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Cryptic crossword #91: Bird from South Africa making beer (9)

1 September 2022

Challenge your brain by solving New Scientist's weekly crosswords on your mobile, tablet or desktop

^BHormone replacement therapy.^b Close-up of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) pills in a circular dispenser. HRT pills are synthetic hormones used to treat menopausal women. They counteract the hormone deficiency that occurs at menopause. These pills contain oestrogen, and often progestogen, drugs. HRT helps to prevent ^Iosteoporosis,^i ^Iatherosclerosis^i and ^Iatrophic vaginitis^i (where the vagina becomes thin and dry). Pills are taken daily on a monthly basis to coincide with the menstrual cycle. Adverse effects include nausea, tenderness of the breasts, fluid retention and leg cramps.

Outdated research on HRT is letting people down

31 August 2022

It's time to be clear about the evidence around hormone replacement therapy and let people make up their own minds

On the trail of the lost Welsh kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod

31 August 2022

Feedback looks into the identification of two lost islands in Cardigan Bay, while also exploring a plaster sculpture of an 18th-century infant Jesus that bears a striking resemblance to Mark Zuckerberg

Part of the Guadiana river has dried up and gives way to dry land under the Puente de la Mesta medieval bridge in Villarta de los Montes, in the central-western Spanish region of Extremadura, on August 16, 2022. - Temperatures in Spain have been very high this summer with several unusual heat waves. Scientists say human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events including heatwaves and droughts more frequent and more intense. (Photo by THOMAS COEX / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)

This week’s new questions

31 August 2022

Where is all the water that is missing while Europe and China are in drought conditions? And do fizzy drinks really taste different in glass bottles compared with metal cans?

Closeup portrait, senior mature man, disgust face, pinch nose, something stinks, very bad smell, isolated outdoors outside background. Negative emotion, facial expression; Shutterstock ID 640783057; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Does anything actually cure hiccups? (Part 2)

31 August 2022

More reader suggestions on remedies for hiccups, including breathing exercises, a teaspoon of sugar and even a magic word

EG8YTA Rugby player breathing during cold weather

What percentage of carbon dioxide emissions is from us breathing out?

31 August 2022

Our readers point out that humans exhale a tiny fraction of the total carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuels

Funny little girl watering from a hose flowers in her home garden. Rural life. Happy child is resting in the summer, playing with water and watering the greens with a hose evening; Shutterstock ID 2138202117; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

What is the best angle to hold a hosepipe at to spray water furthest?

31 August 2022

Holding a hosepipe at less than a 45-degree angle will maximise the distance travelled by the water, say our readers

Puzzle #183: Can you work out the order the books are arranged in?

31 August 2022

Can you solve this week’s puzzle, Animal rights? Plus the answer to puzzle #182

The Directors review: Five intimate short films about psychosis

31 August 2022

Five people in recovery from psychosis guide artist Marcus Coates as he recreates aspects of their experience in this series of disorienting and sometimes very frightening short films, finds Simon Ings

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein speaks at SESSION 5 at TED2022: A New Era. April 10-14, 2022, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED

How I gave a TED talk on dark matter

31 August 2022

Giving a TED talk wasn't easy, but I wanted to make sure my audience came away with a better understanding of dark matter, writes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein