are crucial for preserving biodiversity

Several species of birds from different continents use and understand similar alarm calls when they see an invader that might lay an egg in their nest – this shared call hints at the origin of language

Jane Goodall, who chronicled the social lives of chimps, has died, but she leaves a lasting legacy on how we view the natural world