This week's magazine

Table of contents

Leaders

Health

Our five appetites mean our hunger is far more complex than we thought

It is crucial to understand your five-appetite system and how ultraprocessed foods have crashed this set-up – especially as they are so popular in lockdown

News

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News

Health

Shock therapy temporarily improves woman’s colour blindness

The Ishihara colour perception test A shock of electricity to the temples can be a powerful, last-resort treatment for some people who have mental health conditions that don’t respond to other treatments. But it can have surprising side effects – it seems to have improved the colour vision of a woman with colour blindness in …

News

Physics

Cold war nuclear bomb tests changed rainfall patterns over the UK

News

Health

Mouse embryos that are 4 per cent human are step towards spare organs

News

Technology

Virtual reality game lets you play with hypercubes in four dimensions

News

Environment

Algae transplant could protect coral reefs threatened by warming seas

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Space

ESA spacecraft might accidentally fly through the tail of a comet

News

Environment

'Zombie' fires are burning the Arctic after smouldering under snow

News

Health

People ‘see’ letters traced on their brain’s surface by an implant

News

Health

Planes and offices must improve ventilation to reduce coronavirus risk

News

Health

Fidget spinner device can diagnose UTIs in under an hour without a lab

News

Earth

Two tiny outcrops in Hawaii are the top of the world’s largest volcano

News

Health

Covid-19 pandemic risks worst global food crisis in decades

News

Environment

We may have missed half the microplastics in the ocean

News

Health

How can countries know when it’s safe to ease coronavirus lockdowns?

News

Health

Coronavirus and covid-19: Your questions answered

News

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Analysis

Life

The strange physics of why blue jays look blue even though they aren't

Watching birds is great entertainment, and there's fascinating physics behind how some get their colours, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

News

Health

Smoking probably puts you at greater risk of coronavirus, not less

News

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Aperture

Environment

The epic journeys of green sea turtles revealed by 50 years of data

Using more than 50 years of satellite tracking data, a team found that green sea turtles will skip areas they don't know when looking for a foraging site even if they are suitable

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Features

Health

You have five appetites, not one, and they are the key to your health

Forget the idea of a single drive to eat – you have evolved distinct appetites for various foods. This makes it easier to eat exactly what you need, and helps explain the obesity epidemic

Features

Physics

The surprising benefits of contemplating the death of the universe

Features

Health

Coronavirus is evolving. Knowing how could help us stop the pandemic

Features

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Culture

Technology

Telling Lies review: A twisting mystery for the age of video calls

Can you solve a mystery by sifting through video calls? Telling Lies Sam Barlow and Furious Bee PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mac, iOS The man on screen is looking straight at me, speaking into the camera. My attention drifts to his surroundings in an attempt to learn more about his life. It …

Culture

Technology

The Vast of Night review: A sort of slow-burn 1950s Stranger Things

Culture

Earth

Why do scientists give some species such unusual names?

Culture

Humans

Don't miss: The science of taking a stroll

Culture

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More

New Scientist puzzle #60: Mexican standoff

Can you work out who will be left standing at the end of a spaghetti western shoot-out? Plus the solution to puzzle #59. Set by Rob Eastaway

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Twisteddoodles on bacteria that like to prank researchers

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Tom Gauld's diagram of the scientific method

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How to solve one of the world’s hardest maths problems for under $25

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

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Letters

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The last word