Issue 3250 | Magazine cover date: 5 October 2019

This week's magazine

5 October 2019

Issue 3250

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On the cover

Features

AI can predict your future behaviour with powerful new simulations

What the quark?! Why matter's most basic building blocks may not exist

News

Plastic tea bags shed billions of microplastic particles into the cup

A strange new type of crystal is made of fluid tied into knots

Around half of your chances of career success comes down to sheer luck

Fossilised microbes from 3.5 billion years ago are oldest yet found

Analysis

A hidden drug overdose crisis has struck Scotland - can we fix it?

Dust is annoying, but it is also key to life and death in the cosmos

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A hidden drug overdose crisis has struck Scotland - can we fix it?

News

Humans

We need to talk about technology that people use to influence others

News

Physics

What the quark?! Why matter's most basic building blocks may not exist

Features

Life

How many trees are there on Earth? Mission to measure planet's biomass

Features

Technology

AI can predict your future behaviour with powerful new simulations

Features

Leaders

Humans

We need to talk about technology that people use to influence others

Multi-agent artificial intelligence simulations could show us how to help people live in harmony – or how to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment. We must agree rules for its use

News

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Plastic tea bags shed billions of microplastic particles into the cup

Some tea bags release microplastic particles into the water Tea drinkers have been urged to avoid plastic tea bags after tests found that a single bag sheds billions of particles of microplastic into each cup. A Canadian team found that steeping a plastic tea bag at a brewing temperature of 95°C releases around 11.6 billion …

News

Life

Crypt-keeper wasps can control the minds of 7 other species of wasp

News

Physics

A strange new type of crystal is made of fluid tied into knots

News

Humans

Around half of your chances of career success comes down to sheer luck

News

Humans

Ancient European megastructures may have been community centres

News

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Experimental diabetes drug may lower blood sugar and reduce obesity

News

Life

Fossilised microbes from 3.5 billion years ago are oldest yet found

News

Environment

World’s largest untapped coal reserve about to go up in smoke

News

Space

Christina Koch snapped this majestic picture of Soyuz 61 from the ISS

News

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Avoiding red or processed meat doesn't seem to give health benefits

News

Technology

WhatsApp restrictions slow the spread of fake news – but don't stop it

News

Space

Ocean worlds with a thick atmosphere may be better for life than Earth

News

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Many cancer drugs can be co-opted to treat different types of tumour

News

Environment

Sticky fluid can be sprayed on grassy verges to prevent wildfires

News

Space

The rocket Elon Musk wants to send to Mars is almost ready to launch

News

Technology

Where have I left my wallet? This smart camera can remind you

News

Space

Exclusive: Rocket test in Alaska polluted 230 tonnes of soil

News

Humans

Female orgasm may have evolved from a trigger for ovulation

News

Life

Desert birds are struggling to get enough water to stay cool

News

Earth

We've totted up all Earth's carbon - and 99 per cent is underground

News

Analysis

Technology

Google has reached quantum supremacy – here's what it should do next

Quantum computing is now ready to go – or is it? Google appears to have reached an impressive milestone known as quantum supremacy , where a quantum computer is able to perform a calculation that is practically impossible for a classical one. But there are plenty of hurdles left to jump over before the technology …

News

Technology

Google is taking over DeepMind's NHS contracts – should we be worried?

News

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A hidden drug overdose crisis has struck Scotland - can we fix it?

