Paleo in the News

Books about AI, Mars and infectious disease were among our top reads this year.

Funding uncertainties are pushing U.S. space scientists out of the field and putting existing and future space missions on the chopping block.

Astronauts strapped moss spores to the outside of the International Space Station for nine months - and most of them survived the challenging experience

The moss species Physcomitrium patens is the latest organism to survive an extended stay in the vacuum and radiation of space.

Scientists have observed mice helping each other when they encounter difficulties during birth, prompting a rethink of caregiving among rodents and other animals 

The mRNA platform offers the advantage of faster vaccine production, which could allow more time to decide on which flu strains to cover.

Botanist James Wong is constantly asked if he plays music to his army of plants. Time to put this notion to the test...

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

Managing diabetes with injections is challenging. Joining insulin to a skin-penetrating polymer was as effective as shots at regulating blood sugar.

Recent U.S. decisions about vaccines signal bigger changes to come that could threaten the foundation of the national childhood immunization schedule.

Polar marine ecologist Marianne Falardeau investigates how Arctic ecosystems are shifting under climate change.

In 2025, the Trump administration froze or ended about 5,300 NIH and NSF research grants totaling over $5 billion in unspent funds, a decision that reshaped many fields of science.

People who use search engines develop deeper knowledge and are more invested in what they learn than those relying on AI chatbots, a study reports.

Battles between the Trump administration and academic institutions are putting important biomedical advances in limbo.

A carefully crafted figure of a goose and a woman suggests that art reflecting spiritual beliefs entered a new phase among early villagers in the Middle East.

Video from the Haíɫzaqv Nation Indigenous community shows a wolf hauling a crab trap ashore. Scientists are split on whether it counts as tool use.

Some ants kill the queens of another species and take over their colonies, but we now know at least one species gets workers to do the dirty work for them through a kind of chemical subterfuge

Newly mated parasitic queen ants invade colonies and spray their victims with a chemical irritant that provokes the workers to kill their mother.

The Trump administration’s cuts to heat research come at a time when climate change is making extreme heat waves more common and intense.

Researchers found that ancient hominids—including early humans—were exposed to lead throughout childhood, leaving chemical traces in fossil teeth. Experiments suggest this exposure may have driven genetic changes that strengthened language-related brain functions in modern humans.