Subscribe now

This week's magazine

7 March 2009

Issue 2698

New Scientist issue 2698 cover
Previous issue Next issue
arrow
Subscribe
Access our magazine content direct via our website, app or print magazine
arrow
View in the app
Check out this magazine in our easy-to-navigate mobile app
arrow
Find a previous edition online
Search through our digital archive of over 30 years of magazines

Editor's picks

A bizarre universe may be lurking in the shadows

Space

A bizarre universe may be lurking in the shadows

Features
East meets west: How the brain unites us all

Life

East meets west: How the brain unites us all

Features
The selfless gene: Rethinking Dawkins's doctrine

Life

The selfless gene: Rethinking Dawkins's doctrine

Features
Japanese pioneer developed first general anaesthetic

Health

Japanese pioneer developed first general anaesthetic

Features

Table of contents

News

ER 2.0: Robots team up for surgery

Technology

ER 2.0: Robots team up for surgery

Video: See the robots at work on a human model This mobile operating theatre comes with a team of robots, one of which is remotely controlled by a surgeon IF a soldier is severely wounded, they have a markedly better chance of survival if they are seen by a doctor within the hour. But what …

News

Technology

Now the cellphone becomes a sketch pad... sort of

News

Fish numbers outpace human population

News

Earth

Conservationists deciding which species to survive

News

Health

Bird flu mix-up could have spelled disaster

News

Earth

Race is on to reach Antarctica's hidden lakes

News

Lifestyle changes could cut cancers by a third

News

Life

Crew chosen for Mars isolation test

News

Cheat test turns athletes' blood into a passport

News

Forbidden games, Moon crash, and more

News

Obama goes 'all in' for science

News

Fossil footprints reveal our modern walk in the making

News

"Fish is marvellous..."

News

Space

Cannibalistic Jupiter ate its early moons

News

Life

Kill the inflammation, kill the HIV?

News

Earth

Beads get ball rolling on avalanche prediction

News

Health

Instant 'vaccine' zaps human cancers in mice

News

Technology

Thumbs up for 3D bone printer

News

Ancient supernovae found written into the Antarctic ice

News

Space

Two black holes tango inside distant quasar

News

Health

Fart molecule could be next Viagra

News

First fossil brain found in a bug-eyed fish

News

Life

'Vampire' discovered in mass grave

News

Jumping genes make for cancer-free stem cells

News

Health

Bowel gene linked to a type of autism

News

Spider takes food from the mouths of ants

News

Technology

Audio trick lets authorities watch the movie pirates

News

Technology

Wireless Tasers extend the long arm of the law

News

Technology

Digital radio fails the firefighters

News

Technology

Quantum dots boost power solar cells

News

Technology

Noise could mask web searchers' IDs

News

Life

Two recipes for the seafood of the future

News

Opinion

Why are orang-utans so like us?

Life

Why are orang-utans so like us?

Chimps are meant to be our nearest relative, yet from whistling for fun to coming top in the IQ stakes, orang-utans seem even more like humans Read our related editorial: We stand to lose that most human of apes OF THE three great apes – orang-utans, gorillas and chimpanzees – orang-utans have always proved the …

Opinion

The pitfalls of Obama's science bonanza

Opinion

We stand to lose that most human of apes

Opinion

Jellyfish – food of the future

Opinion

Life

Aiming for a future without animal tests

Opinion

Health

Why Facebook is good for you

Opinion

Technology

Regulate armed robots before it's too late

Opinion

Features

A bizarre universe may be lurking in the shadows

Space

A bizarre universe may be lurking in the shadows

Dark matter is all around us, but what is it made of? IT IS 3.30am on 26 December 2007 in McMurdo, Antarctica. The crew at the long-duration balloon facility have stayed up all night in sub-zero temperatures, waiting for the winds to subside. Finally, the gigantic balloon lifts off. Filled with about a million cubic …

Features

Life

East meets west: How the brain unites us all

Features

Life

The selfless gene: Rethinking Dawkins's doctrine

Features

Health

Japanese pioneer developed first general anaesthetic

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.

Enigma Number 1535

Back to front Joe has found that just a few numbers have a rather unique property. Reverse the order of the digits, and the new number is a multiple of the original. For some specified numbers of digits (four or more) there are only two numbers with the property. Joe gave Penny the task of …

Regulars

Engineering the defence of the realm

Careers

What's hot on NewScientist.com

Regulars

Humans

Review: Adam's Tongue by Derek Bickerton and Finding Our Tongues by Dean Falk

Books & Arts

Review: You Are Here by Christopher Potter

Books & Arts

Review: Pavlov's Dogs and Schrodinger's Cat: Scenes from the living laboratory by Rom Harré

Books & Arts

Review: Heatstroke by Anthony D Barnosky

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

Results of our "What Darwin didn't say" competition AND the winner of our competition in honour of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth is... WE INVITED readers to tell us "Things you would never have heard Charles Darwin say about evolution." The response was magnificent – nearly 900 of you sent in entries – …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

Browse past issues

View all
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop