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This week's magazine

27 May 2000

Issue 2240

New Scientist issue 2240 cover

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On the cover

Features

Odds on winner

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A wet prehistory

Opinion

The daily grind pays off

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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.

Odds on winner

Features

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.

Follow that food

Features

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 demon duck of doom

Features

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.

Slosh, rattle and roll

Features

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.

Comic relief

Features

Table of contents

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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.

A wet prehistory

THE Chinese call the Yellow River their "joy and sorrow" because its life-giving waters so easily turn to killer floods. But the floods were once much worse, says Ge Yu of the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology. He compared the sediments left by recent floods with those laid down over the past 9000 years. …

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Hot, hot, hot

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Eating your greens is now even better for you

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Rich in carcinogens

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NASA beams up a repair kit

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Euro-blubber

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Triumph of tamoxifen

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Extraterrestrial volunteers

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How life survived the big freeze

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Curbing CJD

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Stress express

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Making light of it

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Technology

Webby weddings

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Airborne devastation

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`Don't forget to breathe,' said the brainstem

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Health

Behind the magic

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Health

Face the facts

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Caught in the act

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Health

Saving grace

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Health

Curse of the living dead

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Back to basics

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Microwave light bulbs?

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Faster and faster

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Health

Hybrid vigour

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You're surrounded

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Putting it bluntly

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Licence to thrill

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Corals face catastrophe

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We are family

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Technology

Howzat!

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Technology

Salutary sting

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Technology

Look, no wires

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Will demand for cell transplants exceed supply?

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Danger signals

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Prion spotter

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Phantom cats

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Unknown killer

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Bigger and better

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Bugged phones

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Continuous assessment

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Agents of death

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Incredible voyage

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Sowing dissent

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Opinion

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 daily grind pays off

THE claim by American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson that, `If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door' was always pretty dubious. But for an Australian company which used the Internet to publicise its wares, it has turned out to be accurate. Eighteen months ago Advanced Powder Technology (APT), …

Opinion

Humans

Washington diary

Opinion

Here's health

Opinion

Feeding Africa

Opinion

The green man

Opinion

Features

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.

Odds on winner

If you've ever been bothered by the weight of that laptop you lug about on your travels, spare a thought for George Julius. In 1912, he left Australia in search of buyers for his brilliant new invention-a device that would transform a day at the races by taking betting out of the hands of the …

Features

Follow that food

Features

The demon duck of doom

Features

Slosh, rattle and roll

Features

Comic relief

Features

More

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.

Engines of Tomorrow by Robert Buderi

Engines of Tomorrow by Robert Buderi, Simon & Schuster, $27.50, ISBN 0684839008 XEROX's Mark Yim is building modular robots that shape-shift. A curious ambition, you might think. But Yim sees his creations as rescue robots, able to go anywhere. They assemble their modules into a wheel to roll swiftly over flat ground, shape-shift into a …

Books & Arts

Future shocks

Books & Arts

Our house

Books & Arts

Forget the spotted owl,

Books & Arts

The world at their feet

Books & Arts

Regulars

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 Last Word

Cold start Question : Although this sounds counter-intuitive, I find that my car (a Ford Mondeo, if that is relevant) always seems to perform better on a damp, cold day rather than on a dry, warm one. Why should this be? Answer : There are several ways of improving the power produced by an internal …

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Feedback

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Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word