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This week's magazine

9 September 2006

Issue 2568

New Scientist issue 2568 cover
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Editor's picks

Look out! Nuclear waste below

Earth

Look out! Nuclear waste below

Features
In constant search of 'alpha'

Space

In constant search of 'alpha'

Features
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.

Earth

Histories: The miracle of the stones

Features
Meet your ancestor – the fish that crawled

Life

Meet your ancestor – the fish that crawled

Features
Relativity drive: The end of wings and wheels?

Technology

Relativity drive: The end of wings and wheels?

Features

Table of contents

News

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.

Technology

Molecular logic gates help sort cells

HOW do you colour-code a whole bunch of different objects using only one colour? It sounds impossible, but researchers hoping to tag cells with combinations of fluorescent dyes have done just that. They used a form of "molecular computing" that means similar dyes can be distinguished and so can be combined in myriad unique ways, …

News

Technology

Rusty rind adds magnetic allure to nanotubes

News

Technology

Gizmo

News

Earth

Sensors find the freshest air in town

News

Space

New NASA capsule goes retro

News

Technology

Traffic phone-in spots jams

News

Technology

How to avoid laptop battery bonfires

News

Life

Genome on-off switches mapped

News

Earth

Siberia's pools burp out nasty surprise

News

Life

The slimiest snails at the back of the pack

News

Earth

The nitrogen the Vikings left behind

News

Life

Fruit flies evolve to beat the heat

News

Health

Double whammy vaccine targets malaria

News

Space

Mountains that fell from the sky

News

Health

'X' marks the spot in hunt for autism genes

News

This week 22 years ago

News

Space

Dark matter 'proof' called into doubt

News

Soundbites

News

Health

Tailored medicines for rich and poor alike

News

Health

Keep slapping on that sunscreen

News

Life

Plenty more dinosaurs still in the ground

News

Space

'Dark matter burners' – a new type of star?

News

Health

The medicines that could kill millions

News

Health

Gene therapy boost for tumour hunters

News

Space

NASA to shuttle crew: 'Your rescuers have been delayed'

News

Technology

Risk to troops in Afghanistan exposed

News

Earth

Kyoto protocol: Adapt or fry

News

Earth

Yucca Mountain will not blow

News

Space

SMART probe crash reveals calcium on the Moon

News

Health

Human Tissue Act may be mixed blessing

News

Health

Obesity epidemic 'engulfing the entire world'

News

Earth

Good news from the 'Garden of Eden'

News

60 Seconds

News

Opinion

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.

Earth

Weeds shall inherit the Earth

FOR more than a decade, scientists have been warning of an impending collapse of global biodiversity – the sixth great extinction. Averting this massive species loss and the resulting pauperisation of ecosystems demands immediate action, they urge. What they don't realise is that this "extinction crisis" is no more preventable than previous extinctions caused by …

Opinion

Health

Editorial: Selling counterfeit drugs is a sick business

Opinion

Life

Editorial: A truly intelligent use of evolution

Opinion

Life

Natural intuitions of science and art

Opinion

Technology

Interview: Agent for change

Opinion

Features

Look out! Nuclear waste below

Earth

Look out! Nuclear waste below

One day a group of people walked into a cave and painted handprints all over the walls. Ten thousand years later, archaeologists have no idea why. To be fair to the artists in question, they probably didn't set out to create something that would make sense in 400 generations' time. Even if thoughts of the …

Features

Space

In constant search of 'alpha'

Features

Earth

Histories: The miracle of the stones

Features

Life

Meet your ancestor – the fish that crawled

Features

Technology

Relativity drive: The end of wings and wheels?

Features

More

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.

Life

The word: Avocado

NEXT time you serve avocado, your guests might be surprised to learn that its name is derived from the Aztec description of the plant it grows on: the testicle tree. How did the avocado get to be so called? The fruit originates from the forests of central America, and was originally the size of an …

Regulars

Life

The Demon Under the Microscope by Thomas Hager

Books & Arts

Life

The Dalai Lama at MIT, edited by Anne Harrington and Arthur Zajonc

Books & Arts

Selling chemistry to a new generation

Careers

Regulars

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.

Feedback

Astronomical split A DARK corner of Feedback's soul is, we confess, almost looking forward to a breakaway International Astronomical Union (Pluto-Xenaist) faction seeking to reverse the recent planetary demotions. One astronomer, for example, writes (on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issues): "Poor Pluto. One must truly sympathise. After all, it is …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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