Health
It would be a mistake to rush into an under-16 social media ban
Comment
This week's magazine
31 January 2026
Issue 3580
Editor's picks
Table of contents
快猫短视频
Environment
Termination shock could make the cost of climate damage even higher
Solar geoengineering could halve the economic cost of climate change, but stopping it would cause temperatures to rebound sharply, leading to greater damage than unabated global warming
News
Humans
Stick shaped by ancient humans is the oldest known wooden tool
News
Environment
Hybrid megapests evolving in Brazil are a threat to crops worldwide
News
Life
Our earliest vertebrate ancestors may have had four eyes
News
Life
Bird retinas work without oxygen, and now scientists know how
News
Space
Mars’s gravity may help control Earth鈥檚 cycle of ice ages
News
Health
Ancient bacterium discovery rewrites the origins of syphilis
News
Health
Our oral microbiome could hold the key to preventing obesity
News
Space
SpaceX鈥檚 Starlink dodged 300,000 satellite collisions in 2025
News
Space
Satellites could use magnetic fields to avoid collisions
News
Humans
Oldest known rock art is a 68,000-year-old hand stencil with claws
News
Life
Why did magic mushrooms evolve? We may finally have the answer
News
Life
Bubble feeding trick spreads through humpback whale social groups
News
Health
Why singing, dancing and engaging with art is good for your health
News
Health
Cross-training may be the key to a long life
News
Physics
The edge of the quantum world just moved closer to our reality
News
Humans
Ape-like hominin Paranthropus was more adaptable than we thought
News
Health
Barnacle gloop could improve inflammatory bowel disease treatments
News
Aperture
Features
Physics
The daring idea that time is an illusion and how we could prove it
The way time ticks forward in our universe has long stumped physicists. Now, a new set of tools from entangled atoms to black holes promises to reveal time鈥檚 true nature
Features
Humans
Ancient humans were seafaring far earlier than we realised
Features
Chemistry
Nobel prizewinner Omar Yaghi says his invention will change the world
Features
Culture
Physics
Engaging look at friction shows how it keeps our world rubbing along
How much do you know about friction? Jennifer R. Vail's charming, if sometimes technical, "biography" of the force showcases its amazing and largely overlooked role in everything from climate change to dark matter, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan
Culture
Health
Fascinating but flawed book explores how sickness shapes our lives
Culture
Comment
快猫短视频 recommends pioneering artist Ryoji Ikeda’s new work
Culture
Physics
A remarkable book on quantum mechanics reveals a really big idea
Culture
More
Health
How your health is being commodified by social media
From health tech developers to influencers, our health is being monetised 鈥� and we need to be aware of what's going on, says Deborah Cohen
Comment
Space
The most important second in the entire history of the universe
Comment
Mathematics
Bored of snakes and ladders? Some maths can help bring back the fun
Regulars
Tom Gauld: Our journey began with a simple question
Regulars
Twisteddoodles: So, you’re a rocket scientist?
Regulars
Regulars
Think of a card, any card 鈥� but make it science
Feedback has been informed about a "global telepathy study" which is currently taking place, but isn't entirely convinced about its merits
This Week鈥檚 Letters
Letters
This week鈥檚 new questions
Last Word
Do birds actually sleep more in winter?
Last Word
Is the concentration of salt in the oceans gradually increasing?
Last Word
Why do we use pillows? part 2
Last Word
