This week's magazine
4 May 2024
Issue 3489
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
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Technology
Deepfake politicians may have a big influence on India’s elections
Political campaigns are deploying AI-generated deepfake versions of politicians to reach hundreds of millions of eligible voters in India’s 2024 election – the world’s largest ever
Technology
AI that determines risk of death helps save lives in hospital trial
Health
Two medicines for opioid addiction also help with compulsive gambling
Life
Wasps use face-recognition brain cells to identify each other
Health
How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic
Space
Birthplace of red asteroid Kamo‘oalewa pinned to specific moon crater
Environment
Toxic chemicals from car tyres can get into soil and contaminate food
Life
Alpacas are the only mammals known to directly inseminate the uterus
Physics
Nuclear fusion experiment overcomes two key operating hurdles
Health
Your diet may influence how effective vaccines are for you
Space
Supermassive black holes may provide a nursery for mini ones to grow
Life
Culling predatory starfish conserves coral on the Great Barrier Reef
Mind
Brain activity seems to be more complex in baby girls than boys
Mind
Rat neuron injection lets mice that can’t smell sniff out cookies
Life
Modern rose hybrids have a worrying lack of genetic diversity
Physics
Quantum forces used to automatically assemble tiny device
Analysis
Environment
India is poised to become a climate leader, but is it up to the task?
As the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, climate policy decisions taken by India will shape the fate of the entire world. But can it continue to develop its economy while keeping carbon dioxide down?
Health
India’s healthcare system falls short despite Modi’s improvements
Space
How India has slowly but surely become a major player in space
Technology
Can India build a world-leading computer chip industry from scratch?
Environment
Plastic pollution treaty would be ‘failure’ without tackling emissions
Mind
The unexpected effects of nostalgia on our health and at work
Environment
The shift to LED lighting is stopping us from seeing our night skies
Features
Health
The new drugs preventing allergic reactions to peanuts and other foods
Incredible results from trials of several new medications show they can prevent potentially deadly reactions to foods like peanuts, eggs and dairy - and may one day treat asthma
Earth
Can these awesome rocks become central Asia’s first UNESCO Geopark?
Physics
The galactic anomalies hinting dark matter is weirder than we thought
Culture
Comment
Johann Hari’s compelling but flawed look at the new weight-loss drugs
Drugs like Ozempic may help fight obesity. Johann Hari’s first-person account of taking the new medicines is a fascinating exploration of their impact
Comment
Joel Edgerton must escape the multiverse in a gripping sci-fi series
Comment
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ recommends a play about women in a birth control trial
Comment
The “science of weird shit” and making sense of the paranormal
More
Regulars
How to make $138,000 from shredded banknotes – if you’re in Hong Kong
Feedback is intrigued by the possibilities of a new paper theorising that computer vision could be used to reconstruct shredded banknotes contained in a paperweight souvenir