The best new science fiction books of February 2026 30. January 2026 (14:00) We pick the sci-fi novels we’re most looking forward to reading this month, from a new Brandon Sanderson to the latest from Makana Yamamoto(New Scientist)
How an 1800s vaccine drive beat smallpox in Denmark in just 7 years 30. January 2026 (12:00) In the early 1800s, Denmark’s government, medical community, church leaders and school teachers all united to promote the new smallpox vaccine, which led to a remarkably quick elimination of the disease in the capital(New Scientist)
Our verdict on Annie Bot: This novel about a sex robot split opinions 30. January 2026 (10:22) Members of the New Scientist Book Club give their take on Sierra Greer's award-winning science-fiction novel Annie Bot, our read for February – and the needle swings wildly from positive to negative(New Scientist)
Read an extract from Juice by Tim Winton 30. January 2026 (10:15) In this extract from the February read for the New Scientist Book Club, we meet the protagonist of Tim Winton’s Juice, driving across a scorched landscape in a future version of Australia(New Scientist)
Tim Winton: 'Sometimes I think we use the word dystopia as an opiate' 30. January 2026 (10:10) The New Scientist Book Club's February read is Tim Winton's novel Juice, set in a future Australia that is so hot it is almost unliveable. Here, the author lays out his reasons for writing it – and why he doesn't see it as dystopian(New Scientist)
This doctor is on the hunt for people with first-rate faeces 30. January 2026 (10:00) Elizabeth Hohmann is very interested in faeces, and spends her days sifting through stools to find those that could make the biggest difference to other people's health(New Scientist)
AI-assisted mammograms cut risk of developing aggressive breast cancer 30. January 2026 (00:30) Interval cancers are aggressive tumours that grow during the interval after someone has been screened for cancer and before they are screened again, and AI seems to be able to identify them at an early stage(New Scientist)
Our lifespans may be half down to genes and half to the environment 29. January 2026 (20:00) A reanalysis of twin data from Denmark and Sweden suggests that how long we live now depends roughly equally on the genes we inherit, and on where we live and what we do(New Scientist)
