New Scientist magazine - 03 October 2009

Issue number 2728

Prizes are needed to reward findings that tackle contemporary challenges such as biodiversity loss

Previous issue All issues from 2009 | Subscribe

• Earth will be OK, but for us it's not so good

  Editorialp3

  What will happen to our planet and to humanity if we consume ourselves back to the Stone Age?

• Nobel prizes for the 21st century

  Editorialp3

  The verdict of leading scientists is clear: we need to rekindle the spirit of Nobel's great legacy

• What's hot on NewScientist.com

  Editorial > What's hot on NewScientist.comp3

• A good year for Africa's farmers, but worse to come

  News > Upfrontp4

  Farming yields in sub-Saharan Africa are the best in years, but a bleaker future awaits under climate change

• 'Poetic' autism film divides campaigners

  News > Upfrontp4

  A short film that suggests autism breaks apart families and relationships is causing a spat between people with autism and a charity

• Rocket racers look for new home

  News > Upfrontp4

  After failing to build hangars the Rocket Racing League loses its lease on planned headquarters in New Mexico

• Whales trailed from safe haven to supermarket shelf

  News > Upfrontpp4-5

  A forensic study of whale meat bought in Japanese supermarkets shows that protected animals are being caught

• 60 Seconds

  News > 60 Secondsp5

  US Senate takes on climate, grizzlies under protection again, a breast cancer mystery and more

• Computer detects abuse earlier than doctors

  News > Upfrontp5

  Victims of domestic abuse can hide the truth from doctors, but they leave signature tracks in their medical records that a computer program has now detected

• DNA tests show TB killed mummy

  News > Upfrontp5

  What killed Dr Granville's mummy? The cause of death of an Egyptian mummy has puzzled pathologists for almost 200 years – now we have the answer

• T. rex: dead for want of a dentist

  News > Upfrontp5

  Could an oral hygienist have extended the life of many a Tyrannosaurus rex?

• Experts call for Nobel prizes to be revamped

  News > This Weekpp6-7

  New Scientist asked a group of leading scientists to debate the future of the Nobels – the outcome is an open letter calling for a radical modernisation of the prizes

• How astronauts could 'harvest' water on the moon

  News > This Weekp8

  A NASA design would zap the frigid lunar soil with microwaves and collect the resulting water vapour

• Mammoth black holes push universe to its doom

  News > This Weekp8

  The raging disorder within the dark powerhouses at the centre of most galaxies may be bringing the heat death of the universe closer

• Illegal toxic waste spotted from space

  News > This Weekp9

  Move over Erin Brockovich – today's environmental detectives can use radar, helicopters and satellites to spot illegal waste dumps

• Brain implants fail because they cut nerve links

  News > This Weekp10

  Coating them in drugs that stop this happening could make permanent neural prosthetics for paralysed people a reality

• What should we make of the HIV vaccine 'triumph'?

  News > This Weekp10

  At last, a clinical trial of an HIV vaccine has worked – sort of. New Scientist takes a look at what this means for the worldwide fight against AIDS

• Sedatives may slow recovery from trauma

  News > This Weekp12

  Giving sleeping pills to soldiers and earthquake victims is common practice, yet it could be doing more harm than good

• No rainforest, no monsoon: get ready for a warmer world

  News > Special Reportpp14-15

  The world could become 4 °C warmer in our lifetime – bringing hunger, deforestation, drought and floods

• Feathered dinosaur older than earliest bird

  News > In Briefp17

  The record for the oldest feathered dinosaur, which has stood since discovery of Archaeopteryx, has fallen to an older fossil unearthed in China

• Green roofs save on carbon overheads

  News > In Briefp17

  Load your roof with vegetation and cut the planet's carbon burden

• How young rats learn: once bitten, twice shy

  News > In Briefp17

  When young rats start exploring on their own, their brains undergo fundamental changes that let them remember bad experiences

• Lack of sleep linked to Alzheimer's

  News > In Briefp17

  Sleep deprivation in mice causes more plaques to form in their brains - an insomnia drug reduced the amount of plaque-forming protein

• Asian quake could trigger California's big one

  News > In Briefp18

  Powerful earthquakes 700 and 8000 kilometres away are known to have weakened the San Andreas fault

• Concepts form in the hippocampus

  News > In Briefp18

  Brain regions have been identified that allow us to organise the world into separate concepts

• Cosmic rays reveal erupting volcano's guts

  News > In Briefp18

  Subatomic particles reveal how much magma was blasted out of a volcano in Japan

• India's thirst is making us all wet

  News > In Briefp18

  One nation is extracting so much groundwater that its run-off ends up lapping on all our shores

• A sprinkling of nanotubes makes plants shoot up

  Technology > Newsp21

  Adding carbon nanotubes to synthetic soil makes tomato seeds sprout sooner and the seedlings grow faster

• Latest videos makes Google Earth cities bustle

  Technology > Newsp21

  Data from traffic and weather cameras can be used to bring the usually lifeless cities of virtual Earth programs to life with people, cars and weather

• Think yourself a sharper TV picture

  Technology > Newsp21

  Just tell people they are watching in high definition and they'll say the picture is sharper even when it's not

