The best new popular science books of February 2026 include titles by Maggie Aderin and Michael Pollan
Space scientist Maggie Aderin has a new book out this month Steven May / Alamy Stock Photo It’s nowhere near
AI-assisted mammograms cut risk of developing aggressive breast cancer
Spotting cancer tumours in mammograms seems to be easier with AI AMELIE-BENOIST/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty People who are screened
Stick shaped by ancient humans is the oldest known wooden tool
Artist’s reconstruction of a Palaeolithic woman making a digging stick from an alder tree trunk G. Prieto; K. Harvati The
Bone cancer therapy unexpectedly makes tumours less painful
An artist’s impression of nanomedicine in action ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Cancer that spreads to bones can be deadly, and
Bubble feeding trick spreads through humpback whale social groups
Humpback whales work together to trap fish by surrounding them with bubbles Jenn Dickie/North Coast Cetatean society An innovative feeding
First treaty to protect the high seas comes into force
A trawler in the Southern Ocean Shutterstock A treaty that will protect areas of the largely lawless high seas from
Woolly rhino genome recovered from meat in frozen wolf pup’s stomach
The woolly rhino was one of the icons of the last glacial period The History Collection / Alamy A genome
Sinking trees in Arctic Ocean could remove 1 billion tonnes of CO2
Trees floating towards the Arctic Ocean Carl Christoph Stadie/The Alfred Wegener Institute Cutting down swathes of boreal forest and sinking
Tree bark microbiome has important overlooked role in climate
Melaleuca wetland forests in New South Wales, Australia, are hotspots for tree microbial life Luke Jeffrey / Southern Cross University
Northern Greenland ice dome melted before and could melt again
Researchers working at Prudhoe Dome in Greenland Caleb K. Walcott-George An ice dome in northern Greenland once melted completely at