Liz Else
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Articles by Liz Else
The best new popular-science books of November 2026
Richard Dawkins, who has a new book out this month As seasonal storms take many of us by surprise, it’s time to head for the certainty of indoors, and a decent book (or two). We have some really intriguing titles this month, including a profoundly odd-sounding book by a forest that shares author rights with humans, and some terrifying night terrors that may teach us a lot about our brains.
The best popular-science books of October 2026
The best popular-science books of October 2026 Big issues abound in this month’s books, as we batten down the hatches against El Niño and the known unknowns out there. Luckily, here in our snug …
The best popular-science books of October 2026
Mathematician Tom Crawford’s new book explores how many Pikachus it would take to power a lightbulb Big issues abound in this month’s books, as we batten down the hatches against El Niño and the known unknowns out there. Luckily, here in our snug bunker, we have plenty of other things to think about.
The best new popular science books of September 2026
A biography of the late Stephen Hawking is out this month This month seems to be full of celebrity, whether as subjects of our latest science books or as their authors. There are new books from physicist Carlo Rovelli, doctor and presenter Xand van Tulleken, broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili and leading scholar of our relationship with tech, Sherry Turkle, as well as a biography of Stephen Hawking. As ever, we range far and wide, from great biographies to the world’s darker, problematic corners.
The best new popular science books of July 2026
Australia’s tiger quoll – as featured in Dan Werb’s Our Wild Familiars, out this month It’s a hot month in London – in oh so many ways. Life, being alive and death are big themes in the new popular science books out in July, not to mention that small thing of being a human and all the messy feelings and sensory stuff that goes with it.
The 17 best popular science books of 2026 so far
If you’re looking for the perfect popular science read, we’ve got you covered A World Appears by Michael Pollan Not one for an easy life, Michael Pollan has taken on tricky subjects before in the shape of psychedelics, plants and food. This time, it’s that ultra-slippery beat, consciousness. It’s taken five years to bring to fruition, but is all the better for that, because, like the subject itself, the book is discursive, expansive β and sometimes abstruse (in a good way).
The best new popular science books of June 2026
Comment The most exciting popular science reads this month explore everything from symbiosis to hormones, while Alice Roberts takes on an editor-in-chief role in her latest book Alice Roberts has a new book out in June This is a month to look out for some powerful new books, with authors taking on challenges of all sorts and imagining whole new worlds.
The best new popular science books of May 2026
Google data editor Simon Rogers tells us What We Ask Google in his new book out this month This month’s most exciting popular science books are surprisingly eclectic, and big on invention, ambition –and hubris. We’re tackling topics including the wonder (and envy) of flight, how to eat so the planet doesn’t collapse, the human capacity to build colossal structures and a drugs industry worth trillions, that er, doesn’t work as planned. Get stuck in – there’s plenty to amuse, delight and terrify.
Striking photo essay examines deadly spread of dengue fever in Nepal
Researchers have found Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes and their larvae in Chandannath, Nepal, a high-altitude area These striking photographs tell a deadly story about climate change and dengue fever, generally considered the worldâs fastest-spreading mosquito-borne disease.
The best new popular science books of April 2026
Christopher Cokinos’s history of the moon Still As Bright is out this month. Pictured is a supermoon in January 2026, seen behind illuminated Christmas lights April is said to be the cruellest month, as the poem goes, “mixing memory with desire”. And this is oddly reflected in some of the non-fiction books we’ve rounded up for you this month. There’s the life spent largely in a log cabin, often with only trees and other non-human life for company.
The best new popular science books of March 2026
Dermatologists say this 'liquid gold’ is best to make skin smoother and hair frizz-free: 8 top picks Does your skin often feel dry? Do you often fight with your frizz and flyaways, and are almost done using every hair care product? If the answer to …
The best new popular science books of March 2026
Rebecca Solnit has a new book out this month March, in the northern hemisphere anyway, is about venturing out for some much-needed vitamin D and dodging showers. Forget that – just head for a decent café where you can delve into the marvellous science books we’ve got waiting for you. This month you can explore how animals shaped our world, how to spot liars from their language, what forest trees can tell us – and flowers as revolutionaries.
