2 August 2017
Mosquito bites frequently induce a sharp sting in people and some animals, with severe evolutionary consequences for the mosquito when it gets swatted. Are any mosquitoes evolving with delayed-action stings or reduced sting secretions so they can drink...
2 August 2017
I've watched TV documentaries that show people's pets receiving chemotherapy. It doesn't seem to cause them to lose their fur or hair, unlike humans. Why?
2 August 2017
After I released a lamb that had got its head stuck in a fence, it ran halfway across the field to a ewe and immediately started suckling. I heard no calling, so how did the lamb recognise its mother from all the other ewes it ran past? It can hardly...
2 August 2017
Sitting outside with my back to the sun, I noticed that the shadow cast by the clear lens of my glasses was equally as dark as that cast by the frame and my head. Why? Surely the clear lens would let the light through rather than casting a shadow?
2 August 2017
Why does my wife like wine with bubbles more than flat wine? Do the bubbles add to the taste or does her preference come from marketing and cultural context? And why do I not like fizzy wine?
2 August 2017
On a beautifully sunny, windless day last summer, I sat in my back garden and felt very warm indeed. The air temperature was 16°C, but there is no doubt that it felt more like a day when the thermometer read 25°C. Why the discrepancy?
2 August 2017
Now you can have heaven on speed dial. Plus: a stumble in our scientific pub crawl, sending a pie to space, selling freezers to polar bears, and more
2 August 2017
Cars hurt the planet in many ways, but the New Scientist archives for August reveal one that may be news to you. Plus a dull response to criminals’ vehicles
2 August 2017
The photo shows teachers cleaning the mud from a school sports ground and running track in Jilin province, north-east China – an area devastated by floods
