Novo Nordisk's semaglutide will soon be available in a daily pill Americans can take for weight loss. The US Food and Drug Administration today approved a pill version of the blockbuster anti-obesity drug Wegovy. Made by Novo Nordisk, the pill is taken once a day. The company's original version of Wegovy is a weekly injection. Both drugs contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide.

While western billionaires were busy sending rockets to space only for them to crash and burn, scientists in India were quietly doing something no one had accomplished before. Their Chandrayaan-3 moon lander was the first mission to reach the lunar south pole – an unexplored region where reservoirs of frozen water are believed to exist. I remember my heart soaring when images of the control room in India spread around social media, showing senior female scientists celebrating their incredible achievement. The success of Chandrayaan-3, launched in July 2023, showed the world that not only is India a major player in space, but that a moon lander can be launched successfully for $75m (£60m). This cost is not to be sniffed at but it is much cheaper than most other countries' budgets for a moon mission. July 2023 was an extremely busy month for space firsts.

From extraordinary heat to stunning space imagery, New Scientist has brought you extensive coverage of the biggest developments, discoveries and events in science, technology, health and environment in 2023. Here is our recap of some of the best stories this year. The number of heat records broken in 2023 is simply astounding. While we can't officially say for sure until final figures are in next month, this year was almost certainly the hottest year ever recorded. In a sign of how extraordinary temperatures have been this year, New Scientist was already reporting this possibility in mid-June, well before the northern hemisphere summer had got into gear.