The best new popular science books of February 2026
Space scientist Maggie Aderin has a new book out this month It’s nowhere near early enough for those of us in the northern hemisphere to start struggling against winter’s somnolent spell, so there’s no need for excuses as you take to your bed with a pile of good books. And there’s plenty to keep you occupied while you eschew the chilly outdoors.
The best new popular science books of February 2026
Space scientist Maggie Aderin has a new book out this month It’s nowhere near early enough for those of us in the northern hemisphere to start struggling against winter’s somnolent spell, so there’s no need for excuses as you take to your bed with a pile of good books. And there’s plenty to keep you occupied while you eschew the chilly outdoors.
The best new popular science books of January 2026
Megan Eaves-Egenes’s Nightfaring explores our connection with the night sky Here in the northern hemisphere, January always feels like the longest, drabbest month of the year, so how lucky we are to have a host of new science books to enliven our days. This month, we can explore everything from what the arts bring to our lives to the unsung hero that is friction. How about the origin of ideas? Or what we lose when we light up our skies?
The 13 best popular science books of 2025
Positive Tipping Points: How to fix the climate crisis by Tim Lenton The challenge here is clearly highlighted on the book’s cover, where “positive” is coloured a bright shiny yellow. After all, we know how tipping points work – a small change makes a big, sometimes defining, change to a system or state. In climate terms, that could mean, for example, that major ice sheets melt, or the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation collapses.
New Scientist recommends Kew Gardens' new Of the Oak exhibition
London’s Kew Gardens is a treat: you never know what lies in wait. My favourite offering to date is Of the Oak, a giant installation from art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (on until 28 September), connecting us to an oak tree’s inner life. And not just any oak. This immersive video (above) focuses on a 250-year-old Lucombe oak (Quercus x hispanica “Lucombeana”) that survives nearby, moved as Kew was created. The video screen stands where the tree once did.
Stunningly intimate octopus image wins aquatic photography prize
This alien and extraordinarily intimate image provides a rare glimpse of a Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus briareus) mother and her potential offspring at the Blue Heron Bridge dive area, off Florida’s West Palm Beach. After mating, these solitary animals hide themselves far away to get on with the business of guarding their growing eggs. But for Octopus briareus and many other octopus species, the story has a nasty ending.
The best popular science books of 2025 featuring Robert MacFarlane and Patrick McGee
Comment The downsides of diagnosis and an epic trek following a Slovenian wolf are among our culture editor's top popular science books of the year to date, featuring a range of authors from Robert MacFarlane to Suzanne O'Sullivan Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth “He retains a sharp memory of the trap, last summer, his forefoot clamped and the utter terror, and of later waking, woozy, and the awful, human scent all over him, and the thing awkward around his neck… His brother was shot. He saw it happen.
Fish rescue wins New Scientist Editors Award at Earth Photo 2025
Restoring a way of life is at the heart of this photograph by Vivian Wan, part of a series that won the New Scientist Editors Award in the Earth Photo 2025 competition. It shows members of the Yurok community working with biologists and technicians to set up rotary screw traps on the Trinity river, a major tributary of the Klamath river, in Willow Creek, California. The team uses fish traps to check the animals’ health and study their migration patterns.
Inside Europe's largest jellyfish farm
These eerily beautiful images show animals born at Europe’s largest jelly-fish breeding facility: Jellyfish Farm, in Künzell, Germany – hundreds of kilometres from any ocean. Photographers Heidi and Hans-Jürgen Koch used macro lenses and studio flashes to capture the images, but they were most concerned with the positioning of the jellyfish, which sink to the bottom of a normal aquarium and thus wouldn’t be photographable.
