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This week's magazine

12 August 2023

Issue 3451

New Scientist issue 3451 cover
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Editor's picks

2HHFJTC Hundreds of people gather on Port Meadow, Oxford, to protest against sewage release into the River Thames.

Environment

We need rapid political intervention to end sewage pollution crises

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How working out your ageotype could help you live healthier for longer

Health

How working out your ageotype could help you live healthier for longer

Features
From time crystals to wormholes: When is a quantum simulation real?

Physics

From time crystals to wormholes: When is a quantum simulation real?

Features
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Maureen McLean/Shutterstock (12908462g) Pollution on the Jubilee River adjacent to Slough Sewage Treatment Works managed by Thames Water. The Jubilee River is used regularly by open water swimmers and is a haven for migrating birds. During 2021, water companies discharged raw sewage into rivers in England 372,533 times. By 2040 the sewage discharges into rivers is targetted to be reduced by 40%, however, many environmentalists say this is too little, too late and that the directors of polluting water companies should be imprisoned as fines alone are not stopping regular sewage discharges into rivers Pollution, Jubilee River, Eton Wick, Windsor, Berkshire, UK - 23 Apr 2022

Environment

Sewage crisis: The truth about British rivers and how to clean them up

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

2HHFJTC Hundreds of people gather on Port Meadow, Oxford, to protest against sewage release into the River Thames.

Environment

We need rapid political intervention to end sewage pollution crises

As news feeds overflow with videos of raw sewage gushing into UK rivers, the government here needs to step up with tougher regulation and more joined-up thinking

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Device for water collection

Technology

Artificial spider silk could help us harvest drinking water from air

Helical bumps on artificial fibres can carry 2000 times more water than the volume of the bumps themselves, which could help people harvest drinking water from the air

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Life

Neuron-like machinery helps anemones decide when to sting

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Physics

Swimming behind someone cuts drag by up to 40 per cent

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Environment

Flower that thrives in Death Valley may hold secret to heat adaptation

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Health

Your gut microbiome is linked to your fitness and biological age

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Technology

Energy-storing concrete could form foundations for solar-powered homes

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Physics

Gold flakes glow when they are bathed in light and now we know how

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Life

Male moths make their own perfume from flowers to attract females

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Space

NASA has regained contact with Voyager 2 after losing it for a week

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Physics

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵs race to test claimed room-temperature superconductor

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Technology

AI voices are hard to spot even if you know audio might be a deepfake

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Chemistry

Chemical reaction used in cooking may have helped complex life evolve

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Health

ADHD linked to disrupted brain signals involved in focusing attention

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Life

Ancient whale might have been the heaviest animal that ever lived

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Humans

We are hopeless at telling when we have goosebumps

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Life

Bees miss out on sleep if they are exposed to light at night

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Space

Astronomers have spotted inexplicably bright light coming from the sun

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Life

Tropical tree species that grow far apart can better avoid ‘enemies’

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Physics

Why it's so hard to tell if LK-99 is a room-temperature superconductor

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Technology

Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Is cheap, clean energy finally here?

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Analysis

Health

Why consumer tests for risk of Alzheimer’s have potential downsides

People in the US can now order a blood test online that will reveal if they have a high risk of developing Alzheimer's - but it is unclear what they can do with that information

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Health

Weight-loss injections need to be for life, not just two years

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Humans

How prehistoric people settled one of Earth’s most extreme places

Comment

Aperture

The Global Winner The global winning image was taken by Laurent Formery (USA). Nervous system of a juvenile sea star (Patiria miniata) about 1 cm wide. Labeled with an antibody against acetylated tubulin after optical clearing, and captured using a color-coded Z-projection.

Life

Time for your close-up: vivid images of nature loom larger than life

See plants and animals like never before with award-winning photographs taken by researchers from around the world with the help of modern microscopes

Regulars

Features

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Maureen McLean/Shutterstock (12908462g) Pollution on the Jubilee River adjacent to Slough Sewage Treatment Works managed by Thames Water. The Jubilee River is used regularly by open water swimmers and is a haven for migrating birds. During 2021, water companies discharged raw sewage into rivers in England 372,533 times. By 2040 the sewage discharges into rivers is targetted to be reduced by 40%, however, many environmentalists say this is too little, too late and that the directors of polluting water companies should be imprisoned as fines alone are not stopping regular sewage discharges into rivers Pollution, Jubilee River, Eton Wick, Windsor, Berkshire, UK - 23 Apr 2022

Environment

Sewage crisis: The truth about British rivers and how to clean them up

There were at least 361,103 sewage spills into English rivers last year, but there are several things we can do to clean up the mess - as a society and from your own home

Features

Health

How working out your ageotype could help you live healthier for longer

Features

Physics

From time crystals to wormholes: When is a quantum simulation real?

Features

Culture

Professor Lee Berger, palaeontologist, explorer and member of The National Geographic Society, gestures as he explains the scientific relevance of discovering Homo Naledi in the Rising Star caves system in The Cradle of Human Kind, on May 11, 2023. The news shakes the foundations of human evolution: world-renowned paleontologist Lee Berger announced on Monday that he had discovered the oldest graves ever found in South Africa, pushing back the first traces of mortuary practices by some 100,000 years . The oldest tombs discovered so far were found in Israel and Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century. They date from around 100,000 years before our era and house the remains of Homo sapiens, the direct ancestor of man. The burials unearthed in South Africa date from -200,000 to -300,000 years. (Photo by Luca Sola / AFP) (Photo by LUCA SOLA/AFP via Getty Images)

Comment

Cave of Bones review: Lee Berger on the discovery of Homo naledi

Following his discovery of the ancient hominin Homo naledi, Lee Berger was determined to enter the cave where the fossils were discovered, but a dreadful journey lay ahead

Culture

Comment

Alone review: Insightful bestseller explores long-term singlehood

Culture

Comment

¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ recommends: The Left Hand of Darkness and The Big Sleep

Culture

Comment

How Oppenheimer addresses the paranoia around nuclear power

Culture

More

Release Date September 12, 2019 10:00AM (EDT) Caption Anyone who has ever peered at Saturn through a small telescope is immediately enticed by its elegant rings, which make the far-flung planet one of the most exotic-looking, opulent worlds in the solar system. The latest view of Saturn from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures exquisite details of the ring system?which looks like a phonograph record with grooves that represent detailed structure within the rings?and atmospheric details that once could only be captured by spacecraft visiting the distant world. One such intriguing feature is the long-lasting hexagon-shaped structure circling the planet's north pole. It is a mysterious six-sided pattern caused by a high-speed jet stream. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft first discovered the

Space

How to spot Saturn's rings through a telescope

Seeing Saturn’s rings through a telescope can be an awe-inspiring experience. Now is a great time to check them out, says Abigail Beall

Regulars

Puzzle #234: What day of the week was Craig and Maria’s first kiss?

Regulars

Tom Gauld: Is it a wiring problem?

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on taking your time in the lab

Regulars

Regulars

Would you trust a robot with eyes?

Would you trust a robot with eyes?

Roboticists have theorised that putting eyes on robots would induce people to trust them (the robots, not the roboticists). Feedback investigates the latest research - and finds it inconclusive.

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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