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This week's magazine

3 May 2008

Issue 2654

New Scientist issue 2654 cover
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Editor's picks

Four radical routes to a theory of everything

Space

Four radical routes to a theory of everything

Features
Burying biomass to fight climate change

Earth

Burying biomass to fight climate change

Features
Heroes for hard times

Heroes for hard times

Features
How stem-cell advances will transform medicine

Health

How stem-cell advances will transform medicine

Features
Sin cities: The geometry of crime

Life

Sin cities: The geometry of crime

Features

Table of contents

News

Malicious hardware may be next hacker tool

Technology

Malicious hardware may be next hacker tool

As if computer viruses and worms aren't enough of a nuisance, malicious hardware, which will be much more difficult to detect, could soon become a threat too. Today, computer viruses, which are programs downloaded either as an email attachment or when someone visits a website, are responsible for most computer attacks. Hackers use them to …

News

Technology

'Missing link' of electronics makes an appearance

News

Technology

Bluetooth gives spies a window into your life

News

Technology

Gizmo

News

Technology

Emergency 2.0 is coming to a website near you

News

Technology

Cellphone scanner could screen for cancer

News

Technology

Google ranks images for better picture searches

News

Space

Martian air creates monster sand dunes

News

Life

Slow movers opt for a single sex

News

Life

First sunflower farms uncovered in Mexican dig

News

Health

Blood-pressure pill may also aid weight loss

News

Health

Enzyme could be malaria's weakest link

News

Life

Earth 'noise' could attract alien invaders

News

Life

Why alcohol makes you loosen up and lash out

News

Earth

Solar shield would damage the ozone layer

News

Life

'Sexy' voice gives fertile women away

News

Life

Sabre-toothed 'bear' terrorised early humans

News

Earth

Did dinosaur-killing asteroid ignite an oily tinderbox?

News

Physics

Quantum effects may explain water's weirdness

News

Life

Do birds see with quantum eyes?

News

Soundbites

News

Life

Intelligence can be improved with training

News

Health

Fetal cells could help fight off breast cancer

News

Health

Past patients could provide fast flu vaccine

News

Earth

Censorship exposed at US environment agency

News

Health

Artifical blood deaths cause trial concerns

News

Genetic rights are enshrined in US law

News

Earth

Poor forecasting undermines climate debate

News

60 Seconds

News

Earth

Women farmers face eviction in biofuels boom

News

Earth

Don't stop hurricanes, guide them

News

Health

Gene therapy 'reverses' blindness

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.

Comment: What lies beneath the makeup?

TRYING to hold back the ravages of time is an expensive business. People around the world spend a staggering $290 billion a year on over-the-counter beauty products. Cosmetics companies invest a fortune – around 2 per cent of their sales – on researching and developing new products. These ample budgets mean cosmetic houses are able …

Opinion

Editorial: Even climate models have their limits

Opinion

Editorial: Still no substitute for embryonic stem cells

Opinion

Commentary: Our mirror on morality

Opinion

Interview: The man who found Mars on Earth

Opinion

Features

Four radical routes to a theory of everything

Space

Four radical routes to a theory of everything

THESE days it seems like every physicist is an Indiana Jones on the hunt for the Holy Grail, a theory that can unite the fractured worlds of quantum mechanics and general relativity – Einstein's theory of gravity – and bring order to the universe. Some call it a "theory of everything", some call it "quantum …

Features

Earth

Burying biomass to fight climate change

Features

Heroes for hard times

Features

Health

How stem-cell advances will transform medicine

Features

Life

Sin cities: The geometry of crime

Features

More

Insider: Biotechnology under the spotlight

Insider: Biotechnology under the spotlight

Genetic modification CHRIS LEAVER has spent years talking about his work. He speaks to MPs and the media, visits schools, and attends debates, putting into practice his avowed belief that scientists who work in controversial areas must engage with other sections of society. "You need to bring the public along with you," he says. "The …

Careers

Life

Boléro: 'Beautiful symptom of a terrible disease'

Books & Arts

Life

Review: What is Life? by Ed Regis

Books & Arts

Review: Titan Unveiled by Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton

Books & Arts

Review: Mirroring People by Marco Iacoboni

Books & Arts

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

How to walk through walls THANKS to Ian Chapple of the European Patent Office for alerting us to the "Walking through walls training system". That is the title of US Patent Application 20060014125 , filed by John St Clair of San Juan, Puerto Rico, back in 2006. A session with a famous web search engine …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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