It鈥檚 a hot month in London 鈥� in oh so many ways. Life, being alive and death are big themes in the new popular science books out in July, not to mention that small thing of being a human and all the messy feelings and sensory stuff that goes with it. Then there鈥檚 also AI filling the future 听鈥� in ways that worry one of the world鈥檚 leading forensic scientists, as well as ethicists who are paid to think about this sort of thing. I鈥檓 looking forward to delving into the worlds of volcanoes and pharmacology, which look positively safe and stable in comparison鈥�

by Valerie Tiberius

Can friendship with a chatbot ever be as good as friendship with a gang of flesh-and-blood besties? Is there still and will there 鈥� can there听 鈥� always be something about human friendships that will elude the smartest of simulations? Ethicist and University of Minnesota professor of philosophy Valerie Tiberius sets out to argue the human case. She defines the ideal friendship as an enjoyable, close relationship built on shared activities between people who care about each other for their own sake. It will be interesting to see where her book goes with this 鈥� especially since Shannon Vallor, author of听The AI Mirror: How to reclaim our humanity in an age of machine thinking, thinks it 鈥減rovides a nuanced philosophical survey of the possibilities for human-AI relationships by highlighting their considerable risks and benefits鈥�.

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by Richard Coker

It may sound a bit gloomy, but Timor Mortis (literally 鈥渇ear of death鈥�) could hardly be more timely as we increasingly worry about the quality of end-of-life care for everyone we care about (including ourselves). Then there鈥檚 what we mean by 鈥渁 good death鈥� 鈥� and perhaps the biggest question of all, how do we live in the hyperteched 21st century in the visceral shadow of our own death? Public health doctor Richard Coker probes death鈥檚 complexities from different perspectives: biological, psychological, moral and historical. Coker has certainly done the rounds, latterly as a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and earlier as a doctor working with people who had TB or HIV/AIDS.

by Tamie Jovanelly

This is one of the latest in the redoubtable What Everyone Needs to Know series from Oxford University Press, covering everything from gender to robots. And how could you go wrong with the subject of volcanoes? Geology professor Tamie Jovanelly has over 20 years of global research experience in volcanism, climate change, water systems and natural hazards to guide her as she answers those simple questions we might be too embarrassed to ask anyone else. Where do we find volcanoes? Can we predict when and where they will erupt? Can we harness their energy? 听With 1350 active volcanoes on Earth, between 50 and 70 erupting annually, not to mention climate change in the mix, explaining what makes one of nature鈥檚 most powerful forces work isn鈥檛 a simple task. Jovanelly also gives us GPS coordinates for locating volcanoes, high-definition photographs for identifying volcanic minerals and rocks 鈥� and there鈥檚 an appendix featuring 100 of the world鈥檚 most active volcanoes.

by Rod Flower

This book sounds like it might be a great companion to a title we featured in May: Nick Barber鈥檚 How to Take Drugs: A new approach to medication for better results and fewer side effects. And given the staggering 1 billion-plus prescriptions written in the UK every year 鈥� and, even more staggeringly, over five billion in the US 鈥� members of the prescribed-to public can stand all the help they can get to understand why they take the drugs they do, and what those drugs do. This is more of a history and context-builder, as Rod Flower, emeritus professor of biochemical pharmacology at Queen Mary University of London (with a big interest in inflammation and anti-inflammatories) takes us through the astonishingly fast evolution of our drug use, from healing plants and herbs to a global market just under $2 trillion 鈥� and the rise of pharmacology as a discipline. Flower also shows us how drugs really work in detail, the process of medicine development and what makes scientists think that their therapies will work as, er, advertised.

by Roopika Risam

鈥淕roundbreaking and provocative鈥� is how its publishers describe Data Empire. This exploration of data as power tracks back millennia to the first clay tablets of Mesopotamia, through knotted strings keeping account to the algorithmic modern state. Their purpose sounds oddly familiar: helping states govern people/empires, and helping institutions to decide who appears on the official record and who doesn鈥檛. As we stare, often helplessly, at the plethora of hyperconnected, pervasive, personally extractive tech heading at us, shaping the future needs the insights of people like Risam, working from her multiple perspectives, including a digital humanities and social engagement professorship at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. Any writer would be thrilled to have the kind of applause she has attracted, with Lewis Dartnell (author of The Knowledge: How to rebuild our world from scratch) calling the book 鈥淏reathtaking in its scope鈥� and one of the founders of VR, Jaron Lanier, describing it as the 鈥渘ew history of mankind demanded by our times鈥� This book asks what we will do about data now that we have no choice but to do something.鈥�

