Issue 3062 | Magazine cover date: 27 February 2016

27 February 2016

Issue 3062

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On the cover

Features

A new kind of logic: How to upgrade the way we think

The crying game: How tears can work for you

Beyond experiment: Why the scientific method may be old hat

News

Apple vs FBI: Who will win this struggle for power?

Ketogenic diet’s reputed anticancer credentials put to test

Opinion

Why I think genitals reveal the universe’s biological diversity

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Physics

With science if at first you don’t succeed, keep trying

Opinion

Technology

A new kind of logic: How to upgrade the way we think

Features

Life

The crying game: How tears can work for you

Features

Space

Beyond experiment: Why the scientific method may be old hat

Features

Leaders

Physics

With science if at first you don’t succeed, keep trying

The discovery of gravitational waves and string theory’s long search for vindication illustrate a truism: to be right in science, first prepare to be wrong

Opinion

News

Space

LIGO's black holes may have lived and died inside a huge star

A gamma ray burst Call it a gut reaction. The revolutionary discovery of space-time ripples may have come from two black holes colliding while inside the belly of an enormous star, whose subsequent collapse launched powerful jets of gamma rays. Scientists already knew that the gravitational waves detected by LIGO , the Laser Interferometer …

News

Life

Sea butterflies fly underwater just like insects do in the air

News

Technology

AI reads doctors' notes to find hidden links in cancer cases

News

Technology

Ransomware threat highlighted by Los Angeles hospital payout

News

Humans

'Torture' study redo shows people feel less agency under orders

News

Space

Binary stars burned off cosmic fog and made universe transparent

News

Humans

Body fluids disgust us less if from someone who is 'one of us'

News

Physics

Quantum weirdness may hide an orderly reality after all

News

Space

India set to join hunt for gravitational waves with its own LIGO

News

Health

Vaccine halves cancer-causing HPV infections in US teen girls

News

Life

Plants have evolved forgetfulness to wipe out memory of stress

News

Earth

Carbon emission cuts could save 300,000 US lives by 2030

News

Earth

Record global temperatures bring strongest ever cyclone to Fiji

News

Earth

Mystery wind drought that cut US wind power in 2015 is back

News

Space

Virgin Galactic claims new 'Unity' spaceship fixes safety issues

News

Health

Doctors claim legalising some genital mutilation may help girls

News

Technology

Apple vs FBI: Who will win this struggle for power?

News

Life

A crab, shrimp and fish leave their shared home doing the conga

News

Health

Boost your mental muscle with 20 minutes of exercise

News

Technology

One Per Cent

News

Space

Astronauts may respond faster to warning voices than alarm tones

News

Facebook’s VR future and mass-scale mapping revealed

News

Life

60 Seconds

News

Health

Ketogenic diet’s reputed anticancer credentials put to test

News

Life

Bonobos know when others are being treated unfairly – and react

News

Earth

'Follow the salt' may be best strategy to find Martian microbes

News

Life

Ebola outbreak caused twice as many deaths as we thought

News

Space

Source of cosmic radio blast tracked down for the first time

News

Opinion

Earth

How Brexit could lead the UK to a dirtier future

For the sake of our environment and the climate, the UK would be better off in the European Union than out, says Fiona Reynolds

Opinion

Life

Why I think genitals reveal the universe’s biological diversity

Opinion

Technology

Underwater drones may make hiding a nuclear missile sub harder

Opinion

Health

Tumor is the most important book I've ever written

Opinion

Aperture

Life

Crystallised tears form beautiful patterns unique as snowflakes

ARE these bubbles, bacteria or perhaps space rocks? No – they're human tears as you've never seen them before. Each disc is a tear droplet that has been pipetted onto a glass slide, allowed to evaporate and photographed using dark field microscopy. The delicate white structures are the crystallised salts left behind from the briny …

Regulars

Features

Technology

A new kind of logic: How to upgrade the way we think

A lot of problems in today’s world are too big for our brains. An algorithm that identifies how cause and effect are linked could lead us to better solutions

Features

Life

The crying game: How tears can work for you

Features

Space

Beyond experiment: Why the scientific method may be old hat

Features

Culturelab

Dark blue image of man apparently wearing unusual goggles

Competition: Your chance to have a sci-fi idea made into a film

EVERY week we fill New Scientist with good ideas, extraordinary stories, breaking news and different ways of looking at the world. We also keep an eye on how those stories develop. Some of them go nowhere. Others end up changing the way we live and think about our lives. All very worthy. The thing is, …

CultureLab

Life

Why Only Us: The language paradox

CultureLab

Humans

The maddeningly magical maths of John Dee

CultureLab

Just the fear of big predators can alter an entire ecosystem

Woofing ruins my appetite Try telling raccoons that barking dogs don’t bite. The fear of large carnivores, such as dogs, can have knock-on effects throughout an ecosystem. Predators don’t control populations of their prey just by killing them. They also paint what is termed a landscape of fear , inhibiting prey from feeding and turning parts …

Regulars

Physics

Feedback: Where we’re going, we don’t need fundamental physics

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

Regulars

This week's magazine

27 February 2016

On the cover

Physics

With science if at first you don’t succeed, keep trying

Technology

A new kind of logic: How to upgrade the way we think

Life

The crying game: How tears can work for you

Space

Beyond experiment: Why the scientific method may be old hat

Table of contents

Leaders

Physics

With science if at first you don’t succeed, keep trying

News

Space

LIGO's black holes may have lived and died inside a huge star

Life

Sea butterflies fly underwater just like insects do in the air

Technology

AI reads doctors' notes to find hidden links in cancer cases

Technology

Ransomware threat highlighted by Los Angeles hospital payout

Humans

'Torture' study redo shows people feel less agency under orders

Space

Binary stars burned off cosmic fog and made universe transparent

Humans

Body fluids disgust us less if from someone who is 'one of us'

Physics

Quantum weirdness may hide an orderly reality after all

Space

India set to join hunt for gravitational waves with its own LIGO

Health

Vaccine halves cancer-causing HPV infections in US teen girls

Life

Plants have evolved forgetfulness to wipe out memory of stress

Earth

Carbon emission cuts could save 300,000 US lives by 2030

Earth

Record global temperatures bring strongest ever cyclone to Fiji

Earth

Mystery wind drought that cut US wind power in 2015 is back

Space

Virgin Galactic claims new 'Unity' spaceship fixes safety issues

Health

Doctors claim legalising some genital mutilation may help girls

Technology

Apple vs FBI: Who will win this struggle for power?

Life

A crab, shrimp and fish leave their shared home doing the conga

Health

Boost your mental muscle with 20 minutes of exercise

Technology

One Per Cent

Space

Astronauts may respond faster to warning voices than alarm tones

Facebook’s VR future and mass-scale mapping revealed

Life

60 Seconds

Health

Ketogenic diet’s reputed anticancer credentials put to test

Life

Bonobos know when others are being treated unfairly – and react

Earth

'Follow the salt' may be best strategy to find Martian microbes

Life

Ebola outbreak caused twice as many deaths as we thought

Space

Source of cosmic radio blast tracked down for the first time

Opinion

Earth

How Brexit could lead the UK to a dirtier future

Life

Why I think genitals reveal the universe’s biological diversity

Technology

Underwater drones may make hiding a nuclear missile sub harder

Health

Tumor is the most important book I've ever written