Humans
To improve our response to crises like covid-19 we must think smarter
News
This week's magazine
16 January 2021
Issue 3317
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
快猫短视频
Health
Warnings of huge new spike in US covid-19 cases as UK variant spreads
The faster spreading coronavirus variant has officially reached nine US states and could soon cause a massive surge in covid-19 cases that makes the post-holiday spike look minimal, expert warns
News
Health
Is the UK right to delay the second dose of the covid-19 vaccines?
News
Health
You can boost a vaccine鈥檚 effect with good moods and good friends
News
Space
White dwarfs seen eating the remnants of destroyed planets
News
Technology
Pair of robot foresters could plant thousands of trees a day
News
Environment
Climate change: 2020 was the joint hottest year on record
News
Life
Huntsman spiders stitch leaves together to trap tree frogs
News
Environment
Air pollution from chemical plants made Hurricane Harvey worse
News
Environment
Origins of human music linked to our ancestors鈥� daredevil behaviour
News
Space
Black holes leak energy when they eat plasma near the event horizon
News
Environment
Groundwater that supports world food chain may become too salty to use
News
Space
Jumping into a wormhole might cause it to contract and disintegrate
News
Technology
AI illustrator draws imaginative pictures to go with text captions
News
Life
Fossilised nest shows some dinosaurs sat on their eggs like birds do
News
Space
Meteorites may have brought water to Earth in the recent past
News
Health
Two children with cancer may have acquired tumour cells before birth
News
Environment
Uber and Lyft operating in US cities linked to rises in car ownership
News
Life
CRISPR gene editing used to store data in DNA inside living cells
News
Life
Megalodon sharks grew 2 metres long in the uterus by eating eggs
News
Humans
Humans may have domesticated dogs by accident by sharing excess meat
News
Analysis
Health
The UK may struggle to hit its covid-19 vaccine target 鈥� here’s why
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has set a target of 15 February by which 13.9 million people in high-priority groups should be vaccinated against covid-19, but manufacturing, safety checks and distribution logistics will make that difficult
News
Environment
UK may allow gene editing of crops and livestock following Brexit
News
Technology
Electric cars’ best ever year is a tipping point for green transport
News
Environment
Here’s why you should be hopeful about climate action in 2021
News
Features
Humans
We鈥檝e got intelligence all wrong 鈥� and that鈥檚 endangering our future
A narrow focus on IQ to determine success is depriving us of key decision-making smarts, as our faltering response to problems such as covid-19 and climate change shows
Features
Technology
CRISPR gene-editing urgently needs an off-switch 鈥� now we have one
Features
Physics
The superconductor breakthrough that could mean an energy revolution
Features
Culture
Health
Second Spring review: A brave film about agency and cognitive decline
In Second Spring, an archaeologist who has developed a lesser-known form of dementia that alters her personality, unmasks her new life 鈥� to the dismay of friends and family
Culture
Humans
Don鈥檛 Miss: CERN鈥檚 ALICE detector online ahead of V&A Alice show
Culture
Environment
Podcast goes behind the scenes in the battle to mitigate wildfires
Culture
Humans
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla review: Vikings marauders become nice
Culture
More
Space
How to spot the Winter (or Summer) Hexagon by locating its six stars
Six bright stars make up a pattern that looks like a hexagon or circle in the night sky from now until March. Here's how to spot them
Regulars
Twisteddoodles’ guide: How to do a science
Regulars
Tom Gauld on a suspicious set of round chocolates
Regulars
Regulars
A series of jokes that work best out of order
Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more
This Week鈥檚 Letters
Letters
This week鈥檚 new questions
Last Word
How long is 鈥榥ow鈥�, the gap between the past and the future?
Last Word
Can you get triple or quadruple rainbows? (continued)
Last Word
If plants communicate via their roots, do they get lonely in pots?
Last Word
