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This week's magazine

22 September 2012

Issue 2883

New Scientist issue 2883 cover
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Editor's picks

Big bangs theory: Unlocking the secrets of great hair

Physics

Big bangs theory: Unlocking the secrets of great hair

Features
Can geoengineering avert climate chaos?

Earth

Can geoengineering avert climate chaos?

Features
Truth decay: The half-life of facts

Truth decay: The half-life of facts

Features
Warmonger or idealist: the roots of human conflict

Life

Warmonger or idealist: the roots of human conflict

Features

Table of contents

News

Zoologger: Spinster queens become commoners

Life

Zoologger: Spinster queens become commoners

Zoologger is our weekly column highlighting extraordinary animals – and occasionally other organisms – from around the world

News

Physics

First images of chemical bond differences captured

News

Life

Dead sons may explain killer whale menopause

News

Life

Worker bees reboot brain genes to suit the task

News

Space

Astrophile: The pride and fall of warrior comet Lovejoy

News

Space

Sizing up a new measuring ruler for the solar system

News

Life

Climate change determined humanity's global conquest

News

Health

Brain growth depends on shapely neurons

News

Earth

Oil reserves at heart of Japan-China island dispute

News

Life

A real fMRI high: My ecstasy brain scan

News

Earth

Ape researcher suspended amid welfare concerns

News

Life

Neural implants could spark better decisions

News

Life

America 2050: population change threatens the dream

News

Earth

Stop fishing in the Atlantic and reap the rewards

News

Lack of Arctic ice no help to Shell

News

Human-safe robot could revolutionise manufacturing

News

Space

Orbital Sciences set to launch from private spaceport

News

60 Seconds

News

Physics

Only in 3D are spheres the worst packers

News

Physics

New maths triggers a call to iron out quantum world

News

Police could create image of suspect's face from DNA

News

Technology

Tiniest trickle will speed all-electronic lab-on-a-chip

News

Life

Cameras know you by your walk

News

Earth

Solar-powered desalination will transform Navajo life

News

Technology

Video mash-ups give you personalised memories

News

Life

El futuro del sueño americano depende de la educación de los jóvenes latinos

News

Technology

Lane-keeping app makes any car smarter

News

Opinion

Brave new sea worlds to redefine society

Earth

Brave new sea worlds to redefine society

Aqua towns: above a certain size, they could enjoy real autonomy "It's very important that we be perceived as undertaking activities that are for the benefit of humankind, as opposed to skirting the law" Floating cities could become a reality if "seasteaders" like George Petrie have their way. The naval architect tells Jon White why …

Opinion

Health

MDMA TV: Turn on, tune in, do the research

Opinion

Earth

Moon? Mars? No, it's seaward ho!

Opinion

Life

Animals are conscious and should be treated as such

Opinion

Space

Meet the man who gave the Mars rover its eyes

Opinion

Analysis

Playing PC games on TV opens up new world of gaming

Technology

Playing PC games on TV opens up new world of gaming

A new PC interface for TV screens is set to change gaming – and could herald future smart TVs with the power of modern PCs

News

Aperture

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.

Capturing the finest light show on the planet

VIKING berserkers were said to have taken hallucinogenic mushrooms to help whip themselves into a frenzy before battle. They certainly wouldn't have needed them to see trippy light patterns in the sky. In Earth's polar regions – such as here, in Nordland county, Norway – natural light shows occur when charged particles from space surge …

Regulars

Features

Can geoengineering avert climate chaos?

Earth

Can geoengineering avert climate chaos?

From sunshades to algal blooms, there are plenty of ideas for cooling the planet. But are there hidden dangers?

Features

Truth decay: The half-life of facts

Features

Life

Warmonger or idealist: the roots of human conflict

Features

Physics

Big bangs theory: Unlocking the secrets of great hair

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.

Humans

Is love just chemical trickery?

In The Chemistry Between Us , neuroscientist Larry Young and journalist Brian Alexander examine the neurobiological roots of love THERE is a reason most of us sigh into our drinks when Cole Porter croons, "What is this thing called love?" We understand his befuddlement all too well. (And let's face it: if a man about …

CultureLab

Humans

Is 8 hours a night right for everyone?

CultureLab

The links between trade, disease and economic warfare

CultureLab

Humans

Is hearing more important than seeing?

CultureLab

Technology

Liberating cyberspace

CultureLab

Earth

The sad disappearance of Antarctica

CultureLab

More

Where are all the black women in science?

Where are all the black women in science?

As a child, Erika Dommond wrote letters to Oprah Winfrey, telling the TV icon about school and asking if Oprah would adopt her. When she graduated this year with a mathematics degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, the oldest historically black college for women in the US, her idol gave the commencement address. "Epic …

Careers

Enigma Number 1716

Regulars

Study physics if you want a ticket to ride

Careers

Roads less travelled for physics graduates

Careers

Regulars

Feedback: Those very expensive platinum particles

Feedback: Those very expensive platinum particles

Those very expensive platinum particles SHARING Feedback's puzzlement over La Prairie face cream and its claim to contain "magnetically charged particles of platinum" (23 June) , Ash Choudry wrote to the company owning up to "struggling a little to understand how the particles can have a magnetic charge". He further confessed that "I don't understand …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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