This week's magazine
31 October 2026
Issue 3619
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
News
Mind
The world’s first spinal cord transplant has been performed in Russia
A surgeon has told New Scientist they have performed a transplant on someone with a complete spinal cord injury using a piece of spinal cord from a brain-dead donor, but researchers have raised concerns
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Personalised cancer vaccine expected to be approved next year
Environment
UN says 1.5°C is over and world is on track for 2.8°C of global warming
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Cholesterol may disrupt the brain’s cleaning system in Alzheimer’s disease
Mind
Adults may be more creative than children – but less confident about it
Space
Tiny ‘solar flares’ recreated in the lab may explain corona mystery
Environment
Falling sea levels due to El Niño will hit mangroves and corals
Environment
All tropical coral reefs could collapse within 50 years
Technology
Error-correction record pushes quantum computers closer to usefulness
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Body temperature may drive the higher risk of autoimmune conditions in women
Earth
Earth entered its ‘bad decades’ after dinosaur-ending asteroid strike
Technology
Digital scents could add a new dimension to virtual worlds
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Newly identified ‘circadian depression’ responds poorly to antidepressants
Mathematics
1000 human mathematicians pledge to shun AI in their research
Life
Bottlenose whales may look after each other when they’re sick
Life
Discovery of T. rex’s cousin upends our understanding of tyrannosaur evolution
Physics
A single antimatter particle was held in a trap for months
Features
Mind
Your brain’s unexpected ability to regenerate and how to harness it
The controversial discovery that our brains can generate new neurons surprisingly late in life is now prompting a rethink of adult brain health, pointing the way to better treatments for stroke, dementia and depression
Mind
The understanding that even bees have feelings is changing our view of consciousness
Physics
Does Sabrina Pasterski’s holographic theory make her the next Einstein?
Culture
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Can tiny microbes pack a mighty punch in the climate battle?
Ecologist Steven Allison argues for the importance of microbes in fighting climate change in a convincing and hopeful book, The Age of Microbes, says Christa Lesté-Lasserre
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Whalefall review: Worth watching for the bits inside a sperm whale
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Blue Planet III is the best yet from the BBC and David Attenborough
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Our verdict on Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel: Not her best book
More
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Hannah Fry: I lost my dad to Alzheimer’s. New research into its origins is amazing
My lovely father died of Alzheimer's last year, and since then, I've been digging into the disease to try to understand what happened to him. I was astonished to discover that scientists think it may start in the nose, says New Scientist's new columnist, Professor Hannah Fry
Space
Why the Drake equation is still important 65 years after its creation
Technology
The roots of AI fear in the West are cultural, not technological
Tom Gauld on how to scare a scientist
Twisteddoodles on scientists in horror movies
Regulars
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The King’s Observatory could be yours for the low, low price of £18 million
The King's Observatory in London, built on the orders of King George III so he could watch the 1769 transit of Venus, is up for sale. Feedback is interested – but not sure if our bank balance will stretch to the asking price