Issue 1710 | Magazine cover date: 31 March 1990

This week's magazine

31 March 1990

Issue 1710

On the cover

Features

The rise and fall of negative resistance: The idea of negative electrical resistance seems to be just as implausible as water flowing uphill. But new electronic devices working at the quantum level employ materials that sometimes reveal their negative si

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Technology: Compact cassette may threaten DAT

Opinion

Science lessens

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New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The rise and fall of negative resistance: The idea of negative electrical resistance seems to be just as implausible as water flowing uphill. But new electronic devices working at the quantum level employ materials that sometimes reveal their negative si

Features

Labour of death: The world is slowly waking up to a hidden tragedy - in the Third World, giving birth kills half a million mothers each year

Features

Europe protects itself from dubious results

Features

Earth

Guyana's test at high tide

Features

Is DNA fingerprinting ready for the courts?: New tests to identify criminals by their DNA were soon welcomed as a valuable forensic tool. But in the rush to introduce the tests into the courtroom, commercial and government laboratories in the US may have

Features

Famines before the floods?: Confidence in new technology has overshadowed evidence that the world may soon face a growing food shortage, warns agronomist Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC

Features

No quick fix for raising crop yields

Features

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Technology

Technology: Compact cassette may threaten DAT

HILIPS is also working on a technique to make the conventional audio cassette a carrier for digital audio, but have refused to comment on it. This is politically sensitive because the promise of a digital compact cassette undermines the commercial potential of the completely new digital audio tape format, DAT, due to be launched round …

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Technology

Technology: Image analysis picks up the able semen

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Technology

Technology: Japan claims lead on Josephson chips

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Technology

Technology: Nothing could be sweeter, say chemists

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Technology

Technology: Tiny laser beams red

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Patents: Fat silhouette

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Patents: Leaner, fitter and moving out

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Patents: Talk to your TV

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Patents: Bomb detector

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Science: Ancient artists painted with human blood

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Science: Hormonal clue to bamboo's elusive blossomings

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Science: Chemists tame the wild side of drugs

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Science: Dark matter comes into sharper focus - on Earth and in the heavens

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Technology

Technology: America cuts its launchers down to size

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Technology

Technology: Interactive video gets the full motion treatment

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New row over plans for US space station

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Distress signals

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Faint dwarf

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Fossils that tell of Antarctica's past

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Coming clean

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Poland's particles

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Farm payout

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WHO moves

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Cancer gene

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Space plan off course

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Science: Nose tissue may provide Alzheimer's test

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Science: Encounter with Saturn confirms relativity theory

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Berlin's fibre optic cable will help East to speak unto West

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Ban on nuclear aid scuttles renewable energy projects

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Forest 'preservation' plan comes under fire from Third World group

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New rules proposed for European space projects

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Japan drops satellite programme under US pressure

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Doctors warn of loophole in Embryo Bill

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Heart patients 'should be warned of faulty valve implant'

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America considers offering 'untried remedies' to people with AIDS

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Council threatens to bring TV dishes down to earth

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Sulphur cuts too small for Britain's lakes

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Food council plans European research links

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Europe opens environmental data up to public scrutiny

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Opinion

Science lessens

HISTORIC reforms in the way that science is taught in England and Wales are in a bit of a pickle at the moment, thanks to a lack of planning when the reforms were first conceived. The changes, enshrined in the government's plans to introduce a national curriculum, are now well-advanced and will, for the first …

Opinion

Limits to fashion

Opinion

Features

The rise and fall of negative resistance: The idea of negative electrical resistance seems to be just as implausible as water flowing uphill. But new electronic devices working at the quantum level employ materials that sometimes reveal their negative si

IN RECENT years, we have become familiar with the idea of materials that behave as superconductors at reasonably high temperatures (between 77 and 90 K). The discovery of these new materials is exciting because they revive a dream that engineers have had for many years - the ability to make materials with no resistance at …

Features

Labour of death: The world is slowly waking up to a hidden tragedy - in the Third World, giving birth kills half a million mothers each year

Features

Europe protects itself from dubious results

Features

Earth

Guyana's test at high tide

Features

Is DNA fingerprinting ready for the courts?: New tests to identify criminals by their DNA were soon welcomed as a valuable forensic tool. But in the rush to introduce the tests into the courtroom, commercial and government laboratories in the US may have

Features

Famines before the floods?: Confidence in new technology has overshadowed evidence that the world may soon face a growing food shortage, warns agronomist Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC

Features

No quick fix for raising crop yields

Features

Forum: Hands-off experience - It's time computers came out of the closet

WORKING, as I do, in the Sudan, I have been concerned lately about the rationale behind the supply of personal computers to developing nations, and the way a little chunk of the West tends to get built around them. By anybody's standards, the Sudan is a hostile environment: fine dust forever in the air; power …

Forum

Forum: Eat, drink and be educated! - Philip Lightowlers looks forward to the second Edinburgh Science Festival

