Issue 3416 | Magazine cover date: 10 December 2022

10 December 2022

Issue 3416

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On the cover

Features

What the world’s largest liquid mirror telescope means for astronomy

Self-knowledge: How to know your true personality and why it matters

News

Flying squirrels carve nuts to store them securely in tree branches

A quantum computer has simulated a wormhole for the first time

Ancient megatsunami on Mars traced to the crater where it began

Homo naledi may have used fire to cook and navigate 230,000 years ago

Analysis

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Humans

The science of self-knowledge is important, even if it is a bit fuzzy

News

Humans

Self-knowledge: How to know your true personality and why it matters

Features

https://www.astro.oma.be/en/the-first-astronomical-liquid-mirror-telescope-sees-first-light-at-the-devasthal-observatory/

Space

What the world’s largest liquid mirror telescope means for astronomy

Features

Earth

How did so many giant meat-eating dinosaurs co-exist in the Jurassic?

Features

Leaders

Humans

The science of self-knowledge is important, even if it is a bit fuzzy

Who you really are is a major question worth pursuing for most people, so research into self-knowledge is important despite the fact it often relies on subjective findings

News

A nut wedged in the fork of a tree branch

Life

Flying squirrels carve nuts to store them securely in tree branches

Buried nuts would quickly rot in the tropical rainforests of Hainan Island, so flying squirrels have taught themselves carpentry instead

News

Health

Sperm-blocking vaginal gel could be a reliable contraceptive method

News

Life

Critically endangered tiny gecko comes back from the brink

News

Health

An mRNA vaccine protects mice against deadly plague bacteria

News

Health

Drug clears sleeping sickness parasite from the body in clinical trial

News

Physics

A quantum computer has simulated a wormhole for the first time

News

Environment

Mauna Loa eruption interrupts key record of atmospheric CO2

News

Health

Alzheimer's drug lecanemab slows cognitive decline but concerns linger

News

Health

Antibiotics encoded in Neanderthal DNA could help us fight infections

News

Life

Ancient bird with a movable beak rewrites the story of avian evolution

News

Space

Star ripped up by black hole is one of the brightest things ever seen

News

Environment

Microfibres that pollute the seas are floating homes for bacteria

News

Life

Ant pupae produce a nourishing liquid food for larvae and adults

News

Space

Ancient megatsunami on Mars traced to the crater where it began

News

Space

JWST has taken pictures of clouds on Saturn’s moon Titan

News

Earth

Yellowstone supervolcano contains twice as much melted rock as thought

News

Technology

Most people who threatened to quit Twitter for Mastodon haven't left

News

Life

The 3013 neurons in the brain of a fly larva have been mapped in full

News

Space

Mars may have a huge plume of hot rocks rising towards its surface

News

Technology

Girl with a Pearl Earring and Mona Lisa recreated with nanotechnology

News

Environment

COP15 target to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 is ‘unrealistic’

News

Humans

Homo naledi may have used fire to cook and navigate 230,000 years ago

News

Analysis

Mandatory Credit: Photo by JEROME FAVRE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (13641875g) Mainland Chinese students hold sheets of blank paper during a vigil for the victims of China's zero-COVID policy and the victims of the Urumqi fire at the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China, 29 November 2022. Protests against China's strict COVID-19 restrictions have erupted in various cities including Beijing and Shanghai, triggered by a tower fire that killed 10 people in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi. University students hold a vigil for the victims of China's zero-COVID policy, Hong Kong - 29 Nov 2022

Health

China's failure to vaccinate makes giving up on zero covid a huge risk

Widespread protests against China's zero-covid policy have led the country to ease some restrictions, but its failure to vaccinate older people means this could lead to millions of deaths

News

Earth

Marine sciences must cast off an imperial legacy of ocean exploitation

News

Technology

Leaving Twitter? Here's what other social media platforms offer

Comment

Aperture

Life

Spotlight on plankton, the ocean's fascinating, bite-sized creatures

Every night, plankton take a journey to shallower waters to feed, prompting predators to follow in search of a very small, but tasty, snack. These images are taken from a new book, Planktonia, illuminating their daily ascent

Regulars

Features

Space

What the world’s largest liquid mirror telescope means for astronomy

The International Liquid Mirror Telescope, perched high in the Himalayas, has finally started making observations. If it succeeds, we could one day put a much larger liquid telescope on the moon

Features

Humans

Self-knowledge: How to know your true personality and why it matters

Features

Earth

How did so many giant meat-eating dinosaurs co-exist in the Jurassic?

