This week's magazine
26 September 2020
Issue 3301
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
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Health
India about to overtake the US with highest covid-19 caseload globally
With almost 100,000 new daily coronavirus cases, India is fast overtaking the US and the true number is likely to be much higher
Health
How the UK can get its catastrophic coronavirus testing under control
Health
When did the coronavirus really reach the US and Europe?
Health
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµs dismiss new claims that the coronavirus was made in a lab
Health
Doctor’s diary: How can we deal with the long covid-19 symptoms?
Environment
Air pollution in China may have caused millions of deaths since 2000
Health
Children’s allergic reactions to nuts spike at Halloween and Easter
Space
BepiColombo may be able to search for signs of life as it passes Venus
Health
Most fertility-tracking apps are unreliable but free apps work best
Humans
US science news biased against people with names of non-British origin
Humans
People in Cape Verde evolved better malaria resistance in 550 years
Space
Most space travellers are men despite slow rise in female astronauts
Environment
‘Massive failure’: The world has missed all its biodiversity targets
Environment
Five named tropical storms pictured in the Atlantic
Physics
Supercool experiment reveals water is actually two liquids in one
Life
Watch titan triggerfish jump out of the water to catch and eat crabs
Health
Apple’s new watch has a blood oxygen monitor – what is it good for?
Environment
Washing our clothes has created 5.6 million tonnes of microfibre waste
Technology
AI camera can tell what surfaces feel like with just a glance
Health
The purpose of sleep appears to change when we are toddlers
Health
Your shoes could be increasing the risk of a painful foot condition
Environment
Australian stinging tree injects animals with spider-venom-like toxin
Life
The horn-like knobs on a giraffe’s head can be a deadly lightning rod
Analysis
Space
It’s time to for us to revisit Venus to uncover its many mysteries
The discovery of a possible sign of life on Venus highlights our ignorance of what is going on within its swirling clouds and on its furnace-like surface. It’s time to go there and find some answers, writes Peter Gao
Environment
When things look bleak, thinking in terms of ‘hope horizons’ can help
Features
Space
Safe, extra long-life nuclear batteries could soon be a reality
An upgrade on the tech that powers spacecraft across the cosmos could soon be used to create incredibly long-lasting batteries back on Earth
Earth
Evolution is evolving: 13 ways we must rethink the theory of nature
Culture
Health
How a 6-year-old had half his brain removed and recovered in 3 months
David Eagleman's book Livewired explores neuroplasticity, the brain's superpower, which lets it reshape after extreme surgery and adapt to losing a sense
Humans
Don’t Miss: The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries
Utopia review: A ‘gnarly, nasty’ thriller about a dystopian comic book
Humans
Hope Frozen review: The hard ethics of cryogenically freezing a child
More
Environment
How to use plants to turn your home into a green building
Planting climbers like ivy can cover ugly walls, insulate your home and support local wildlife – and keeping it under control is easier than you would think, writes Clare Wilson
Twisteddoodles on following a food source on Instagram
Tom Gauld’s highly classified avian speech generator project gets out
Regulars
Life
The weird and wacky science that won Ig Nobel prizes this year
Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more