Issue 2025 | Magazine cover date: 13 April 1996

This week's magazine

13 April 1996

Issue 2025

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On the cover

Features

Are you getting what you're worth?

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Netropolitan :

Opinion

Editorial : Sad, but glad? - DO you find it easier to talk to people on the Internet than in person? Do you feel that if it weren't for your computer, you wouldn't have any fun at all? If it has been a long time since you logged on, do you find it hard to

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New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Are you getting what you're worth?

Features

Frozen in time

Features

The far frontier - Life can be tough for the fast-living, hard-drinking workers of Antarctica's science city. Vincent Kiernan visits the wild wild south

Features

It's child's play - If you want to know what the future will look like, ask a child. And that's just what many American companies are doing. Rosie Mestel reports

Features

One small step for a tomato - Long-haul space travellers will not be able to take all the essentials of life with them. But they could turn their spacecraft into a self-sustaining ecosystem. Kurt Kleiner investigates

Features

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Technology

Netropolitan :

IF you thought that the media coverage of the Net was hyped and hysterical, then the frenzy that greeted the BSE scare was off the scale in comparison. But it is at times like this that the Net fulfils some of its promise, by providing factual information to counteract some of the shrieking hyperbole. One …

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Technology

Technology : How to put aircraft ahead by a nozzle

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Technology

Technology : Tiny factory cleans up dirty water

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Technology

Technology : Is it a boat? Is it a plane?

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Technology

Technology : Less is more in race to be strong

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Science : Water comes clean with arsenic eaters

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Science : `Life' crawls out of the digital soup

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Science : Is a Big One lurking in the Midwest?

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Science : Introducing the incredible shrinking ceramic. . .

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Science : How cancer spreads after a night on the tiles

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Science : Altered cells flip the immune system's off switch

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Science : Such stuff as worlds are made of

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A watershed for apartheid - The South African government is reforming its hundred-year-old water laws which give a small number of landowners control over most of the country's water supplies. But it is facing stiff opposition from farmers

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Technology

Technology : I spy with my lobster eye

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`Real intelligence' group targets study

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Public gives thumbs down to gene screening

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Car industry pins hopes on wired-up apprentices

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Fur flies over European pelt ban

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It's life, Jim, but not as we know it

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Malaria guard

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Dangerous plant

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Hooked on the Net

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Neutrino trap

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Wilful slobbery

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Scrapie theory fed BSE complacency . . .

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. . . now fears grow for unborn babies

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Death in the city

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Brussels cuts cheap Net links

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Pentagon changes tack too late to save GPS

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A painkiller a day could fend off Alzheimer's

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French crack down on happy pills

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Tough measures to curb acid rain

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Opinion

Editorial : Sad, but glad? - DO you find it easier to talk to people on the Internet than in person? Do you feel that if it weren't for your computer, you wouldn't have any fun at all? If it has been a long time since you logged on, do you find it hard to

DO you find it easier to talk to people on the Internet than in person? Do you feel that if it weren't for your computer, you wouldn't have any fun at all? If it has been a long time since you logged on, do you find it hard to stop thinking about what will be …

Opinion

Editorial : Hanging on the telephone - BRITISH scientists often complain that the public does not understand them. Those who worry professionally about the public understanding of science come up with all sorts of theories. Usually they end up admonishing

Opinion

Features

Are you getting what you're worth?

THE DEBATE about careers in science surfaced again during National Science Week. The two key questions which emerged were: is science worth doing as a career, and are the pay and career prospects adequate? A survey that The Daily Telegraph carried out among scientists found that the answer to the first question was emphatically yes. …

Features

Frozen in time

Features

The far frontier - Life can be tough for the fast-living, hard-drinking workers of Antarctica's science city. Vincent Kiernan visits the wild wild south

Features

It's child's play - If you want to know what the future will look like, ask a child. And that's just what many American companies are doing. Rosie Mestel reports

Features

One small step for a tomato - Long-haul space travellers will not be able to take all the essentials of life with them. But they could turn their spacecraft into a self-sustaining ecosystem. Kurt Kleiner investigates

Features

Antipodes : Are frog deaths a residue of pesticides? - Ian Lowe investigates amphibian declines in New Zealand

AUSTRALIAN herpetologists have been warning for some time that frogs are in serious decline across the country. Why they are disappearing remains a mystery. Now frog numbers appear to be declining across the Tasman as well. The Department of Conservation in New Zealand has been receiving reports from landowners that they are spotting fewer frogs. …

Forum

Review : A boggy business . . .

