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This week's magazine

22 March 2008

Issue 2648

New Scientist issue 2648 cover
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Editor's picks

Quantum randomness may not be random

Quantum randomness may not be random

Features
Histories: When the internet was made of paper

Technology

Histories: When the internet was made of paper

Features
Has the Riemann hypothesis finally been proven?

Physics

Has the Riemann hypothesis finally been proven?

Features
Save the climate by saving the forests

Earth

Save the climate by saving the forests

Features
Being self-centred is the key to empathy

Life

Being self-centred is the key to empathy

Features

Table of contents

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Mic based on fly ear can pinpoint sounds

Technology

Mic based on fly ear can pinpoint sounds

IT MAY be inspired by a humble fly, but a sensor just a couple of centimetres in diameter could turn out to be the best microphone yet for pinpointing the source of a sound. The device could be added to hearing aids or mounted on autonomous robotic vehicles to locate cries for help during disaster …

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Health

Carbon monoxide could fight disease

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Earth

'Drowning' dictates how Yellowstone terraces grow

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Space

Conserve the moon for radio astronomy

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Health

New drug to combat deadly parasite

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Life

Local exoplanet revealed to be sizzling hot

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Health

Stressed parents equals sick kids

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Life

Recipes came about by evolution

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Health

Yak cheese is the healthy option

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Life

How mammals lost their egg yolks

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Technology

Phones with feeling are more useful

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Life

People prefer robots that do small talk

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Technology

Pacemakers can be hijacked by radio

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Space

Flipping particle could explain missing antimatter

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Soundbites

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Earth

Rising temperatures bring their own CO2

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Space

All eyes on Europe's Jules Verne spacecraft

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Technology

Gizmo

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Space

Departed dwarf planet left us two meteorites

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Life

Love stops partners from sleeping around

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Life

Treatment forced on the mentally ill

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Health

Egyptian government accused of HIV witch-hunt

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Earth

California desert omitted from conservation bill

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Life

Prison-based rehab for addicts may not work

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60 Seconds

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Life

Genome is a snip at $60,000

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Health

Mystery food poisoning traced to salads

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Earth

White House ignored air quality advice

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Earth

Dumped chemical weapons missing at sea

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Opinion

Commentary: Between male and female

Life

Commentary: Between male and female

TWO weeks ago in these pages Stephanie Pain told the extraordinary story of James Barry , the 19th-century "pint-sized, squeaky-voiced" British army surgeon who was discovered after death to be a woman – or so the charwoman who prepared the doctor's body for burial claimed (8 March, p 46). If the claim is true, Barry's …

Opinion

Comment: How to be happy

Opinion

Space

Editorial: What was the point of Star Wars?

Opinion

Interview: The dark world of disaster archaeology

Opinion

Features

Quantum randomness may not be random

Quantum randomness may not be random

AT ITS deepest level, nature is random and unpredictable. That, most physicists would say, is the unavoidable lesson of quantum theory. Try to track the location of an electron and you'll find only a probability that it is here or there. Measure the spin of an atom and all you get is a 50:50 chance …

Features

Technology

Histories: When the internet was made of paper

Features

Physics

Has the Riemann hypothesis finally been proven?

Features

Earth

Save the climate by saving the forests

Features

Life

Being self-centred is the key to empathy

Features

More

Behind the scenes of clinical research

Behind the scenes of clinical research

JUST around the corner from Euston Square tube station in London is an organisation called the CTU. While those initials would make most people think of Jack Bauer fighting bloodthirsty terrorists, what reality delivers here is the Medical Research Council's Clinical Trials Unit, the venue for a very unusual clinical trial which began this year. …

Careers

Review: Group Theory in the Bedroom by Brian Hayes

Books & Arts

Review: The Dog Allusion by Martin Rowson

Books & Arts

Review: Bastard Tongues by Derek Bickerton

Books & Arts

Review: Cosmic Imagery by John Barrow

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.

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Faithful bot A ROBOTIC dog could be a good companion for your dog-loving grandparent who is not able to care for a living pet, suggests a press release from Saint Louis University, Missouri. Researchers there compared how residents of three nursing homes interacted with Sparky, a living, medium-sized mutt, and AIBO, the robotic dog made …

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