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This week's magazine

25 December 2004

Issue 2479

New Scientist issue 2479 cover
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Editor's picks

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.

Life

Histories: Johann Beringer and the fraudulent fossils

Features
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.

End of 2004 quiz

Features
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.

Life

The psychology of the perfect Christmas dinner

Features
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.

Life

Staying ahead in the fight against lice

Features
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.

Earth

Festive decorations drive the plundering of moss

Features
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.

Life

Sprinting ostriches offer dinosaur insights

Features
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.

Life

Breaking Elgar's enigmatic code

Features
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.

Life

The meteoric rise of female astronomers

Features
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.

Space

Tripping people up for science

Features
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.

Space

How to catch a falling star

Features
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.

Life

Partying all over the world

Features
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.

Space

Taking a ride in the 'vomit comet'

Features
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.

Life

New juggling tricks created by maths

Features
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.

From festive feathers to future fabrics

Features
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.

Life

How to maximise your Christmas presents

Features
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.

'Tis the season

Features

Table of contents

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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.

Earth

Review 2004: Disappearing species

NOT one. Not a single bonobo was sighted during the most comprehensive survey yet undertaken to ascertain the fate of our closest living relative. So few can now be found that biologists cannot even take an educated guess at their number. The cause, predictably, is human activity. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo a …

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Technology

Invention

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Technology

The search for viable white-light LEDs

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Space

Review 2004: Running rings around Saturn

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Life

Review 2004: Global swarming

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Space

Review 2004: Pioneering private space flight

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Life

Review 2004: Rise of the little people

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Space

Review 2004: The future of space exploration

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Life

Review 2004: Bird flu threatens the world

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Health

Vaccine for heart disease on the horizon

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Technology

'Conclusive' study of cellphones fuels controversy

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Life

Faulty body clock can drive people to drink

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Health

Magnetic pain-relief bracelets may work only in the mind

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Technology

Flexible scanner works on curved surfaces

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Earth

Review 2004: The year of the storm

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Earth

Review 2004: Global meltdown as poles disintegrate

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Space

Review 2004: The transit of Venus

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Health

Review 2004: Binge drinking

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Health

Review 2004: The war against smoking raged on

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Space

Mystery of Mars rover's 'carwash' rolls on

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Life

Primordial rocks may hold the signature of life

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Physics

Surprise finding reveals short-lived neutrons

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Life

Relationship of US gun culture to violence ill-understood

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Opinion

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.

Life

On the origin of creationism

GOD is back – at least in the science classrooms of rural America. The controversy over whether children should learn theological alternatives to the theory of evolution has reached feverish levels. Thirteen states are facing legal challenges over the issue. High-school biology textbooks in suburban Atlanta now carry stickers declaring "evolution is a theory not …

Opinion

Editorial: Science and social policy can and should mix

Opinion

Humans

Washington diary

Opinion

Features

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.

Life

Histories: Johann Beringer and the fraudulent fossils

This Christmas, New51¶¯Âþ presents a palaeontological pantomime – a scientific spectacular set in southern Germany. Ourtale may be short on giants, ugly sisters and fairy godmothers but it does have heroes, villains and miraculous stones. The strange-but-true story takes place in Franconia, a land of lakes and mountains ruled by a wise and scholarly prince. …

Features

End of 2004 quiz

Features

Life

The psychology of the perfect Christmas dinner

Features

Life

Staying ahead in the fight against lice

Features

Earth

Festive decorations drive the plundering of moss

Features

Life

Sprinting ostriches offer dinosaur insights

Features

Life

Breaking Elgar's enigmatic code

Features

Life

The meteoric rise of female astronomers

Features

Space

Tripping people up for science

Features

Space

How to catch a falling star

Features

Life

Partying all over the world

Features

Space

Taking a ride in the 'vomit comet'

Features

Life

New juggling tricks created by maths

Features

From festive feathers to future fabrics

Features

Life

How to maximise your Christmas presents

Features

'Tis the season

Features

More

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.

Life

A Natural History of Ferns by Robbin C. Moran

I COULD not find a dull sentence or a wasted word in Robbin Moran's A Natural History of Ferns . Read this excellent book and you will be left in no doubt that the world's 14,000 ferns, horsetails, quillworts and clubmosses are dynamic, important and interesting modern plants with much to teach us. Moran, curator …

Books & Arts

Biographies: J. Robert Oppenheimer and Patrick Blackett

Books & Arts

Technology

The Science of Saving Venice by Caroline Fletcher and Jane Da Mosto

Books & Arts

Josiah Wedgwood: Entrepreneur to the Enlightenment by Brian Dolan

Books & Arts

Life

Roundup: The ancient art of cooking

Books & Arts

Regulars

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.

Feedback

Bombarded with animals OVER the past few months we have published many examples of unusual units of measurement sent in by our ever-alert readers. It turns out that 51¶¯Âþ readers are not alone in their interest: the UK-based online car humour magazine www.sniffpetrol.com recently ran a summary of the unusual units people are in …

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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