News

Comment

Scare stories of mutant GM mosquitoes aren’t true, but have some truth

News

Space

Dust is annoying, but it is also key to life and death in the cosmos

News

Aperture

Earth

Aerial photographs reveal odd and beautiful glimpses of our planet

Exhibition The Elevated Eye : Aerial photography past and present Forest Lawn Museum, California From 10 October 2019 to 8 March 2020 THE intertwined histories of flight and photography are explored in a new exhibition at the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale, California, spanning more than a century of invention. Nearly 150 still images and …

Regulars

Features

Life

How many trees are there on Earth? Mission to measure planet's biomass

Trees are our biggest ally against climate change - but we've never been sure how big. New space-based technology is revealing their potential for the first time

Features

Technology

AI can predict your future behaviour with powerful new simulations

Features

Physics

What the quark?! Why matter's most basic building blocks may not exist

Features

Culture

Earth

Volcanoes and Wine: Why a match made in hell tastes like heaven

From Etna to Vesuvius, Santorini to Stromboli, volcanoes have long been linked to excellent wines. New book Volcanoes and Wine explores this unlikely terroir

Culture

Humans

Gamechanger: L. X. Beckett’s latest sci-fi novel lives up to its name

Culture

Don't miss: Body portraits, killer doubles and a stellar mind at work

Culture

Life

Sea of Shadows: Film documents demise of the world's smallest porpoise

Culture

Space

The imperial units error that downed a multi-million-dollar Mars probe

20 years ago, NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter dived too deep and was crushed in Mars’s atmosphere. The reason? A mix-up between metric and imperial measurements

Regulars

Space

How to measure light pollution where you live by counting stars

Regulars

New Scientist quick crossword #42: Himalayan cryptid (4)

Regulars

New Scientist puzzle #24: three stamps

Regulars

Humans

Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten on the science of mindfulness

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.

How not to cheat at Scrabble: change the value of all the letters

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

Regulars

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This week's magazine

5 October 2019

On the cover

��ҹ����1000����

A hidden drug overdose crisis has struck Scotland - can we fix it?

Humans

We need to talk about technology that people use to influence others

Physics

What the quark?! Why matter's most basic building blocks may not exist

Life

How many trees are there on Earth? Mission to measure planet's biomass

Technology

AI can predict your future behaviour with powerful new simulations

Table of contents

Leaders

Humans

We need to talk about technology that people use to influence others

News

��ҹ����1000����

Plastic tea bags shed billions of microplastic particles into the cup

Life

Crypt-keeper wasps can control the minds of 7 other species of wasp

Physics

A strange new type of crystal is made of fluid tied into knots

Humans

Around half of your chances of career success comes down to sheer luck

Humans

Ancient European megastructures may have been community centres

��ҹ����1000����

Experimental diabetes drug may lower blood sugar and reduce obesity

Life

Fossilised microbes from 3.5 billion years ago are oldest yet found

Environment

World’s largest untapped coal reserve about to go up in smoke

Space

Christina Koch snapped this majestic picture of Soyuz 61 from the ISS

��ҹ����1000����

Avoiding red or processed meat doesn't seem to give health benefits

Technology

WhatsApp restrictions slow the spread of fake news – but don't stop it

Space

Ocean worlds with a thick atmosphere may be better for life than Earth

��ҹ����1000����

Many cancer drugs can be co-opted to treat different types of tumour

Environment

Sticky fluid can be sprayed on grassy verges to prevent wildfires

Space

The rocket Elon Musk wants to send to Mars is almost ready to launch

Technology

Where have I left my wallet? This smart camera can remind you

Space

Exclusive: Rocket test in Alaska polluted 230 tonnes of soil

Humans

Female orgasm may have evolved from a trigger for ovulation

Life

Desert birds are struggling to get enough water to stay cool

Earth

We've totted up all Earth's carbon - and 99 per cent is underground

Analysis

Technology

Google has reached quantum supremacy – here's what it should do next

Technology

Google is taking over DeepMind's NHS contracts – should we be worried?

��ҹ����1000����

A hidden drug overdose crisis has struck Scotland - can we fix it?

Comment

Scare stories of mutant GM mosquitoes aren’t true, but have some truth

Space

Dust is annoying, but it is also key to life and death in the cosmos

Aperture

Earth

Aerial photographs reveal odd and beautiful glimpses of our planet

Features

Life

How many trees are there on Earth? Mission to measure planet's biomass

Technology

AI can predict your future behaviour with powerful new simulations

Physics

What the quark?! Why matter's most basic building blocks may not exist

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