Illustration of CAR T-cell therapy (green) attacking a cancer cell (pink) NEMES LASZLO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Genetically engineered immune cells known as CAR-T cells might be able to slow the progress of the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by killing off rogue immune cells in the brain. “It’s not a way to cure the disease,”…
Doing something out of the ordinary with your partner can expand your sense of self and bring you closer Shutterstock/Mauricio Graiki Think back to the great loves of your life, and you may remember a heady period when every day seemed to glitter with new possibilities. It was as if you had been reborn and…
Artist impression of the planetary system around the star LHS 1903 ESA Astronomers have found a planetary system that seems to have formed inside-out. While most systems, like our own, have rocky planets closest to their star and gaseous ones further out, the LHS 1903 system has a rocky world at its edge, challenging established…
Artist’s depiction of QT45 (based on AlphaFold3 prediction) overlayed on a microscopy image of the frozen environment that aids RNA replication Elfy Chiang, microscopy image by James Attwater According to the RNA world hypothesis, life began when RNA molecules evolved the ability to make more copies of themselves. Now we have discovered an RNA molecule…
Your limits when exercising really could be all in your head Cavan Images/Alamy Researchers have identified neurons in mice that help build endurance after running. They suspect that similar cells exist in people, which could be targeted with drugs or other therapies to amplify the effects of exercise. We have known for decades that the…
Illustration of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing complex (pink and purple) bound to DNA (helix) Science Photo Library/Alamy Imagine if, instead of delivering a leaflet individually to each home, a postal worker just had to give one to a volunteer on each block, who then photocopied it and handed out copies to neighbours. That postal worker would…
It is easy to be defeatist about the fate of our planet. There is an ongoing climate crisis, extinctions are in overdrive, forests are disappearing, water cycles are collapsing and pollution is choking cities and creating dead zones in the oceans. And there is also US President Donald Trump, who thinks the science behind climate…
We are far more likely to find love with someone we already know Thomas Hoepker/Magnum Bonded by EvolutionPaul Eastwick, Cornerstone Press Most of us can tell tales of lost loves and romantic rejections, and psychologist Paul Eastwick is no different. As an undergraduate at the end of the last millennium, Eastwick fell for a fellow…
Feedback is New Scientist’s popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com Raining cats and dogs A new unit of measurement has dropped – and in this case the slang verb is doubly appropriate. Reader Alan Baker came across…
Oshen’s robotic sailboats are powered by the wind and the sun Oshen The UK’s Royal Navy may return to the age of sail, with a new demonstration involving a flotilla of small, wind-propelled robot boats. Made by Oshen in Plymouth, UK, the vessels, known as C-Stars, are just 1.2 metres long and weigh around 40…
