Issue 3032 | Magazine cover date: 1 August 2015

1 August 2015

Issue 3032

Previous issue Next issue

On the cover

Features

Nature's strangest families: Why animals adopt

Home, sweet exomoon: The new frontier in the search for ET

Bitter truth: How we're making fruit and veg less healthy

News

Earth now halfway to UN global warming limit

When should you get pregnant? Computer knows age to start trying

Access our magazine content direct via our website, app or print magazine

View in the app

Check out this magazine in our easy-to-navigate mobile app

Find a previous edition online

Search through our digital archive of over 30 years of magazines

Health

IVF can be both a blessing and a curse

Opinion

Cherry tomatoes and broccoli in fast food containers

Health

Bitter truth: How we're making fruit and veg less healthy

Features

Life

Nature's strangest families: Why animals adopt

Features

Life

Home, sweet exomoon: The new frontier in the search for ET

Features

Leaders

Health

May contain rubbish – food labelling rules are failing us

Guidelines for food labelling are made with good intentions, but they end up leaving consumers baffled by ambiguous marketing rather than giving them the facts

Opinion

Health

IVF can be both a blessing and a curse

Opinion

News

Space

Earth-like alien world looms into view through Kepler telescope

Kepler 452b (right) is about 60 per cent larger in diameter than Earth (Artist's impression: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle) Meet Kepler 452b, Earth's new alien cousin. This rocky planet is the first alien world we've seen that circles a sun-like star at a distance that should allow liquid water to exist on its surface. The planet came …

News

Life

Four-legged fossil holds secret of snake's slithering origins

News

Earth

Megafauna extinction: DNA evidence pins blame on climate change

News

Space

What would happen if a massive comet crashed into the sun?

News

Life

Resistant bacteria don't just evade drugs – they are fitter too

News

Earth

Leading climate scientist: Future is bleaker than we thought

News

Technology

Is it possible to permanently delete a social media profile?

News

Health

Interpreting body language is no problem for kids with autism

News

Technology

Living lasers made by injecting oil droplets into human cells

News

Earth

Iron-age arsonists' leftovers hint at how Earth's poles may flip

News

Earth

Only 100 tigers left in Bangladesh after last count got it wrong

News

Earth

Hillary Clinton wants every home to be powered by clean energy

News

Life

Plague may not be solely to blame for Black Death's mortality

News

Life

Consciousness test could spot if someone wakes up during surgery

News

Health

First MERS vaccine to be tested in monkeys shows promise

News

Earth

Earth now halfway to UN global warming limit

News

Health

Nigeria's polio-free year sees Africa inch closer to eradication

News

Life

Clusters of living worlds would hint life came from outer space

News

Physics

Layer of melting ice helps spheres fall faster through water

News

Space

Neptune's sudden jolt could explain weird ring in Kuiper belt

News

Technology

The apps that let you earn money while you holiday

News

Technology

One Per Cent

News

Life

When should you get pregnant? Computer knows age to start trying

News

60 Seconds

News

Space

New Horizons spots oozing glaciers and hazy skies on Pluto

News

Technology

Hackers take control of smart car via the internet

News

Opinion

Technology

The gamers who only want to explore virtual worlds

Buttonmasher is our monthly column about video games, and how the way we play is changing

Opinion

Health

Bionics man offers a taste of our cyborg future

Opinion

Humans

How our capacity to lie peaks in young adulthood

Opinion

A new hunt for ET could well find AI on non-Earthlike worlds

Opinion

Space

Is Pluto a planet or a dwarf? Such labels matter less and less

Opinion

Aperture

Life

Macabre mousetraps show age-old ingenuity in the vermin wars

(All images: Heidi and Hans-Jürgenkoch/Eyevine) IF YOU are scanning these pictures for the "ACME corporation" logo, stop. Although these instruments of torture could easily be imagined in the hands of a cartoon villain, they are real mousetraps developed through the ages. They might seem comical – after all, there is something very cartoon-like about …

Regulars

Features

Life

Nature's strangest families: Why animals adopt

Forget altruism and good intentions: in nature adoption is a cut-throat business involving deception, mistaken identity, posturing and offspring on the make

Features

Life

Home, sweet exomoon: The new frontier in the search for ET

Features

Health

Bitter truth: How we're making fruit and veg less healthy

Features

Culturelab

Life

How virtual reality will take us deeper into the real world

From an immersion in the cosmos to browsing genomes, virtual reality is set to change everything – but not in the ways you might think

CultureLab

New Scientist's best summer reading

CultureLab

Environment

Lions in the Balance: Can hunting save the kings of the jungle?

CultureLab

Regulars

Feedback: Free energy dreams deliver endless fruitloopery

(Image: Paul McDevitt) Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Orbo offers endless spin PERPETUAL motion devices continue to deliver amusement, if not the promised free energy. Feedback previously discussed the Enclosed Loop Electric Windmill System, a device that raised $3 of investment capital on crowd-funding site …

Regulars

This week's magazine

1 August 2015

On the cover

Health

IVF can be both a blessing and a curse

Health

Bitter truth: How we're making fruit and veg less healthy

Life

Nature's strangest families: Why animals adopt

Life

Home, sweet exomoon: The new frontier in the search for ET

Table of contents

Leaders

Health

May contain rubbish – food labelling rules are failing us

Health

IVF can be both a blessing and a curse

News

Space

Earth-like alien world looms into view through Kepler telescope

Life

Four-legged fossil holds secret of snake's slithering origins

Earth

Megafauna extinction: DNA evidence pins blame on climate change

Space

What would happen if a massive comet crashed into the sun?

Life

Resistant bacteria don't just evade drugs – they are fitter too

Earth

Leading climate scientist: Future is bleaker than we thought

Technology

Is it possible to permanently delete a social media profile?

Health

Interpreting body language is no problem for kids with autism

Technology

Living lasers made by injecting oil droplets into human cells

Earth

Iron-age arsonists' leftovers hint at how Earth's poles may flip

Earth

Only 100 tigers left in Bangladesh after last count got it wrong

Earth

Hillary Clinton wants every home to be powered by clean energy

Life

Plague may not be solely to blame for Black Death's mortality

Life

Consciousness test could spot if someone wakes up during surgery

Health

First MERS vaccine to be tested in monkeys shows promise

Earth

Earth now halfway to UN global warming limit

Health

Nigeria's polio-free year sees Africa inch closer to eradication

Life

Clusters of living worlds would hint life came from outer space

Physics

Layer of melting ice helps spheres fall faster through water

Space

Neptune's sudden jolt could explain weird ring in Kuiper belt

Technology

The apps that let you earn money while you holiday

Technology

One Per Cent

Life

When should you get pregnant? Computer knows age to start trying

60 Seconds

Space

New Horizons spots oozing glaciers and hazy skies on Pluto

Technology

Hackers take control of smart car via the internet

Opinion

Technology

The gamers who only want to explore virtual worlds

Health

Bionics man offers a taste of our cyborg future

Humans

How our capacity to lie peaks in young adulthood

A new hunt for ET could well find AI on non-Earthlike worlds

Space

Is Pluto a planet or a dwarf? Such labels matter less and less

Aperture