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This week's magazine

11 March 2017

Issue 3116

New Scientist issue 3116 cover
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Editor's picks

NASA image of planet

Earth

Plankton can save the ocean. But who will save the plankton?

News
US pollution

Earth

Trump's assault on climate science will not make America great

News
Barrett

Humans

Emotions are not universal – we build them for ourselves

Features
string artwork

Physics

The string-loop theory that might finally untangle the universe

Features
beetroot

Health

Good hydrations: Are health drinks healthy?

Features
coffee cup

Health

Good hydrations: Is tea or coffee better for you?

Features
milk

Health

Good hydrations: Does milk make healthy brains and bones?

Features
cans

Health

Good hydrations: Is fruit juice better than soda?

Features
pouring water

Health

Good hydrations: Do I need eight glasses of water a day?

Features
New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Good hydrations: Is there a safe level of alcohol?

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

US pollution

Earth

Trump's assault on climate science will not make America great

Gutting the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency will leave the US more vulnerable to climate change

News

News

A man

Technology

Facebook is testing AI tools to help prevent suicide

Ask for help Facebook is trialling new tools to help with suicide prevention efforts. One approach will use artificial intelligence to identify concerning posts and make it easier for other people to report them. Facebook says it will use pattern recognition algorithms to spot posts that could indicate someone is suicidal and help their friends …

News

Life

Elephants sleep for just 2 hours a day – the least of any mammal

News

Earth

First yearly CO2 forecast predicts one of biggest rises ever

News

Health

Autoimmune disorders linked to an increased risk of dementia

News

Technology

Empathy device lets a friend’s brain signals move your hand

News

Life

Climbing plants use taste to avoid clinging to other weak vines

News

Technology

Why the dark net is more resilient to attack than the internet

News

Health

Artificial embryo grown in a dish from two types of stem cells

News

Technology

Image recognition app scans paintings to act like Shazam for art

News

Earth

Sponge can soak up and release spilled oil hundreds of times

News

Life

Stubborn wasp queens pass their personality on to their colony

News

Life

WW2 bomb craters are a home to rare and vulnerable animals

News

Technology

Super-fast Parkinson's app will track symptoms more closely

News

Technology

Humans control robots with their minds by watching for mistakes

News

Health

Brain’s reward system earns researchers €1 million prize

News

Life

Brighter sky helped boost US crop yields – but it may not last

News

Space

Moon's hidden craters detected by gravity mapper

News

Earth

UK’s CO2 emissions lowest since 19th century as coal use falls

News

Health

Brain’s inability to see that something is safe causes OCD

News

Earth

Deep cuts to environmental research in Trump’s budget proposal

News

Humans

Older people are just as good at judging music as younger adults

News

Humans

Neanderthals may have medicated with penicillin and painkillers

News

Health

Best anti-ageing exercise is high intensity interval training

News

Space

Oldest, biggest black holes may have come from enormous stars

News

Space

China's new rocket makes its debut flight into space

News

60 Seconds

News

Health

Warmer weather could bring fresh Zika misery

News

Physics

Fuzzy pulsars orbiting black holes could unmask quantum gravity

News

Health

Millions raised for women’s health after Trump’s abortion gag

News

Analysis

De-extinction dilemma: reviving dead species may doom the living

Life

De-extinction dilemma: reviving dead species may doom the living

The resurrection of extinct species may soon be feasible - but expensive The resurrection of extinct species, as depicted in the 1993 film Jurassic Park , was until recently regarded as pure science fiction. Today, de-extinction looks increasingly feasible and is being heralded as a way of turning back the clock on biodiversity loss . …

News

Technology

Why do we get all nostalgic over old tech like the Nokia 3310?

News

Space

Moon billionaires: how Elon Musk is taking us back to the future

News

Earth

Plankton can save the ocean. But who will save the plankton?

News

Aperture

fish teeth

Life

Fish's toothy grin is perfect for crunching up armoured prey

THE tooth fairy would have had trouble with this one. These nested rows of stubby teeth belonged not to a dinosaur, but to a two-bar sea bream ( Acanthopagrus bifasciatus ), a reef-dwelling fish common in the Persian Gulf. You can tell a lot about a fish from its skeleton. The specimen here, collected almost …

Regulars

Features

string artwork

Physics

The string-loop theory that might finally untangle the universe

Could two rival theories of the make-up of the cosmos really be the same thing? Pulling at the threads could reveal a deeper reality

Features

Health

Good hydrations: Do I need eight glasses of water a day?

Features

Health

Good hydrations: Is fruit juice better than soda?

Features

Health

Good hydrations: Does milk make healthy brains and bones?

Features

Health

Good hydrations: Is tea or coffee better for you?

Features

Health

Good hydrations: Are health drinks healthy?

Features

Good hydrations: Is there a safe level of alcohol?

Features

Humans

Emotions are not universal – we build them for ourselves

Features

Culture

Floating woman writing at a typewriter

Winning words: Write us a sci-fi masterpiece in 48 hours

Have you got a story for us? Writers often hear this question: where do you get the ideas for your stories? Replies are generally terse. "The mortgage company's final demand" is a favourite. Waiting around for inspiration is a mug's game. Far better to put yourself under some pressure. The US science fiction writer Harlan …

Culture

Technology

Strange futures, with air islands and dung radios

Culture

Earth

Green thinking in the era of Trump

Culture

More

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Crossword #4

Crossword No4 ACROSS 6 The simplest amino acid (7) 7 Blood-sucking annelid of the subclass Hirudinea (5) 9 An image, video or concept that spreads rapidly on the internet (4) 10 Device that may operate according to the principles of positive displacement, momentum transfer or entrapment (6,4) 11 Unit of length equal to 10 -10 …

Regulars

Regulars

water cartoon

Feedback: Bottled water from icebergs? Buy now while stocks last

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

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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