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This week's magazine

25 January 2025

Issue 3527

New Scientist issue 3527 cover
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On the cover

Features
The physicist trying to build humanity's lunar future with moon dirt
Why your chronotype is key to figuring out how much sleep you need
Why sleep quality is so important – and so difficult to measure
The surprising relationship between your microbiome and sleeping well
What nine sleep researchers do to get their best night's rest
A better understanding of our hormones and sleep could improve both
How to shift your circadian clock to beat your jet lag
How best to catch up on rest and pay off your sleep debt
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Giant isopod named after Darth Vader is a delicacy in Vietnam
Astronomers baffled by bizarre 'zombie star' that shouldn't exist
Celtic tribe's DNA points to female empowerment in pre-Roman Britain
Rabbits may eat their own teeth to boost their calcium intake
Humanoid robot learns to waltz by mirroring people's movements
A cosmic shape could explain the fundamental nature of the universe
Analysis
Do we actually know what a healthy gut microbiome looks like?
Blue Origin vs SpaceX: Who is winning the battle of the rockets?
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Editor's picks

Wake up to the bigger picture on how to get a better night’s sleep

Health

Wake up to the bigger picture on how to get a better night’s sleep

Comment
A better understanding of our hormones and sleep could improve both

Health

A better understanding of our hormones and sleep could improve both

Features
Why your chronotype is key to figuring out how much sleep you need

Health

Why your chronotype is key to figuring out how much sleep you need

Features
The surprising relationship between your microbiome and sleeping well

Health

The surprising relationship between your microbiome and sleeping well

Features
How best to catch up on rest and pay off your sleep debt

Health

How best to catch up on rest and pay off your sleep debt

Features
The physicist trying to build humanity's lunar future with moon dirt

Space

The physicist trying to build humanity's lunar future with moon dirt

Features
Why sleep quality is so important – and so difficult to measure

Health

Why sleep quality is so important – and so difficult to measure

Features
The new science of sleep: How to sleep better whatever your lifestyle

Health

The new science of sleep: How to sleep better whatever your lifestyle

Features
FRANCE. Paris. Magnum office. 2009. Left to right: Magnum photographers Bruce GILDEN, Carl DE KEYZER, Patrick ZACHMANN.

Health

What nine sleep researchers do to get their best night's rest

Features
A traveller sleeps on a bench with a suitcase at Cyprus' Larnaca International Airport on June 9, 2020. - Cyprus opened back up for international tourism on June 9, with airports welcoming visitors after an almost three-month shutdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, with a bold plan to cover health care costs for visitors. (Photo by Iakovos Hatzistavrou / AFP) (Photo by IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP via Getty Images)

Health

How to shift your circadian clock to beat your jet lag

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

Wake up to the bigger picture on how to get a better night’s sleep

Health

Wake up to the bigger picture on how to get a better night’s sleep

We often obsess about nighttime routines for good sleep, but mounting evidence shows that what we do during our waking hours is also important – a more holistic view that could ease the modern pressure to create a perfect environment for when our heads hit the pillow

Comment

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The partially fossilised whitebark pine trees

Environment

Melting ice reveals millennia-old forest buried in the Rocky mountains

Trees dating back almost 6000 years have come to scientists' attention due to ice melting in the Rocky mountains, offering a "time capsule" into the past

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Humans

Intricate ancient tattoos revealed by shining lasers on mummies

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Space

Mars may have a solid inner core like Earth does

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Physics

Laser technique measures vast distances with nanometre precision

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Space

A supermassive black hole is sending out a mysterious pulsing beat

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Environment

Zero-carbon shipping fuel could be a new source of pollution

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Life

Giant isopod named after Darth Vader is a delicacy in Vietnam

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Space

Astronomers baffled by bizarre 'zombie star' that shouldn't exist

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Health

Golden oyster mushrooms may stave off signs of ageing

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Humans

Celtic tribe's DNA points to female empowerment in pre-Roman Britain

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Life

Rabbits may eat their own teeth to boost their calcium intake

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Humans

Ancient society may have carved 'sun stones' to end volcanic winter

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Technology

Humanoid robot learns to waltz by mirroring people's movements

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Physics

Ultra-thin material creates a magnetic mystery

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Life

Fossil claimed to be new species of mosasaur is suspected forgery

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Health

Mind-controlled robotic arm lets people with paralysis touch and feel

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Environment

Air monitoring station records biggest ever jump in atmospheric CO2

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Technology

Tiny insect-like robot can flip, loop and hover for up to 15 minutes

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Physics

A cosmic shape could explain the fundamental nature of the universe

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Space

James Webb captures a beautiful smattering of blue stars

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Analysis

Health

Do we actually know what a healthy gut microbiome looks like?

The gut microbiome has tremendous potential for helping us treat, or even prevent, many different conditions - but first, we need to understand it better

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Space

Blue Origin vs SpaceX: Who is winning the battle of the rockets?

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Aperture

Franconian Trumpeter.

Life

Fancy pigeons flaunt their feathers in this striking photo series

Photographer Luisa Maria Stagno is on a mission to document the most unusual pigeons out there, from a Danish Suabian to a Gimpel

Regulars

Features

The physicist trying to build humanity's lunar future with moon dirt

Space

The physicist trying to build humanity's lunar future with moon dirt

When it comes to sending humans back to the moon, knowing how to work with the regolith that coats the ground will be make-or-break. Phil Metzger is studying how to mitigate its dangers and use it as a crucial resource

Features

Health

The new science of sleep: How to sleep better whatever your lifestyle

Features

Health

Why your chronotype is key to figuring out how much sleep you need

Features

Health

Why sleep quality is so important – and so difficult to measure

Features

Health

The surprising relationship between your microbiome and sleeping well

Features

Health

What nine sleep researchers do to get their best night's rest

Features

Health

A better understanding of our hormones and sleep could improve both

Features

Health

How to shift your circadian clock to beat your jet lag

Features

Health

How best to catch up on rest and pay off your sleep debt

Features

Culture

Paul Jutte (L) and Alexa Johnson (R) of Cincinnati, Ohio, counter a counter-protest of a Women's March rally against the National Rifle Association by conservative gun rights activists on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the Department of Justice in Washington, U.S., July 15, 2017. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

Society

What should we do about societal divisions that run deeper than ever?

Kurt Gray's new book Outraged is a clear and insightful look at our society's deep divides, with valuable tips on building bridges

Culture

Technology

New Tom Hanks film fails to wow despite the cutting-edge tech

Culture

Technology

51¶¯Âþ recommends Spike Jonze’s eerily prescient 2013 film Her

Culture

Mind

Severance is still the most thoughtful, complex show on television

Culture

More

The evidence that suggests you don’t need alcohol as a social crutch

Health

The evidence that suggests you don’t need alcohol as a social crutch

A reader is worried about socialising without the confidence boost she gets from alcohol. But studies show that the chemical isn’t necessary for easing our social inhibitions, our columnist David Robson advises

Regulars

Physics

Why we should talk about invisible matter, not dark matter

Comment

BrainTwister #57: Prime jumps

Regulars

Mind

The human sense of smell is quite good, and matters more than you know

Comment

Tom Gauld on stars and gutters and Oscar Wilde

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on the first time doing an experiment

Regulars

Regulars

Why giving Jurassic Park's velociraptors feathers is a good thing

Life

Why giving Jurassic Park's velociraptors feathers is a good thing

Feedback is delighted by a YouTuber's sterling efforts to make Michael Crichton's velociraptors more accurate – but points out that they're still far too big

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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