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This week's magazine

29 October 2022

Issue 3410

New Scientist issue 3410 cover
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Editor's picks

Aerial view of windmill and Solar panel, photovoltaic, alternative electricity source - concept of sustainable resources on a sunny day, Bac Phong, Thuan Bac, Ninh Thuan, Vietnam; Shutterstock ID 1718281252; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Environment

COP27: Causes for concern, and hope, ahead of the big climate summit

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Three ice cream cones in a metal basket on blue wooden vintage background; Shutterstock ID 135808091; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Health

Why we urgently need answers about artificial sweeteners and health

Features
COP27: How the world is doing on climate targets and what to expect

Environment

COP27: How the world is doing on climate targets and what to expect

Features
The hunt for habitable ocean worlds beyond our solar system

Space

The hunt for habitable ocean worlds beyond our solar system

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

Aerial view of windmill and Solar panel, photovoltaic, alternative electricity source - concept of sustainable resources on a sunny day, Bac Phong, Thuan Bac, Ninh Thuan, Vietnam; Shutterstock ID 1718281252; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Environment

COP27: Causes for concern, and hope, ahead of the big climate summit

A year on from the make-or-break climate conference in Glasgow, nations have failed to make progress of cutting emissions. But there are reasons for optimism from beyond the meeting rooms

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AI-controlled robotic laser can target and kill cockroaches

Technology

AI-controlled robotic laser can target and kill cockroaches

A laser controlled by two cameras and a small computer running an AI model can be trained to target certain types of insect

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Technology

Mechanical neural network could enable smart aircraft wings that morph

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Health

Acids in our body odour make some people more attractive to mosquitoes

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Technology

AIs built by Meta beat human experts at Diplomacy

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Physics

Quantum watch is a 'completely new way of measuring time'

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Physics

Proton's stretchiness is a puzzle for particle physicists

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Health

Gut bacteria may reduce harmful effects of nicotine on the liver

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Chemistry

Aluminium alloy could boost spacecraft radiation shielding 100-fold

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Space

JWST has taken a star-studded new image of the Pillars of Creation

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Space

Hayabusa 2 has brought back gases from an asteroid for the first time

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Environment

Glyphosate weedkiller impairs learning and memory in bumblebees

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Health

Dyslexia linked to 42 genetic variants in biggest study of its kind

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Life

Mountain lions outside Los Angeles take more risks after wildfire

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Life

High school student is first to sequence the angelfish genome

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Technology

Weather sensors could float forever in the stratosphere using sunlight

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Health

Hypnotherapy app eases irritable bowel syndrome symptoms in six weeks

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Environment

Engineering firms explore plan to slow melting of Greenland glacier

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Space

JWST spots smallest galaxy outside our local universe

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Health

People who use cannabis may experience more pain after surgery

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Health

Turmeric supplements have been linked to liver damage in five people

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Environment

Eastern Australia is battling fifth major wave of floods in 19 months

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Life

Vocal communication recorded in 53 animals we thought were silent

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Analysis

Drilling at United Downs Deep Geothermal Project.

Environment

Can geothermal energy supply all of the UK's heating?

A committee of MPs has urged the government to exploit the vast amount of underground heat beneath the UK, but realising that potential isn't straightforward

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Space

The extraordinary JWST is named for James Webb, whose legacy I deplore

Comment

Space

Why Mars has captured our hopes and fears for millennia

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Aperture

Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are nearly done with the LSST Camera, the world's largest digital camera ever built for astronomy. Roughly the size of a small car and weighing in at three tons, the camera features a five-foot wide front lens and a 3,200 megapixel sensor that will be cooled to -100??C to reduce noise. Once complete and in place atop the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope in Chile, the camera will survey the southern night sky for a decade, creating a trove of data that scientists will pore over to better understand some of the universe's biggest mysteries, including the nature of dark energy and dark matter. (Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

Technology

Astronomers have unveiled the world’s largest digital camera

The world’s largest digital camera for astronomy is taller than a car, has as many pixels as 266 iPhones and will, over the course of the next 10 years, help researchers study billions of galaxies

Regulars

Features

The hunt for habitable ocean worlds beyond our solar system

Space

The hunt for habitable ocean worlds beyond our solar system

Astronomers think that planets covered in water, with oceans hundreds of metres deep, could be relatively common in our galaxy. Now the race is on to find one

Features

Environment

COP27: How the world is doing on climate targets and what to expect

Features

Health

Why we urgently need answers about artificial sweeteners and health

Features

Culture

Awaiting clearance

Environment

The Blaze (En Plein Feu) review: A taut eco-thriller about a wildfire

The wildfire that swept across Europe this summer resonates through Quentin Reynaud’s The Blaze, a tense, subtly crafted eco-thriller in which a father and son struggle to escape from a local outbreak

Culture

Earth

BBC Earth Podcast review: Get stuck into nature – wherever you find it

Culture

Environment

The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War review: US military emissions

Culture

Humans

Don't Miss: Read about how the milky way smells of rum and raspberries

Culture

Humans

Remote review: An architect in a future Kuala Lumpur comes adrift

Culture

More

Diet and Healthy food of Delicious Baked sweet potato, Famous snack at Japan on Autumn and Winter season.; Shutterstock ID 1668197044; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Humans

How to make a sweet potato even sweeter: freeze it before baking

Studies show it is always best to bake your sweet potatoes, rather than boil or microwave them, and there is another trick to take the tubers to the next level of deliciousness, says Sam Wong

Regulars

Puzzle #191: Can you work out how many Halloween sweets were eaten?

Regulars

Tom Gauld on a timely operation

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on filling the space available

Regulars

Regulars

Studying the 'nits of louse' on a holy relic

Studying the 'nits of louse' on a holy relic

Feedback takes a look at the residents of what is described as a 'large lock' of Mary Magdalene’s hair, while also pondering the Nobel committee's decision to overlook Deepak Chopra when handing out this year's physics award

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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