Search | New Scientist

Gwen Adshead interview: Why ordinary people commit heinous crimes

29 September 2021

Three decades spent working as a psychotherapist with the most violent offenders has convinced Gwen Adshead that they aren't the monsters we portray them as

The biggest flaw in human decision-making – and how to fix it

16 June 2021

Behavioural scientists Daniel Kahneman and Olivier Sibony explain why “noise” in professional judgements harms everything from criminal justice to medical treatments

Terrie Moffitt interview: Can a young person's genes really set them up for a life of crime?

8 July 2020

Most adolescents dabble in delinquency, but few become lifetime offenders. Long-running studies can help tell us why and improve policing, says psychologist Terrie Moffitt

This professor of future crime stops burglaries before they happen

10 July 2019

Criminologist Shane Johnson is not quite Tom Cruise in Minority Report, but he does predict where offences will occur and how best to stop them

Who was the Somerton Man? Solving Australia's coldest case

30 May 2018

An amateur sleuth has spent years tracing the identity of a mysterious body found on a beach 70 years ago. Finally, he is finding answers close to home

Meet the mafias making buckets of cash from illegal sand

14 February 2018

Unregulated sand mining is a problem in at least 70 countries. It’s an easy, lucrative venture - and one with a violent underbelly

Grapes of wrath: How a New World import destroyed French wine

19 December 2017

France’s vineyards were ravaged by a mystery invader in the 19th century – leading to enforced sobriety and some unforeseen consequences for society

Effortless thinking: It pays to resist revenge's sweet taste

13 December 2017

When people get their just deserts, it lights up our brain’s pleasure centres. But sweeter still is learning to combine this with our natural taste for forgiving