Graham Lawton

London

Staff Writer and Columnist at New Scientist

New Scientist writer and columnist, winner of an award & author of Mustn't Grumble: The surprising science of everyday ailments and why we're always a bit ill

Articles

The surprisingly big impact the small intestine has on your health

6 days ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

The US humorist Christopher Morley once described the human body as “an ingenious assembly of portable plumbing”. He wasn’t wrong: from our cardiovascular and lymphatic systems to our guts and urinary tract, a large proportion of our internal anatomy is dedicated to moving fluids around. Perhaps the most impressive piece of plumbing is the gastrointestinal tract, which starts at the mouth and ends, 8 metres or so later, at the anus.
Do corporations actually have more control over your health than you?

3 weeks ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

The aisles seem to go on forever as you push your shopping trolley towards the cereal section. You arrive, only to be met with an anxiety-inducing dilemma: do you buy the granola with low sugar or the one that is fortified with protein and vitamins? Or maybe the one with those delicious little chocolate chunks? The supermarket can be mildly overwhelming, but at least there is no shortage of consumer choice. It seems that we are in control of the food we eat and the lifestyles we lead.
Hiking parking costs is a great way to reduce car usage

1 month ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

There is a hardware store on my local high street renowned not just for its excellent and reasonably priced products, but also for the witty messages written on a chalkboard by its entrance. Right now, it reads, “500% increase in parking tariffs; Trump jealous”. This is probably lost on anyone who doesn’t live in York, UK, but will be recognisable (and funny) to anyone who does.
Aeronutrients: The wild idea that we all get nutrition from the air that we breathe

1 month ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

Around 10 years ago, British tabloid newspaper The Sun ran a memorable article about a couple who claimed to be “breatharians”, able to survive on a little water and even less food. Instead, they said, they derived sustenance from air, sunlight and the energy of the universe. The story was picked up by media outlets across the world and propelled the couple and their unusual lifestyle to fame – and no small amount of ridicule.
Are ordinary people fighting a losing battle to go green?

2 months ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

I have been doing a lot of work recently on how narrow corporate interests are a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to making the changes necessary to stop the destruction of the environment. A few weeks back, I reviewed A Climate of Truth by Mike Berners-Lee, which makes a powerful case that dishonesty and obfuscation by climate-trashing industries are a major cause of environmental destruction.
We're finally uncovering fibre's remarkable benefits for body and mind

2 months ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

Deep inside your lower intestine is a 24/7 dinner party. The trillions of microorganisms that live in your colon are feasting on foodstuffs you ate but failed to digest. Their motives are selfish but they are still doing you a favour, tending to the health of your gut, brain, heart and immune system. Meanwhile, in the background, even-more-indigestible food is quietly drifting past. Even the microbes won’t touch it, but it, too, has a positive effect on your health.
Mike Berners-Lee's solution for the polycrisis may be just too hard

2 months ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

Pollution like the smoke seen at this garbage dump in Pakistan isÂ part of an ongoing polycrisisARIF ALI/AFP via Getty ImagesA Climate of TruthMike Berners-Lee (Cambridge University Press UK: On sale now US: On sale from 10 April)Mike Berners-LeeÂ admits he is worried about getting bad reviews for his new book, which criticises sections of the UK media for having editorial agendas effectively set by their owners.
How toilet waste is being rebranded as a valuable resource

2 months ago | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

Many years ago, I wrote a feature for New Scientist about an innovation in waste-water treatment called urine-separation toilets, which, at the time, looked like becoming a desirable accessory for the eco-conscious. To cut a long story short, the Western habit of flushing urine away using clean water then separating it out again in sewage plants is extremely wasteful.
How a surprising twist on rewilding could help settle our carbon debt

Mar 24, 2025 | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

In the Țarcu mountains of Romania, a pioneering experiment is changing the atmosphere around rewilding. Starting in 2014, around 100 European bison were gradually reintroduced to the area, having been wiped out by hunting more than 200 years ago. They now number more than 170 and graze over some 48 square kilometres. That is a success story in itself. But there is more to this project than just bringing back the big beasts.
The alarming rise of colorectal cancer diagnoses in people under 50

Mar 3, 2025 | newscientist.com | Graham Lawton

Shortly after my 54th birthday, I received a package. The enclosed instructions told me that next time I emptied my bowels, I should scrape a bit of the stool into a small sample bottle, seal it in a pre-paid envelope and drop it into the post. I did the deed and, a few weeks later, was invited to hospital. My sample contained blood; a colonoscopy was ordered to rule out colorectal cancer. I don’t, thankfully, have colorectal cancer, and a colonoscopy at 54 is a classic initiation into middle age.