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This week's magazine

5 March 2011

Issue 2802

New Scientist issue 2802 cover
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Editor's picks

Eight extremes: The biggest things in the universe

Space

Eight extremes: The biggest things in the universe

Features
Boy brain, girl brain: How the sexes act differently

Life

Boy brain, girl brain: How the sexes act differently

Features
Moon millions: Space firms chase Google's lunar lucre

Space

Moon millions: Space firms chase Google's lunar lucre

Features
Mass extinctions: A brief history of catastrophe

Mass extinctions: A brief history of catastrophe

Features
Mass extinctions: The terrible two

Mass extinctions: The terrible two

Features
Mass extinctions: Patterns of disasters and rebounds

Mass extinctions: Patterns of disasters and rebounds

Features
Mass extinctions: Apocalypse now?

Mass extinctions: Apocalypse now?

Features
Eight extremes: The hottest thing in the universe

Eight extremes: The hottest thing in the universe

Features
Eight extremes: The coldest thing in the universe

Space

Eight extremes: The coldest thing in the universe

Features
Eight extremes: The fastest thing in the universe

Space

Eight extremes: The fastest thing in the universe

Features
Eight extremes: The brightest thing in the universe

Space

Eight extremes: The brightest thing in the universe

Features
Eight extremes: The roundest thing in the universe

Space

Eight extremes: The roundest thing in the universe

Features
Eight extremes: The darkest thing in the universe

Space

Eight extremes: The darkest thing in the universe

Features
Eight extremes: The densest thing in the universe

Space

Eight extremes: The densest thing in the universe

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.

Health

Most 'locked-in' people are happy, survey finds

Imagine that you are totally paralysed but still have all your mental faculties. You can communicate only through rudimentary speech or limited movements such as blinking or moving your eyes. You wouldn't be happy, would you? It turns out that you probably would: contrary to most people's assumptions, happiness is the norm among people with …

News

Health

Newborn mice can mend a broken heart

News

Health

New drug is 'champagne moment' for cystic fibrosis

News

Life

Child cremation gives glimpse of first North Americans

News

Life

Zoologger: Australia's truly glamorous camper

News

Technology

Crowdsourced translations get the word out from Libya

News

Health

Fish oil prevents weight loss during chemotherapy

News

Health

When the mind's eye processes language

News

Balloon launches breach North Korea's bubble

News

Space

Scientists get tickets to ride with space tourists

News

Life

The only vertebrate that eats with its mouth shut

News

Space

Hot pixel mystery plagues delayed space telescope

News

Life

Empowered women smoke more

News

Earth

Solar energy spars with spiritual lands in California

News

Health

Genetic treatment closes door on HIV

News

Earth

Rare species may be there, even if you don't see them

News

60 Seconds

News

Life

Primordial Pac-Man: Oil droplet hints at life's origin

News

Physics

I predict a riot: Where the next dictator will fall

News

Space

Gravity's bias for left may be writ in the sky

News

Earth

Antarctic ice may be more stable than we thought

News

Life

Sweat ducts make skin a memristor

News

Life

Following the herd actually shifts your opinion

News

Space

Largest galaxies grow up gradually like snowflakes

News

Meteorite cargo could solve origin-of-life riddle

News

Life

Earliest evidence for magic mushroom use in Europe

News

Technology

Smart-grid 'stockbrokers' to manage your power

News

Technology

One Per Cent: Robot race, biofuels and Taser grenades

News

Technology

Coming soon: Pirated movies in 3D

News

Technology

Crickets inspire stealthy robots to fire rings of air

News

Opinion

Nathan Myhrvold: From Microsoft to molecular gastronomy

Earth

Nathan Myhrvold: From Microsoft to molecular gastronomy

Video: How to make watermelon chips Cooking up a whole new storm See gallery: " Nathan Myhrvold's world-changing inventions " Nathan Myhrvold may hold a record for the widest variety of interesting careers before the age of 50. He worked as a physicist alongside Stephen Hawking, then became chief technology officer for Microsoft. He's now …

Opinion

New race to the moon: The legal has landed

Opinion

We should play the long game with genomics

Opinion

Technology

The internet is a tyrant's friend

Opinion

Life

Sports shoe guru: How to choose the best running shoe

Opinion

Features

Boy brain, girl brain: How the sexes act differently

Life

Boy brain, girl brain: How the sexes act differently

Venus and Mars collide We've found real differences in the ways men and women think and behave – but which ones matter? New Scientist puts things in perspective AS IF bookstore shelves weren't groaning enough under the weight of books revealing the differences between men and women, Donald Pfaff has recently added another to the …

Features

Space

Moon millions: Space firms chase Google's lunar lucre

Features

Mass extinctions: A brief history of catastrophe

Features

Mass extinctions: The terrible two

Features

Mass extinctions: Patterns of disasters and rebounds

Features

Mass extinctions: Apocalypse now?

Features

Eight extremes: The hottest thing in the universe

Features

Space

Eight extremes: The coldest thing in the universe

Features

Space

Eight extremes: The fastest thing in the universe

Features

Space

Eight extremes: The brightest thing in the universe

Features

Space

Eight extremes: The roundest thing in the universe

Features

Space

Eight extremes: The darkest thing in the universe

Features

Space

Eight extremes: The densest thing in the universe

Features

Space

Eight extremes: The biggest things in the universe

Features

Culturelab

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.

How one cybercriminal stole $86 million

Kevin Poulsen's Kingpin: How one hacker took over the billion-dollar cybercrime underground is a gripping tale that goes beyond the hacker stereotype On 16 August 2006, an email landed in the inboxes of thousands of criminals around the world containing news of a hostile takeover. Many of the recipients specialised in credit card fraud, a …

CultureLab

Mind

One man's quest to become a memory champion

CultureLab

Momentous quantum milestones

CultureLab

The supernatural and the brain

CultureLab

India: the story of an emerging scientific superpower

CultureLab

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 1636

Risky business Just before Christmas in Joe's town, population 20,775, there was a bug going around, which, it was known later, had affected just 75 people. At the time the only test that could detect the bug was just 92 per cent accurate and was never used. Joe wondered, if all the population had been …

Regulars

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: Full of fellow feeling despite being dead

Full of fellow feeling despite being dead SALMON appear to be able to recognise people's emotions, according to our first take on research by Craig M. Bennett and colleagues. They showed a fish a series of photographs of humans in "social situations with a specified emotional valence" while peeking into its brain with an fMRI …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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