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This week's magazine

8 January 2022

Issue 3368

New Scientist issue 3368 cover
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Editor's picks

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin on October 24, 2017 in London, England. Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Lightcoin have seen unprecedented growth in 2017, despite remaining extremely volatile. While digital currencies across the board have divided opinion between financial institutions, and now have a market cap of around 175 Billion USD, the crypto sector coninues to grow, as it sees wider mainstreem adoption. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Technology

UK police forces have seized more than £300 million in bitcoin

News
HANOI, VIETNAM - SEPTEMBER 10: People wait in a queue to receive their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a public COVID-19 vaccination centre on September 10, 2021 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Hanoi is aiming to mass test the entire city and vaccinate all its adult population with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot by September 15. Vaccinations in Vietnam are picking up pace as increased supplies arrive in the country, which is the EU's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia. (Photo by Linh Pham/Getty Images)

Health

The future course of the covid-19 pandemic is in all our hands

News
A new way to solve paradoxes can help you think more clearly

Humans

A new way to solve paradoxes can help you think more clearly

Features
The metaverse: What is it, will it work, and does anyone want it?

Technology

The metaverse: What is it, will it work, and does anyone want it?

Features
Empty bottles in green container; Shutterstock ID 145222138; purchase_order: 08 Jan 2021 issue; job: 08 Jan 2021 - Feature; client: Photo; other:

Health

What the no-alcohol boom means for our drinking habits and health

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

HANOI, VIETNAM - SEPTEMBER 10: People wait in a queue to receive their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a public COVID-19 vaccination centre on September 10, 2021 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Hanoi is aiming to mass test the entire city and vaccinate all its adult population with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot by September 15. Vaccinations in Vietnam are picking up pace as increased supplies arrive in the country, which is the EU's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia. (Photo by Linh Pham/Getty Images)

Health

The future course of the covid-19 pandemic is in all our hands

WHAT a difference a month makes. In November, when we commissioned our retrospective on the amazing scientific endeavour that has characterised the covid-19 pandemic over the past two years , life in certain parts of the planet was inching its way back to some semblance of normality. Then came the curveball, omicron. No one should …

News

News

The fossilised oviraptorosaur dinosaur embryo curled up in its egg

Life

Fossilised dinosaur embryo found exquisitely preserved inside egg

A 70 million-year-old oviraptorosaur egg that had been forgotten in a Chinese museum storeroom contains the most well-preserved dinosaur embryo ever discovered

News

Environment

‘Near impossible’ plant-growing technique could revolutionise farming

News

Health

Two years of covid-19: What we’ve learned during the pandemic so far

News

Space

James Webb Space Telescope is carrying out its most critical manoeuvre

News

Health

Covid-19: What can we expect from the pandemic in 2022?

News

Health

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: How to alter the course of the pandemic

News

Analysis

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin on October 24, 2017 in London, England. Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Lightcoin have seen unprecedented growth in 2017, despite remaining extremely volatile. While digital currencies across the board have divided opinion between financial institutions, and now have a market cap of around 175 Billion USD, the crypto sector coninues to grow, as it sees wider mainstreem adoption. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Technology

UK police forces have seized more than £300 million in bitcoin

Figures gathered by New Scientist show that UK police forces have seized bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies worth more than £300 million during criminal investigations.

News

Health

I bonded with a quirky robot after chatting to it about my fears

News

Health

Have we got the science of obesity back to front?

News

Aperture

Male Leach's sea star (Leiaster leachi) broadcast spawning, releasing streams of sperm from its arms. Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.

Life

Electrifying image shows starfish spawning

Photographer Tony Wu Agency blog/Naturepl.com THE starfish in this image looks suitably electrifying, but the lightning-like currents emanating from this male Leach's sea star are actually streams of sperm. The shot was taken in Kagoshima prefecture in Japan by nature photographer Tony Wu. Starfish sexually reproduce by a process called spawning, with many individuals releasing …

Regulars

Features

Empty bottles in green container; Shutterstock ID 145222138; purchase_order: 08 Jan 2021 issue; job: 08 Jan 2021 - Feature; client: Photo; other:

Health

What the no-alcohol boom means for our drinking habits and health

Low and no-alcohol drinks taste better than ever – but do they really help you cut down on boozing, and are they healthier than the real thing?

Features

Technology

The metaverse: What is it, will it work, and does anyone want it?

Features

Humans

A new way to solve paradoxes can help you think more clearly

Features

Culture

Memoria review: A surreal and immersive journey into the human mind

Humans

Memoria review: A surreal and immersive journey into the human mind

Jessica searches every corner of Colombia for the source of the noise Film Memoria Apichatpong Weerasethakul "IN THIS town, there are a lot of people who have hallucinations ," a doctor tells Jessica (Tilda Swinton) at the beginning of Memoria . Then, in a neat encapsulation of the mix of the mystical and the medicinal …

Culture

Life

The Green Planet review: Plants as you have never seen them before

Culture

Humans

Don't Miss: A deep dive into the science of why we love

Culture

Humans

Jurassic World Evolution 2 review: Let the dinosaurs unleash chaos

Culture

More

Brassica oleracea - Early purple sprouting broccoli covered in frost in a vegetable garden

Humans

Winter is purple sprouting broccoli's time to shine

IN THE depths of the UK winter, most of my vegetable beds are bare, except for my star performer: purple sprouting broccoli. It is in the middle of its fabulous January growth spurt. This giant of a broccoli plant is arguably the queen of the brassica family of vegetables. Also known as winter sprouting broccoli, …

Regulars

Puzzle #149: Only Ferris Caroselli could design this mathematical ride

Regulars

Tom Gauld explores the increasingly bizarre signs of the times

Regulars

Twisteddoodles: A tongue-in-cheek guide to chemical labelling

Regulars

Regulars

At your fingertips: The nail art that opens doors to the metaverse

Humans

At your fingertips: The nail art that opens doors to the metaverse

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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