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This week's magazine

9 April 2022

Issue 3381

New Scientist issue 3381 cover
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Editor's picks

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Humans

Ancient footprints are a welcome new window on ancient people's lives

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An extreme form of encryption could solve big data's privacy problem

Technology

An extreme form of encryption could solve big data's privacy problem

Features
The replication crisis has spread through science – can it be fixed?

Humans

The replication crisis has spread through science – can it be fixed?

Features
How fossil footprints are revealing the joy and fear of Stone Age life

Humans

How fossil footprints are revealing the joy and fear of Stone Age life

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

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Humans

Ancient footprints are a welcome new window on ancient people's lives

IT WAS out in the desert of New Mexico that humanity first tested the atomic bomb, creating an explosion that left an indelible imprint on our planet. In the same area, just a few dozen kilometres south, scientists are now finding imprints of quite a different sort: human footprints from the Stone Age. These tracks …

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Pluto's icy volcanic region

Space

Pluto has a huge field of bumpy ice created by massive volcanoes

A unique lumpy landscape on Pluto was probably built up via ice seeping up from its surprisingly warm interior that has created volcanoes as large as those on Earth – and that cryovolcanism could continue to this day

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Space

Furthest star ever seen offers glimpse 12.8 billion years into past

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Technology

When people say ‘people’ online they may mostly be thinking about men

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Health

Health impacts of wood burning cost EU and UK €13 billion a year

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Mind

Where you grew up influences how well you navigate the world

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Environment

There's a huge flaw in the EU's draft net-zero carbon emissions plan

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Humans

Fate of buried Java Man revealed in unseen notes from Homo erectus dig

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Life

Mammals grew big after dinosaurs died but their brains stayed small

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Technology

Robot made of magnetic slime could grab objects inside your body

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Life

Bats can remember sounds they haven't heard for more than 4 years

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Physics

Bubbles give off weird light when popped because of quantum physics

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Life

Crows may owe their intelligence to an abundance of certain neurons

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Technology

Holograms might speed up diagnosis of urinary tract infection

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Life

Genomes of hundreds of extinct species revealed by rewinding evolution

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Environment

Harmful air pollution now affects 99 per cent of everyone on Earth

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Environment

Global emissions must peak in just three years to stay below 1.5°C

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Health

Genes linked to Alzheimer’s may help calculate your risk of getting it

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Life

Songbirds are more colourful the closer they live to the equator

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Humans

Most STEM salaries are on the rise – but inequalities are worsening

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Analysis

A person walks past a mural of medical workers in Mérida, Mexico, in February

Health

Should I worry about 'deltacron' and other covid-19 recombinants?

Recombination, essentially the viral version of sex, occurs when a single cell is simultaneously infected with two related viruses, whose genetic material could mix as they replicate

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Environment

The Amazon has descended into lawlessness in Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil

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Environment

We must pay more attention to plants and trees in times of crisis

Comment

Health

We shouldn't dismiss 'incidental' covid-19 infections in UK hospitals

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Environment

We can still avert climate catastrophe – but there is barely time

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Technology

Can a phone app really be your therapist?

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Aperture

Earth's vital rivers captured in stunning drone and satellite images

Environment

Earth's vital rivers captured in stunning drone and satellite images

https://youtu.be/umYhsBDy5o8 DRAMATIC, powerful and entrancing, these images give a bird's-eye view of one of humanity's most valuable resources. They are taken from River , a new nature documentary directed by Jennifer Peedom. The movie includes drone footage and draws on modern filming techniques, such as the use of satellites, to capture the scale and intricacy …

Regulars

Features

An extreme form of encryption could solve big data's privacy problem

Technology

An extreme form of encryption could solve big data's privacy problem

Fully homomorphic encryption allows us to run analysis on data without ever seeing the contents. It could help us reap the full benefits of big data, from fighting financial fraud to catching diseases early

Features

Humans

The replication crisis has spread through science – can it be fixed?

Features

Humans

How fossil footprints are revealing the joy and fear of Stone Age life

Features

Culture

Luck review: A gambler digs into our belief in luck and superstition

Humans

Luck review: A gambler digs into our belief in luck and superstition

An intriguing new book by a semi-professional poker player looks at why we feel lucky, and reflects on some hard-won lessons about living with uncertainty

Culture

Humans

Into the Ice review: An unmissable look at Greenland's melting ice

Culture

Humans

Don’t miss: Outer Range, Amazon Prime’s latest supernatural thriller

Culture

Humans

Sci-fi is starting to exploit the infectious horrors of memes

Culture

More

Puzzle #162: Can you deduce the hidden totals on obscured dice?

Puzzle #162: Can you deduce the hidden totals on obscured dice?

#162 Hidden faces While window-shopping at a toy store, my partner and I came across a set of dice that was partially obscured at the back of the shop's display. My partner took one look and bet me that I couldn't tell them what the sum of all the touching faces between the dice would …

Regulars

Tom Gauld reveals the Venn diagram of pre-lunch meetings

Regulars

Twisteddoodles: It must be true, I read it on the internet…

Regulars

Humans

Help to unlock the secrets of written language by playing Glyph

Regulars

Regulars

A quantum approach to the grooming of skin, hair and nails

Humans

A quantum approach to the grooming of skin, hair and nails

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

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

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