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This week's magazine

3 February 2024

Issue 3476

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Editor's picks

Flames of Chimera Mount from the underground. Fire from the natural gas in the rocks in Cirali, Turkey.; Shutterstock ID 1278290827; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Environment

Let’s hope gold hydrogen’s potential as a green fuel matches the hype

Leader

Subscriber-only
The gold hydrogen rush: Does Earth contain near-limitless clean fuel?

Environment

The gold hydrogen rush: Does Earth contain near-limitless clean fuel?

Features

Subscriber-only
A bold new take on quantum theory could reveal how reality emerges

Physics

A bold new take on quantum theory could reveal how reality emerges

Features

Subscriber-only
Can a blood sugar monitor really help boost your health?

Health

Can a blood sugar monitor really help boost your health?

Features

Subscriber-only

Table of contents

Leaders

Flames of Chimera Mount from the underground. Fire from the natural gas in the rocks in Cirali, Turkey.; Shutterstock ID 1278290827; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Environment

Let’s hope gold hydrogen’s potential as a green fuel matches the hype

Excitement is growing over hints Earth has vast reserves of carbon-free natural hydrogen that we could extract and burn to power our economies, but it is way too soon to declare it a climate saviour

Leader

Subscriber-only

News

Technology

Wearable device monitors tumour size and displays it in an app

A wearable device that sticks to the skin can constantly measure the size of certain tumours and wirelessly transmit that information to a smartphone

News

Free

Life

See what the world looks like through the eyes of different animals

News

Free

Environment

Groundwater levels are dropping fast all over the world

News

Free

Robot avatar lets people see and feel things remotely through VR

Technology

Robot avatar lets people see and feel things remotely through VR

News

Free

Health

US states had 65,000 rape-related pregnancies after banning abortion

News

Free

FIG. 1 Cannibal Pachycormus 32427 (color)_2 https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2294000

Life

Exquisite Jurassic fossils reveal cannibalism in ancient fish

News

Subscriber-only

Technology

Toxic mud from aluminium production can be used to make greener steel

News

Free

Close up of eye

Health

Retinal images could predict future risk of heart or lung disease

News

Free

Chemistry

Layer of graphene could help protect statues and paintings from damage

News

Subscriber-only

AI can better retain what it learns by mimicking human sleep

Technology

AI can better retain what it learns by mimicking human sleep

News

Free

Mind

Learning piano triggers complex changes to your brain's activity

News

Subscriber-only

Space

Mysterious black hole jets may be the source of powerful cosmic rays

News

Free

Mind

Writing things down may help you remember information more than typing

News

Free

Artist's impression of a cloud of smoke and dust being thrown out by a red giant star

Space

Newly discovered smoking stars emit huge clouds and we don't know why

News

Free

Health

Patch with octopus-like suckers helps drugs penetrate the skin

News

Subscriber-only

Environment

Plagues that shook the Roman Empire linked to cold, dry periods

News

Free

Physics

Heating and cooling seem to be fundamentally different, not opposites

News

Subscriber-only

Environment

Lab-engineered cow cells could slash the cost of cultured meat

News

Free

Life

Orangutan calls have an intricate structure resembling human language

News

Subscriber-only

Injured bees tend their own wounds, which suggests they feel pain

Life

Injured bees tend their own wounds, which suggests they feel pain

News

Free

Space

Galaxy smash-ups may explain strange light from early universe

News

Free

Space

Japan's SLIM moon lander regains power nine days after botched landing

News

Free

Life

Strange virus-like replicators discovered in the human gut

News

Subscriber-only

Space

What we know about the stars where NASA will hunt for alien life

News

Subscriber-only

Analysis

Health

How measles can do long-lasting damage to children's immune systems

Low vaccination rates have led to measles outbreaks in several countries, but many people are unaware of how the virus can have an effect called ‘immune amnesia’

Comment

Subscriber-only

We aren't addicted to our phones and we don't need a 'digital detox'

Technology

We aren't addicted to our phones and we don't need a 'digital detox'

Comment

Subscriber-only

Aperture

18_????????? European-style zimingzhong ? The Palace Museum

Comment

Antique clocks give a window into scientific innovation of times past

These gorgeously intricate, centuries-old clocks, highlighting the technical expertise of yesteryear, are on show at the Science Museum in London

Regulars

Free

Features

The gold hydrogen rush: Does Earth contain near-limitless clean fuel?

Environment

The gold hydrogen rush: Does Earth contain near-limitless clean fuel?

Prospectors around the world are scrambling to find reserves of "gold hydrogen", a naturally occurring fuel that burns without producing carbon dioxide. But how much is really out there and how easy is it to tap into?

Features

Subscriber-only

Can a blood sugar monitor really help boost your health?

Health

Can a blood sugar monitor really help boost your health?

Features

Subscriber-only

A bold new take on quantum theory could reveal how reality emerges

Physics

A bold new take on quantum theory could reveal how reality emerges

Features

Subscriber-only

Culture

Still from Occupied City

Comment

Occupied City review: How does a city survive external control?

This is an epic work from 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen that explores how a city and its people react to civil control under Nazi occupation and, 80 years on, lockdown against a deadly disease, says Simon Ings

Culture

Subscriber-only

FIMMVORDUHALS, ICELAND - MARCH 24: Hikers are silhouetted against rivers of lava flowing from a volcanic eruption between the Myrdalsjokull and Eyjafjallajokull glaciers on March 24, 2010 in Fimmvorduhals, Iceland. A major eruption occured on April 14, 2010 which has resulted in a plume of volcanic ash being thrown into the atmosphere over parts of Northen Europe. Air traffic has been subject to cancellation or delay as airspace across parts of Northern Europe has been closed. (Photo by Helen Maria Bjornsd/NordicPhotos/Getty Images)

Comment

Fluke review: A vivid account of chaos and life's unpredictability

Culture

Subscriber-only

Reason to be Happy review: Can thinking logically make us happier?

Comment

Reason to be Happy review: Can thinking logically make us happier?

Culture

Subscriber-only

Still from Downfall

Comment

New Scientist recommends Downfall: The case against Boeing

Culture

Subscriber-only

More

2A7RF8J Hand inside ice bath in swimming pool.

Mind

A simple way to boost your motivation and fulfillment at work

Finishing your work session with a pleasant task increases motivation and ups your overall job satisfaction, discovers David Robson

Regulars

Subscriber-only

BrainTwister #5: Diagonal lines

BrainTwister #5: Diagonal lines

Regulars

Subscriber-only

Tom Gauld on the particle collider experience

Tom Gauld on the particle collider experience

Regulars

Free

Twisteddoodles on theorising the weight of planets

Twisteddoodles on theorising the weight of planets

Regulars

Free

Regulars

Is that Mars? The UK's new space minister tackles the solar system

Is that Mars? The UK's new space minister tackles the solar system

Feedback remembers the cosmic knowledge of politicians past, as Andrew Griffith, newly appointed as minister of state for science in the UK, mistakes the Sun for Mars

Regulars

Free

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

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