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This week's magazine

29 August 2015

Issue 3036

New Scientist issue 3036 cover
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Editor's picks

It's not too late to reclaim our online privacy

Technology

It's not too late to reclaim our online privacy

Opinion
I've taught computers to paint portraits – and how to code

Physics

I've taught computers to paint portraits – and how to code

Features
Our number's up: Machines will do maths we'll never understand

Life

Our number's up: Machines will do maths we'll never understand

Features
Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too

Life

Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too

Features
How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Humans

How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

New Scientist logo

Technology

Smart machines may discover things we can't, but we still matter

ANYTHING you can do, a machine can do better. Well, not really, but that's what it has felt like lately. Rapid advances in "deep learning" have led to computers whose abilities rival or exceed ours, in tasks ranging from describing pictures to driving (page 19). Cue a wave of anxiety about the potential for automatons …

Opinion

Technology

It's not too late to reclaim our online privacy

Opinion

News

I don't predict a riot: jail smoking ban need not spell unrest

Health

I don't predict a riot: jail smoking ban need not spell unrest

Many prisons around the world are already smoke-free (Image: David R. Frazier/Getty) A letter from a non-smoking prisoner with lung cancer, distraught because he was forced to share his cell with smokers, convinced me that smoking in prisons is an issue of human rights. If anything, more so than in public places such as pubs …

News

Technology

High-energy LHC plans held up by UFOs and electron clouds

News

Technology

Metamaterial wormhole teleports magnetic fields across space

News

Earth

Watery time capsule hints at how life got started on early Earth

News

Life

Genetic switch makes fat cells burn energy rather than store it

News

Life

Ant knows how to self-medicate to fight off fungal infection

News

Technology

Quantum computer firm D-Wave claims massive performance boost

News

Life

Zoologger: Daring raptors lock talons mid-air and cartwheel down

News

Earth

Glaciers seed ocean with silicon – and fuel plankton growth

News

Health

Bed-wetting dries up after magnetic stimulation of lower back

News

Life

Octopuses seen throwing things may be using shells as weapons

News

Health

Hormones boost placebo effect by making you want to cooperate

News

Technology

App gives smartphone snaps more than 5 million different filters

News

Health

Hidden viral protein brings universal flu jab closer

News

Environment

ISIS shows off Palmyra destruction as museums race to save rest

News

Life

Dainty step gives mosquito legs strength to walk on water

News

Earth

US wildfires continue to spread as high winds foil simulations

News

Earth

China crash a sign of nation's transition to a new economy

News

Technology

Diagnosis without doctors: Deep learning to transform medicine

News

Life

Aspirin may restore pregnancy sex ratio skewed by inflammation

News

Technology

Could do better: How to clean up the world of online reviews

News

Technology

One Per Cent

News

Technology

Autonomous cars are learning our unpredictable driving habits

News

Submerge a wine glass in water to make an 'inverted glass harp'

News

Technology

After Ashley Madison: How to regain control of your online data

News

Life

More than 100 billion billion Earth-like planets might exist

News

60 Seconds

News

Environment

London's low-emission zone fails to improve air quality

News

Opinion

Russia has claimed the North Pole – but it's not the only one

Earth

Russia has claimed the North Pole – but it's not the only one

It takes more than a flag to claim the Arctic (Image: AP Photo/RTR Russian Channel) In August 2007, Russian scientists planted a flag on the seabed at the North Pole. This was a remarkable achievement and made headlines, but it did not make the pole Russian. The rather more mundane act of the country's revised …

Opinion

Life

Synthetic biology needs a grand design vision

Opinion

Space

Our telescope could give everyone their own galaxy to study

Opinion

Aperture

The Making of 2001: How Kubrick and Clarke designed the future

Space

The Making of 2001: How Kubrick and Clarke designed the future

HALF a century ago, Stanley Kubrick wrote to Arthur C. Clarke about a movie idea. Clarke was enthusiastic: "The 'really good' science-fiction movie is a great many years overdue." So began their collaboration on Journey Beyond the Stars . The film acquired several nicknames ("How the Solar System was Won" was a favourite), before its …

Regulars

Features

How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Humans

How creative computers will dream up things we'd never imagine

Eureka moments could soon be dialled up on demand as leaps of imagination are replaced by the steady steps of invention software

Features

Physics

I've taught computers to paint portraits – and how to code

Features

Life

Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too

Features

Life

Our number's up: Machines will do maths we'll never understand

Features

Culturelab

Substituting senses lets blind people take sonic holiday snaps

Technology

Substituting senses lets blind people take sonic holiday snaps

That composition sounds lovely (Image: Pranav Lal) Imagine taking photographs you can hear – thanks to sonification technology that translates the visual world into sound. Pranav Lal, a cybersecurity expert from Delhi, India, was born blind and he's been using technology called the vOICe to take holiday snaps, most recently while trekking in the Himalayas. …

CultureLab

Life

The Man Who Wasn't There: Exploring the science of the self

CultureLab

Technology

Applied minds: Why engineers are the real heroes

CultureLab

Regulars

Feedback: Hidden gems of crystal clear advice

Feedback: Hidden gems of crystal clear advice

(Image: Paul McDevitt) Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more As clear as crystal A HIDDEN gem is uncovered by Trevor Howland in the pages of Crystal Energy , a book that promises "150 ways to bring success, love, health and harmony into your life". As jaded …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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