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This week's magazine

30 January 2021

Issue 3319

New Scientist issue 3319 cover
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Editor's picks

Was it just luck that our species survived and the Denisovans didn't?

Humans

Was it just luck that our species survived and the Denisovans didn't?

News
Dyson spheres: How to spot an alien megastructure

Space

Dyson spheres: How to spot an alien megastructure

Features
Gaslighting warps our view of reality. How to spot it – and fight back

Humans

Gaslighting warps our view of reality. How to spot it – and fight back

Features
The other humans: The emerging story of the mysterious Denisovans

Humans

The other humans: The emerging story of the mysterious Denisovans

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

Was it just luck that our species survived and the Denisovans didn't?

Humans

Was it just luck that our species survived and the Denisovans didn't?

THE human story only becomes more intricate and fascinating. For hundreds of thousands of years, a mysterious group known as the Denisovans lived in the east of Asia – even as our species was emerging in Africa and beginning to spread around the world. Their homeland spanned thousands of kilometres and they existed as a …

News

News

sangay volcano

Earth

Volcano in Ecuador can trigger avalanches that travel 60 kilometres

Sangay volcano in Ecuador An active volcano in Ecuador has collapsed twice in the past 250,000 years, causing vast debris avalanches that reached over 60 kilometres away. It could happen again, but it isn't possible to predict when – although there is no reason to think it is imminent. Sangay is Ecuador’s most active volcano. …

News

Environment

Nearly 700 million people could be living in extreme drought by 2100

News

Life

Stunning fossil suggests dinosaurs lured mates with smell and vision

News

Humans

Recruiters less likely to contact ethnic minority groups on Swiss site

News

Technology

Watch a robot squid propel itself through water with rhythm

News

Environment

People buying SUVs are cancelling out climate gains from electric cars

News

Space

Astronomers spot amazing six-star system with three sets of eclipses

News

Physics

Physicists find best way for insects to avoid collisions when jumping

News

Environment

Strange fossil is the first to show an ammonite without its shell

News

Technology

AI can grade your skill at piano by watching you play

News

Humans

Extroverts have more success training their dogs than introverts

News

Space

Puzzling signal on Saturn’s moon Rhea may finally be explained

News

Environment

Climate impact on childhood diet may undermine food security efforts

News

Life

A quarter of all known bee species haven't been seen since the 1990s

News

Health

Covid-19 outbreak in Manaus suggests herd immunity may not be possible

News

Physics

Quantum hyperchaos could help build better quantum computers

News

Health

CRISPR-like tool for RNA editing could temporarily alter your proteins

News

Technology

AI can tell what song you are listening to from your brainwaves

News

Health

EU begins to clamp down on vaccine exports as supplies fall short

News

Health

How much does one coronavirus vaccine dose protect you and others?

News

Health

New coronavirus variants detected in sewage before showing up in tests

News

Humans

How social media can nudge people into becoming conspiracy theorists

News

Analysis

Nurses work on patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in St George's Hospital

Health

UK coronavirus variant deadlier but researchers say no need to panic

Nurses work on patients in the intensive care unit at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south-west London, where the number of intensive care beds for the critically sick has had to be increased from 60 to 120, the vast majority of which are for coronavirus patients It appears the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant first identified in …

News

Humans

No, native plants aren't always the best choice for gardens

News

Health

An unscientific debate over breast milk is spilling into food banks

News

Aperture

Rare images show role of collisions in galactic evolution

Space

Rare images show role of collisions in galactic evolution

These six rare and exquisite images of galactic evolution were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. They show what happens when galaxies collide and merge

Regulars

Features

Gaslighting warps our view of reality. How to spot it – and fight back

Humans

Gaslighting warps our view of reality. How to spot it – and fight back

All of us are vulnerable to psychological manipulation, due to quirks in the way our brains create our perception of the world. Understanding how that happens can help strengthen our defences against gaslighting

Features

Space

Dyson spheres: How to spot an alien megastructure

Features

Humans

The other humans: The emerging story of the mysterious Denisovans

Features

Culture

Over 1.5 million flamingos gather on the soda flats of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania

Life

A Perfect Planet review: Attenborough's new show is one of his best

Over 1.5 million flamingos gather on the soda flats of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania A Perfect Planet BBC 1 From 3 January 2021 Cryogenic frogs and blood-sucking finches are among the many remarkable animals to star in David Attenborough’s latest series, A Perfect Planet, which examines what made Earth so perfect for life. How …

Culture

Humans

Why using rare metals to clean up the planet is no cheap fix

Culture

Don’t Miss: Space Sweepers, a South Korean blockbuster on Netflix

Culture

Humans

Last and First Men review: An epic 2-billion-year history of humanity

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.

Puzzle #98: Can you solve a dog breeder's canine conundrum?

Dog breeder Harriet Hound's prize pooch has just had 10 puppies. She is particularly pleased, because there are only nine puppies in the latest litter of her arch-rival, Matilda Mutt. However, for Harriet, it isn't just the overall quantity that counts, it is the number of female puppies, because females earn her a premium. On …

Regulars

Humans

How to make compost – your scientific guide

Regulars

Tom Gauld's runaway lobster telephone problem

Regulars

Twisteddoodle's ideas for scented candles in scientific development

Regulars

Regulars

Catnip as a mosquito repellent... What could go wrong?

Catnip as a mosquito repellent... What could go wrong?

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

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

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