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This week's magazine

29 August 2015

Issue 3036

New Scientist issue 3036 cover
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Editor's picks

It's not too late to reclaim our online privacy

Technology

It's not too late to reclaim our online privacy

Opinion
I've taught computers to paint portraits – and how to code

Physics

I've taught computers to paint portraits – and how to code

Features
Our number's up: Machines will do maths we'll never understand

Life

Our number's up: Machines will do maths we'll never understand

Features
Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too

Life

Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too

Features
How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Humans

How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

New Scientist logo

Technology

Smart machines may discover things we can't, but we still matter

ANYTHING you can do, a machine can do better. Well, not really, but that's what it has felt like lately. Rapid advances in "deep learning" have led to computers whose abilities rival or exceed ours, in tasks ranging from describing pictures to driving (page 19). Cue a wave of anxiety about the potential for automatons …

Opinion

Technology

It's not too late to reclaim our online privacy

Opinion

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I don't predict a riot: jail smoking ban need not spell unrest

Health

I don't predict a riot: jail smoking ban need not spell unrest

Many prisons around the world are already smoke-free (Image: David R. Frazier/Getty) A letter from a non-smoking prisoner with lung cancer, distraught because he was forced to share his cell with smokers, convinced me that smoking in prisons is an issue of human rights. If anything, more so than in public places such as pubs …

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Technology

High-energy LHC plans held up by UFOs and electron clouds

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Technology

Metamaterial wormhole teleports magnetic fields across space

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Earth

Watery time capsule hints at how life got started on early Earth

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Life

Genetic switch makes fat cells burn energy rather than store it

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Life

Ant knows how to self-medicate to fight off fungal infection

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Technology

Quantum computer firm D-Wave claims massive performance boost

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Life

Zoologger: Daring raptors lock talons mid-air and cartwheel down

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Earth

Glaciers seed ocean with silicon – and fuel plankton growth

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Health

Bed-wetting dries up after magnetic stimulation of lower back

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Life

Octopuses seen throwing things may be using shells as weapons

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Health

Hormones boost placebo effect by making you want to cooperate

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Technology

App gives smartphone snaps more than 5 million different filters

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Health

Hidden viral protein brings universal flu jab closer

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Environment

ISIS shows off Palmyra destruction as museums race to save rest

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Life

Dainty step gives mosquito legs strength to walk on water

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Earth

US wildfires continue to spread as high winds foil simulations

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Earth

China crash a sign of nation's transition to a new economy

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Technology

Diagnosis without doctors: Deep learning to transform medicine

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Life

Aspirin may restore pregnancy sex ratio skewed by inflammation

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Technology

Could do better: How to clean up the world of online reviews

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Technology

One Per Cent

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Technology

Autonomous cars are learning our unpredictable driving habits

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Submerge a wine glass in water to make an 'inverted glass harp'

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Technology

After Ashley Madison: How to regain control of your online data

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Life

More than 100 billion billion Earth-like planets might exist

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60 Seconds

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Environment

London's low-emission zone fails to improve air quality

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Opinion

Russia has claimed the North Pole – but it's not the only one

Earth

Russia has claimed the North Pole – but it's not the only one

It takes more than a flag to claim the Arctic (Image: AP Photo/RTR Russian Channel) In August 2007, Russian scientists planted a flag on the seabed at the North Pole. This was a remarkable achievement and made headlines, but it did not make the pole Russian. The rather more mundane act of the country's revised …

Opinion

Life

Synthetic biology needs a grand design vision

Opinion

Space

Our telescope could give everyone their own galaxy to study

Opinion

Aperture

The Making of 2001: How Kubrick and Clarke designed the future

Space

The Making of 2001: How Kubrick and Clarke designed the future

HALF a century ago, Stanley Kubrick wrote to Arthur C. Clarke about a movie idea. Clarke was enthusiastic: "The 'really good' science-fiction movie is a great many years overdue." So began their collaboration on Journey Beyond the Stars . The film acquired several nicknames ("How the Solar System was Won" was a favourite), before its …

Regulars

Features

How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Humans

How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Eureka moments could soon be dialled up on demand as leaps of imagination are replaced by the steady steps of invention software

Features

Physics

I've taught computers to paint portraits – and how to code

Features

Life

Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too

Features

Life

Our number's up: Machines will do maths we'll never understand

Features

Culturelab

Substituting senses lets blind people take sonic holiday snaps

Technology

Substituting senses lets blind people take sonic holiday snaps

That composition sounds lovely (Image: Pranav Lal) Imagine taking photographs you can hear – thanks to sonification technology that translates the visual world into sound. Pranav Lal, a cybersecurity expert from Delhi, India, was born blind and he's been using technology called the vOICe to take holiday snaps, most recently while trekking in the Himalayas. …

CultureLab

Life

The Man Who Wasn't There: Exploring the science of the self

CultureLab

Technology

Applied minds: Why engineers are the real heroes

CultureLab

Regulars

Feedback: Hidden gems of crystal clear advice

Feedback: Hidden gems of crystal clear advice

(Image: Paul McDevitt) Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more As clear as crystal A HIDDEN gem is uncovered by Trevor Howland in the pages of Crystal Energy , a book that promises "150 ways to bring success, love, health and harmony into your life". As jaded …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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