Issue 3436 | Magazine cover date: 29 April 2023

29 April 2023

Issue 3436

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On the cover

Features

What was the universe's first second like? These particles can tell us

What we can do to let the UK’s tamed rivers flow wild and free again

How ultra-processed food harms your health and how to fix the problem

News

Edible computer chips could control digestible drug-delivery robots

We finally know why insects are attracted to lights

Songbirds sing out of tune if they don't practise every day

Elephant seals take power naps in the ocean while slowly sinking

Stress makes us age faster but the effects can be reversed

Analysis

Was DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin really a victim of scientific theft?

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HT8R68 Childrens party food including sandwiches, cake, jelly and ice cream, biscuits, crisps, sweets and doughnuts on a polka dot background. Pattern

Health

Tackling ultra-processed food must focus on evidence and avoid stigma

News

Health

How ultra-processed food harms your health and how to fix the problem

Features

2MW349R Abbey Mill and Weir, Tewkesbury at sunrise

Environment

What we can do to let the UK’s tamed rivers flow wild and free again

Features

HA6GE7 departmentofenergy 8056998030 The Daya Bay Antineutrino Detector

Space

What was the universe's first second like? These particles can tell us

Features

Leaders

Health

Tackling ultra-processed food must focus on evidence and avoid stigma

Highly processed food is an integral part of many food systems. Changing our relationship with it will take time and evidence, and must not point the finger at consumers

News

Technology

Edible computer chips could control digestible drug-delivery robots

Researchers are working on edible computer chips to control robots that can operate inside the human body to precisely deliver drugs before safely being digested

News

Health

Skateboard helps very premature babies develop their motor skills

News

Environment

Geoengineering the seas could be catastrophic for marine life

News

Life

Kelp forests capture nearly 5 million tonnes of CO2 annually

News

Life

We finally know why insects are attracted to lights

News

Life

Songbirds sing out of tune if they don't practise every day

News

Life

Carnivorous plants use a sneaky trick for luring different bugs to eat

News

Space

Distant world breaks record for heaviest element on an exoplanet

News

Mind

Updated brain map reveals how we control the movement of our bodies

News

Environment

2022 was Europe’s hottest summer but warmer years are likely to come

News

Space

Weird dark matter waves seem to warp the light from distant galaxies

News

Space

Martian base on Earth set to host first ‘astronauts’

News

Life

Elephant seals take power naps in the ocean while slowly sinking

News

Space

SpaceX’s enormous Starship rocket finally launched – and then exploded

News

Health

Stress makes us age faster but the effects can be reversed

News

Life

Galapagos giant tortoise argument may threaten conservation efforts

News

Life

Even a dead wolf is enough to scare a pig

News

Life

Rats fooled by optical illusion may shed light on evolution of the eye

News

Health

Women's small intestines are 30 centimetres longer than men's

News

Technology

Synthetic spider silk laced with graphene can heal itself when wet

News

Health

Lack of neuron ‘pruning’ may be behind many brain-related conditions

News

Space

Amazing images of Mars’s moon Deimos snapped by Emirates Mars Mission

News

Technology

Wood transistor could let us embed electronics in trees

News

Analysis

Life

Was DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin really a victim of scientific theft?

It is widely thought that Rosalind Franklin was a victim whose work on DNA was stolen, but a letter and unpublished magazine story add to the evidence that this view is misleading

News

Physics

How can we prove the world is really quantum mechanical?

Comment

Physics

Why we must inspire people with the magic of condensed matter physics

News

Aperture

Hilma af Klint The Ten Largest, Group IV, No. 9, Old Age, 1907 Courtesy of The Hilma af Klint Foundation

Comment

Famed abstract artists capture nature as you’ve never seen it before

The pioneering work of Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian, who trained in the late 19th century, is finally brought into conversation at the Tate Modern in London

Regulars

Features

Space

What was the universe's first second like? These particles can tell us

If we could detect them, cosmic neutrinos would paint a picture of the universe in the instant after it began. Physicist Martin Bauer has come up with a plan to do just that

