This week's magazine
23 April 2022
Issue 3383
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
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Technology
UK prime minister’s office smartphones targeted by Pegasus spyware
Researchers claim to have uncovered cyberattacks using Pegasus software against 10 Downing Street and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Mind
Quantum experiments add weight to a fringe theory of consciousness
Technology
Driverless cars can be tricked into seeing red traffic lights as green
Health
Antibiotic-resistant acne could be treated by phage therapy
Health
Women in a 19th-century Dutch farming village didn’t breastfeed
Life
Tiny structures in rock may be fossils of earliest known life on Earth
Space
Gravitational waves could let us find tiny black holes devouring stars
Life
Rediscovered orchid was presumed extinct for almost a century
Physics
DNA-based detector could precisely track subatomic particles
Humans
People tend to believe populations are more diverse than they are
Environment
Drones with high-tech sensors track disease in Italy’s olive trees
Environment
Carbon removal project in Iceland suffers setback due to harsh winter
Life
Male toad clings to female for 5 months waiting for chance to mate
Health
MS reversed by transplanted immune cells that fight Epstein-Barr virus
Health
Origami-inspired robot can deliver drugs at the site they are needed
Life
Blind Mexican cave fish are developing cave-specific accents
Environment
Early warning system for Amazon forest losses seen in climate models
Health
Meningitis vaccine may be a new weapon against ‘super-gonorrhoea’
Health
Interoception: Monkeys can sense their own heartbeat just like us
Earth
AI strips out city noise to improve earthquake monitoring systems
Space
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµs simulated a supernova blast with a foam ball and a laser
Technology
Stress-testing sausages may give vegan products a meat-like mouthfeel
Humans
Shoulder growth may slow during human development to make birth easier
Analysis
Health
Is covid-19 causing a global surge of diabetes cases?
Many clinics are reporting people diagnosed with diabetes during or soon after an infection with the coronavirus - but the picture is more complicated than it appears
Comment
The sonic wonders of our world are under threat. We need to listen
Humans
Rich countries must pay for the environmental damage they have wreaked
Features
Environment
How four big industries are driving the exploitation of our oceans
From deep-sea mines to aquaculture, bioprospecting and energy generation, humanity’s accelerating expansion into the high seas has potentially huge consequences for its health
Environment
How the ‘blue acceleration’ is supercharging ocean exploitation
Humans
What psychology is revealing about ‘ghosting’ and the pain it causes
Culture
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs review: A must-read reconstruction
Palaeontologist Riley Black has written an inventive look at the days, years and centuries following the impact of the asteroid that triggered the extinction of about three-quarters of all the species on Earth
Humans
Explorer: The Last Tepui review: A thrilling trek up a remote mountain
Humans
Don’t miss: The Velvet Queen searches for a snow leopard in wild Tibet
Humans
Sea of Tranquility review: A disturbing tale of time travel
More
Humans
How to spot Vega, the North Star of the future
The heavens wheel above us, but at least we can rely on the North Star, aka Polaris, to provide eternal stability, right? Afraid not, says Abigail Beall
Tom Gauld scours the universe for signs of order – except on Tuesdays
Twisteddoodles: a new approach to states of matter
Regulars
Humans
Sighs of relief as earthquake-resistant bike saddle finally invented
As buyers await the launch of a bicycle saddle that promises to be earthquake resistant, Feedback also ponders the sculptures set to be housed in a transparent cube on the moon, and key information on the errant mass of the W boson