Robots are about to overtake armed soldiers as the deciders of war 10. June 2026 (08:00) Uncrewed ground vehicles have already been tested for defending the front line by the Ukrainian military. Despite their limitations, these remotely controlled robots could be the deciding factor in many conflicts(New Scientist)
Iron Age Britons may have removed the brains of the dead 10. June 2026 (02:01) Scrape marks inside a skull and sharpened limb bones in a set of remains found in Scotland may be evidence of unusual Iron Age funerary rituals(New Scientist)
Frozen squirrel scat preserves ancient DNA from hundreds of species 09. June 2026 (18:00) A complex ecosystem of woolly mammoths, bison, horses and big cats has been elucidated by studying the faeces of small rodents that probably ate the bigger animals(New Scientist)
The last-ditch plan to save coral reefs from utter destruction 09. June 2026 (18:00) Bleaching has devastated reefs around the world, raising fears of an irreversible shift. Yet new interventions have revealed that corals can be remarkably resilient if we can give them enough help to recover(New Scientist)
Dinosaur-killing asteroid impact site stayed hot for millions of years 09. June 2026 (12:01) Drill cores at the impact site of the Chicxulub asteroid show evidence that, alongside widespread destruction, the collision created a vast underground ecosystem filled with hot water that sheltered microbial life(New Scientist)
A cosmic case of mistaken identity that can only be solved right now 09. June 2026 (11:00) Brown dwarfs are somewhere between the size of a planet and a star, so how could we have potentially mistaken two of them for distant galaxies? Columnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein argues that solving this cosmic mix-up is particularly possible now, as galaxy research has never been stronger(New Scientist)
Why we should all take quantum physics extremely personally 09. June 2026 (10:00) Physics is considered a cold, hard science – but it will transform your life if you view it with a bit more subjectivity, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan(New Scientist)
You don't need to worry about recursive-self-improving AI – yet 08. June 2026 (20:14) Anthropic has warned that recursive-self-improving AI could be on the horizon, but the truth is the company is more immediately concerned with marketing itself for a blockbuster initial public offering on the stock market, says Matthew Sparkes(New Scientist)
What really happened when ancient humans migrated out of Africa 08. June 2026 (20:00) The out-of-Africa migration, in which ancient humans went on to inhabit every other continent except Antarctica, may not have been one moment in time, but a long and slow process. Columnist Michael Marshall examines how archaeologists are rethinking this critical part of our history(New Scientist)
What is a ‘normal’ memory slowdown, and when should I worry? 08. June 2026 (20:00) Lapses in memory are a normal part of ageing but can also be signs of dementia. Here’s how to distinguish between typical brain ageing and cognitive decline(New Scientist)
