Issue 2284 | Magazine cover date: 31 March 2001

31 March 2001

Issue 2284

Previous issue Next issue

On the cover

Features

Walk like an Egyptian

News

It's the coolest

Opinion

The smart card deal

Access our magazine content direct via our website, app or print magazine

View in the app

Check out this magazine in our easy-to-navigate mobile app

Find a previous edition online

Search through our digital archive of over 30 years of magazines

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Walk like an Egyptian

Features

The bridge of sways

Features

E-mmune from attack

Features

Into the abyss

Features

The first split second

Features

News

It's the coolest

A CLOUD of lithium atoms has broken the record for the coolest atomic gas on Earth. By chilling the atoms to less than a quarter of a millionth of a degree above absolute zero, scientists have seen the gas develop "Fermi pressure"—a strange quantum effect that stops superdense stars collapsing completely. Fermi pressure only occurs …

News

Heart-breaking bugs

News

Gotta catch them all

News

Feral purge

News

Chill out, say Lords

News

Bats in the gallery

News

Spiders for Mars

News

Symphony in Lycra

News

MRI brainwave

News

Double-quick damage reports

News

Home movie hell

News

Going commando

News

Cleared for take-off

News

One holographic lump or two?

News

Technology

Scraping the bottom

News

Life

Annihilate or vaccinate

News

Bugs with backbone

News

Dim dwarfs

News

Hot brains

News

Boys will be girls

News

Technology

Liquid crystal clear

News

Technology

The future's bright

News

Bet you I can stop gambling…

News

Arty types

News

Scrub the planet clean

News

Something to shout about

News

Protests take the shine off golden rice

News

Numb to mum

News

Found: one lander

News

Body check

News

Blaze of glory

News

Fetch, Beagle, fetch!

News

The kidnapper that kills

News

Rival particle smashers set out on collision course

News

Cracked it?

News

On the blink

News

Mix and match

News

Like lambs to the slaughter

News

Suspect steak

News

When the wind blows

News

Opinion

The smart card deal

A UNIQUE smart card technology, developed but never applied in Australia, is about to make its commercial debut in China. Earlier this month a Brisbane company won a A$17 million contract to supply an identification system based on the technology to one of China's largest insurance companies. If the system is a success, eGlobal Holdings …

Opinion

Washington Diary

Opinion

Regrets, I've had a few...

Opinion

Taste of their own medicine

Opinion

Mad sheep disease?

Opinion

Come the revolution

Opinion

Features

Walk like an Egyptian

A false toe will not stir the passions. Like a wooden leg or a glass eye, it's more likely to excite mirth than admiration. It might prompt curiosity, but hardly serious intellectual attention. Unless, of course, it's 3000 years old and was once attached to the foot of some long-forgotten but high-ranking Egyptian. A toe …

Features

The bridge of sways

Features

E-mmune from attack

Features

Into the abyss

Features

The first split second

Features

Making Babies

On Fertile Ground: A natural history of human reproduction by Peter Thorpe Ellison, Harvard University Press, £19.50, ISBN 0674004639 PETER ELLISON grips your attention from his opening contrast between a difficult birth in the central Africa that ended in the death of the baby and a successful delivery in the US that mobilised up-to-date medical …

Books & Arts

Get your Teeth into This

Books & Arts

Meeting of intellectual titans: Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein

Books & Arts

Sounds like a rose to me

Books & Arts

Escape from Reality

Books & Arts

Bestsellers

Books & Arts

Rotten Bananas for Me, Please

Books & Arts

Regulars

Feedback

WHY is a star like a telephone? Until quite recently, stars and their constellations were given names, most of them originally belonging to ancient gods or the protagonists of heroic tales. But there are too many stars, too few mythic names. So we now catalogue stars by their position in the sky. Forget name, think …

This week's magazine

31 March 2001

On the cover

Walk like an Egyptian

The bridge of sways

E-mmune from attack

Into the abyss

The first split second

Table of contents

News

It's the coolest

Heart-breaking bugs

Gotta catch them all

Feral purge

Chill out, say Lords

Bats in the gallery

Spiders for Mars

Symphony in Lycra

MRI brainwave

Double-quick damage reports

Home movie hell

Going commando

Cleared for take-off

One holographic lump or two?

Technology

Scraping the bottom

Life

Annihilate or vaccinate

Bugs with backbone

Dim dwarfs

Hot brains

Boys will be girls

Technology

Liquid crystal clear

Technology

The future's bright

Bet you I can stop gambling…

Arty types

Scrub the planet clean

Something to shout about

Protests take the shine off golden rice

Numb to mum

Found: one lander

Body check

Blaze of glory

Fetch, Beagle, fetch!

The kidnapper that kills

Rival particle smashers set out on collision course

Cracked it?

On the blink

Mix and match

Like lambs to the slaughter

Suspect steak

When the wind blows

Opinion

The smart card deal

Washington Diary

Regrets, I've had a few...

Taste of their own medicine

Mad sheep disease?

Come the revolution

Features

Walk like an Egyptian

The bridge of sways

E-mmune from attack

Into the abyss

The first split second

More

Making Babies

Get your Teeth into This

Meeting of intellectual titans: Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein

Sounds like a rose to me

Escape from Reality

Bestsellers

Rotten Bananas for Me, Please

Regulars

Feedback

The Last Word

Regulars

Letters