Forum

Forum: For six days shalt thou labour - Seek to streamline the seven-day week

Forum

Thistle Diary - More comment from Westminster: A shattering blow for schoolchildren

Forum

Early Red Admirals

Books & Arts

Forum: Too hot to handle - It's time people came to terms with the 'patchiness' of their environment

Forum

It all depends on your point of view / Review of 'The Science of Art - Optical Themes in Western Art from Brunelleschi to Seurat' by Martin Kemp

Books & Arts

Mooseburgers to go / Review of 'Wildlife Production Systems - Economic Utilisation of Wild Ungulates' edited by R. J. Hudon, K. R. Drew and L. M. Baskin

Books & Arts

Bad news for penguins and polar bears / Review of 'Winds of Change' by John Gribbin and Mick Kelly and 'Turning Up The Heat' by Fred Pearce

Books & Arts

The hidden treasures of China's countryside / Review of 'The Natural History of China' by Zhao Ji, Zhen Guangmei, Wang Huadong and Xu Jialin

Books & Arts

Regulars

Ariadne

MOST of the time, said The Sunday Times in an introduction to a series devoted to methods of 'building a healthy brain and maintaining it in optimum condition', the brain is underused and under-stretched. There followed some exercises and hints for keeping your brain in good nick, including, I was delighted to see, advice that …

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This week's magazine

31 March 1990

On the cover

The rise and fall of negative resistance: The idea of negative electrical resistance seems to be just as implausible as water flowing uphill. But new electronic devices working at the quantum level employ materials that sometimes reveal their negative si

Labour of death: The world is slowly waking up to a hidden tragedy - in the Third World, giving birth kills half a million mothers each year

Europe protects itself from dubious results

Earth

Guyana's test at high tide

Is DNA fingerprinting ready for the courts?: New tests to identify criminals by their DNA were soon welcomed as a valuable forensic tool. But in the rush to introduce the tests into the courtroom, commercial and government laboratories in the US may have

Famines before the floods?: Confidence in new technology has overshadowed evidence that the world may soon face a growing food shortage, warns agronomist Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC

No quick fix for raising crop yields

Table of contents

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Technology

Technology: Compact cassette may threaten DAT

Technology

Technology: Image analysis picks up the able semen

Technology

Technology: Japan claims lead on Josephson chips

Technology

Technology: Nothing could be sweeter, say chemists

Technology

Technology: Tiny laser beams red

Patents: Fat silhouette

Patents: Leaner, fitter and moving out

Patents: Talk to your TV

Patents: Bomb detector

Science: Ancient artists painted with human blood

Science: Hormonal clue to bamboo's elusive blossomings

Science: Chemists tame the wild side of drugs

Science: Dark matter comes into sharper focus - on Earth and in the heavens

Technology

Technology: America cuts its launchers down to size

Technology

Technology: Interactive video gets the full motion treatment

New row over plans for US space station

Distress signals

Faint dwarf

Fossils that tell of Antarctica's past

Coming clean

Poland's particles

Farm payout

WHO moves

Cancer gene

Space plan off course

Science: Nose tissue may provide Alzheimer's test

Science: Encounter with Saturn confirms relativity theory

Berlin's fibre optic cable will help East to speak unto West

Ban on nuclear aid scuttles renewable energy projects

Forest 'preservation' plan comes under fire from Third World group

New rules proposed for European space projects

Japan drops satellite programme under US pressure

Doctors warn of loophole in Embryo Bill

Heart patients 'should be warned of faulty valve implant'

America considers offering 'untried remedies' to people with AIDS

Council threatens to bring TV dishes down to earth

Sulphur cuts too small for Britain's lakes

Food council plans European research links

Europe opens environmental data up to public scrutiny

Opinion

Science lessens

Limits to fashion

Features

The rise and fall of negative resistance: The idea of negative electrical resistance seems to be just as implausible as water flowing uphill. But new electronic devices working at the quantum level employ materials that sometimes reveal their negative si

Labour of death: The world is slowly waking up to a hidden tragedy - in the Third World, giving birth kills half a million mothers each year

Europe protects itself from dubious results

Earth

Guyana's test at high tide

Is DNA fingerprinting ready for the courts?: New tests to identify criminals by their DNA were soon welcomed as a valuable forensic tool. But in the rush to introduce the tests into the courtroom, commercial and government laboratories in the US may have

Famines before the floods?: Confidence in new technology has overshadowed evidence that the world may soon face a growing food shortage, warns agronomist Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC

No quick fix for raising crop yields

More

Forum: Hands-off experience - It's time computers came out of the closet

Forum: Eat, drink and be educated! - Philip Lightowlers looks forward to the second Edinburgh Science Festival

Forum: For six days shalt thou labour - Seek to streamline the seven-day week

Thistle Diary - More comment from Westminster: A shattering blow for schoolchildren

Early Red Admirals

Forum: Too hot to handle - It's time people came to terms with the 'patchiness' of their environment

It all depends on your point of view / Review of 'The Science of Art - Optical Themes in Western Art from Brunelleschi to Seurat' by Martin Kemp

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