Features

Environment

What we can do to let the UK’s tamed rivers flow wild and free again

Features

Health

How ultra-processed food harms your health and how to fix the problem

Features

Culture

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1900: Giovanni Grewembroch - XVIII century. Manuscript: Doctor in Venice at the time of the plague. Watercolor. (Photo By DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/De Agostini via Getty Images)

Comment

Pathogenesis review: How infectious diseases have moulded civilisation

From the development of agriculture to the global rise of religions, Jonathan Kennedy's book describes how infectious diseases have been a decisive force in shaping human history

Culture

Comment

My Everest review: A horseback journey to the world's highest mountain

Culture

Comment

Don't Miss: Life deep underground in Apple TV+'s mysterious Silo

Culture

Comment

Buying Time review: Podcast explores an attempt to 'cure' ageing

Culture

2GYKRJN The waxing crescent Moon near the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini, with Mars below, as the last of the winter stars set into the western twilight on

Space

How to spot Mars travelling through Gemini this week

No matter where you live, Mars is currently taking a little stroll through Gemini, so it is a great time to get to know this constellation with its twin stars, Castor and Pollux, and take a look at the Red Planet too, says Abby Beall

Regulars

Puzzle #219: Can you work out where the second red queen will be?

Regulars

Tom Gauld on the outcome of an experiment

Regulars

Twisteddoodles: Researchers have made the world's most powerful laser

Regulars

Study finds it is 'barely possible to identify a beautiful scrotum'

Feedback nervously leafs through a new study comparing "men’s and women’s aesthetic assessments" of the scrotum and its "perceived attractiveness"

Regulars

This week's magazine

29 April 2023

On the cover

Health

Tackling ultra-processed food must focus on evidence and avoid stigma

Health

How ultra-processed food harms your health and how to fix the problem

Environment

What we can do to let the UK’s tamed rivers flow wild and free again

Space

What was the universe's first second like? These particles can tell us

Table of contents

Leaders

Health

Tackling ultra-processed food must focus on evidence and avoid stigma

News

Technology

Edible computer chips could control digestible drug-delivery robots

Health

Skateboard helps very premature babies develop their motor skills

Environment

Geoengineering the seas could be catastrophic for marine life

Life

Kelp forests capture nearly 5 million tonnes of CO2 annually

Life

We finally know why insects are attracted to lights

Life

Songbirds sing out of tune if they don't practise every day

Life

Carnivorous plants use a sneaky trick for luring different bugs to eat

Space

Distant world breaks record for heaviest element on an exoplanet

Mind

Updated brain map reveals how we control the movement of our bodies

Environment

2022 was Europe’s hottest summer but warmer years are likely to come

Space

Weird dark matter waves seem to warp the light from distant galaxies

Space

Martian base on Earth set to host first ‘astronauts’

Life

Elephant seals take power naps in the ocean while slowly sinking

Space

SpaceX’s enormous Starship rocket finally launched – and then exploded

Health

Stress makes us age faster but the effects can be reversed

Life

Galapagos giant tortoise argument may threaten conservation efforts

Life

Even a dead wolf is enough to scare a pig

Life

Rats fooled by optical illusion may shed light on evolution of the eye

Health

Women's small intestines are 30 centimetres longer than men's

Technology

Synthetic spider silk laced with graphene can heal itself when wet

Health

Lack of neuron ‘pruning’ may be behind many brain-related conditions

Space

Amazing images of Mars’s moon Deimos snapped by Emirates Mars Mission

Technology

Wood transistor could let us embed electronics in trees

Analysis

Life

Was DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin really a victim of scientific theft?

Physics

How can we prove the world is really quantum mechanical?

Physics

Why we must inspire people with the magic of condensed matter physics

Aperture

Comment

Famed abstract artists capture nature as you’ve never seen it before

Features

Space

What was the universe's first second like? These particles can tell us

Environment

What we can do to let the UK’s tamed rivers flow wild and free again

Health

How ultra-processed food harms your health and how to fix the problem

Culture