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Today’s chemistry is a wet business, mostly done by mixing compounds in liquid solvents. But a push towards using dry powders instead is proving surprisingly effective

A vaccine that helps people overcome cocaine addiction has shown signs of being safe and effective in a small trial

The alignment of some megalithic temples in Malta suggests they may have been used to teach sailors how to navigate by the stars

Are there aliens living on the exoplanet K2-18b? Some astronomers believe they have evidence for molecules on the planet that must have a biological origin, but others disagree

Satellite observations show the ice sheets are melting faster than expected, and slowing sea level rise to a manageable rate would require lowering the global temperature below the current level

Many AI models fail to recognise negation words such as “no” and “not”, which means they can’t easily distinguish between medical images labelled as showing a disease and images labelled as not showing the disease

There are a range of competing views on whether smartphones and social media are harmful to adolescents, and an attempt to settle the debate has instead sparked more disagreement

The AI Con by Emily Bender and Alex Hanna wants to expose the hype generated by large artificial intelligence companies, but it is a frustrating read

A group of white-faced capuchins on a remote island have started stealing infants from another primate species, and researchers don’t know why

A declining ability to detect scents is linked to conditions including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. But restoring our most neglected sense might not only reduce cognitive decline – studies also show it could even reverse it

Using human cells, researchers were able to create a novel cervix-on-a-chip model to study how the vaginal microbiome affects pregnancy

Mounting concerns about Brazil's approach to the COP30 climate summit have observers asking whether the meeting will be able to tackle the difficult choices involved in curbing emissions

The weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is boosting the sea level along the New England coast on top of sea level rise from melting ice, adding to flooding

When adults pretended to be in pain, children as young as 9 months old comforted them, pushing back the earliest age when humans are known to display empathy

Some jobs are more satisfying than others, and they're not necessarily the ones with a high income or a lot of prestige

Waste from old landfill sites is spilling onto beaches as rising seas erode coastlines - and some of it is toxic

The Tropical Forests Forever Facility, an initiative spearheaded by Brazil, would raise money from investments and pay countries to preserve forests – can it succeed where carbon markets have failed?

Stars that pass close to the solar system could pull planets out of alignment, sending them hurtling into the sun or out into space

The author of Ringworld, the latest read for the New Scientist Book Club, is quizzed on everything from if he’d like to meet an alien to the art of writing

Several recent experiments showcase a sharp increase in the number of quantum bits that can be entangled, echoing Moore’s law for increasing computing power on traditional chips