This week's magazine
4 November 2023
Issue 3463
On the cover
Editor's picks
Health
Focusing on health rather than disease will make us all feel better
Health
Are you truly healthy? These new tests provide the ultimate check-up
Technology
With privacy concerns rising, can we teach AI chatbots to forget?
Life
How we will discover the mysterious origins of life once and for all
Table of contents
快猫短视频
Environment
We can now only stay under 1.5掳C target if we achieve net zero by 2034
The amount of carbon dioxide we can still emit to have just a 50 per cent chance of limiting warming to 1.5掳C is even smaller than previously thought
Life
Some insects disguise themselves as spiders to avoid getting eaten
Technology
How AI brought John Lennon back to life for the last Beatles song
Space
Strange supernova blasts hint we have glimpsed a black hole鈥檚 birth
Life
Starfish don’t have a body – they’re just a big squished head
Space
Mouse embryos have been grown in space for the first time
Life
Most mammals go through the menopause – if they live long enough
Technology
AIs can guess where Reddit users live and how much they earn
Physics
The Great Sphinx of Giza may have been blown into shape by the wind
Mind
We may finally know which brain cells cause motion sickness
Technology
Record-breaking quantum computer has more than 1000 qubits
Life
Bird flu has reached Antarctica and could have a devastating effect
Earth
Ancient river valleys discovered beneath Antarctic ice sheet
Health
Migraines linked to rare genetic variants that could boost treatments
Life
Roosters may be able to recognise themselves in a mirror
Health
Our cells may boost their health by eating bacteria-killing viruses
Health
Smart glasses that play sounds help people who are blind find objects
Space
Ice-spewing supervolcano may have been found on Pluto
Analysis
Health
You probably don’t need 8 hours of sleep for a healthy brain
The largest analysis of brain scanning data yet casts doubt on the idea that shorter sleep duration is linked to shrinkage of the brain
Health
Wildfire smoke is reversing decades of progress on clean air
Environment
Cannabis has a shocking environmental cost 鈥 here’s how to fix it
Space
Searching for life on Mars isn鈥檛 worth the risk to Earth
Health
HEPA filters cut covid-19 sick days but we’ve been slow proving this
Features
Health
Are you truly healthy? These new tests provide the ultimate check-up
Conventional measures like blood pressure and body mass index only tell you so much. Testing your microbiome and metabolites, or even discovering your 鈥渋mmune grade鈥, can offer a clearer picture of your health
Life
How we will discover the mysterious origins of life once and for all
Technology
With privacy concerns rising, can we teach AI chatbots to forget?
Culture
Comment
Crossings review: How to help wildlife live with motorways
From Brazil to the Netherlands, motorway builders are starting to take wildlife into account, but the effort must be global. Ben Goldfarb's beautifully crafted Crossings is a wake-up call
Comment
A Myriad of Tongues review: How language may shape our world view
Comment
快猫短视频 recommends RE/SISTERS: A lens on gender and ecology
Comment
The Eternal Memory review: Poignant film shows memory’s many faces
More
Life
Debunking gardening myths: Does misting your houseplants really work?
We are all told to mist our houseplants if we want them to thrive. But botanist James Wong failed to find a single study backing this up, so he did his own home-grown experiment
Tom Gauld on a committee on extraterrestrial visits
Twisteddoodles: Catering to pet palates
Regulars
Hair-raising research explores the north-south divide on your scalp
Researchers hint that the prevalence of counterclockwise hair whorls in people living in the southern hemisphere could be down to environmental factors - the Coriolis force, perhaps?