Lengthy reads: New Scientist’s 5 finest in-depth articles of 2022

To rejoice the tip of the yr, our editors have picked New Scientist’s highest options of 2022. And as a present from us to you, they’re all free to learn till 1 January

By Daniel Cossins and Catherine de Lange

To learn our high 5 function articles of 2022, click on via to an article and comply with the prompts to register with New Scientist without spending a dime.

A few of our biggest-hitting tales this yr requested mind-bending questions on physics, spoke to our readers in regards to the points dealing with their on a regular basis lives or had been in-depth exclusives uncovered by New Scientist workers. As a vacation reward to you, we now have curated a collection of a few of our greatest function articles, from the most recent anti-ageing analysis to hints of totally new physics. These in-depth tales are normally solely accessible to paid subscribers, however it is possible for you to to learn them without spending a dime between 25 December and the tip of the yr. Right here is our choose of the perfect and why they made the reduce.

1. The longevity eating regimen that would add years to your life

It’d sound apparent to say that what you eat could make you reside longer. Everyone knows that an excessive amount of processed meals, purple meat and fats can ship us to an early grave, however this text isn’t about that sort of accepted knowledge. As a substitute, it lays naked the most recent analysis that, if adopted, may see individuals who change away from a typical Western eating regimen add many years to their life. However this isn’t one other flimsy fad eating regimen. What makes this text so compelling is that the analysis it options brings collectively many years of organic research into eating regimen and ageing, together with scientific trial information, epidemiological research and analysis into centenarians. In addition to being rigorous, with a wholesome sprinkling of New Scientist scepticism, this text can be true information you should utilize, with loads of details about what this new longevity eating regimen actually consists of. No surprise it grew to become our most learn function of the yr.

2. Tantalising hints of recent physics from the Massive Hadron Collider

You may need heard in regards to the anomalies on the LHCb experiment at CERN’s Massive Hadron Collider. Intriguing hints of recent physics had been teased again in 2021, however anybody holding their breath was in for an uncomfortable time. Then, earlier this yr, New Scientist workers landed an unique preview of recent outcomes popping out of the LCHb experiments that steered not solely that the anomalies had been firming up, but in addition that they pointed to a brand new force-carrying particle that would clarify the peculiar patterns we observe in recognized matter particles.

Within the longer run, it’d even permit physicists to lastly make progress in direction of a grand unified principle, exhibiting that three of the 4 basic forces of nature are all manifestations of the identical pressure. If the outcomes actually are confirmed, they might change our understanding of the universe as we all know it. Written by particle physicist Harry Cliff on the College of Cambridge, who works on LHCb, this story provides you the within observe on what may very well be one of many largest discoveries of the yr, if not the last decade.

3. A greater understanding of insomnia and the right way to deal with it

In case you occur to have scrolled upon this text in your telephone at an ungodly hour whereas the world round you sleeps, you might be certainly in good firm. Round 10 per cent of individuals meet the factors for insomnia, which might have a massively debilitating influence on day-to-day life. The fruits of analysis into the situation have been frustratingly lacklustre. Nevertheless, a brand new flurry of findings across the neurological and psychological processes underlying insomnia is, eventually, bringing with it highly effective insights into how we will deal with the situation. Certainly, as this text goes on to debate, insomnia has grow to be a solvable downside. So dig in, and if you’re studying this as a result of you possibly can’t sleep, right here’s hoping our article may help ship you to sleep – in the absolute best manner.

4. The daring effort to reformulate physics to account for consciousness

This can be a story that pulls you in to have interaction with one of many deepest, most mind-bending questions round: what place is there for consciousness in our understanding of the universe? Of their quest to clarify the universe and the whole lot in it, physicists attempt for an goal “view from nowhere” – one which has nothing to do with the subjective perspective of observers. However the reality is that there isn’t any such factor. We all know from our efforts to make sense of quantum principle and time, as an illustration, that the position of the observer can’t be ignored. For that reason, some courageous souls are attempting to reformulate physics to incorporate subjective expertise as a bodily constituent of the world. These concepts is usually a tad bewildering, starting from the concept consciousness is an intrinsic property of matter to a brand new cosmology rooted in occasions and the relationships between them, relatively than objects in space-time. However we wish to suppose this text is as thought-provoking and entertaining as it’s baffling.

5. AI unlocks the secrets and techniques of historical cuneiform texts

With varied anniversaries in Egyptology this yr, researchers engaged on historical Egyptian texts have been within the highlight, however far much less consideration is paid to individuals who research the civilisations who wrote within the cuneiform script, such because the Sumerians and the Babylonians. The mesmerising marks in clay tablets that make up the world’s oldest written language are famously onerous to decipher. Now, synthetic intelligence is being deployed to crack cuneiform’s code, releasing the riches written inside for the primary time. This charming function goes behind the scenes at London’s British Museum, giving an unique have a look at expertise in motion, as AI is used to piece collectively the tiny fragments of the best library of antiquity.