Issue 3028 | Magazine cover date: 4 July 2015

4 July 2015

Issue 3028

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On the cover

Features

The three ancestral tribes that founded Western civilisation

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Health

Chronic fatigue breakthrough offers hope for millions

Opinion

Technology

Fog of cyberwar: How nations really attack each other online

Features

Humans

The three ancestral tribes that founded Western civilisation

Features

Health

The cancer sniffers: Dogs could be the best tool for diagnosis

Features

Leaders

Health

Chronic fatigue breakthrough offers hope for millions

Misunderstood and neglected for more than 25 years, there is suddenly new hope for people diagnosed with what was once cruelly called "yuppy flu"

Opinion

News

Life

Antarctic Yeti crabs cling to hot jets and farm bacteria

Hot stuff: hydrothermal vents power the ecosystem (Image: Dr Sven Thatje) Hot vents in Antarctica's Southern Ocean are crowded with cold, hairy crabs. Blind and surrounded by freezing water, they must huddle close to the vent chimneys that power their ecosystem. Sven Thatje from the University of Southampton discovered the new species, Kiwa tyleri , …

News

Life

Our eye sockets give us a wider field of view than other apes

News

Life

Rats dream about the places they wish to go

News

Earth

Heat-tolerant genes could help corals adapt to climate change

News

Space

Galaxy's supermassive black hole is a cool neighbourhood for ice

News

Space

SpaceX rocket explosion is setback for US crewed space missions

News

Life

Zoologger: The vertebrate that digs the deepest nest

News

Space

Misbehaving pulsar's sudden slow-down may teach us how they tick

News

Hoped-for dark matter flash might be dead stars instead

News

Technology

Health-hackers: The people building apps to manage their illness

News

Technology

Why the internet is giving us worse games, books and music

News

Technology

One Per Cent

News

Life

US Supreme Court backs controversial execution drug

News

Life

Dopamine boost restores libido in ageing male fruit flies

News

Earth

The new regions at risk from mosquitoes carrying diseases

News

Health

Weird cells in your semen? Don't panic, you might just have flu

News

How same-sex marriage ruling skirts science of 'born this way'

News

Space

Rosetta spots sinkholes and patches of ice on comet's surface

News

Space

Physicists launch fight to make data more important than theory

News

60 Seconds

News

Technology

Crunch time for Iranian nuclear deal

News

Earth

Brazil agrees to cut Amazon deforestation and boost renewables

News

Health

Want tall, smart children? Find an exotic stranger

News

Earth

Did humans do this? Mystery of weird Amazonian savannah solved

News

What is artificial blood and why is the UK going to trial it?

News

Opinion

Health

Solitary confinement is a crime against the mind

Freedom beckons for Albert Woodfox after 43 years in solitary – but we should heed the evidence that this is a cruel punishment and ban it

Opinion

Life

For an easier birth, stop thinking about it

Opinion

Earth

Bad economics has killed wind farm subsidies in the UK

Opinion

Technology

Your phone is constantly betraying you

Opinion

Analysis

Earth

Illegal not to act: Could courts save world from climate change?

Emissions are harmful to Dutch citizens (Image: Olivier Lantzendörffer/Getty) All governments have a legal duty to protect their citizens from harm. They must therefore do their part to prevent dangerous global warming. And if they fail to act, their citizens can take them to court to compel them. This legal argument has been tested for …

News

Aperture

Earth

First relocatable Antarctic research station gets its skis on

(Image: Antony Dubber/BAS) CONSTANT darkness, bone-chilling temperatures and cut off from the rest of the world. Living in Antarctica isn't for the faint-hearted – and I should know, I overwintered there a while back. But at least I lived in a base built on rock; it's quite another matter when your home sits on top …

Regulars

Features

Health

The cancer sniffers: Dogs could be the best tool for diagnosis

Anecdotes of dogs that can sniff out cancer have been doing the rounds for years, and now the urban legend is being subjected to scientific scrutiny

Features

Technology

Fog of cyberwar: How nations really attack each other online

Features

Humans

The three ancestral tribes that founded Western civilisation

Features

Culturelab

<i>Black Sheep</i>: Why being bad isn't all bad

Black Sheep: Why being bad isn't all bad

From swearing to skiving or getting drunk, breaking the rules has lots of upsides, as a wide-ranging new book explains

CultureLab

Earth

Heaven on earth: The multiverse made of rock and grass

CultureLab

Earth

A welcome dose of environmental optimism

CultureLab

Regulars

Feedback: Tabloids for androids

(Image: Paul McDevitt) Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more The robot reader's digest WORK in the New Scientist office was recently hindered by news from Google Labs. "Progress on the path from shallow bag-of-words information retrieval algorithms to machines capable of reading and understanding documents has …

Regulars

This week's magazine

4 July 2015

On the cover

Health

Chronic fatigue breakthrough offers hope for millions

Technology

Fog of cyberwar: How nations really attack each other online

Humans

The three ancestral tribes that founded Western civilisation

Health

The cancer sniffers: Dogs could be the best tool for diagnosis

Table of contents

Leaders

Health

Chronic fatigue breakthrough offers hope for millions

News

Life

Antarctic Yeti crabs cling to hot jets and farm bacteria

Life

Our eye sockets give us a wider field of view than other apes

Life

Rats dream about the places they wish to go

Earth

Heat-tolerant genes could help corals adapt to climate change

Space

Galaxy's supermassive black hole is a cool neighbourhood for ice

Space

SpaceX rocket explosion is setback for US crewed space missions

Life

Zoologger: The vertebrate that digs the deepest nest

Space

Misbehaving pulsar's sudden slow-down may teach us how they tick

Hoped-for dark matter flash might be dead stars instead

Technology

Health-hackers: The people building apps to manage their illness

Technology

Why the internet is giving us worse games, books and music

Technology

One Per Cent

Life

US Supreme Court backs controversial execution drug

Life

Dopamine boost restores libido in ageing male fruit flies

Earth

The new regions at risk from mosquitoes carrying diseases

Health

Weird cells in your semen? Don't panic, you might just have flu

How same-sex marriage ruling skirts science of 'born this way'

Space

Rosetta spots sinkholes and patches of ice on comet's surface

Space

Physicists launch fight to make data more important than theory

60 Seconds

Technology

Crunch time for Iranian nuclear deal

Earth

Brazil agrees to cut Amazon deforestation and boost renewables

Health

Want tall, smart children? Find an exotic stranger

Earth

Did humans do this? Mystery of weird Amazonian savannah solved

What is artificial blood and why is the UK going to trial it?

Opinion

Health

Solitary confinement is a crime against the mind

Life

For an easier birth, stop thinking about it

Earth

Bad economics has killed wind farm subsidies in the UK

Technology

Your phone is constantly betraying you

Analysis

Earth

Illegal not to act: Could courts save world from climate change?

Aperture

Earth

First relocatable Antarctic research station gets its skis on

Features

Health

The cancer sniffers: Dogs could be the best tool for diagnosis