NEW SCIENTIST ⟩ Võimsad fotod jäädvustasid meie planeedi haprust ja vastupidavust
Teadus New Scientist Tellijale Hooldaja kontrollib Hiinas Wolongi rahvuspargis hiidpandapoja Xi Mei tervist. Foto: Ami Vitale Need Earth Photo 2025 konkursi lühinimekirjas avaldatud fotod jutustavad paljastavaid, inspireerivaid ja ootamatuid lugusid kliimast ja elust meie planeedil. Ülalolev Ami Vitale´i foto «Pandamonium» kujutab hiidpanda hooldajat kontrollimas pandakutsika tervist Hiinas Sichuani provintsis asuvas Wolongi rahvuspargis.
Powerful images capture the fragility and resilience of our planet
These images from the Earth Photo 2025 competition shortlist tell revealing, inspiring and unexpected stories about the climate and life on our planet. Pictured top, photographer Ami Vitale’s image Pandamonium shows a giant panda keeper checking the health of a panda cub in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province, China. The keeper’s outfit is part of an effort to reduce the impact of human contact on the bears.
Camera trap spots endangered elephant mother and calf on the move
By Liz Else, New Scientist A weatherproof box and motion-trigger camera help photographer Will Burrard-Lucas capture images of rarely seen African forest elephants. Night has fallen; an elephant mother and her calf walk through Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, which covers more than 4000 square kilometres of rainforest in the northern Republic of the Congo. This remarkable photograph above of the critically endangered African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) was captured using a camera trap.
Camera trap spots endangered elephant mother and calf on the move
Life A weatherproof box and motion-trigger camera help photographer Will Burrard-Lucas capture images of rarely seen African elephants Night has fallen; an elephant mother and her calf walk through Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, which covers more than 4000 square kilometres of rainforest in the northern Republic of the Congo. This remarkable photograph above of the critically endangered African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) was captured using a camera trap.
Chilling images reveal melting ice worlds
These striking images highlight Earth’s vanishing ice and the fight to save it. A staggering two-thirds of glaciers may disappear by the end of the century, threatening ecosystems and global water supplies. The images took some of the top prizes in the Walk of Water competition, run by UNESCO and Onewater. UNESCO has designated 2025 as the International Year of Glacier Preservation.
New Scientist recommends eight-legged musical instrument Sonic Spider
I have been lucky enough to watch a project evolve: Sonic Spider is the world’s first eight-legged musical instrument, 4 metres in diameter with piano wires strung on spindly, steel legs. I saw its first performance last year and was hooked. Musicians pluck, strike and bow the taut wires to take you into the alien world of a female orb web spider waiting for what the night will bring. Blind, she knows her world only through vibrations arriving along the silken strands of her web.
Science and technology's newest words and what they tell us about 2023 Original
Ageotype In 2020, Michael Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford University in California, discovered that we tend to age along four different pathways. He found that the biological signatures associated with ageing are mostly found in four parts of your body – your kidneys, liver, immune system and general metabolism – with one or two of these systems ageing faster than the rest.
Camilla Nord interview: A personalised approach to mental health
Mental health is about attempting balance, says Camilla NordB Claudia Gannon CAMILLA NORD, who heads up the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab at the University of Cambridge, has just published her first book, The Balanced Brain: The science of mental health (Penguin). She explains how novel treatments, and a new emphasis on our sense of our body’s internal states, could transform mental health. Liz Else: You have packed in some surprises in your book. Let’s start with what the title means.
New Scientist recommends: Ai Weiwei's moving Making Sense exhibition
This week, I’ve been blowing my mind with Vaclav Smil and Ai Weiwei (pictured above). From viruses to innovation, there’s little that polymath Smil hasn’t written about in 40-plus books. If you don’t know him, start with , his latest, where he reveals what happened when US dinner plates got bigger, and how Jonathan Swift made the giants and Lilliputians in the “wrong” size. Plus, did you know that incomes in China are as unequally distributed as those in the US? Artist-activist Ai did.