Features

Culture

M26NDA Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (south-eastern France): OCaverne du Pont-d'ArcO, replica of the Chauvet Cave, registered as a Unesco World Heritage Site. It gathers

Humans

Homo Sapiens Rediscovered review: Hunting human origin stories

From a bone fragment of a mysterious new species to the latest on cave art, Paul Pettit's powerful new book shows how science is rewriting the past

Culture

Earth

The Volcano review: Heartbreaking documentary relives Whakaari tragedy

Culture

Humans

Don’t Miss: The way of water, first of four sequels to Avatar

Culture

Life

How Birds Evolve review: In-depth and passionate

Culture

DNPBE6 The field of red poinsettias being grown for Christmas in Cambridgeshire.

Life

Learn the secrets of poinsettias to help them thrive

Shop-bought poinsettias produce a stunning display of crimson, and these tropical plants can be coaxed into an encore performance if you have the patience, says Clare Wilson

Regulars

Puzzle #197: Can you work out how the marshmallows were arranged?

Regulars

Tom Gauld on a near miss with aliens

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on the weird appeal of a lab safety talk

Regulars

How to foster a toddler's yen for engineering

Feedback explores the pedagogic possibilities of research into ball bearings, while also looking into why some presentations are improved by the inclusion of a sudoku

Regulars

This week's magazine

10 December 2022

On the cover

Humans

The science of self-knowledge is important, even if it is a bit fuzzy

Humans

Self-knowledge: How to know your true personality and why it matters

Space

What the world’s largest liquid mirror telescope means for astronomy

Earth

How did so many giant meat-eating dinosaurs co-exist in the Jurassic?

Table of contents

Leaders

Humans

The science of self-knowledge is important, even if it is a bit fuzzy

News

Life

Flying squirrels carve nuts to store them securely in tree branches

Health

Sperm-blocking vaginal gel could be a reliable contraceptive method

Life

Critically endangered tiny gecko comes back from the brink

Health

An mRNA vaccine protects mice against deadly plague bacteria

Health

Drug clears sleeping sickness parasite from the body in clinical trial

Physics

A quantum computer has simulated a wormhole for the first time

Environment

Mauna Loa eruption interrupts key record of atmospheric CO2

Health

Alzheimer's drug lecanemab slows cognitive decline but concerns linger

Health

Antibiotics encoded in Neanderthal DNA could help us fight infections

Life

Ancient bird with a movable beak rewrites the story of avian evolution

Space

Star ripped up by black hole is one of the brightest things ever seen

Environment

Microfibres that pollute the seas are floating homes for bacteria

Life

Ant pupae produce a nourishing liquid food for larvae and adults

Space

Ancient megatsunami on Mars traced to the crater where it began

Space

JWST has taken pictures of clouds on Saturn’s moon Titan

Earth

Yellowstone supervolcano contains twice as much melted rock as thought

Technology

Most people who threatened to quit Twitter for Mastodon haven't left

Life

The 3013 neurons in the brain of a fly larva have been mapped in full

Space

Mars may have a huge plume of hot rocks rising towards its surface

Technology

Girl with a Pearl Earring and Mona Lisa recreated with nanotechnology

Environment

COP15 target to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 is ‘unrealistic’

Humans

Homo naledi may have used fire to cook and navigate 230,000 years ago

Analysis

Health

China's failure to vaccinate makes giving up on zero covid a huge risk

Earth

Marine sciences must cast off an imperial legacy of ocean exploitation

Technology

Leaving Twitter? Here's what other social media platforms offer

Aperture

Life

Spotlight on plankton, the ocean's fascinating, bite-sized creatures

Features

Space

What the world’s largest liquid mirror telescope means for astronomy

Humans

Self-knowledge: How to know your true personality and why it matters

Earth

How did so many giant meat-eating dinosaurs co-exist in the Jurassic?

Culture

Humans

Homo Sapiens Rediscovered review: Hunting human origin stories