The discovery of bright yet stable pigments is vanishingly rare, making them hugely valuable. Now chemist Mas Subramanian is unpicking the atomic code of colour and homing in on our most-wanted hue
I loved editing this one – we tackle one of physics’ most daring questions: what if time itself is an illusion?
New tools may finally let us test whether time is emergent and, not something fundamental. And it all starts from rethinking clocks as time engines 🤯
www.newscientist.com/article/2511...
Trump has been in office for one year. We at @nature.com did a deep dive looking at the administration's disruption of science in numbers.
Take a look—the numbers are staggering. By me, @dangaristo.bsky.social, Jeff Tollefson, @kimay.bsky.social, & help from @noamross.net @scott-delaney.bsky.social
Was raised on a diet of science explainers growing up – SciShow, Veritasium, NileRed...
Now I’m in one. Still processing.
youtu.be/jCc1B8i_J44?...
The covid-19 pandemic opened the door to once-controversial human challenge trials. Now, volunteers are willingly catching norovirus and influenza to reveal how our immune systems really fight back
Three thought experiments involving “demons” have haunted physics for centuries. What should we make of them today?
Two clashing ideas about disorder inside black holes now point to the same strange conclusions, and it could reshape the foundations of how we think about space and time
Time to make the journey and befriend the man who will soon become The Guy With The Giant Gamma Laser™
This might be my favourite piece from 2025!
I emailed 20+ physics depts to ask: what experiment would you do if you had all the money & time? Despite research purse strings tightening, scientists are wild dreamers (cue gamma ray lasers and mega colliders) 💥
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
New tools that create ultra-precise maps of our tissues are transforming our ability to diagnose and cure once-fatal illnesses
Matter with “forbidden” symmetries was once thought to be confined to lab experiments, but is now being found in some of the world’s most extreme environments.
Not every day that we develop cures for deadly diseases, especially ones that literally make your skin fall off 😰
You've likely never heard of the tech driving this revolution: spatial multiomics. Loved working with @michael-marshall.bsky.social for this story 🔽
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Never underestimate the lengths people will go to to find weird rocks.
Also a good time to mention that I've started a rock collection, the first instalment of which is trinitite – the first atomic glass
Just edited this fantastic feature by @elisecutts.bsky.social: quasicrystals are turning up in meteorites, lightning strikes and even the aftermath of the Trinity test ⚛️
A wild detective story about forbidden symmetries hiding in extreme places
www.newscientist.com/article/2503...
In 1992, three physicists began an argument about how many numbers we need to fully describe the universe. Their surprisingly long-running quarrel takes us to the heart of what’s truly real
The lymphatic system is one of those things I always pretended to understand
How can something so familiar still be so mysterious? Luckily this excellent feature by Carissa answers the questions I've been too scared to ask 🙏
bombshell reporting from @carolinehaskins.bsky.social on the FTC complaints people have filed in the last year asking for help with AI psychosis:
Had a blast writing this feature for @newscientist.com 💜
So much of physics seems to revolve around measuring constants to an eye-watering precision. This feature really made me appreciate how these numbers connect to nature
www.newscientist.com/article/2498...
How many fundamental constants are there? Turns out that's a tricky question! Great feature from @jacklinkwan.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2498...
Some things we see in space appear to outpace light. Now we are learning to harness these bizarre optical illusions to understand the mysteries of neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and more
Nothing can travel faster than light – but there are some pretty convincing illusions in the universe that appear to do so.
From light echoes to backwards explosions, what can we learn from these unusual superluminal events?
Story by me in @newscientist.com
www.newscientist.com/article/2495...
Physics cements c as the ultimate speed limit, but I learnt that apparent superluminal motion is all around us, including when you flick on the lights
These illusions are helping us study the big lights in the sky
Amazing reporting by @astrojonny.bsky.social
www.newscientist.com/article/2495...
Gorgeous isn't it! It's meant to be this hidden geometric "terrain" inside solid crystals that steer how electrons navigate inside materials
Who knew that my first New Scientist cover would be as an editor!
Not too late to find out how scientists are mapping the hidden quantum world inside materials ▶️ bit.ly/47NEx6Z
Physicists have measured the 'quantum geometric tensor' – a thing most people have never heard of but that may shapes the hidden world of all materials
Had the pleasure of working with the brilliant @kpc.bsky.social for my first cover for @newscientist.com ⚛️
www.newscientist.com/article/2494...
I absolutely loved revisiting my dissertation for @sciam.bsky.social's anniversary special!
Ever since I began communicating science, I was fascinated by why non-physicists felt drawn to quantum mechanics. To answer that question, I did a deep dive in the Scientific American's archive ⬇️
In the immortal words of Insane Clown Posse: "Magnets, how do they work?" We've just discovered a new form: altermagnets. Confused? Join the club
Luckily @libor-s.bsky.social explains to me why magnets are as elegant as they are confusing for @newscientist.com
www.newscientist.com/article/2487...
The Vera Rubin Observatory will change everything. Seeing wider, deeper, and faster. Investigating everything from dark energy to Planet 9. Here's all you need to know. 🔭🧪 @science.org @vrubinobs.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
"Tested" is a great and beautifully made, thoughtful podcast miniseries on the history of testing for sex in sports and the way it mostly serves exclude trans women and to harm cis women with natural variation www.newamerica.org/fellows/even...