Wintry scenes top Weather Photographer of the Year competition
MORE FROM NEW SCIENTIST DeepMind’s AI cuts energy costs for cooling buildings Research firm DeepMind has built an AI to optimise cooling systems in buildings. In tests, it reduced energy usage by around 10 per cent Biggest science news stories of 2022 as chosen by New Scientist Nuclear fusion, infectious diseases and an incredible new space telescope were ongoing stories in 2022, but what were some of the other big scientific developments, discoveries and events of the year?
15 of the best science non-fiction books to savour on your holiday
Whether it is the science of sleep, the physics that changed the world or the inner lives of bees, we've got you covered for holiday reading Humans By Liz Else ONE of the best things about science books is that there is always something new and marvellous to savour when you have enough time. Those who are lucky enough to be going on holiday are spoiled for choice: there has been a book bonanza so far this year from both established heavy hitters and challenging newcomers.
10 of the best sci-fi books that you should read in 2021
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, The Expert System’s Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky and The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers are exciting sci-fi books we're looking forward to in 2021 Humans 30 December 2020 By Simon Ings , Sally Adee and Liz Else Sci-fi: 10 top reads for 2021 Remote Control Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com) Sankofa was just a girl until she became Death. Now she and her fox companion search the world for answers about what created her.
10 of the best sci-fi books that you should read in 2021
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, The Expert System’s Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky and The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers are exciting sci-fi books we're looking forward to in 2021 Humans 30 December 2020 By Simon Ings and Liz Else Sci-fi: 10 top reads for 2021 Remote Control Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com) Sankofa was just a girl until she became Death. Now she and her fox companion search the world for answers about what created her.
The best sci-fi films and science documentaries to watch in 2021
Films Top Gun: Maverick, Dune and Babylon, as well as TV documentaries about Greta Thunberg and Stephen Hawking are all due to be released in 2021 Humans 30 December 2020 By Simon Ings and Liz Else Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount Pictures The best films and TV There is a lot to look forward to this year, and some may even be available as scheduled. The release of A Quiet Place Part II (pictured above) has been delayed twice due to the pandemic, but perhaps this will fuel anticipation.
The best science books to read in 2021
By Simon Ings and Liz Else Deepol By Plainpicture/Vasily Pindyurin Saving the planet FOR good reason, this year is billed as the year we must come together to save human civilisation. Fortunately, the technology needed to achieve a zero-carbon economy is surprisingly straightforward. Less easy is getting some 8 billion cantankerous primates to agree on a single course of action. Help is at hand from a wide array of books.
The best new books, films and games to enjoy in 2020
By Simon Ings and Liz Else Emily Beecham as Alice in Little Joe, a Palme d’Or nominated film about a dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species The mysteries of growth HOW did we get to be who we are? From what did we emerge? And what are we becoming? This year sees the publication of some fascinating books about how animals develop.
Want to stop climate change? Jared Diamond says nations need therapy
In his new book Upheaval, polymath Jared Diamond says nations need a special kind of therapy to solve big problems like climate change, Brexit and nuclear proliferation Earth 5 June 2019 By Liz Else When it comes to solving global problems, polymath Jared Diamond prefers hard talk to high tech Leo-Paul Ridet/Contour by Getty Images JARED DIAMOND is a professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Simon Baron-Cohen: I want to banish evil
Life 7 April 2011 By Liz Else The autism researcher explains why labelling people “evil” is unhelpful – and argues for a more objective measure of people’s capacity for cruelty What got you interested in the idea of understanding evil and cruelty? As a child growing up in a Jewish family, my father told me that the Nazis had turned Jews into lampshades, and about what had happened to the mother of one of his former girlfriends.
Books of 2019: Our pick of the best forthcoming reads
From what to do about Einstein to tricks for survival to doing away with sexist neurotrash, it is looking like a good year for books Life 2 January 2019 Jorg Greuel/Getty By Liz Else and Simon Ings A NEW book by Jared Diamond should be something of an occasion, and Upheaval is unlikely to disappoint, especially in our turbulent times.
What it's like to be sucked into a black hole - without dying
A GLORIOUS simulation lets visitors experience what it might be like to be sucked into a black hole, but without becoming human spaghetti. The Distortions in Spacetime simulation was created by Marshmallow Laser Feast. The aim, says Barney Steel from the design studio, is “to take people out of their bodies and put them in a space where they feel like they’re floating”. The installation’s 10-square-metre room feels like deep space thanks to its completely mirrored surfaces.
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore wins 2018 Royal Society Book Prize
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore walked away with the honours at the 2018 Royal Society Insight Investment Book Prize - and the calibre of the runners-up made it a hard year to call The Royal Society’s prestigious book prize awards is one of science’s few glittering functions. For most authors, even the relatively well-known ones who tend to make up the Royal Society shortlist, £25,000 is a big deal for an outright win – plus £2500 for the runners-up.
AI, reality and wildlife crime: All you need for a good read
Enjoy a bravura investigation of our troubled times, discover why aliens exist, and marvel at the bioheist of the century – all the best in holiday reading BUZZ ALDRIN takes a robust approach to those who deny that he visited the moon. On Twitter, he is merely blunt; in person, they might get a punch in the face. All the hard facts, and the weight of opinion, are on Aldrin’s side, but still his challengers come at him. What makes them so committed to their own, non-consensus reality?
Enjoy a season of science with our 2018 UK festival picks
Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon will illuminate Timber Festival in July By Liz Else and Simon IngsThe 2018 festival scene is gearing up across the UK and it contains some real science gems. So dig out your tent or borrow your mate’s van, pack your waterproof and set out on a festival crawl.
Deconstructing Patterns: Cultural clash makes a fascinating show
AS EUROPE’s premier biomedical enterprise, there is a lot riding on how far the UK’s multi-million-pound Crick Institute can push the frontiers. Less obviously but equally importantly, there is also a lot riding on how well it handles its engagement with the public, through lectures, exhibitions and sci-art collaborations.
Sniff the apocalypse: An art show with perfume for the end times | New Scientist
WHAT’S life without whimsy, humour – and a dollop of horror? Not to mention unexpectedly interesting answers to what feel like increasingly unpromising questions about the near future. In hosting Humansbeingdigital, Greater Manchester’s Lowry gallery is again grappling with the digital, this time with what it calls the “touchpoint between human being and being digital”. By now, the curators have no real need to make any kind of big deal about digital technology.
In 2018, science needs its own version of the #MeToo campaign
For science to attract the women it still badly needs and contribute to thinking through today’s tough issues, it must first call out the sexism at its heart Humans 5 January 2018 , updated 8 March 2018 By Liz Else Demonstrators at a March4Women event outside the Houses of Parliament in London Jack Taylor/Getty Images At the first New Scientist Live show in September 2016, I bumped into a friend.
The books and ideas that will shape the year ahead | New Scientist
To get your bearings and a feel for neuroscience, try two books by Yale University Press. First is Think Tank by David Linden at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. He asked 40 researchers, including Miguel Nicolelis at the Walk Again Project and Cynthia Moss at the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, which idea about brain function they would most like to explain to the world.
Rediscover the gift of reading: Best books to buy this holiday | New Scientist
EVER wondered about the best angle from which to view Nelson’s column? To work out the answer, you will need a whit of logic and some basic calculus. Don’t panic if your mathematical muscles appear to have withered away (or you never truly cracked differentiation), David Acheson’s The Calculus Story could be just the thing. For a book hardly bigger than a phablet, its size may trick you into thinking that it is some sort of pocket guide. Wrong.
E. O. Wilson: from altruism to a new Enlightenment | New Scientist
You’ve recently been involved in a high-profile academic row over what drives the evolution of social traits such as altruism. Why should non-specialists care? That is one of the main points of my new book. Scientific advances are now good enough for us to address coherently questions of where we came from and what we are. But to do so, we need to answer two more fundamental questions. The first is why advanced social life exists in the first place and has occurred so rarely.
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