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This week's magazine

1 December 2012

Issue 2893

New Scientist issue 2893 cover
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Editor's picks

Before the big bang: something or nothing

Space

Before the big bang: something or nothing

Features
Why words are as painful as sticks and stones

Life

Why words are as painful as sticks and stones

Features
Going under: The world's sinking cities

Earth

Going under: The world's sinking cities

Features
Neutron science: How it began

Neutron science: How it began

Features
Neutron science: Neutrons at work

Neutron science: Neutrons at work

Features
Neutron science: Cosmic secrets

Neutron science: Cosmic secrets

Features
Neutron science: Give us more neutrons

Neutron science: Give us more neutrons

Features

Table of contents

News

Astrophile: How a faraway dwarf world lost its cloak

Space

Astrophile: How a faraway dwarf world lost its cloak

Astrophile is our weekly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse

News

Technology

Implant lets the blind read Braille with their eyes

News

Technology

Giving graphene the bends makes it transistor-ready

News

Health

Staunch conservative to be new EU health commissioner

News

Health

New vaccine may give lifelong protection from flu

News

Health

Does being fat make you more jolly?

News

Space

Curiosity result could confirm Mars life, says Levin

News

Earth

Animals are already dissolving in Southern Ocean

News

Life

Lake life survives in total isolation for 3000 years

News

Technology

Arafat's bones could reveal polonium poisoning

News

Health

Blood, sweat and no tears: sweat glands help repair skin

News

Health

Grapefruit makes drugs pack a stronger punch

News

Health

Banished diseases making a comeback in Europe

News

Earth

Gas explosion in Springfield points to ageing pipes

News

60 Seconds

News

Earth

Europe in 2050: a survivor's guide to climate change

News

Life

Giant tortoises bounce back in the Galapagos

News

Life

Weaver ants help flowers get the best pollinator

News

Life

Tiny tug of war in cells underpins life

News

Technology

Why Google's Ingress game is a data gold mine

News

Technology

Florida pet spa mystery link to China's great firewall

News

Technology

Flowing lithium atoms form accidental transistor

News

Life

Endangered primates caught in Congolese conflict

News

Space

Out-of-proportion black hole is a rare cosmic fossil

News

Space

Junk radio signals track all space debris in one go

News

Opinion

Green shoots are growing in oil-rich Texas

Earth

Green shoots are growing in oil-rich Texas

Texas has a reputation as the fossil fuel and climate change denial capital of the US, but things are quietly changing

Opinion

Space

Elon Musk: Mars base will open the way to other stars

Opinion

Technology

'Specialist knowledge is useless and unhelpful'

Opinion

Earth

Countering the new horsemen of the apocalypse

Opinion

Earth

How much will you pay for a green future?

Opinion

Space

The moon is still waiting for visitors

Opinion

Analysis

Crowdfund your area's projects one brick at a time

Technology

Crowdfund your area's projects one brick at a time

As the recession bites and budgets are cut, websites are springing up that allow citizens to club together to fund everything from parks to bridges

News

Space

Humans head for moon's orbit – and beyond

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.

Environment

Which way to Mos Eisley? Aerial view of Algerian oases

See more: To see the image this article refers to, keep checking Picture of the Day on our news blog Short Sharp Science THESE Algerian oases start looking like footprints on a beach as they stretch out toward the horizon, but the water is underground, not up ahead. "It's like the Earth with its living …

Regulars

Features

Before the big bang: something or nothing

Space

Before the big bang: something or nothing

Has the cosmos existed forever, or did something bring it into existence? Time to grapple with the universe's greatest mystery

Features

Life

Why words are as painful as sticks and stones

Features

Earth

Going under: The world's sinking cities

Features

Neutron science: How it began

Features

Neutron science: Neutrons at work

Features

Neutron science: Cosmic secrets

Features

Neutron science: Give us more neutrons

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.

Environment

Battling nature in your backyard

See more: An illustrated version of this article will be published within the next two weeks on our CultureLab books and arts blog

CultureLab

Humans

Tragic tears: Why we are the only animals that cry

CultureLab

The forgotten life of Dorothy Wrinch

CultureLab

The butterfly effect – in giant balloons

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 1726

Conspicuous consumption My uncle came to visit me by car on three days last week, taking the same round route each time, but returning by a different road from the one used to come to my hilltop home. On his arrival at my home on the first day, the miles per gallon (mpg) reading on …

Regulars

Geoscientist wanted: Adventurous nature required

Careers

Regulars

Feedback: Numerical value of 'don't know'

Feedback: Numerical value of 'don't know'

Numerical value of "don't know" OUR item on impossible instructions in an online questionnaire for those who wanted to join the UK retail organisation The Cooperative (27 October) reminded John Gledhill of his struggles to answer the customer questionnaire on the photo-sharing website Photobucket. One of the questions asked him to rank in order of …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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