Health Collective rather than individual action can beat obesity The more we learn about the drivers of obesity, the clearer it becomes that willpower alone won't work. Governments need to act News
Life Traumatic beetle sex causes rapid evolutionary arms race Forget Fifty Shades of Grey ... Ever wondered what constitutes extreme sex ? Cowpea seed beetles certainly know – their sexual act is brutal, and it also seems to encourage a rapid evolutionary arms race between spiked penises and shielding tissue in females. Extreme genital co-evolution happens in many types of animal, including ducks, fish … News
Health Think the UK has a social care crisis now? Just wait until 2025 The demographic crystal ball shows elderly care is a crisis set to deepen, fast. No wonder UK politicians are grasping for solutions, says James Bloodworth News
Physics Inside the SPIDER facility, preparing for nuclear fusion tests THIS may resemble a distillery, but what it will generate isn't for drinking. It will serve up streams of atoms and ions to make the energy of the sun right here on Earth through nuclear fusion. Called SPIDER and due for completion next year, this facility in Padua, Italy, will help fine-tune what will become … Regulars
Life Send an ear: Listening for sounds of life in the solar system The seismic echoes of Jupiter’s icy moons could teach us more about their hidden oceans than any picture – and help us gauge their potential for life Features
Technology Hello, Robot: The show that braves the future Our future is full of tricky, disruptive possibilities. But a bold and innovative touring show is robust enough to pose the hard questions Culture
Space Old Scientist: Space travel? Waste of money WE TRY never to be naive. We know that ideology, not technology, dictates trends in space travel. In 1961, New Scientist was actually calling for a halt to the moon race, driven as it was by cold war rivalry. Nobody at that point knew how to reach the finish line, but both the Soviet Union … Regulars
Feedback: Scentless perfumes and houses that last forever Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Regulars