Subscribe now

This week's magazine

18 March 2017

Issue 3117

New Scientist issue 3117 cover
Previous issue Next issue
arrow
Subscribe
Access our magazine content direct via our website, app or print magazine
arrow
View in the app
Check out this magazine in our easy-to-navigate mobile app
arrow
Find a previous edition online
Search through our digital archive of over 30 years of magazines

Editor's picks

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.

Life

Should a child's health concerns trump sperm donor privacy?

News
gravity artwork

Physics

Keep an open mind on dark matter and rivals that do away with it

News
McGaugh

Physics

How dark matter lost its shine for me

Features
dog show

Life

How dogs are helping decode the genetic roots of personality

Features
brain artwork

Health

Neuroleaks: The secret dialogue between brain and body

Features
Gravity artwork

Physics

Rules of attraction: Why it's time to rethink how gravity works

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

gene label

Health

Backyard gene editing risks creating a monster

Biohackers have already signalled their intention to use CRISPR, which poses a big problem for the authorities

News

Physics

Keep an open mind on dark matter and rivals that do away with it

News

News

Machine learning reveals lack of female screen time in top films

Technology

Machine learning reveals lack of female screen time in top films

Machine learning can help show how long women are on screen Machine learning is taking on Hollywood’s gender bias. Technology that automatically detects how often men and women appear on screen reveals that in recent popular films, men have had almost twice as much screen time as women. The software uses algorithms for face and voice …

News

Humans

How to train your brain to be like a memory champion’s

News

Space

Discovery of tiny moon completes the set for worlds past Neptune

News

Life

Sneaky beetles evolved disguise to look like ants, then eat them

News

Life

Five designer chromosomes bring synthetic life a step closer

News

Life

Dogs use deception to get what they want from humans (a sausage)

News

Technology

Special steel inspired by bone is more resistant to cracking

News

Earth

EPA boss says carbon dioxide not primary cause of climate change

News

Space

NASA's new budget is big on other worlds but ignores our own

News

Health

Mystery brain particles may link head injuries to dementia

News

Technology

Robot that shows pain could teach doctors to recognise it better

News

Technology

What makes a good surgeon? Video analysis rates suturing skills

News

Life

Never-before-seen gatherings of hundreds of humpback whales

News

Technology

Video game beta test reveals how we might act if the world ends

News

Technology

Web creator Tim Berners-Lee speaks out on fake news

News

Health

Your brain fills gaps in your hearing without you realising

News

Health

People with no mind's eye may help us boost our creativity

News

Earth

Metabolism may be older than life itself and start spontaneously

News

Space

TRAPPIST-1 worlds are close enough for life to hop between them

News

Asteroid clay is a better space radiation shield than aluminium

News

Life

Oldest plant-like fossils discovered are 1.6 billion years old

News

Technology

Cooling to absolute zero mathematically outlawed after a century

News

Health

Swedish men on target to be first to completely stub out smoking

News

Health

A sixth of Americans to lack health insurance by 2026

News

Australia to ban unvaccinated children from preschool

News

Earth

Indian Ocean version of El Niño behind drought in East Africa

News

Earth

60 Seconds

News

Health

Mosaic problem stands in the way of gene editing embryos

News

Technology

Rear-view helmet vision may help avert motorbike accidents

News

Analysis

A person stands in front of the counter in a Subway restaurant as the server assembles a sandwich

Humans

Subway chicken row shows faith in food is still a battleground

Consumers are more curious than ever about what's in their food You've probably heard about the row over Subway's chicken by now. A broadcaster in Canada claimed samples from the restaurant contained only about 50 per cent chicken DNA , with the rest mostly from soy. I admit that a smile crossed my lips when …

News

Health

Why overzealous breastfeeding advice can be bad for babies

News

Health

Obamacare's replacement a giant step backwards for US healthcare

News

Life

Should a child's health concerns trump sperm donor privacy?

News

Aperture

Dubai painting

Humans

Disappearing buildings in the desert aren't all they seem

IN THE Dubai desert, not all is as it seems. In 2008, Irenaeus Herok was driving outside the city of Dubai, when a strange set of buildings suddenly loomed up in the sand ahead. When the photographer arrived at the shimmering towers, they turned out to be fake. A large white board, roughly 15 metres …

Regulars

Features

Gravity artwork

Physics

Rules of attraction: Why it's time to rethink how gravity works

Fresh suspicions have reopened the case against dark matter, forcing a fundamental rethink of the familiar force that keeps our feet on the ground

Features

Physics

How dark matter lost its shine for me

Features

Health

Neuroleaks: The secret dialogue between brain and body

Features

Life

How dogs are helping decode the genetic roots of personality

Features

Culture

Blue whale skeleton on display in a museum

Life

The blue whale story: Meet the giant in all its glory

From the awful smell of decomposing whale to a surprisingly small heart, a Canadian exhibition shows the world’s largest animal as it’s never been seen before

Culture

Life

How did the zebra get its stripes?

Culture

Humans

How we lost the world-changing power of useless knowledge

Culture

More

Arctic

Humans

Walking to the ends of the Earth to beat bullying

The charity Red Balloon helps young people forced out of school by bullies get their lives back on track

Regulars

Regulars

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.

Feedback: Keep the bloom of youth by sitting in an £18,000 vase

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

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

Browse past issues

View all
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop