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This week's magazine

24 May 2025

Issue 3544

New Scientist issue 3544 cover
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Editor's picks

China's national flags flutter in front of a coal-powered power station in Datong, China's northern Shanxi province on November 3, 2021. (Photo by Noel Celis / AFP) (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Environment

Why the climate crown is ready for China to take – if it wants to

Comment
How buried cables are revealing Earth’s interior in incredible detail

Earth

How buried cables are revealing Earth’s interior in incredible detail

Features
Why honing your sense of smell could keep you sharp as you age

Health

Why honing your sense of smell could keep you sharp as you age

Features
How an ancient alchemy technique is transforming modern chemistry

Chemistry

How an ancient alchemy technique is transforming modern chemistry

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

China's national flags flutter in front of a coal-powered power station in Datong, China's northern Shanxi province on November 3, 2021. (Photo by Noel Celis / AFP) (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Environment

Why the climate crown is ready for China to take – if it wants to

With the US in retreat from climate negotiations, China's Xi Jinping could become the next green global leader

Comment

News

Physics

Radical photon idea could rewrite standard model of particle physics

Experiments with hydrogen atoms could soon reveal whether particles that were long thought to be forbidden by physics actually do exist

News

Environment

Massive wildfires in Canada helped keep the world cooler in 2023

News

Health

Smart device can measure how much milk breastfed babies really drink

News

Environment

Toxic waste is spilling onto beaches as rising seas erode landfills

News

Space

One half of the moon is hotter than the other

News

Health

Norovirus vaccine pill protects against winter vomiting bug

News

Environment

Earth is heading for a second year above 1.5°C climate goal

News

Chemistry

Chemists discover 'anti-spice' that could make chilli peppers less hot

News

Environment

China's CO2 emissions have started falling – is this finally the peak?

News

Technology

Are entangled qubits following a quantum Moore's law?

News

Physics

Physicists reveal the secret to chopping onions without crying

News

Health

Baby with rare disease given world-first personal CRISPR gene therapy

News

Space

Risk of a star destroying the solar system is higher than expected

News

Environment

US East Coast faces rising seas as crucial Atlantic current slows

News

Humans

Babies start showing empathy even before they can speak

News

Mind

The most – and least – satisfying jobs out there, according to science

News

Life

Capuchin monkeys are stealing howler monkey babies in weird fad

News

Health

Cervix-on-a-chip inspires potential new treatment for preterm birth

News

Space

Strange 'sticky' dark matter could be lurking in a distant galaxy

News

Technology

See the robot that may one day search for life on Jupiter's icy moon

News

Analysis

Environment

Is the COP30 climate summit already in crisis, with six months to go?

Mounting concerns about Brazil's approach to the COP30 climate summit have observers asking whether the meeting will be able to tackle the difficult choices involved in curbing emissions

News

Aperture

Ami Vitale - Pandamonium A panda keeper does a health check on the cub of giant panda Xi Mei at the Wolong Nature Reserve managed by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province, China October 31, 2015. (Photo by Ami Vitale)

Environment

Powerful images capture the fragility and resilience of our planet

From battling drought to caring for wildlife, shots from the Earth Photo 2025 competition shortlist show how we are coping with a changing world

Regulars

Features

How buried cables are revealing Earth’s interior in incredible detail

Earth

How buried cables are revealing Earth’s interior in incredible detail

The globe is criss-crossed by unused fibre-optic cables. Now, researchers are using them to defend against earthquakes and produce an unprecedented map of the underground world

Features

Chemistry

How an ancient alchemy technique is transforming modern chemistry

Features

Health

Why honing your sense of smell could keep you sharp as you age

Features

Culture

2HXRJ2C A young child stands at edge of calm pool with clouds over hills

Humans

Weary parents shouldn't miss this science-backed guide to raising kids

Most parenting manuals end up gathering dust on my bedside table, but Melinda Wenner Moyer's Hello, Cruel World! isn’t one of them

Culture

Technology

This new book is a one-sided attempt to puncture the AI bubble

Culture

Earth

New Scientist recommends Colum McCann's new novel Twist

Culture

Technology

This sci-fi debut is a quietly brilliant look at a disturbing future

Culture

More

D4B636 Brighton Sussex UK 11 March 2013 - A damaged Brighton and Hove city council parking meter in Queens Park

Environment

Hiking parking costs is a great way to reduce car usage

A huge increase in parking costs in my home of York has provoked outrage. This may sound like a local problem, but reducing car use is an issue for all of us, says Graham Lawton

Comment

Mathematics

The handy piece of maths that can help with organising chores

Regulars

Society

This is how to avoid annihilating ourselves in a nuclear war

Comment

Tom Gauld on a new and unusual perspective on the world

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on a case of mistaken location

Regulars

BrainTwister #74: Triple digits

Regulars

Regulars

The egg-drop experiment... but make it peer review

Comment

The egg-drop experiment... but make it peer review

Feedback is delighted to discover that a team of scientists has tackled the popular school experiment in which children design a device to protect a dropped egg from cracking. But what was the answer?

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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