What to read this week: the excellent Beyond Belief by Helen Pearson 06. May 2026 (20:00) Solving society's problems with evidence is a work in progress, argues a must-read new book. The process is surprisingly new – and riddled with complexities, finds Michael Marshall(New Scientist)
David Attenborough is one of a kind, for better or worse 06. May 2026 (20:00) People often ask who might replace the nature broadcaster, who turns 100 this week. The truth is that he’s irreplaceable, but a wide range of voices are attempting to fill his shoes.(New Scientist)
Red-light therapy does have health benefits but not the ones you think 06. May 2026 (18:00) Red-light therapy promises to treat everything from acne and hair loss to depression and chronic pain. Many of these claims are overhyped, but evidence suggests it can have healing powers(New Scientist)
Deforestation could trigger Amazon tipping point in the 2030s 06. May 2026 (18:00) At least 15 per cent of the Amazon has already been lost, and further destruction could unleash widespread rainforest dieback with as little as 1.5°C of global warming(New Scientist)
Huge landslide in Alaska caused 481m-high tsunami 06. May 2026 (15:00) When the slope of a mountain above Tracy Arm fjord, in Alaska, gave way on 10 August 2025, 64 million cubic metres of rock fell into the fjord, causing a 5.4 magnitude seismic event
(New Scientist)
Read the winner of this year’s Young Science Writer Award 06. May 2026 (12:00) Prize-winning young writer Hasset Kifle, 17, explores how the world of super-competitive running is being transformed by so-called “super shoes” – and what cost this will have on the sport(New Scientist)
Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia 06. May 2026 (02:01) Fossils reveal that there were at least two kinds of koala when humans first arrived in Australia, but one died out about 30,000 years ago when the west of the continent dried out(New Scientist)
The 50-year quest to create a quantum spin liquid may finally be over 05. May 2026 (18:00) Creating quantum entanglement inside a solid material is tricky in the lab – but crystals buried in the earth could be growing it naturally. Now one scientist says he has proof he’s found them(New Scientist)