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by Ian Bogost

In a time of excess consumption, enforced efficiency and fear of missing out, it sounds distinctly quixotic to be pursuing a more gratifying life. But Atlantic columnist and computer academic/designer Ian Bogost鈥檚 The Small Stuff is pitched as just that. From digital tickets to automated taps, say its publishers, life鈥檚 simple pleasures have been stripped away, replaced by sleek, soulless design. Bogost 鈥渦ncovers how modern conveniences not only fail to deliver on their promises but also rob us of small, satisfying tasks and moments that keep us grounded and human鈥�. So it isn鈥檛 just a matter of smelling the roses, and sitting under more trees, but reinvesting in your interactions with the material world and more labour-creating devices. Small pleasures instead of flat giant screens鈥� can鈥檛 wait!

by Dan Werb

Brown rats, raccoons, and urban foxes; house flies and cockroaches; even dandelions and kudzu vines; they are wild creatures living alongside humans, hence the lovely Greek noun that describes them: synanthrope (syn meaning 鈥渨ith鈥�; anthropos 鈥渕an鈥�). These and more exotic creatures, such as the tiger quoll or the collared delma, are at the heart of what looks like a really fascinating book. Writer and epidemiologist Dan Werb goes beyond examining the everyday roles these wild animals play in our lives: from annoyance at the activities of houseflies and urban foxes, to replacing lids in raccoon country or watching out for disease vectors from brown rats and others. He鈥檚 also interested in how we are reaching a key moment as these creatures are 鈥渁rbiters of our planet鈥檚 future鈥�, and 鈥渁 key influence on the continuing evolution of our species鈥�. Environmental destruction means that their urban habitats will increase and their numbers soar. We are going to have to stop resisting them and learn how to live in harmony. By the way, the collared delma is a tiny legless lizard, but the tiger quoll is a metre-long carnivore 鈥� a cross between a cat and a rat. Interesting futures ahead then.

听by Sue Black

This is the third book in a trilogy by Sue Black, one of the UK鈥檚 most eminent forensic scientists with 40 years of experience working on the evidence used in criminal cases. This time she鈥檚 putting science in the dock as she uses landmark cases to unpick what went wrong, where justice was served, what we should fight to preserve 鈥� and asks how AI and other forms of automation will work in court. And while there have been huge leaps forward 鈥� the discovery of DNA fingerprinting, and Black鈥檚 own vein-pattern identification work 鈥� cases like that of Andrew Malkinson, wrongly convicted and jailed for 17 years, show what happens when things go wrong. She asks if we鈥檒l be able to cope with the future coming at us fast. 鈥淎re we prepared for AI to redact police files before they are sent to the CPS? Are we ready to accept instant interview translations? If they are incorrect, who will correct them? Who will notice? We will certainly all care,鈥� she writes. We will indeed.

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by Eleanor Drage

Confusion and fear around the fast encroachment of AI and where it may lead is completely understandable. But ethicist Eleanor Drage is exploring, as her book鈥檚 subtitle puts it, 鈥淗ow to stop catastrophising and build an ethical future鈥�. She reckons we need a whole new language and some fresh ideas to determine what AI is and how we should use it. That translates into adding feminism, reparative justice and climate politics into the debate. Early endorsements include broadcaster Sandi Toksvig (鈥淎 wise and purpose-driven book to steer us out of AI doom鈥�) and N. Katherine Hayles, author of From Bacteria to AI (鈥淓leanor Drage dismantles prophecies of both apocalypse and transcendence to show how we can achieve liveable futures with AI鈥�).

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by Melanie Challenger

This is one of our biggest conceptual problems: what does it mean to be alive? Researcher and natural philosopher Melanie Challengerprobes the latest discoveries in biology and physics 鈥渢o reveal a radical truth: to be alive is first and foremost a way of being a body鈥�, say the book鈥檚 publicists. This sounds great and it will be interesting to see how the argument plays out 鈥� how far Alive lives up the claims and restores 鈥渁gency, purpose and meaning to organisms in an age of artificial intelligence and biodiversity loss鈥�.

