Issue 3056 | Magazine cover date: 16 January 2016

16 January 2016

Issue 3056

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On the cover

Features

How to master your habits and take control of your life

Can this starfish-killing robot save the Great Barrier Reef?

How to find ET: 7 ways aliens might give themselves away

News

Time might flow backwards as well as forwards from the big bang

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Technology

Killer robots: It's time to decide who pulls the trigger

Opinion

Life

How to master your habits and take control of your life

Features

Earth

Can this starfish-killing robot save the Great Barrier Reef?

Features

Life

How to find ET: 7 ways aliens might give themselves away

Features

Leaders

Health

Advice on how much booze we should drink must remain advice

IT'S sobering news. If you're having a dry January – and about 2 million people in England and Wales are trying, according to the charity Alcohol Concern – you might want to think about making it permanent. That was one of the take-home messages of new guidelines issued by the UK's chief medical officers last …

Opinion

Technology

Killer robots: It's time to decide who pulls the trigger

Opinion

News

Space

Star clusters could host long-lived technological civilisations

If habitable planets can form inside globular clusters, they would make nice homes for advanced civilisations that talk to each other and travel between the stars. Globular clusters are dense clumps of stars, with about a million suns packed into a sphere some 100 light years across. They formed early in the Milky Way's history, …

News

Life

Dinosaurs took part in building competitions to attract females

News

Life

Moonlight helps plankton escape predators during Arctic winters

News

Life

Iceman Ötzi may have had stomach ache when he was murdered

News

Earth

Marks of the Anthropocene: 7 signs we have made our own epoch

News

Mathematics

Mathematicians invent new way to slice pizza into exotic shapes

News

Technology

First ever pictures of single proteins thanks to graphene sheet

News

Life

Impulsive people may have less free will than the rest of us

News

Space

Famous Wow! signal might have been from comets, not aliens

News

Space

Philae lander fails to respond to last-ditch efforts to wake it

News

Technology

The firms who will beat Google to get us into self-driving cars

News

Life

Sound of your own voice may help you understand your emotions

News

Space

New rumours that gravitational waves have finally been detected

News

Earth

California's massive methane leak prompts action to capture it

News

Life

Shark virgin births seen in two generations for the first time

News

Life

Global watchdog needed to spot the next Ebola-like outbreak

News

Icy find under comet 67P's skin could make sense of its origins

News

Space

Time might flow backwards as well as forwards from the big bang

News

Earth

Climate change credibility tool shows what news you can trust

News

Male spiders lure aggressive females with peek-a-boo paddle game

News

‘Locked-in' people show signs of awareness with maths puzzles

News

Technology

One Per Cent

News

Environment

60 Seconds

News

Mind

US and UK update recommendations on sugar and alcohol

News

Life

Peterborough Pompeii rises from the ashes after 3000 years

News

Mind

MPs suggest smart drugs and nutmeg for exemption from drugs law

News

Your gut's trick for controlling the bacteria that live in it

News

Opinion

Health

Mexico's sugary-drink tax was all fizz for very little pop

A much-heralded tax on sugary drinks in Mexico has had only a modest impact and shows much more is needed to turn the tide of obesity, says Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition and dietetics

Opinion

Health

There's a savant in you – and this man wants to find it

Opinion

Life

Imagine storing all the world's archives in a box of seeds

Opinion

Earth

Climate change means the flood defence rule book needs a rewrite

Opinion

Analysis

Earth

Oil price plunge will be bad news for climate efforts

The price of oil has plummeted since June 2014 and last week fell to its lowest level for 11 years. Natural gas prices , which are linked to oil prices, have been falling too. And in many countries, such as the US, the cost of coal has been dropping for a while. Many analysts think …

News

Technology

How builder bots are taking construction work out of human hands

News

Aperture

Space

Space age ghosts show abandoned relics of NASA's golden years

THEY were once the height of high tech, but now these relics of the US space age are just modern-day ruins. "These things were the focus of the world's attention 40, 50 years ago," says photographer Roland Miller. "Now they're rusting away and being torn down." Miller first came across them in 1988, when he …

Regulars

Features

Life

How to master your habits and take control of your life

Habits rule our daily lives, but understanding how they become ingrained in the brain could help you nail the habits you want to keep and drop the ones you don’t

Features

Earth

Can this starfish-killing robot save the Great Barrier Reef?

Features

Life

How to find ET: 7 ways aliens might give themselves away

Features

Culturelab

Technology

Big Bang Data offers worries, wonders and some cats

On the first of the 12 days of CultureLab, Alun Anderson tells of how in a world made of data, an exhibition underlines the choice between the heaven of superconnection or the hell of surveillance

CultureLab

Life

The Society of Genes: Time for a subtler picture of evolution

CultureLab

Regulars

Feedback: Laser-etched food promises a digested read

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Serving suggestions HOW'S this for a digested read? Niels Henzwe and his colleagues have been experimenting with a laser cutter to sear messages on to bananas, bread and sausages. Or, as they reported at the 14th International Conference on Mobile …

Regulars

This week's magazine

16 January 2016

On the cover

Technology

Killer robots: It's time to decide who pulls the trigger

Life

How to master your habits and take control of your life

Earth

Can this starfish-killing robot save the Great Barrier Reef?

Life

How to find ET: 7 ways aliens might give themselves away

Table of contents

Leaders

Health

Advice on how much booze we should drink must remain advice

Technology

Killer robots: It's time to decide who pulls the trigger

News

Space

Star clusters could host long-lived technological civilisations

Life

Dinosaurs took part in building competitions to attract females

Life

Moonlight helps plankton escape predators during Arctic winters

Life

Iceman Ötzi may have had stomach ache when he was murdered

Earth

Marks of the Anthropocene: 7 signs we have made our own epoch

Mathematics

Mathematicians invent new way to slice pizza into exotic shapes

Technology

First ever pictures of single proteins thanks to graphene sheet

Life

Impulsive people may have less free will than the rest of us

Space

Famous Wow! signal might have been from comets, not aliens

Space

Philae lander fails to respond to last-ditch efforts to wake it

Technology

The firms who will beat Google to get us into self-driving cars

Life

Sound of your own voice may help you understand your emotions

Space

New rumours that gravitational waves have finally been detected

Earth

California's massive methane leak prompts action to capture it

Life

Shark virgin births seen in two generations for the first time

Life

Global watchdog needed to spot the next Ebola-like outbreak

Icy find under comet 67P's skin could make sense of its origins

Space

Time might flow backwards as well as forwards from the big bang

Earth

Climate change credibility tool shows what news you can trust

Male spiders lure aggressive females with peek-a-boo paddle game

‘Locked-in' people show signs of awareness with maths puzzles

Technology

One Per Cent

Environment

60 Seconds

Mind

US and UK update recommendations on sugar and alcohol

Life

Peterborough Pompeii rises from the ashes after 3000 years

Mind

MPs suggest smart drugs and nutmeg for exemption from drugs law

Your gut's trick for controlling the bacteria that live in it

Opinion

Health

Mexico's sugary-drink tax was all fizz for very little pop

Health

There's a savant in you – and this man wants to find it

Life

Imagine storing all the world's archives in a box of seeds

Earth

Climate change means the flood defence rule book needs a rewrite

Analysis

Earth

Oil price plunge will be bad news for climate efforts