This week's magazine
23 September 2023
Issue 3457
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
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Space
JWST has taken an astonishing image of a baby star with powerful jets
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of a young star spewing out powerful winds that have created a pair of stunning, colourful jets
Mind
The entire brain may be involved in language, not just a few regions
Life
Tadpoles can change colour to blend in with their environment
Earth
NASA’s UFO task force has released its final report – it’s not aliens
Health
Spinal fluid test may enable earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
Space
Reusable rocket built by students is about to launch to space
Earth
Rare Australian pink diamonds emerged when a supercontinent broke up
Health
Anti-ageing drugs could make more organs viable for transplants
Technology
Facebook change to control covid-19 vaccine misinformation failed
Environment
Humans use a quarter of all the biomass created by plants on land
Life
Mosquitoes dodge efforts to swat them by surfing a wave of air
Health
Mental health ‘first aid’ training has no clear medical benefit
Technology
Thousands of people apparently cheat at Wordle every day
Life
Frogs have been trying to mate with odd things for 220 million years
Technology
Watch a cyborg cockroach navigate a maze
Physics
City-wide quantum communication network in China is most advanced yet
Health
MDMA therapy for PTSD expected to get US approval after latest trial
Technology
DNA-based computer can run 100 billion different programs
Environment
Oxygen levels are dropping in rivers across the US and central Europe
Environment
English rivers regularly pumped full of oxygen to prevent fish deaths
Health
Key immune cells may help protect against inflammatory bowel disease
Space
The universe’s evolution seems to be slowing and we don’t know why
Environment
High-flying microplastics could pose a threat to the ozone layer
Health
Moderna’s improved mRNA covid-19 vaccine is effective at lower doses
Humans
Stone Age carvings of animal footprints identified by expert trackers
Analysis
Features
Mind
Why being more open about mental health could be making us feel worse
The language of the therapy room is creeping into everyday life. Psychologist Lucy Foulkes says therapy speak and overpsychologising could do more harm than good
Space
Dark stars: Have we finally found a weird sun powered by dark matter?
Technology
How scientists are cracking historical codes to reveal lost secrets
Culture
Comment
The Naked Neanderthal review: Looking for the real Neanderthals
From creating cave art to burying their dead, how we see Neanderthals reveals as much about us as it does about them, argues Ludovic Slimak in a fascinating new book. We may have our closest extinct relatives all wrong - again
Comment
The Deadly Rise of Anti-science review: The personal cost of research
Comment
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ recommends mixed-reality experience The Butterfly Trail
Comment
Starfield review: Too much AI-generated content makes for a dull game
More
Mathematics
The easy trick to evenly cut a pizza into 5, 7 or any number of slices
You ordered a pizza for your party, but the restaurant forgot to slice it – these mathematical tricks can help you cut it evenly, says Katie Steckles
Tom Gauld on after-work drinks
Twisteddoodles on the Ig Nobel prizes
Regulars
Society
Ig Nobel prizes 2023: Rock licking and other unlikely winners
From eating fossils to reanimating dead spiders for use as mechanical gripping tools, this year's Ig Nobel prizes, for science that "makes people laugh, then think", are unveiled