Issue 3132 | Magazine cover date: 1 July 2017

This week's magazine

1 July 2017

Issue 3132

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On the cover

Features

Why your real age may be older – or younger – than your years

Open the floodgates: Designer deluges could save dammed rivers

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Technology

ISIS is weaponising consumer drones and we can't stop them – yet

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Earth

Dams can lead the way to a better relationship with nature

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Health

Why your real age may be older – or younger – than your years

Features

Health

Mary Somerville: Queen of 19th-century science

Features

Life

Find the flow: Harnessing the incredible power of living fluids

Features

Earth

Open the floodgates: Designer deluges could save dammed rivers

Features

Leaders

Technology

Drone blowback: High-tech weapons come home to roost

The growing threat of weaponised drones can be traced back to controversial military hardware deployed after 9/11 and pursued with vigour ever since

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Earth

Dams can lead the way to a better relationship with nature

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Physics

Walk really fast to stop a wobbly suitcase ruining your holiday

Just don't slow down! You’re late for your plane, rushing to the gate, when your suitcase starts wobbling and falls over. Chalk up another missed flight to misbehaving luggage. Thankfully, researchers have now figured out why your case rocks and determined that the best way to stop it is to speed up - which should …

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Life

Talk radio puts pumas off their meals so they may kill more deer

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Technology

Volunteers teach AI to spot slavery sites from satellite images

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Technology

This handy robot will iron your clothes so you don't have to

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Life

LA’s endangered pumas to be saved by a $60m bridge over highway

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Technology

Radio powered by your own sweat hints at future of wearables

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Health

Special cells explain why cabbage and stress churn your guts

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Earth

Oil-exploration airguns punch 2-kilometre-wide holes in plankton

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Life

Weird amphibians found at record depth in dark underground lake

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Life

Bird eggs may be shaped by the way their mother flies

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Earth

Italy’s drying lakes imperil rare shrimp species found only here

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Technology

Google on track for quantum computer breakthrough by end of 2017

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Technology

Google's multitasking neural net can juggle eight things at once

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Space

Uranus's crooked, messy magnetic field might open and shut daily

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Technology

Amputees control avatar by imagining moving their missing limbs

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Health

Living near noisy roads could make it harder to get pregnant

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Technology

Synthetic iris could let cameras react to light like our eyes do

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Life

Birds use cigarette butts for chemical warfare against ticks

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Health

Research on male animals prevents women from getting best drugs

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Technology

Cyberattack on UK parliament exploited weak email passwords

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Life

Peruvian monkey avoids stomach trouble by adding mud to its diet

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Life

Chimps are not as superhumanly strong as we thought they were

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Space

SpaceX has launched and landed two rockets in one weekend

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Earth

Ozone layer recovery will be delayed by chemical leaks

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Health

Senate bill could leave 22 million more without health insurance

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Life

Modified maize that kills with RNA is given go-ahead in the US

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Earth

60 Seconds

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Consciousness helps us learn quickly in a changing world

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Space

Planets in other star systems fit a puzzling pattern

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Analysis

Someone wearing a fox head mask in protest at the idea of bringing back fox hunting

Life

UK foxes thankfully spared the baying pack, unlike Theresa May

One good outcome of the hung parliament chaos will be a Queen's speech devoid of an utterly unscientific vow to resume fox-hunting, says Stephen Harris

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Health

Don’t blame Instagram for the rise of botox and lip fillers

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If you want to be a mega philanthropist Jeff Bezos, take note

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Technology

ISIS is weaponising consumer drones and we can't stop them – yet

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Aperture

Technology

The spongy fuel that's made from trees

NO, IT isn't Swiss cheese, but a fuel source that warms many impoverished homes. This is charcoal, magnified 4000 times under a scanning electron microscope. Nestling within its cavities are crystals of calcium oxalate, a sign that the tree it was made from grew in calcium-rich soil. In such conditions, trees take up calcium but …

Regulars

Features

Health

Why your real age may be older – or younger – than your years

Biological age can diverge from the number of years we celebrate on our birthdays - and it sheds light on the time we have left

Features

Life

Find the flow: Harnessing the incredible power of living fluids

Features

Earth

Open the floodgates: Designer deluges could save dammed rivers

Features

Health

Mary Somerville: Queen of 19th-century science

Features

Culture

Technology

How to stay pro-tech when social media can eat young lives

Two new books explore the pressure on young people to build perfect identities online and how digital technologies can be a blessing or a curse

Culture

Humans

Tattoos: how the art gets under our skin

Culture

Life

Old ��è��Ƶ: Want something new to worry about?

WE DON'T have a crystal ball for the concerns and crises of the future. But when we raise the alarm, you had better pay attention. Back in 1966 we already knew that some bacteria had the alarming knack of resisting penicillin. We were unsure, though, whether this trait was stable and hereditary. In our 7 …

Regulars

The greatest science show in the known universe

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Regulars

Feedback: Behold, space socks. Never leave Earth without them!

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

Regulars

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This week's magazine

1 July 2017

On the cover

Technology

ISIS is weaponising consumer drones and we can't stop them – yet

Earth

Dams can lead the way to a better relationship with nature

Health

Why your real age may be older – or younger – than your years

Health

Mary Somerville: Queen of 19th-century science

Life

Find the flow: Harnessing the incredible power of living fluids

Earth

Open the floodgates: Designer deluges could save dammed rivers

Table of contents

Leaders

Technology

Drone blowback: High-tech weapons come home to roost

Earth

Dams can lead the way to a better relationship with nature

��è����Ƶ

Physics

Walk really fast to stop a wobbly suitcase ruining your holiday

Life

Talk radio puts pumas off their meals so they may kill more deer

Technology

Volunteers teach AI to spot slavery sites from satellite images

Technology

This handy robot will iron your clothes so you don't have to

Life

LA’s endangered pumas to be saved by a $60m bridge over highway

Technology

Radio powered by your own sweat hints at future of wearables

Health

Special cells explain why cabbage and stress churn your guts

Earth

Oil-exploration airguns punch 2-kilometre-wide holes in plankton

Life

Weird amphibians found at record depth in dark underground lake

Life

Bird eggs may be shaped by the way their mother flies

Earth

Italy’s drying lakes imperil rare shrimp species found only here

Technology

Google on track for quantum computer breakthrough by end of 2017

Technology

Google's multitasking neural net can juggle eight things at once

Space

Uranus's crooked, messy magnetic field might open and shut daily

Technology

Amputees control avatar by imagining moving their missing limbs

Health

Living near noisy roads could make it harder to get pregnant

Technology

Synthetic iris could let cameras react to light like our eyes do

Life

Birds use cigarette butts for chemical warfare against ticks

Health

Research on male animals prevents women from getting best drugs

Technology

Cyberattack on UK parliament exploited weak email passwords

Life

Peruvian monkey avoids stomach trouble by adding mud to its diet

Life

Chimps are not as superhumanly strong as we thought they were

Space

SpaceX has launched and landed two rockets in one weekend

Earth

Ozone layer recovery will be delayed by chemical leaks

Health

Senate bill could leave 22 million more without health insurance

Life

Modified maize that kills with RNA is given go-ahead in the US

Earth

60 Seconds

Consciousness helps us learn quickly in a changing world

Space

Planets in other star systems fit a puzzling pattern

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Old ��è��Ƶ: Want something new to worry about?