This week's magazine
31 August 2024
Issue 3506
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
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Space
JWST found rogue worlds that blur the line between stars and planets
The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted six strange worlds the size of planets that formed like stars – and the smallest may be building its own miniature solar system
Health
Will mpox become a global pandemic like covid-19?
Space
Strange stars full of metals may be created by imploding supernovae
Physics
Quantum trick lets you cool objects down using nothing at all
Physics
Another blow for dark matter as biggest hunt yet finds nothing
Technology
DNA computer can play chess and solve sudoku puzzles
Health
Why do covid cases rise in summer, unlike other respiratory viruses?
Space
Astronomers might finally have explanation for mysterious Wow! signal
Health
Long covid causes very different symptoms in children versus teenagers
Humans
Neolithic engineers used science knowledge to build megalith monument
Technology
A glob of jelly can play Pong thanks to a basic kind of memory
Environment
Most climate policies do little to prevent climate change
Space
Starlink tests show how to save radio astronomy from satellites
Health
Engineered bacteria destroy antibiotic resistance DNA in wastewater
Physics
Fuzzy quantum effects have been seen on the largest scale yet
Health
Does eating meat really raise your risk of type 2 diabetes?
Humans
Cocaine in mummified brains reveals when Europeans first used the drug
Earth
Part of the Atlantic is cooling at record speed and nobody knows why
Physics
This antimatter version of an atomic nucleus is the heaviest yet
Technology
AI could help shrinking pool of coders keep outdated programs working
Features
Health
How a new kind of vaccine could lead to the eradication of Alzheimer’s
Promising new vaccines are designed to be given to patients at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. If they perform well in clinical trials, they have the potential to one day rid society of dementia
Society
Is digital technology really swaying voters and undermining democracy?
Health
How the healing powers of botany can reduce anxiety and boost health
Culture
Humans
A gripping account of morality shows how we work out right from wrong
Where do morals come from? In Animals, Robots, Gods, anthropologist Webb Keane argues imagination and differing senses of the world are key to discerning right from wrong
Society
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ recommends Systemic: How racism is making us ill
Environment
James Cameron’s new ocean-life series is try-hard but effective
Humans
Rachel Kushner’s Booker-shortlisted Creation Lake is top-notch
More
Environment
How a viral video made turtles the face of the ocean plastic crisis
A video of a turtle with a straw up its nose changed attitudes to plastic pollution around the world. But we must do more, says marine biologist Vanessa Bézy
Health
Never mind the health benefits, there are green reasons to stop vaping
Mind
Is my frequent laughter damaging my credibility at work?
Tom Gauld on what’s fashionable in the laboratory
Twisteddoodles on how to increase your research’s impact
Regulars
Could this be the way to get your children to eat their greens?
Feedback brings news of a study in which scientists explored whether seeing happy broccoli eaters might encourage reluctant children to get on with it already and eat their vegetables