This week's magazine
27 January 2024
Issue 3475
On the cover
Editor's picks
Health
Why postmenopausal women are so crucial to our evolutionary success
Mind
The surprising benefits of having an asymmetrical face, body and brain
Health
Why do we have taste buds in our heart and testicles?
Health
A new understanding of how your blood type influences your health
Health
Looking after the fungi in your gut could be key to better health
Health
Cells from other family members live in you and protect your health
Space
A legendary cosmologist on how to find a deeper theory of the universe
Mind
The peculiar discoveries reviving the search for human pheromones
Table of contents
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Life
Traces of ancient life reveal a 3.4-billion-year-old ecosystem
Chemical analysis of rocks found in South Africa shows that ancient microorganisms sustained themselves in a variety of ways, adding to evidence for an early origin of life on Earth
Health
Endometriosis takes 6 years to be diagnosed due to a lack of awareness
Space
Japan’s SLIM spacecraft landed on the moon – but it’s having problems
Environment
Seaweed could save a billion people from famine after a nuclear war
Technology
First ‘thermodynamic computer’ uses random noise to calculate
Humans
Humans first reached China thousands of years earlier than we thought
Health
Life expectancy gap between men and women is closing worldwide
Technology
What does Ukraine’s million-drone army mean for the future of war?
Health
Mild haemophilia may add an extra year or two to someone’s life
Life
Mass death of seal pups raises fears of bird flu spreading in mammals
Health
Beeping shoes help people with Parkinson’s disease walk further
Environment
Seabed trawling found to be a major source of global CO2 emissions
Life
Megalodon was nothing like a giant great white shark
Physics
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµs created a ‘giant quantum vortex’ that mimics a black hole
Technology
DeepMind AI solves hard geometry problems from mathematics olympiad
Health
Kimchi and artisan cheeses can contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Environment
Fertilisers are a major source of microplastic pollution in soil
Life
We finally know how tardigrades can survive extreme conditions
Mind
Men are better at navigating than women – but not because of evolution
Technology
Reddit mentions may help predict changes in cryptocurrency value
Analysis
Health
Menstruation isn’t dirty, so let’s drop terms like sanitary towels
Describing menstrual products using euphemistic language such as "feminine hygiene products" reinforces the trope that menstruation is shameful. It's time to stop, says Jen Gunter
Technology
I’m teaching again after 20 years away. The tech is pure absurdity
Features
Health
A new understanding of how your blood type influences your health
We now know that there are at least 45 different blood types and that yours may influence your risk of disease, from malaria to cancer
Health
Why do we have taste buds in our heart and testicles?
Mind
The peculiar discoveries reviving the search for human pheromones
Mind
The surprising benefits of having an asymmetrical face, body and brain
Health
Cells from other family members live in you and protect your health
Health
Looking after the fungi in your gut could be key to better health
Health
Why postmenopausal women are so crucial to our evolutionary success
Space
A legendary cosmologist on how to find a deeper theory of the universe
Culture
Comment
Breaking Through review: Katalin Karikó’s amazing Nobel story
Biochemist Katalin Karikó believed in mRNA's potential, but funders were quiet and she was demoted. Still, she dug in, preparing the world for life-saving covid-19 vaccines, as she writes in her memoir
Comment
Filterworld review: Are algorithms staging a cultural takeover?
Comment
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ recommends: Naomi Alderman’s sci-fi novel The Power
Comment
Wilderness with Simon Reeve: A travel show with green credentials
More
Chemistry
The science behind fluffy pancakes and using the right raising agent
Tired of your American-style pancakes looking flat and anaemic? Catherine de Lange finds the secret to thick, pillowy perfection
Tom Gauld: ‘Just hold up the test tube and look proud’
Twisteddoodles on a household object dirtier than a toilet
Regulars
Finger food is now on the menu at Chopt salad chain
Feedback is intrigued to discover that nominative determinism can also apply to companies, but distressed to learn what this can mean for those purchasing salads