Aspirin was the inspiration for Paul Wilson’s essential collection of
relaxation techniques, Instant Calm (Penguin, £7.99, ISBN 0 14 024494 8).
Why? Because like the common household drug, he aims to provide effective
short-term relief from painful symptoms.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
3
A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food
4
The weirdness of neutrinos could completely rewrite particle physics
5
We’re not the most successful human species
6
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
7
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026
8
Slowdown of AMOC ocean current may be gradual and reversible
9
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
10
Have scientists really made a living cell from scratch? Not quite