Books & Arts

Enigma 870 : Cabinet reshuffle

Forum

Forum : A collective act of faith

Forum

Thistle diary : Patenting pitfalls and poisonous icebergs - More comment from Westminster by Tam Dalyell

Forum

Forum : Saving the sounds of silence - James Geary rants and raves about peace and quiet

Forum

Review : A big man in the lab

Books & Arts

Review : . . . And ancient business

Books & Arts

Review : BESTSELLERS from Washington

Books & Arts

Review : Collected works

Books & Arts

Review : Computers at war

Books & Arts

Review : Arid news

Books & Arts

The Thread of Life: The Story of Genes and Genetic Engineering by Susan Aldridge and other books

Books & Arts

Review : Inside the social cage

Books & Arts

Review : Old masters

Books & Arts

Review : Certainty surveyed

Books & Arts

Review : Dream on

Books & Arts

Review : Rumours of my death . . .

Books & Arts

Review : Great comeback

Books & Arts

Review : Byzantine porridge

Books & Arts

Review : Couch questions

Books & Arts

Regulars

The Last Word -- on shaving foam

Close shave This article is being made free to view thanks to sponsorship from P&G Q: What function does shaving foam perform during a wet shave, and why is a similar product not necessary for shaving with an electric razor? A: The razor blade's efficiency to cut increases with the wetness of the hair. Shaving …

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This week's magazine

13 April 1996

On the cover

Are you getting what you're worth?

Frozen in time

The far frontier - Life can be tough for the fast-living, hard-drinking workers of Antarctica's science city. Vincent Kiernan visits the wild wild south

It's child's play - If you want to know what the future will look like, ask a child. And that's just what many American companies are doing. Rosie Mestel reports

One small step for a tomato - Long-haul space travellers will not be able to take all the essentials of life with them. But they could turn their spacecraft into a self-sustaining ecosystem. Kurt Kleiner investigates

Table of contents

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Technology

Netropolitan :

Technology

Technology : How to put aircraft ahead by a nozzle

Technology

Technology : Tiny factory cleans up dirty water

Technology

Technology : Is it a boat? Is it a plane?

Technology

Technology : Less is more in race to be strong

Science : Water comes clean with arsenic eaters

Science : `Life' crawls out of the digital soup

Science : Is a Big One lurking in the Midwest?

Science : Introducing the incredible shrinking ceramic. . .

Science : How cancer spreads after a night on the tiles

Science : Altered cells flip the immune system's off switch

Science : Such stuff as worlds are made of

A watershed for apartheid - The South African government is reforming its hundred-year-old water laws which give a small number of landowners control over most of the country's water supplies. But it is facing stiff opposition from farmers

Technology

Technology : I spy with my lobster eye

`Real intelligence' group targets study

Public gives thumbs down to gene screening

Car industry pins hopes on wired-up apprentices

Fur flies over European pelt ban

It's life, Jim, but not as we know it

Malaria guard

Dangerous plant

Hooked on the Net

Neutrino trap

Wilful slobbery

Scrapie theory fed BSE complacency . . .

. . . now fears grow for unborn babies

Death in the city

Brussels cuts cheap Net links

Pentagon changes tack too late to save GPS

A painkiller a day could fend off Alzheimer's

French crack down on happy pills

Tough measures to curb acid rain

Opinion

Editorial : Sad, but glad? - DO you find it easier to talk to people on the Internet than in person? Do you feel that if it weren't for your computer, you wouldn't have any fun at all? If it has been a long time since you logged on, do you find it hard to

Editorial : Hanging on the telephone - BRITISH scientists often complain that the public does not understand them. Those who worry professionally about the public understanding of science come up with all sorts of theories. Usually they end up admonishing

Features

Are you getting what you're worth?

Frozen in time

The far frontier - Life can be tough for the fast-living, hard-drinking workers of Antarctica's science city. Vincent Kiernan visits the wild wild south

It's child's play - If you want to know what the future will look like, ask a child. And that's just what many American companies are doing. Rosie Mestel reports

One small step for a tomato - Long-haul space travellers will not be able to take all the essentials of life with them. But they could turn their spacecraft into a self-sustaining ecosystem. Kurt Kleiner investigates

More

Antipodes : Are frog deaths a residue of pesticides? - Ian Lowe investigates amphibian declines in New Zealand

Review : A boggy business . . .

Enigma 870 : Cabinet reshuffle

Forum : A collective act of faith

Thistle diary : Patenting pitfalls and poisonous icebergs - More comment from Westminster by Tam Dalyell

Forum : Saving the sounds of silence - James Geary rants and raves about peace and quiet

Review : A big man in the lab

Review : . . . And ancient business

Review : BESTSELLERS from Washington

Review : Collected works

Review : Computers at war

Review : Arid news

The Thread of Life: The Story of Genes and Genetic Engineering by Susan Aldridge and other books

Review : Inside the social cage

Review : Old masters

Review : Certainty surveyed

Review : Dream on

Review : Rumours of my death . . .

Review : Great comeback

Review : Byzantine porridge

Review : Couch questions

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