This week's magazine
3 September 2022
Issue 3402
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ
Environment
Deadly Pakistan floods are a climate catastrophe, says UN chief
Eight weeks of torrential rain during a severe monsoon season have left a third of Pakistan underwater, in the worst flooding since 2010
Technology
Anti-laser can make any object suck in light
Health
Synthetic mouse embryos with rudimentary brain grown in the lab
Life
Mucus has evolved at least 15 times in mammals
Space
JWST found carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere – and a mystery
Physics
Researchers have worked out the rules for how some things wrinkle
Health
Drugs that mutate viruses to kill them could make them more dangerous
Technology
Face recognition struggles to recognise us after five years of ageing
Life
Heat-loving, oil-eating bacteria are seeping out of the seafloor
Technology
Underwater data centre in the Pacific could be running by end of year
Physics
Best evidence yet that fifth fundamental ‘chameleon’ force isn’t real
Technology
Short animations could ‘inoculate’ YouTube users against fake news
Life
Fungi evolved their weird and wild shapes in two big bursts
Health
Psilocybin therapy seems to help some people give up drinking alcohol
Life
Two-legged dinosaur from Zimbabwe is the oldest ever found in Africa
Technology
Squishable computer runs calculations depending on how you squish it
Mind
Rapid eye movements during sleep reveal where mice look in dreams
Physics
Plasmas could be used to make the world’s most powerful laser
Humans
Human ancestors may have walked on two legs 7 million years ago
Technology
AI-created lenses let camera ignore some objects when taking pictures
Space
JWST has taken even more beautiful images of Jupiter and its aurora
Health
Malaria vaccine using live modified parasites shows promise in trial
Technology
Fire-resistant aluminium-sulphur battery charges in under a minute
Technology
3D-printed wood could start flat then twist into furniture as it dries
Analysis
Technology
Tory leadership contest’s online vote is still vulnerable to hackers
Hacking concerns continue to dog the online Conservative party vote, which will decide next UK prime minister – should online voting even be used in such situations?
Environment
Our neighbouring planets can help us understand Earth’s climate change
Humans
How I gave a TED talk on dark matter
Features
Health
Should you take HRT? Here’s how to think clearly about the risks
Hormone replacement therapy has a bad reputation because of potential risks to long-term health. A new look at the evidence could change our relationship with HRT - and the menopause
Space
The time-lapse telescope that will transform our view of the universe
Humans
Who is Ancestor X? The biggest mystery in human evolution
Culture
Humans
Planting Clues review: Intriguing tales about plants’ role in crime
From working out a dead person's last meal to the possible poisoning of the Buddha, a new book from David J. Gibson has some great tales about how plants help solve crimes – and are used to commit them
Humans
Nomad Century review: a bold plan to manage climate migration
Humans
Don’t Miss: A fantastical journey through The Science of Middle Earth
Humans
The Directors review: Five intimate short films about psychosis
More
Humans
How miracle berries turn sour foods sweet
The fruit of Synsepalum dulcificum, a plant native to West Africa, doesn't taste sugary on its own, but any sour food you eat afterwards will turn miraculously sweet
Tom Gauld on graduate students
Twisteddoodles on artificial intelligence and art
Regulars
On the trail of the lost Welsh kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod
Feedback looks into the identification of two lost islands in Cardigan Bay, while also exploring a plaster sculpture of an 18th-century infant Jesus that bears a striking resemblance to Mark Zuckerberg