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This week's magazine

21 May 2022

Issue 3387

New Scientist issue 3387 cover
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Editor's picks

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 05: Young protestors attend the Fridays For Future COP26 Scotland March on November 5, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Day Six of the 2021 climate summit in Glasgow will focus on youth and public empowerment. Outside the COP26 site, on the streets of Glasgow, the

Environment

We can't let short-term crises derail efforts to tame climate change

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The female body is misunderstood and this is why, says Rachel E. Gross

Humans

The female body is misunderstood and this is why, says Rachel E. Gross

Features
How the massive dogs bred to protect livestock could save wolves too

Life

How the massive dogs bred to protect livestock could save wolves too

Features
Sun Solar Flare Particles coronal mass ejections for background computer desktop screen display; Shutterstock ID 752393257; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Space

Why the next big solar storm might hit Earth without warning

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 05: Young protestors attend the Fridays For Future COP26 Scotland March on November 5, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Day Six of the 2021 climate summit in Glasgow will focus on youth and public empowerment. Outside the COP26 site, on the streets of Glasgow, the

Environment

We can't let short-term crises derail efforts to tame climate change

SIX months ago world leaders made grand promises to act on climate change. A war, an energy crisis and an inflation spike later, it is hard to find signs that the vows made at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, UK, are being honoured. Germany is building new gas terminals in haste, the UK is mulling …

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Illustration of a computer motherboard with microchips, transistors and semiconductors.

Physics

Maxwell's demon experiment could be made real without breaking physics

A thought experiment called Maxwell’s demon, long hypothesised to break the laws of physics, could be made using simple electronic devices at macroscopic scales – without upsetting the laws of thermodynamics

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Life

Ants treat infected wounds of nestmates with medicine from their back

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Technology

Google calls for urgent switch to quantum-safe encryption as US delays

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Health

Rat testicle cells make sperm after being frozen for 23 years

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Technology

Virtual reality mask adds realism by making it harder to breathe

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Environment

Circular cities experience more rain than square or triangular ones

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Technology

Sweater includes a wireless charger to keep your gadgets topped up

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Health

Deadly 1918 flu pandemic may be source of modern milder seasonal virus

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Space

First picture of our galaxy’s supermassive black hole revealed

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Life

Kenyan chameleons evolved brighter colours after moving to Hawaii

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Technology

Computer powered by colony of blue-green algae has run for six months

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Health

Plan to feed phone data of NHS mental health patients to AI mothballed

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Health

Flu vaccine cuts risk of heart attack in following year by 34 per cent

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Technology

Genetically engineered bacteria have learned to play tic-tac-toe

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Life

Clever birds forced to find new homes as Cambridge lab faces closure

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Life

A steroid might be why octopuses starve themselves after mating

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Life

Growing plants in soil from the moon doesn't really work very well

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Space

What's next for Event Horizon Telescope after its black hole pictures?

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Technology

Cryptocurrency mining is still on the rise despite huge price drops

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Analysis

TOPSHOT - Activists from the climate change group Extinction Rebellion (XR) take part in a protest in Glasgow on November 8, 2021, during the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference. - The COP26 climate talks resuming Monday have so far unfolded on parallel planes, with high-level announcements stage-managed by host country Britain during week one riding roughshod over a laborious UN process built on consensus among nearly 200 countries. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Environment

COP26: No countries have delivered on promise to improve climate plans

In Glasgow, 196 countries promised to "revisit and strengthen" their plans for curbing emissions, but there is little sign of this happening before the next talks in November

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Humans

Claims that girls have a 'natural' aversion to physics are harmful

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Life

The urban beekeeping boom is hurting wild pollinator species

Comment

Aperture

All the tablets cancer patient Ann-Marie takes in a month. I have been collecting a month of empty packaging, and have taken photos from arrival to making into dossett boxes some 50 tablets a day, making 1500 a month

Health

Radiotherapy masks to hellebore root: see the ways we confront cancer

Cancer Revolution, a new exhibition at the Science Museum in London, explores the advances behind cancer care, from this mask worn by a throat cancer patient for their treatment, to black hellebore root, a remedy used in the 1700s

Regulars

Features

Sun Solar Flare Particles coronal mass ejections for background computer desktop screen display; Shutterstock ID 752393257; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Space

Why the next big solar storm might hit Earth without warning

A big solar storm could fry the internet, but at least space weather forecasts would give us a day or two to prepare. Or maybe not, because physicists have just discovered a new kind of solar storm that strikes without notice

Features

Humans

The female body is misunderstood and this is why, says Rachel E. Gross

Features

Life

How the massive dogs bred to protect livestock could save wolves too

Features

Culture

Everything Everywhere All At Once review: Multiverse sci-fi adventure

Humans

Everything Everywhere All At Once review: Multiverse sci-fi adventure

Everything Everywhere All At Once Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert Now playing in cinemas CHAOTIC sci-fi adventure is the heart of Everything Everywhere All At Once , a movie as touching as it is thrilling. It follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) as she takes on the burden of saving the multiverse. On her journey, she meets, …

Culture

Humans

Life Time review: Sleep deprivation kills, warns must-read book

Culture

Humans

Regenesis review: Farming is killing the planet but we can stop it

Culture

Humans

Don't Miss: New documentary A Taste of Whale questions Faroes hunt

Culture

Humans

Night Sky review: Engaging show about a portal to another planet

Culture

More

Tom Gauld on the adventures of Science Knight

Tom Gauld on the adventures of Science Knight

Other cartoons by Tom Gauld can be found here .

Regulars

Twisteddoodles: It's on fire

Regulars

Space

Watch out for comet SW3, which might cause a meteor shower in late May

Regulars

Puzzle #168: Can you help student Rick Sloth minimise his exam prep?

Regulars

Regulars

Up-to-the-minute advice on the benefits of testicle tanning

Up-to-the-minute advice on the benefits of testicle tanning

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

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

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