Issue 3025 | Magazine cover date: 13 June 2015

13 June 2015

Issue 3025

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On the cover

News

Latest numbers show at least 5 metres sea-level rise locked in

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Space

Our exploration of the solar system is just getting started

Opinion

Health

Why learning in your sleep is an idea that's reawakening

Features

Space

How New Horizons will probe mysteries of Pluto's oddball moons

Features

Space

First visit to Pluto could rewrite the solar system's story

Features

Space

Dwarf or planet? First visit to Pluto could reignite the row

Features

Earth

What is making mysterious fairy circles appear in the desert?

Features

Leaders

Space

Our exploration of the solar system is just getting started

Pluto might be the final stop on NASA’s Grand Tour, but our visit marks the start of a new wave of exploration of the myriad worlds in our neighbourhood

Opinion

News

Health

Cheap blood test reveals every virus you've ever been exposed to

Viral history in a vial You'll probably remember the last time you had the flu, but what about that time you had measles – or was it chicken pox? Your blood knows: it keeps a record of every virus you've ever been infected with. A tiny drop of the stuff can now be tested to …

News

Earth

Four countries are acting as safe havens for African elephants

News

Life

Monkeys' cosy alliance with wolves looks like domestication

News

Technology

Thrills and spills as world's best robots take each other on

News

Health

Why MERS is more likely to stay a hospital bug than go pandemic

News

Life

Sixth personality trait measures your Machiavellian potential

News

Technology

Microscopic safety inspectors could keep tabs on nuclear reactors

News

Technology

Kevin Spacey CGI puppet recreated using paparazzi shots

News

Technology

One Per Cent

News

Rogue wave ahoy! New technique can predict surprise sea threat

News

20 billion nanoparticles talk to the brain using electricity

News

Dinosaur blood cells extracted from 75-million-year-old fossil

News

Sunlight could whip up water to slake lunar settlers' thirst

News

Environment

Snail's demise suggests sixth mass extinction is under way

News

60 Seconds

News

Earth

Latest numbers show at least 5 metres sea-level rise locked in

News

Mind

Defying death is causing back pain, bad teeth and depression

News

‘Female Viagra' to treat low libido gets go-ahead from FDA panel

News

LightSail spacecraft successfully deploys solar sail

News

Earth

Norway's coal disinvestment is still just a drop in the ocean

News

Poisonous orange mini-frogs discovered in Brazilian forest

News

Environment

First evidence of how parents' lives could change children's DNA

News

Space

Supernova prized by astronomers begins to fade from view

News

Environment

Handstands and cartwheels turn dwarf mongooses into tough guys

News

Life

Trail-blazing ants show hints of metacognition when seeking food

News

Opinion

Health

UK's legal highs ban is unscientific and will lead to more harm

A plan to prohibit psychoactive substances not covered by existing law will only make matters worse, warns a former UK government drug policy adviser

Opinion

Life

Chimps with magic stove show evolutionary capacity for cooking

Opinion

Technology

Laser beam warfare is here – but not as we expected

Opinion

Health

Shunning the sun may be killing you in more ways than you think

Opinion

Aperture

Earth

The village in Transylvania sacrificed to toxic sludge

It's not just vampires and bats that make Transylvania eerie. The village of Geamana was abandoned as a dump for toxic waste from a nearby copper mine

Regulars

Features

Health

Why learning in your sleep is an idea that's reawakening

Improve your memory, overcome a phobia or unlearn a bad habit – while you slumber. It sounds too good to be true, but new work suggests there might be a way

Features

Space

How New Horizons will probe mysteries of Pluto's oddball moons

Features

Space

First visit to Pluto could rewrite the solar system's story

Features

Space

Dwarf or planet? First visit to Pluto could reignite the row

Features

Earth

What is making mysterious fairy circles appear in the desert?

Features

Culturelab

<i>The Soul of an Octopus</i>: Getting to know an intelligent mollusc

Life

The Soul of an Octopus: Getting to know an intelligent mollusc

The giant Pacific octopus is considered so fearsome that few dare engage with it, but in her new book Sy Montgomery recounts a playful and peculiar nature

CultureLab

Life

DNA is life's blueprint? No, there's far more to it than that

CultureLab

Regulars

Feedback: A new cold war

(Images: Paul McDevitt) Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more The new cold war THIS year marks the centenary of the lethal chlorine gas attacks at Ypres in Belgium, a spectre whose long shadow refuses to abate. Witness a barrage of stories that exploded across the UK …

Regulars

This week's magazine

13 June 2015

On the cover

Space

Our exploration of the solar system is just getting started

Health

Why learning in your sleep is an idea that's reawakening

Space

How New Horizons will probe mysteries of Pluto's oddball moons

Space

First visit to Pluto could rewrite the solar system's story

Space

Dwarf or planet? First visit to Pluto could reignite the row

Earth

What is making mysterious fairy circles appear in the desert?

Table of contents

Leaders

Space

Our exploration of the solar system is just getting started

News

Health

Cheap blood test reveals every virus you've ever been exposed to

Earth

Four countries are acting as safe havens for African elephants

Life

Monkeys' cosy alliance with wolves looks like domestication

Technology

Thrills and spills as world's best robots take each other on

Health

Why MERS is more likely to stay a hospital bug than go pandemic

Life

Sixth personality trait measures your Machiavellian potential

Technology

Microscopic safety inspectors could keep tabs on nuclear reactors

Technology

Kevin Spacey CGI puppet recreated using paparazzi shots

Technology

One Per Cent

Rogue wave ahoy! New technique can predict surprise sea threat

20 billion nanoparticles talk to the brain using electricity

Dinosaur blood cells extracted from 75-million-year-old fossil

Sunlight could whip up water to slake lunar settlers' thirst

Environment

Snail's demise suggests sixth mass extinction is under way

60 Seconds

Earth

Latest numbers show at least 5 metres sea-level rise locked in

Mind

Defying death is causing back pain, bad teeth and depression

‘Female Viagra' to treat low libido gets go-ahead from FDA panel

LightSail spacecraft successfully deploys solar sail

Earth

Norway's coal disinvestment is still just a drop in the ocean

Poisonous orange mini-frogs discovered in Brazilian forest

Environment

First evidence of how parents' lives could change children's DNA

Space

Supernova prized by astronomers begins to fade from view

Environment

Handstands and cartwheels turn dwarf mongooses into tough guys

Life

Trail-blazing ants show hints of metacognition when seeking food

Opinion

Health

UK's legal highs ban is unscientific and will lead to more harm

Life

Chimps with magic stove show evolutionary capacity for cooking

Technology

Laser beam warfare is here – but not as we expected

Health

Shunning the sun may be killing you in more ways than you think

Aperture

Earth

The village in Transylvania sacrificed to toxic sludge

Features

Health

Why learning in your sleep is an idea that's reawakening

Space

How New Horizons will probe mysteries of Pluto's oddball moons

Space