This week's magazine
23 May 2026
Issue 3596
On the cover
Editor's picks
Health
Can we harness quantum effects to create a new kind of healthcare?
Space
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
Life
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
Mind
How I used psychology to come back from the worst year of my life
Humans
The story of the first human tool: the humble container
Table of contents
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ
Health
Your body clock has seasonal rhythms and it matters for vaccines
We think of our body clock ticking over on a 24-hour cycle, but evidence is growing that it has seasonal rhythms, which could affect our response to vaccines
Humans
Neanderthals treated a dental cavity by drilling into the tooth
Environment
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
Health
Rebooting stem cells builds aged muscles and assists injury recovery
Environment
First test of CO2 removal with green sand finds no harm to marine life
Earth
A new tectonic plate boundary could be forming in southern Africa
Life
Himalayan wolf-dog hybrids emerge as a threat to wolves and people
Mind
What is love? Even a meeting on the subject can’t find the answer
Environment
Cleaning up air pollution could weaken vital AMOC ocean current
Space
SpaceX is about to launch tallest and most powerful rocket in history
Humans
Ancient teeth hint at links between Denisovans and Homo erectus
Health
CAR T-cell therapy bolstered by stiffening up cancer cells first
Environment
Arctic fires are releasing carbon stored for thousands of years
Environment
Will burying dead trees after a wildfire keep their carbon locked up?
Life
Natural sunscreen found in fish eggs can be made by E. coli factories
Features
Mind
How I used psychology to come back from the worst year of my life
Work, illness, divorce: life is riddled with stressors out of your control. But research is revealing new ways to cope with these challenges and find hope instead of despair
Life
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
Space
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
Humans
The story of the first human tool: the humble container
Health
Can we harness quantum effects to create a new kind of healthcare?
Culture
Environment
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ recommends a devastating account of farming honeybees
Jennie Durant's Bitter Honey is a great exposé of the true cost of industrially farming US honeybees, finds Thomas Lewton. But the book's grim figures of bee death alone may not prompt deep change – how about seeing them as fellow creatures?
Comment
How a visit to Stonehenge reminded me of deep time
Comment
This is the most underrated sci-fi film franchise of the 21st century
More
Sponsored
Dementia: Everything you need to know now
From the subtle differences between memory lapses and brain disease to the lifestyle changes that can lower your risk, Dr Tim Beanland at Alzheimer’s Society helps you navigate the facts about dementia
Health
PCOS has been officially renamed PMOS, and it’s a momentous move
Mind
Where do you think your ‘self’ is? Your answer is revealing
Physics
Why do particle physicists like spending time in fields?
Tom Gauld on the Regency gentleman scientist
Twisteddoodles on states of matter
Regulars
Comment
Shiver me timbers: Do we have to worry about space pirates now?
Feedback goes down a "moon warfare" rabbit hole and discovers that some forward-thinkers are making plans to counteract as-yet-hypothetical pirates in space