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This week's magazine

24 August 2024

Issue 3505

New Scientist issue 3505 cover
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Editor's picks

2MJA8ED FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2015, file photo, the slogan 1.5 DEGREES is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Next month's three-day U.N. climate summit will highlight the urgency of taking immediate actions to reduce global warming and focus on innovations that work, not wordy statements, the U.N. special envoy for the event said Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

Environment

The 1.5°C target is dead, but climate action needn't be

Leader

Free
Illustration showing three people doing different activities all drinking coffee

Health

The surprising science of coffee and its effect on both body and mind

Features

Subscriber-only
Europa Clipper: Journey to an Ocean

Space

Why NASA is sending a probe to Europa – and what it’s looking for

Features

Subscriber-only
Long exposure view of Grj??tagj??, a small lava cave near lake M??vatn in Iceland

Life

Why the underground home of the world’s weirdest wildlife is in danger

Features

Subscriber-only

Table of contents

Leaders

2MJA8ED FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2015, file photo, the slogan 1.5 DEGREES is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Next month's three-day U.N. climate summit will highlight the urgency of taking immediate actions to reduce global warming and focus on innovations that work, not wordy statements, the U.N. special envoy for the event said Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

Environment

The 1.5°C target is dead, but climate action needn't be

For the first time, climate scientists have explicitly said it will be impossible to limit peak warming to 1.5°C. Now our focus should be on taking action, not meaningless platitudes and slogans

Leader

Free

News

Health

Is youth mental health really worse today than it was decades ago?

Young people's mental health is declining, statistics suggest, but some have questioned whether this is just due to increased awareness of such conditions and reduced stigma around seeking help

News

Subscriber-only

Life

Spiders use fireflies as flashing lures to catch more prey

News

Free

Health

1 in 5 people in a coma may be aware of their surroundings

News

Free

Life

Consumer insecticides are useless for fighting cockroach infestations

News

Free

Stonehenge viewed from above

Humans

Stonehenge’s altar stone was brought all the way from Scotland

News

Free

Life

How crocodiles were taught to stop eating deadly toxic cane toads

News

Free

Life

The surprising way sunflowers work together to get enough light

News

Subscriber-only

Transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (green) found within cells (blue)

Health

Why is mpox a global emergency again so soon?

News

Subscriber-only

Environment

Our efforts to cope with extreme temperatures are making them worse

News

Subscriber-only

Space

Lightning can make energy waves that travel shockingly far into space

News

Free

Space

Hellish conditions have warped an Earth-like planet into an egg

News

Subscriber-only

Space

Strange meteorites have been traced to their source craters on Mars

News

Free

Environment

Best-case scenario for climate change is now 1.6°C of warming

News

Subscriber-only

Mind

Astrology shown to be no better than random guessing

News

Subscriber-only

Health

Video games are good, actually, find scientists

News

Free

Analysis

Why the T in ChatGPT is AI's biggest breakthrough - and greatest risk

Technology

Why the T in ChatGPT is AI's biggest breakthrough - and greatest risk

AI companies hope that feeding ever more data to their models will continue to boost performance, eventually leading to human-level intelligence. Behind this hope is the "transformer", a key breakthrough in AI, but what happens if it fails to deliver?

Analysis

Subscriber-only

Society

Should Ukraine capture a Russian nuclear power plant?

Analysis

Subscriber-only

Aperture

Stunning photos of life above and below water

Life

Stunning photos of life above and below water

See the incredible shots that have won this year's BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology Image Competition

Regulars

Subscriber-only

Features

Long exposure view of Grj??tagj??, a small lava cave near lake M??vatn in Iceland

Life

Why the underground home of the world’s weirdest wildlife is in danger

Up to 100,000 extraordinary species, from spiders and beetles to salamanders and fish, live in subterranean caves and cracks. They aren’t as safe down there as we thought

Features

Subscriber-only

Europa Clipper: Journey to an Ocean

Space

Why NASA is sending a probe to Europa – and what it’s looking for

Features

Subscriber-only

Illustration showing three people doing different activities all drinking coffee

Health

The surprising science of coffee and its effect on both body and mind

Features

Subscriber-only

Culture

MH56FG View of Seoul city and autumn in Deoksugung palace

Earth

A dramatic twist to the Gaia hypothesis

James Lovelock's hypothesis that our planet is a living entity is well known. Ferris Jabr's new book Becoming Earth takes it a step further

Culture

Subscriber-only

Netflix handout film still: Secret Lives of Orangutans. Orangutans are not just one of our closest relatives, they?re perhaps more relatable to us than any other great ape. Narrated by David Attenborough, this film follows a remarkable group of orangutans in the pristine jungles of Sumatra. At the centre of this story is 8 year old Eden, who?s about to embark on the most challenging moment of her life.

Life

David Attenborough's latest explores the lives of an orangutan family

Culture

Subscriber-only

Jennifer Connelly in

Space

New Scientist recommends multiverse thriller Dark Matter

Culture

Subscriber-only

WAR GAME STILL 4 Credit: Thorsten Thielow | Shown in photo: (L to R) Simulation note taker, Elizabeth Neumann, Lou Caldera, Wes Clark, Steve Bullock, Linda Singh, Gwen Camp, David Priess, Pete Strzok

Society

An unusual documentary follows a simulated attempted coup in the US

Culture

Subscriber-only

More

How shrinking populations could help to save our planet

Society

How shrinking populations could help to save our planet

Our ability to exert conscious control over our family sizes is unique – and can be transformational, says Christopher Wills

Comment

Subscriber-only

Chandra X-ray Observatory

Space

Why we need to save the Chandra space telescope

Comment

Free

2MEWW0N Tempering_Marble

Chemistry

The science behind tempering chocolate

Regulars

Subscriber-only

BrainTwister #34: Square dealing

BrainTwister #34: Square dealing

Regulars

Subscriber-only

Tom Gauld on the way to deal with tardiness

Tom Gauld on the way to deal with tardiness

Regulars

Free

Twisteddoodles on difficult experiments

Twisteddoodles on difficult experiments

Regulars

Free

Regulars

Looking for morbid romance? There's a study for that

Looking for morbid romance? There's a study for that

A curious Feedback delves further into the invention of the Morbid Curiosity Scale and discovers how it might help with certain "short-term mating goals"

Regulars

Free

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

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