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This week's magazine

3 June 2023

Issue 3441

New Scientist issue 3441 cover
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Editor's picks

Larry Brown, owner of Brown's Farm, which produces sustainable eggs for NestFresh, walks around the property in Gonzales, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. Farmers are betting they can profit further with specialty eggs by adding another layer of premiumization: eggs from a special type of sustainable farm that can be trumpeted as being better for the planet. Photographer: Mary Kang/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Environment

We already have ethical options for replacing industrial farming

News
How you can use the power of exercise to feel better and think clearer

Health

How you can use the power of exercise to feel better and think clearer

Features
Peter Singer on animal rights, octopus farms and why AI is speciesist

Environment

Peter Singer on animal rights, octopus farms and why AI is speciesist

Features
We are finally closing in on the cosmic origins of the “OMG particle”

Space

We are finally closing in on the cosmic origins of the “OMG particle”

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

Larry Brown, owner of Brown's Farm, which produces sustainable eggs for NestFresh, walks around the property in Gonzales, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. Farmers are betting they can profit further with specialty eggs by adding another layer of premiumization: eggs from a special type of sustainable farm that can be trumpeted as being better for the planet. Photographer: Mary Kang/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Environment

We already have ethical options for replacing industrial farming

The industrialised food system harms the environment and animal welfare, but new ways of farming are now addressing these issues and further change is coming

News

News

white young man with hat eating a pizza with vegetables on a wooden table

Health

Junk food diet may disrupt sleep by altering brain activity

Men who tried a high-fat, high-sugar diet developed disrupted electrical brain activity during the deepest stage of their sleep, suggesting that the food reduced their sleep quality

News

Environment

How a UK river serves as a natural lab for flood defence research

News

Technology

US police are selling seized phones with personal data still on them

News

Life

5000 species not known elsewhere live in area set for deep-sea mining

News

Environment

Common compostable plastic fails to break down after a year at sea

News

Technology

Hollywood actors strike over use of AI in films and other issues

News

Technology

Capital letter test is a foolproof way of sorting AIs from humans

News

Life

Seagulls choose their meals based on what people nearby are eating

News

Life

How to avoid deer fly bites, according to science

News

Environment

Tumble dryers shed hundreds of tonnes of microfibres into waterways

News

Health

Man with paralysis can walk by activating spine implants with his mind

News

Physics

Nuclear clocks could be the best timepiece in the universe

News

Space

Astronomers race to observe rare supernova in a nearby galaxy

News

Physics

Sunlight could cool an atom to its coldest possible temperature

News

Health

Ultrasound can trigger a hibernation-like state in mice and rats

News

Space

Fake alien message sent to Earth to prepare us for first contact

News

Life

Migrating bats use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate in the dark

News

Humans

Babies can identify people's faces from just 4 months old

News

Health

Does covid-19 affect pregnancies and do the vaccines reduce any risks?

News

Analysis

Health

mRNA trial shows promise for these therapies to revolutionise medicine

People with a rare condition experienced fewer or no complications after receiving an experimental mRNA therapy, with the technology having the potential to treat a range of disorders

News

Environment

Why I can once again eat cheese with a clear conscience

Comment

Health

Why we should do more to protect frogs and toads

News

Aperture

A shoulder of Alexandra Peak, the second heighest peak in the Rwenzori range, as seen from Margherita Peak. In the valley between the two peaks lies Stanley Glacier. The glacier was once so high that guides could lead clients across it on a gentle walk between the peaks. Today the face of the mountain is exposed as the glacier dies.

Comment

See the magnificent but melting glaciers of the Rwenzori mountains

Spanning Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the glaciers of this little-studied mountain range may vanish this decade. These stunning photographs capture them before they disappear

Regulars

Features

How you can use the power of exercise to feel better and think clearer

Health

How you can use the power of exercise to feel better and think clearer

We know that exercising is good for the brain. But now that we understand why, we can say what kinds of workouts maximise the brain-boosting powers of physical exertion

Features

Environment

Peter Singer on animal rights, octopus farms and why AI is speciesist

Features

Space

We are finally closing in on the cosmic origins of the “OMG particle”

Features

Culture

Blue Machine review: Earth's ocean as a giant engine

Comment

Blue Machine review: Earth's ocean as a giant engine

Helen Czerski's fascinating new book casts the ocean as an extraordinary giant engine, and helps us grasp its complex physics and its key role in climate change

Culture

Comment

The Limits of Genius review: What made Newton and Einstein stupid?

Culture

Comment

New Scientist recommends: Curtis Sittenfeld's new pandemic romcom

Culture

Comment

Tin Can review: Fix your escape pod in this fantastic video game

Culture

More

2CNWGJN Ophiuchus star constellation, Night sky, Cluster of stars, Deep space,?Serpentarius, Serpent bearer

Space

How to spot Ophiuchus, the thirteenth zodiacal constellation

Often referred to as the thirteenth sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus sits alongside Sagittarius and Scorpius. Now is a great time to spot it, says Abigail Beall

Regulars

Puzzle #224: Can you find the ring inside the Russian dolls?

Regulars

Tom Gauld: Is our entire reality a simulation?

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on the search for life and love

Regulars

Regulars

Hidden jerk and where to find it

Hidden jerk and where to find it

Feedback explores the links between jerk (hidden and otherwise), bamboo chopsticks and spaghetti, and admires a quietly charming graphical abstract

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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