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This week's magazine

22 June 2019

Issue 3235

New Scientist issue 3235 cover
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Editor's picks

JUNE 12: A protester makes a gesture during a protest on June 12, 2019 in Hong Kong China. Large crowds of protesters gathered in central Hong Kong as the city braced for another mass rally in a show of strength against the government over a divisive plan to allow extraditions to China

Humans

Does people power make a difference? The truth about protests

News
brain

Mind

Our astonishing brain is hard to figure out – and that's fantastic

News
brain scan

Mind

Explaining consciousness and the other biggest mysteries of your brain

Features
Mercury

Space

How Mercury and Venus can guide our hunt for alien life on exoplanets

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

brain

Mind

Our astonishing brain is hard to figure out – and that's fantastic

It can seem a Herculean task to establish even basic facts about the human brain, but without its mind-boggling complexity we wouldn't be nearly as amazing

News

News

Shelves full of Walkers crisps

Chemistry

Crisp packets made of a new material could be much easier to recycle

Crisp packets aren't widely recyclable When people took to posting their crisp packets back to manufacturer Walkers  to protest that they weren’t easily recycled, the firm took notice and launched collection points for recycling . But the reality is the special scheme has addressed just a tiny fraction of the waste mountain – 3 million …

News

Health

Ethnic minority children are exposed to more noise pollution at school

News

Health

Two hours a week spent outdoors in nature linked with better health

News

Technology

A robot has learned to use irony and now people like it more

News

Environment

UK commits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050

News

Space

Europa’s salty surface may indicate an ocean that’s good for life

News

Humans

Bronze Age British settlement burned down a year after being built

News

Humans

Tombs in China reveal humans were smoking cannabis 2500 years ago

News

Health

More than half of all Ebola outbreaks are going undetected

News

Health

Strange fat cells in our bones grow rather than shrink when we starve

News

Space

We may be witnessing the birth of an exomoon around a distant world

News

Environment

Superweeds are on the brink of becoming resistant to all weedkillers

News

Physics

How to make the perfect crêpe according to fluid dynamics

News

Health

Microbes from farms may protect children from asthma even in cities

News

Space

Our galaxy's central black hole is oddly quiet – now we may know why

News

Life

Dogs evolved a special muscle that lets them make puppy dog eyes

News

Health

Prisoners in China are still being used as organ donors, says inquiry

News

Health

People with narcolepsy may be more creative because of how they sleep

News

Environment

Extreme temperatures melt sea ice in Greenland

News

Humans

Yazılıkaya: A 3000-year-old Hittite mystery may finally be solved

News

Space

Working hypothesis: From DJ sets in space to ancient bagels

News

Analysis

vertical farm

Environment

High-tech vertical farming is on the rise – but is it any greener?

The UK's vertical farming sector is growing The herbs in your future online supermarket delivery may be grown not in a field in a distant country, but in a shed on the outskirts of a nearby city. This week, UK online supermarket Ocado spent £17 million on vertical farming , an industry that advocates say …

News

Environment

Religion must rise to the challenge of climate change too

News

Humans

Does people power make a difference? The truth about protests

News

Health

Labelling people "anti-vaxxers" ignores real roots of their concerns

News

Aperture

pot bird

Life

This South American potoo bird can camouflage itself as a branch

Photographer Chien C. Lee Agency Minden Pictures IF YOU had to look twice, then the trick has worked. This common potoo ( Nyctibius griseus ) was spotted in Utría National Natural Park, Colombia, using its chief defence against predators: disguising itself as a branch. During the day, the bird perches motionless on a tree for …

Regulars

Features

brain scan

Mind

Explaining consciousness and the other biggest mysteries of your brain

What happens when we think? Why are some brains resistant to decline? How do you make a brain? What makes you smart? Find out in our guide to the most important organ

Features

Space

How Mercury and Venus can guide our hunt for alien life on exoplanets

Features

Culture

Indian wall painting about menstruation

Health

The pioneering podcast that's breaking the silence on women's health

From IVF to miscarriage, the podcast She Says She's Fine wants women to share their intimate secrets and get informed about sexual and reproductive health

Culture

Technology

What will your digital footprint tell people about you when you die?

Culture

Space

Don't miss: men on the moon, robots in orbit and museums in the street

Culture

Life

Chernobyl and The Terror docu-dramas expose horror's many faces

Culture

More

How to use a BBC micro:bit to make a sound-activated mirror ball

Technology

How to use a BBC micro:bit to make a sound-activated mirror ball

A BBC micro:bit program and a sound sensor will get the party started. Here's how to make a disco ball that automatically spins when music plays

Regulars

Cryptic Crossword #09

Regulars

Puzzle #08 Prisoners locked up

Regulars

Humans

Ruth Mace on human evolution and surviving the apocalypse with yaks

Regulars

Liana Finck cartoon

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: Can the US resist the might of the metric system?

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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