听

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These dreamlike images offer a view into one person鈥檚 experience with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Last year, one week before visual artist turned 40, he received a diagnosis of ADHD. Soon after, he started taking the ADHD medication lisdexamfetamine. The drug transformed his experience of the world, helping to ease his symptoms, such as being easily distracted. 鈥淚 tend to describe [ADHD] like you鈥檙e watching five projected films in your mind, all over the top of each other, and they all have their own soundtrack, and they all have their own subtitles,鈥� says Regan.

鈥淭he medication is like turning down the volume on that, so it鈥檚 like you鈥檙e just watching one film or two films at the same time,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t means that I鈥檓 much calmer and more present.鈥�

As Regan experienced these changes, he used a Polaroid camera to photograph himself and his surroundings while hiking in Australia. He then submerged the images in varying ratios of his ADHD medication and water for up to three months, distorting the original images. 鈥淚t felt very natural for me to start processing this kind of new experience of a diagnosis, of taking medication, by engaging with the medication as a kind of creative collaborator,鈥� he says.

In one self-portrait (main image), Regan鈥檚 body appears to be wrapped in a silk shroud. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something really beautiful in that image of being held by this very sort of fragile texture and material,鈥� he says.

Another image (above) captures greenery in the Australian bush, surrounded by bubble-like structures. 鈥淲hat I really like about this particular image is that it is very chaotic, so as I was describing earlier, it captures how all the dials and sliders are turned up [when experiencing symptoms of ADHD],鈥� says Regan.

This vivid blue image (above) was originally a self-portrait, but submerging it in the medication and water has given it a 鈥渒ind of biological, cellular and molecular effect, which I find interesting considering I鈥檓 putting a chemical into my body that affects the neurotransmitters in my brain鈥�, says Regan. Lisdexamfetamine works by raising levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.

Silhouettes of leaves and trees are enveloped by luminous yellows and greens in the final two images, above and below. The last picture, below, also reminds Regan of his late mother. 鈥淚 often look at it, and I wonder what she would have made of the late diagnosis and whether she would have thought that explained previous difficulties that I鈥檇 had in the past,鈥� says Regan.

The images, collectively titled 鈥淐₁₅H₂₅N₃O鈥�, which is the molecular formula for the medication, will be displayed as part of Regan鈥檚 at Bethlem Gallery, London, between 22 April and 11 July 2026. His work comes amid growing awareness of ADHD. There are multiple types of ADHD, but it commonly involves persistently experiencing symptoms such as being forgetful, finding it hard to manage time or follow tasks, and being impulsive, with these .

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of hard sometimes to describe or find the right analogies for people to get what an internal experience is like, but I think that the images represent some of that internal kind of chaos and layering,鈥� Regan says.

A single dose of the psychedelic drug LSD seems to reduce anxiety without lasting side effects.

鈥淥urs is the first modern trial to look specifically at LSD, or any psychedelic, for generalised anxiety disorder,鈥� says at biotech company MindMed in New York.

The condition is characterised by excessive worry about a broad range of things, such as work and relationships. First-line treatment includes mood-enhancing drugs, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other antidepressants, and talking therapies.

But to such treatments. 鈥淔or a lot of people, SSRIs are not very effective, they have intolerable side effects [such as feeling emotionally numb] because people have to take them on a daily basis, and they only work while you鈥檙e taking them,鈥� says Karlin.

Previous studies have suggested that LSD may be an alternative. The psychedelic is often used recreationally for its mind-altering, hallucinogenic effects. Karlin says it is thought to act by increasing levels of the mood-boosting chemical serotonin in the brain, which some people say induces a profound emotional experience in them. He adds that it may also enhance the brain鈥檚 ability to rewire itself and form new thought patterns.

But until now, no trial comparing people taking LSD with others taking placebo pills has explored whether the substance can benefit those with generalised anxiety disorder.

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To fill this gap, Karlin and his colleagues recruited 198 adults with the condition. The participants slowly tapered off any anxiety medications they had been using, but those who were receiving psychotherapy continued with their sessions.

In a survey commonly used in clinics, the participants then rated the severity of each of 14 symptoms, such as feeling worried, tense or struggling to focus, on a scale of 0 to 4. Out of a maximum total score of 56, the participants scored 30, on average, above the threshold of 24 for severe anxiety.

Next, the team randomly split the participants into five groups that either took LSD 鈥� at various doses of 25, 50, 100 or 200 micrograms 鈥� or placebo pills, without being told which they were given. A day later, those who had received 100 and 200 microgram doses, but not the other groups, already reported an improvement in symptoms, says Karlin.

A month later, those who had received the 100 and 200 microgram doses experienced an average 21 and 19 point reduction in anxiety, respectively, with the improvement sustained until the end of the study, three months after the dosing day. About 46 per cent of these participants went into remission, which is a score of 7 or below.

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Psilocybin appears to alter brain networks linked to repetitive negative thoughts, which may explain how the drug helps to treat some mental health conditions

Meanwhile, those taking the placebo and the two lower doses saw between a 14 and 17 point reduction in anxiety over the same period, with about 20 per cent going into remission. This suggests the lower doses provided no additional relief beyond the placebo.

The benefit seen by the two highest dose groups is a substantial improvement above the placebo, says at University College London. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a clinically meaningful improvement in terms of impairment and distress,鈥� he says.

The improvement in the placebo group, a phenomenon commonly seen in anxiety trials, probably resulted from a mixture of factors, such as people feeling attended to and cared for as part of the trial, says Kamboj.

The team found that most participants could accurately guess whether they had taken LSD or the placebo. This is common with psychedelics because they have hallucinogenic side effects for many people. In all the groups, some participants听also experienced nausea and headaches in the 12 hours after treatment.

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Those on lower doses of LSD and on the placebo experienced changes in visual perception like hallucinations at far lower rates than those on the higher doses of the psychedelic. This makes it hard to tell whether the LSD-related benefits were due to a person鈥檚 expectations based on the effects they felt or the direct effects of the drug on the brain, says Kamboj.

Despite this caveat, the study provides some of the best evidence to date that LSD could be a useful treatment for anxiety, he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very promising finding that you can get a very rapid effect in symptom reduction, that would be extremely meaningful to patients.鈥�

The results are promising enough that the US Food and Drug Administration has designated MindMed鈥檚 LSD formulation as a Breakthrough Therapy, which expedites the process for drug development. Karlin says the team is carrying out larger trials that will track benefits beyond three months, with results expected in the next couple of years.

Many medications must be refrigerated or they lose their effectiveness, but a new method of packing protein-based drugs into a stiff gel could make them last longer at room temperature.

Drugs can break down if they aren鈥檛 stored properly, which can make them unsafe to use. Exposure to high temperatures, for example, can break the chemical bonds that maintain a drug molecule鈥檚 shape, disrupting its function. For some drugs, shaking can make their molecules clump together, reducing their efficacy. at the University of Manchester in the UK has been working on addressing these challenges for almost 15 years.

He and his colleagues have now developed a method that could make handling protein-based drugs simpler and more practical. He says the new advance came from working with at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who specialises in making hydrogels. They worked out how to mix proteins with gel ingredients and end up with a stiff white structure that can be loaded into a syringe. In this form, proteins that would usually have to be refrigerated at -20掳C (-4掳F) withstood temperatures as high as 50掳C (122掳F) and remained functioning under these conditions for up to four weeks.

The hydrogel gets its stiffness from small molecules combined into large chains, which are then broken by applying force. In syringes, pushing down on the plunger breaks the molecular bonds, turning the gel and protein mixture into a liquid. The hydrogel remnants were too big to enter the syringe鈥檚 needle, so only the drug leaves the syringe.

The team tested this method with several compounds, including bovine insulin and 尾-Galactosidase, an enzyme commonly used for gene studies in biology. They also mailed a box filled with containers full of protein-packed hydrogels to themselves and found that the proteins withstood the temperatures and jostling of the journey through the postage system.

Though there are laboratory methods that can keep proteins stable for longer, this approach may be better suited to leave the lab and enter the clinic, says at King鈥檚 College London. He says that it would most benefit countries and regions where cold storage is rare and prohibitively expensive. If the new method works with protein-based vaccines, it could make disease prevention more equitable, he says.

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Gibson says that he and his team are confident they could make their hydrogel at industrial scales, but they want to conduct more studies on its longevity and safety. While using it with vaccines is on their wish list, in the short term the method could also be used to store, transport and administer semaglutide, a drug used to treat diabetes and obesity.