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This week's magazine

9 September 2023

Issue 3455

New Scientist issue 3455 cover
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Editor's picks

P90HYK Particle collision and explosion. Bright blue particles with streams collide and create explosion shockwave with trails. Spherical multicolored explos

Physics

Physicists can complete our amazing, imperfect picture of reality

News
GS1839667

Health

The ultimate guide to hydration and what you really should be drinking

Features
JGYRAN Large Hadron Collider tunnel.

Physics

Six ways we could finally find new physics beyond the standard model

Features
Subatomic particles and atoms, conceptual illustration.

Physics

A brief history of the standard model, our theory of almost everything

Features
An alternative way to picture the standard model of particle physics

Physics

An alternative way to picture the standard model of particle physics

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

P90HYK Particle collision and explosion. Bright blue particles with streams collide and create explosion shockwave with trails. Spherical multicolored explos

Physics

Physicists can complete our amazing, imperfect picture of reality

On its 50th anniversary, the standard model of particle physics remains an unfinished masterpiece. The quest to finally fill in the blanks should be treated not with frustration but joyful anticipation

News

News

Implant lets people type on virtual keyboards with just brain signals

Technology

Implant lets people type on virtual keyboards with just brain signals

A company called Synchron, backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, may become the first to commercialise a brain implant that lets people control touchscreen devices using brain signals

News

Technology

Virus ‘nanobots’ can make harmful bacteria in food and drink glow

News

Technology

AI beats champion human pilots in head-to-head drone races

News

Space

Massive crater found on distant world far beyond Neptune

News

Life

Pirate spiders ambush prey by tricking them with lines of silk

News

Humans

Ancient humans may have worn shoes more than 100,000 years ago

News

Space

India set to launch probe to investigate mysteries of the sun

News

Health

Drinking alcohol doesn't give people 'beer goggles' after all

News

Technology

Earthquake sensors are tracking bombing attacks in Ukraine

News

Health

People with eczema may have high levels of some bacteria on their skin

News

Technology

AI generates video game levels and characters from text prompts

News

Humans

'Scent of eternity' worn by ancient Egyptian mummy has been revealed

News

Humans

Our ancestors may have come close to extinction 900,000 years ago

News

Health

Vitamin C and E supplements may make lung cancers grow faster

News

Space

Have interstellar meteor fragments really been found in the ocean?

News

Life

Ancient armoured animal leads to rethink of reptile evolutionary tree

News

Space

India's moon craft enter sleep mode and await freezing lunar night

News

Technology

Why haven't we got useful quantum computers yet?

News

Analysis

Packets of Wegovy

Health

Why is Wegovy weight-loss jab so hard to get access to?

NHS England has finally taken a delivery of weight-loss treatment Wegovy, but drugmaker Novo Nordisk still seems to be struggling to keep up with demand

News

Health

We need evidence about the risks and benefits of alternative medicines

Comment

Environment

The proposed Anthropocene definition is unscientific and harmful

News

Aperture

Lewis Burnett - Manta

Life

See this award-winning shot of a reef manta ray taken by a drone

Lewis Burnett's powerful photographs of a saltwater crocodile, Risso's dolphins and a reef manta ray are part of a collection that won him the Portfolio prize in the 2023 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition

Regulars

Features

GS1839667

Health

The ultimate guide to hydration and what you really should be drinking

Plain water, coffee or milk? Sports or energy drinks? Our ideas about what we ought to be drinking, and how much, are confounded by half-truths. Here's what the science says

Features

Physics

An alternative way to picture the standard model of particle physics

Features

Physics

A brief history of the standard model, our theory of almost everything

Features

Physics

Six ways we could finally find new physics beyond the standard model

Features

Culture

2H2KWF7 Flowers and trees during the Cretaceous period, illustration

Comment

Extinctions review: A fast-paced story of going extinct on Earth

Days of mass death on Earth are dramatically captured by Michael Benton in his book, Extinctions. It's well-told and gripping, but real palaeontology afficionados may crave newer stories

Culture

Comment

The MANIAC review: A dark novel about the legendary John von Neumann

Culture

Comment

New Scientist recommends The Man Who Couldn't Stop and The Retrievals

Culture

Comment

Billion Dollar Heist review: How cybercriminals hit Bangladeshi bank

Culture

More

Teenage girl using laptop and internet to study online

Mind

Why great people don't always give good advice

Whatever your area of interest, it would seem sensible to learn from the best. Recent research disagrees, finds David Robson

Regulars

Puzzle #238: Can you retrace the chess knight’s path?

Regulars

Tom Gauld on scientists at their most dangerous

Regulars

Twisteddoodles' take on lab safety

Regulars

Regulars

Do those with larger brains nap more? Possibly, find scientists

Do those with larger brains nap more? Possibly, find scientists

Feedback is intrigued by a new piece of research which suggests that "larger total brain volume" is associated with habitual daytime napping - but asks, what about sloths?

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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