• Virtual world disputes heading for meatspace courtooms

  Technology > Featurepp22-23

  With eye-popping sums at stake in the virtual economy, intellectual property disputes are getting real

• Aid agencies turn to open-source software

  Technology > Featurep23

  Free and open-source software activists tap student coders to write software for disaster relief

• Portable pain weapon may end up in police hands

  Technology > Featurep24

  The US military's latest non-lethal weapon is designed to cause a burning sensation to repel people without causing physical harm

• My book is mine, not Google's

  Comment and Analysispp26-27

  The search giant says it just wants to give people access to out-of-print works, but its plans to scan millions of books are unfair to authors, says Jeff Hecht

• Peter Zahler: Conservation challenges in Afghanistan

  Opinion > Interviewp27

  The country has become synonymous with human conflict, but there's another battle going on – for its biodiversity

• Dealing with drugs

  Lettersp28

  Of the many reasons you discussed for legalising drugs, the most compelling is that by doing so we could improve public safety (12 September, p...

• Red response

  Lettersp28

  I was intrigued by Daniel Elkan's article on how people react to the colour red (29 August, p 42...

• Enigma Number 1565

  Opinion > Enigmap28

• Climate predictions

  Lettersp29

  Charles Lansdale wonders why we should believe predictions about climate change 50 years into the future when computer modellers sometimes fail to accurately predict the...

• Feeling warmer

  Lettersp29

  Contrary to the research that relates cold drinks to a less friendly and warm impression of a person (12 September, p 46), I have found...

• For the record

  Lettersp29

  • Harry Truman, of course, only won one presidential election (15 August, p 5). The first time round he succeeded Franklin Roosevelt after the latter's...

• Less than appy

  Lettersp29

  I'm disappointed that New Scientist, which should surely be editorially independent, sees fit to dedicate an entire five pages and front-cover billing to...

• No DNA database

  Lettersp29

  Clare Wilson thinks having a national DNA database is a good idea (12 September, p 30...

• Old fat

  Lettersp29

  Jo Whelan's article about brown adipose tissue (BAT), which converts food calories to heat (15 August, p 38), reminded me of my communications with...

• Spending my money

  Lettersp29

  Dave Riddlestone (15 August, p 22) tells us that the defence community argues that "global warming research is a funding cash cow"...

• The Science party

  Lettersp29

  In part 1 of the "Blueprint for a better world" (12 September, p 30) it is argued that in politics "so-called common sense and"...

• Washing water

  Lettersp29

  Brian Wootton need not wait for washing machine manufacturers to go back to producing dual-inlet goods to make the most of his solar water...

• Aimee Mullins: Two legs good, 24 legs better

  Interviewpp30-31

  The actress, model, athlete and double amputee tells how technology is changing the way society views people with physical impairments

• Post-human Earth: How the planet will recover from us

  Features > Cover Storypp32-35

  If our civilisation collapses, what will happen to the planet itself? The best way to work that out might be like is to look back at the Earth's past

• Better world: Top tech for a cleaner planet

  Features > Featurepp36-39

  There's a lot more to green technology than wind farms. From more efficient aircraft to thread made from chicken feathers, we pick out the best ideas

• My little zebra: The secrets of domestication

  Features > Featurepp40-43

  Killer rats and cuddly foxes? Thanks to an experiment that began in Russia 50 years ago, we could be about to teach old animals some new tricks

• Phantom storms: How our weather leaks into space

  Features > Featurepp44-47

  The solar wind has died to a ghost of a breeze, so what's stirring up our satellites? A global study suggests it could be Earth's own atmosphere

• Review: Tormented Hope by Brian Dillon

  Opinion > Books & Artsp48

  A collection of biographical sketches of notable hypochondriacs shows the disorder stems from a basic misunderstanding of the body

• Review: Comets and the Origin of Life by Janaki Wickramasinghe, Chandra Wickramasinghe and William Napier

  Opinion > Books & Artsp49

  Interstellar panspermia – the idea that we are all ETs – is spelled out in semi-technical rather than popular form

• Review: Don't Be Such a Scientist by Randy Olson

  Opinion > Books & Artsp49

  Scientists could learn a lesson or two from Hollywood when it comes to talking to the public

• Review: Fireflies, Honey, and Silk by Gilbert Waldbauer

  Opinion > Books & Artsp49

  A meander through the insect world, with an obvious love for the subject cascading from the pages

• Keith Tyson: 'Nature is better at painting than I am'

  Opinion > Galleryp50

  See what happened when the Turner prize-winning artist let nature do his job for him

• Pharma chameleons

  Careers > The Insiderpp52-53

  Drug companies are trying to improve their image by donning ethical colours. Is it convincing, and how can you decide which of them to work for?

• Multidimensional hair dye and dog whispering

  Feedbackp72

  The new trend for fractal hair dye, an important message for dogs, and a chance for you to win a trip to the Darwin celebrations

• On a high

  The Last Word > Last Word Answerp73

• Net loss

  The Last Word > Last Word Questionp73

• Repulsive advertising

  The Last Word > Last Word Questionp73

• Whispering trees

  The Last Word > Last Word Questionp73