Subscribe now
TOPSHOT - Lightnings flash over windmills of the Odervorland wind energy park near Sieversdorf, eastern Germany, on August 1, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Patrick Pleul / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read PATRICK PLEUL/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

We can still avert climate catastrophe – but there is barely time

5 April 2022

The IPCC’s latest report shows we have the tools to make fast cuts in emissions – all that’s missing is the political will
Pedestrians walk past images of workers of Britain's National Health Service (NHS) fixed to hoardings outside a temporary field hospital, set up in the grounds of St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London on January 5, 2022. - Britain's state-run National Health Service (NHS) is struggling with staff forced to stay at home after testing positive, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised action to plug staffing gaps in the worst-hit areas. The reactivation of emergency

We shouldn't dismiss 'incidental' covid-19 infections in UK hospitals

5 April 2022

Statistics for covid-19 in hospitals aren’t overblown, because even if people are in hospital for something else, adding covid-19 into the equation puts an extra burden on health services 
Aerial drone view of the Xingu Indigenous Park territory border and large soybean farms in Mato Grosso, the Amazon rainforest, Brazil. Concept of deforestation, agriculture, global warming and environment.; Shutterstock ID 1574596702; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

The Amazon has descended into lawlessness in Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil

31 March 2022

A corruption scandal is the latest fallout from the Brazilian president's efforts to stifle institutions meant to protect the rainforest, fuelling a sharp increase in deforestation
A person walks past a mural of medical workers in Mérida, Mexico, in February

Should I worry about 'deltacron' and other covid-19 recombinants?

31 March 2022

Recombination, essentially the viral version of sex, occurs when a single cell is simultaneously infected with two related viruses, whose genetic material could mix as they replicate

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop