Rowan Hooper
@rowhoop.bsky.social
Journalist and podcast host @newscientist.com. Former Tokyoite. Books: SUPERHUMAN (2018) and HOW TO SPEND A TRILLION DOLLARS (2021). Next book: TOGETHERNESS (2026). すごい!
49 degrees Celsius in Australia. Anyone read JUICE by Tim Winton?
HISTORIC HEAT WAVE IN AUSTRALIA- 49c
49C at Onslow
Brutal heat in millions square km2 area:
Insane MINIMUM 35.8C Paraburdoo AP
HOTTEST NIGHT EVER RECORDED IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
30.5 Bulga Downs also record
Next days crazy heat in Victoria up to 47C!
49C at Onslow
Brutal heat in millions square km2 area:
Insane MINIMUM 35.8C Paraburdoo AP
HOTTEST NIGHT EVER RECORDED IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
30.5 Bulga Downs also record
Next days crazy heat in Victoria up to 47C!
January 7, 2026 at 11:20 AM
49 degrees Celsius in Australia. Anyone read JUICE by Tim Winton?
Even animals without brains sleep www.newscientist.com/article/2509...
Jellyfish sleep about as much as humans do – and nap like us too
The benefits of sleep may be more universal than we thought. We know it helps clear waste from the brain in humans, and now it seems that even creatures without brains like ours get similar benefits
www.newscientist.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Even animals without brains sleep www.newscientist.com/article/2509...
This is a really interesting piece on a new emotion, but kama muta just makes me think karma sutra. (A bit like how the abbreviation "cli-fi" (for climate fiction) takes you in an unintended direction)
The warm and fuzzy emotion of kama muta underlies vital feel-good experiences like social connection and feeling part of something bigger. But are you getting enough of it?
The emotion you never knew you had, and how to feel more of it
The warm and fuzzy emotion of kama muta underlies vital feel-good experiences like social connection and feeling part of something bigger. But are you getting enough of it?
www.newscientist.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:06 AM
This is a really interesting piece on a new emotion, but kama muta just makes me think karma sutra. (A bit like how the abbreviation "cli-fi" (for climate fiction) takes you in an unintended direction)
This reminds me, I was at Canary Wharf before Christmas and someone who works there said there were otters there (in North Dock) - is that true??
Good news for London’s open water swimmers - a new floating lido is coming to Canary Wharf’s Eden Dock. Great to see more opportunities to enjoy London’s blue spaces.
And it looks spectacular ⬇️
And it looks spectacular ⬇️
January 7, 2026 at 9:27 AM
This reminds me, I was at Canary Wharf before Christmas and someone who works there said there were otters there (in North Dock) - is that true??
Who will invest in this stranded asset? It will cost $185 billion to get Venezuela’s crude production to 3m barrels of oil a day www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries
South American nation’s tar-like oil is what many Gulf coast facilities were built for but ramping up production to 3m barrels a day will be a long game
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Who will invest in this stranded asset? It will cost $185 billion to get Venezuela’s crude production to 3m barrels of oil a day www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Rowan Hooper
I happen to know quite a bit about Venezuelan oil.
TL;DR it’s hard to extract, notoriously investor-endangering, isn’t needed (global crude is oversupplied to the tune of 3.3 min bpd) and isn’t easily refined (it’s too dense so always sold at a heavy discount)
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
TL;DR it’s hard to extract, notoriously investor-endangering, isn’t needed (global crude is oversupplied to the tune of 3.3 min bpd) and isn’t easily refined (it’s too dense so always sold at a heavy discount)
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
Venezuela has the world’s most oil: Why doesn’t it earn more from exports?
Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves, more than five times more than the United States.
www.aljazeera.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:06 PM
I happen to know quite a bit about Venezuelan oil.
TL;DR it’s hard to extract, notoriously investor-endangering, isn’t needed (global crude is oversupplied to the tune of 3.3 min bpd) and isn’t easily refined (it’s too dense so always sold at a heavy discount)
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
TL;DR it’s hard to extract, notoriously investor-endangering, isn’t needed (global crude is oversupplied to the tune of 3.3 min bpd) and isn’t easily refined (it’s too dense so always sold at a heavy discount)
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
Everything in my Future Chronicles series is based on plausible science
In the latest in our imagined history of inventions yet to come, Future Chronicles columnist Rowan Hooper reveals how by the 2030s, botanists had worked out how to grow hybridised superplants to help feed the world
Could James and the Giant Peach inspire the future of food?
In the latest in our imagined history of inventions yet to come, Future Chronicles columnist Rowan Hooper reveals how by the 2030s, botanists had worked out how to grow hybridised superplants to help feed the world
www.newscientist.com
January 4, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Everything in my Future Chronicles series is based on plausible science
Incredible story that starts in 1916, is taken up by generations of explorers and scientists and ends in 2025 with an email to New Scientist.
This is one of the most intriguing stories I've ever worked on: what would be the largest meteorite of all time lost in the west African desert that, despite countless searches, was never found.
Overnight camel rides, poisoned chieftains, meteorite science.
www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
Overnight camel rides, poisoned chieftains, meteorite science.
www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
The century-long hunt for the gigantic meteorite that vanished
A soldier returned from the Sahara desert in 1916 with a wild story about a meteorite that dwarfed all others. Over 100 years of hunting yielded nothing – but now twin brothers think they have solved ...
www.newscientist.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Incredible story that starts in 1916, is taken up by generations of explorers and scientists and ends in 2025 with an email to New Scientist.
The Szilard Point, where more money is spent on applications for funding than is provided in funding for research
This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding
With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.
www.nature.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:20 PM
The Szilard Point, where more money is spent on applications for funding than is provided in funding for research
Yann LeCun says he wants to increase the amount of intelligence in the world (this is what Cixin Liu said he would try to do when I asked him how to spend a trillion dollars)
Ex-Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun has Lunch with the FT and in one of those instances so rare that you know he didn't sign an NDA, says exactly why as.ft.com/r/e503690d-8...
January 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Yann LeCun says he wants to increase the amount of intelligence in the world (this is what Cixin Liu said he would try to do when I asked him how to spend a trillion dollars)
Did the perpetrator get tried for double homicide?
Incredible story from @mjflepage.bsky.social - a murder victim revealed to have two sets of DNA www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
Murder victim discovered to have two sets of DNA due to rare condition
A woman's body has been found to consist of varying proportions of male and female cells because of an extremely rare form of chimerism
www.newscientist.com
January 2, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Did the perpetrator get tried for double homicide?
For our first podcast of 2026 we pick out some of the big science stories coming this year
👇 with @pennysarchet.bsky.social, @jjaron.bsky.social, @mjflepage.bsky.social and @alexthompo.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/2Ybb...
👇 with @pennysarchet.bsky.social, @jjaron.bsky.social, @mjflepage.bsky.social and @alexthompo.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/2Ybb...
Humans are finally heading back to the moon; Cheaper weight loss drugs are coming; Milestone for LSD trials; Promise of new carbon tax
Spotify video
open.spotify.com
January 2, 2026 at 10:35 AM
For our first podcast of 2026 we pick out some of the big science stories coming this year
👇 with @pennysarchet.bsky.social, @jjaron.bsky.social, @mjflepage.bsky.social and @alexthompo.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/2Ybb...
👇 with @pennysarchet.bsky.social, @jjaron.bsky.social, @mjflepage.bsky.social and @alexthompo.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/2Ybb...
This seems harsh!
who reads newscientist anyway...
January 1, 2026 at 4:37 PM
This seems harsh!
This story starts with me seeing *synthetic lichen* made at Imperial College
Scientists cultivating partnerships of fungi and algae believe their invention has far-out implications for how we create the buildings of the future
How lab-grown lichen could help us to build habitations on Mars
Scientists cultivating partnerships of fungi and algae believe their invention has far-out implications for how we create the buildings of the future
www.newscientist.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:10 PM
This story starts with me seeing *synthetic lichen* made at Imperial College
Invertebrates rule!
My best photographs of 2025, a short thread.
A tobacco hornworm on one of its favorite foods, a garden tomato plant (Texas, May 2025). This one makes the cut because it is more aesthetically pleasing than I was aiming for, somehow.
A tobacco hornworm on one of its favorite foods, a garden tomato plant (Texas, May 2025). This one makes the cut because it is more aesthetically pleasing than I was aiming for, somehow.
December 31, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Invertebrates rule!
How to grow hybridised superplants to help feed the world www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
December 31, 2025 at 6:52 AM
How to grow hybridised superplants to help feed the world www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
A child is born: Italians celebrate village’s first baby in 30 years
Feted birth of bambina Lara in Pagliara dei Marsi highlights sticky national debate over country’s ‘demographic winter’
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
2025:
Ocean w/D Attenborough
Andor S2
The White House Effect
Human
Pluribus
My Husband the Cyborg
Severance S2
Books
Every Version of You
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything
Clearing the Air
Positive Tipping Points
The Last Neanderthal
Hello Cruel World
m.youtube.com/watch?v=yWjc...
Ocean w/D Attenborough
Andor S2
The White House Effect
Human
Pluribus
My Husband the Cyborg
Severance S2
Books
Every Version of You
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything
Clearing the Air
Positive Tipping Points
The Last Neanderthal
Hello Cruel World
m.youtube.com/watch?v=yWjc...
Best Science TV, Film and Books of 2025 | The New Scientist Culture Review
YouTube video by New Scientist
m.youtube.com
December 26, 2025 at 4:05 PM
2025:
Ocean w/D Attenborough
Andor S2
The White House Effect
Human
Pluribus
My Husband the Cyborg
Severance S2
Books
Every Version of You
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything
Clearing the Air
Positive Tipping Points
The Last Neanderthal
Hello Cruel World
m.youtube.com/watch?v=yWjc...
Ocean w/D Attenborough
Andor S2
The White House Effect
Human
Pluribus
My Husband the Cyborg
Severance S2
Books
Every Version of You
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything
Clearing the Air
Positive Tipping Points
The Last Neanderthal
Hello Cruel World
m.youtube.com/watch?v=yWjc...
The Legend of Bill (2025)
December 26, 2025 at 12:59 PM
The Legend of Bill (2025)
As we come to the end of (probably) the UK’s hottest year on record, let’s keep pressure on the government
We are so close to the 10k signatures we need for the Government to respond to our @climatemajority.bsky.social petition calling for a funded National Climate Resilience Plan. Please sign now. It's a simple and easy thing you can do to make a difference.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
Petition: Fund a National Climate Resilience Plan: protect communities from climate impact
From floods to extreme temperatures, climate impacts risk damaging homes, health, businesses, services, and the economy. We want Government to prioritise adaptation; fund a new Resilience Plan that…
petition.parliament.uk
December 26, 2025 at 10:33 AM
As we come to the end of (probably) the UK’s hottest year on record, let’s keep pressure on the government
Some of our books of the year:
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen
Positive Tipping Points by Tim Lenton
Hello Cruel World by Melinda Moyer
On today's podcast we chat about these and more... open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen
Positive Tipping Points by Tim Lenton
Hello Cruel World by Melinda Moyer
On today's podcast we chat about these and more... open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
December 26, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Some of our books of the year:
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen
Positive Tipping Points by Tim Lenton
Hello Cruel World by Melinda Moyer
On today's podcast we chat about these and more... open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen
Positive Tipping Points by Tim Lenton
Hello Cruel World by Melinda Moyer
On today's podcast we chat about these and more... open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
We round up our favourite books, TV and film of the year.
open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
Best science TV, film and books of 2025 | The New Scientist culture review
Spotify video
open.spotify.com
December 26, 2025 at 8:56 AM
We round up our favourite books, TV and film of the year.
open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...
If by chance today you are wondering “is it possible to get drunk only by eating things?” then you are in luck: we tested it
www.newscientist.com/article/mg22...
www.newscientist.com/article/mg22...
Man vs sherry trifle: Can I eat myself drunk?
What happens if you try to get mashed on potatoes and sauced on sauce? It's a sobering insight into what really happens to the booze we cook with
www.newscientist.com
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
If by chance today you are wondering “is it possible to get drunk only by eating things?” then you are in luck: we tested it
www.newscientist.com/article/mg22...
www.newscientist.com/article/mg22...
Though by far the most affecting part of the experience was the trailer for Hamnet
December 25, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Though by far the most affecting part of the experience was the trailer for Hamnet
Just saw Avatar 3 Fire and Ash and it nothing to the torch parade and fire at Goring and Streatley
December 24, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Just saw Avatar 3 Fire and Ash and it nothing to the torch parade and fire at Goring and Streatley