Brain stimulation gives you will to persevere
Zapping a tiny part of the brain prompts a complex feeling of foreboding, coupled with a determination to overcome whatever challenge comes your way
Climate slowdown: The world won't stop warming
The rate of global warming has slowed – but why? Does it mean we can stop worrying about global warming? Michael Le Page gives the lowdown on the slowdown
Microbe steals neighbour's electricity to make methane
Wetland Methanosaeta microbes were thought to turn chemicals from other bugs into methane, but what they really seem to be after is a power source
Could China combat smog with artificial rain?
Cloud seeding is reportedly part of the country's plan to reduce its notorious air pollution, but experts doubt that it will work
How heat from trains and sewers can warm our homes
Europe wastes more heat than it uses to keep buildings warm. Now projects across the continent will tap everything from subways to sewers to keep homes cosy
The night: Blooms in the night garden
When the sun sets, some flowers come alive under the cover of darkness. Jon White takes a tour of the world's most evocative nocturnal blooms
Alien-hunting equation revamped for mining asteroids
A classic equation to estimate the number of detectable alien civilisations has been rebooted as a tool for finding asteroids worth mining for resources
Find the ungoogleable with crowdsourced search engine
Adding the human touch to web searches can handle vague, complex or visual questions that stump conventional search engines
Bubble-blowing humpback whales grouped by genetics
After examining 2200 tissue biopsy samples from humpback whales that breed and feed around the North Pacific Ocean, five distinct genetic groups emerged
Oldest human genome dug up in Spain's pit of bones
A 400,000-year-old genome from ancient human bone could herald a missing link species – taking us closer than ever to our common ancestor with Neanderthals
Mapping pilgrims' body heat to make a safer hajj
A neural network that uses infrared imagery to monitor the build-up of people can warn of dangerous crowd crushes in Mecca – or at the bus stop
Mouse memory inheritance may revitalise Lamarckism
The idea that mice can pass on memories to subsequent generations could revive a long-discredited theory of inheritance
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
