This week's magazine
7 August 2021
Issue 3346
On the cover
Editor's picks
Humans
Samir Shaheen-Hussain interview: Doctors left children to suffer
Environment
How the fossil fuel era ends – and four possibilities for what follows
Environment
How to understand world energy use – in 10 graphs
Environment
How we can transform our energy system to achieve net-zero emissions
Environment
Fatih Birol interview: Using energy isn’t evil – creating emissions is
Table of contents
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Health
Japan extends emergency measures as covid-19 spikes during Olympics
Tokyo is seeing a record-breaking rise in covid-19 cases as thousands of athletes and coaches fly in from around the world for the postponed 2020 Olympic games
Environment
How a Norwegian island is already living our climate change future
Health
Countries are mixing and matching vaccines to tackle the delta variant
Space
Black holes with magnetic field ‘hair’ shed it in loops of hot plasma
Technology
Bendy camera the width of a human hair can take accurate 3D images
Health
Myocarditis is more common after covid-19 infection than vaccination
Space
Comet’s dust trail could rain down on Venus this December
Technology
Secret underwater messages can be hidden in whale and dolphin chatter
Life
Waves of animals died at an ancient Spanish lake and now we know why
Environment
Inside the fight to stop destructive fishing in marine protected areas
Life
Single-celled organism has evolved a natural mechanical computer
Space
Part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft may still be in orbit around the moon
Technology
QAnon posts by figurehead Q may be written by more than one person
Technology
AI carpenter can design recreations of furniture from a few photos
Life
Sponge fossils suggest animals already existed 890 million years ago
Life
Caffeine-fuelled bumblebees are better at foraging for nectar
Space
X-rays can echo and bend around the back of supermassive black holes
Life
Some male fish let rivals woo females and then hijack their courtship
Health
People living in dense UK cities are more likely to feel lonely
Humans
Ancient humans in Europe may have stolen food from wild hunting dogs
Humans
People happily steal from groups even if they are generous one-on-one
Analysis
Features
Environment
How the fossil fuel era ends – and four possibilities for what follows
Ever cheaper wind and solar power means the decline of coal, oil and gas is unstoppable. The trillion-dollar question is how, and how quickly, their demise comes about
Environment
How we can transform our energy system to achieve net-zero emissions
Environment
How to understand world energy use – in 10 graphs
Environment
Fatih Birol interview: Using energy isn’t evil – creating emissions is
Humans
Samir Shaheen-Hussain interview: Doctors left children to suffer
Culture
Humans
Inflamed review: How poverty and injustice make you sick
Covid-19 exposed the stark inequalities that put disadvantaged groups more at risk from the pandemic. Now Rupa Marya and Raj Patel’s book Inflamed probes just how those structural inequalities work to drive inflammation and harm health
Humans
After Yang review: A delightful movie about robots teaching humans
Space
Don’t Miss: UFO docuseries hunts for origins of our alien obsession
Humans
How to Mars review: Sci-fi satire about reality TV on the Red Planet
More
Space
How to watch the spectacular Perseids meteor shower
Meteor showers dazzle the night sky, but the Perseids shower is special. It peaks on 12 August this year, and here's how to enjoy it, says Abigail Beall
Twisteddoodles finally finishes that thesis
Tom Gauld’s innovation workship spirals out of control
Regulars
Even exorcists are now working remotely
Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more