What is plastic doing to our health?

Hello and welcome to another round-up of the best science and technology stories from New Scientist. We’ve got vampire hedgehogs, an operating system for quantum computers, and my favourite robot of the year. But first, plastic.

Plastic chemicals linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide

Plastic pollution is increasingly on people’s radar, both for its impact on the environment but also for concerns about what plastic exposure may be doing to our health. The latest assessment shows that three chemicals in plastics may be linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths, leading to calls for stronger regulation.

‘Vampire’ hedgehog among 234 new species identified in Asia

From a hedgehog with vampire-like fangs to a camouflaged tiny lizard that you can barely spot, scientists have identified over 200 new to science species in the Greater Mekong region of South-East Asia.

Are quantum computers now advanced enough to need operating systems?

Whether it is Microsoft Windows, macOS or the many flavours of Linux, all computers that you use come with an operating system that does the hard work of interfacing directly with the hardware. At the moment, that isn’t true of quantum computers, but this could be about to change.

More from New Scientist

• One of my favourite images from this year is this strange, fleshy robot
• Our Christmas double issue is still on sale, so don’t forget to grab a copy
• And if you are looking to test your science knowledge, try our fiendish quiz of the year

This will be the last round-up we send out in 2024, with normal service resuming on 10th January. Thanks for reading throughout this year, and do remember to share this newsletter with your network by hitting the repost button.

Jacob Aron, News Editor