New Scientist magazine - 27 June 2009

Issue number 2714

Fishermen scooped up a hissing mass of the stuff - and hastily dumped it back in the ocean

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• A paradoxical cure for fossil fuel junkies

  Editorialp5

  A new source of carbon could curb greenhouse emissions, but only if it is used sensibly

• No hiding place for electoral cheats

  Editorialp5

  Hints of wrongdoing in the Iranian elections may be showing up in statistical analyses of the voting figures

• Pirates ahoy!

  Editorialp5

  The times they are a-changin' and attempts to over restrict and overcharge for digital knowledge will find little support with younger markets

• What's hot on NewScientist.com

  Editorial > What's hot on NewScientist.comp5

• Africa alone could feed the world

  News > Upfrontp6

  The doom-mongers may have got it wrong, there is enough land to produce the food needed to feed a growing population, reports say – and most of it is in Africa

• Cool short cut could speed LHC restart

  News > Upfrontp6

  A single badly soldered join undid CERN's giant atom smasher – now engineers hope they have found a quick way to check all 10,000

• New York researchers can pay for human eggs

  News > Upfrontp6

  In a break from the ethical consensus, the state of New York has decided that women can receive fees for donating their eggs to stem cell research projects

• Pets play role in superbug spread

  News > Upfrontp6

  Antibiotic resistant bacteria such as MRSA tend to be associated with hospitals, but now they are being found in cats and dogs

• Stone Age flute, Cocaine subs, and more

  News > 60 Secondsp7

• Debate heats up over long-term climate forecasts

  News > Upfrontp7

  The UK Met Office has produced detailed forecasts of the climate many years from now, but climate scientists have criticised such predictions as worthless

• US refuses prisoners right to DNA tests

  News > Upfrontp7

  Prison inmates do not have a constitutional right to a DNA test that might prove their innocence, the Supreme Court has ruled

• Wind power could supply world's electricity

  News > Upfrontp7

  The best model yet of global wind patterns suggests turbines have the potential to provide all our electricity needs

• Bombers vs verifiers: A nuclear race worth winning

  News > This Weekpp8-9

  Treaties to curb the spread of nuclear weapons are gaining ground, but they can't win without the science of verification

• "The physics of the first kiss were off. I knew where I needed to be, but it was hard to reconcile the differences"

  News > Soundbitesp10

  Noah Fulmor on getting married on board a parabolic flight – reported as the world's first wedding in zero gravity (Reuters, 20 June)

• Statistics hint at fraud in Iranian election

  News > This Weekp10

  Mathematicians say they have found "moderately strong" evidence that the figures are not genuine

• The genetic secrets of younger-looking skin

  News > This Weekp11

  Genetic analyses of human skin are revealing what makes us look old and providing a way to test claims about skin products

• In search of NASA's next rocket

  News > This Weekp12

  Ares I has been beset by technical problems; now other rockets – which had until recently been fringe alternatives – could be chosen instead

• Language may be key to theory of mind

  News > This Weekp13

  How blind and deaf people approach a key test of cognitive development is shedding light on how we deduce what others are thinking

• Biofuels could clean up Chernobyl 'badlands'

  News > This Weekp14

  Land contaminated by radioactive fallout and not fit for growing food could be cleaned up by growing biofuel crops that suck contaminants out of the ground

• Gangster leaning is in your genes

  News > In Briefp16

  Having a gene variant linked to aggression raises the chance that a man will join a gang

• Giant sperm go back at least 100 million years

  News > In Briefp16

  Three-dimensional scans of fossil crustaceans suggest that super-long sperm have been around for a very long time

• Sun leaves Earth wide open to cosmic rays

  News > In Briefp16

  The sun periodically leaves Earth open to assaults from interstellar nasties in a way that most stars do not

• Why great white sharks are like serial killers

  News > In Briefp16

  Not only are they fearsome predators, but the sharks have hunting strategies much like serial killers, say researchers

• Brain sees tools as limb extension

  News > In Briefp17

  When you brush your teeth, the toothbrush may actually become part of your arm – at least as far as your brain is concerned

• Dinosaur demise brought the rise of the elephants

  News > In Briefp17

  A five-kilo plant eater from 60 million years ago turns out to be the earliest known ancestor of the elephant

• Mars may hide secret water table

  News > In Briefp17

  The Red Planet could have a water table hidden underground, despite satellite data suggesting otherwise

• Transplant drug turns traitor to tackle viruses

  News > In Briefp17

  A drug used to stop immune cells from gobbling up transplanted organs has been caught boosting the immune response to viruses

• Chicken feathers could make cheap hydrogen store

  Technology > Newsp19

  Need a cheap way to store hydrogen? Forget expensive nanotubes and put cold feathers in your tank instead, say researchers

• Laser weapon dazzles but doesn't blind

  Technology > Newsp19

  A new type of laser device being developed by the Pentagon will let military personnel force drivers to a halt without harming their eyesight

• Taxibot could save airlines billions

  Technology > Newsp19

  Robotic tractors could one day be used to tow airliners from the airport gate to the edge of the runway, saving billions in fuel costs

• Physios recommend a healthy dose of gaming

  Technology > Featurepp20-21

  Amputees and people with Parkinson's are all benefiting from physical therapy based on popular games consoles

• Triple-engined car could smash land-speed record

  Technology > Featurep21

  A supersonic car dubbed Bloodhound SCC is being prepared to take the record to over 1600 km/h some time in 2011

• Cryogenic chips could end IVF mix-ups

  Technology > Featurep22

  An electronic tag that works at very low temperatures could help prevent some of the identification mistakes that cause such distress to would-be parents

• Methane controls before risky geoengineering, please

  Comment and Analysispp24-25

  Reducing carbon dioxide emissions will be vital in the long run, but we should start by tackling methane, says Kirk Smith

• Viewfinder: Opinions from around the world

  Opinion > Viewfinderp25

• Ancient secrets

  Lettersp26

  Andrew Robinson tells us the Etruscans were a "prehistoric civilisation that arose in western Italy - in what is now Tuscany and parts of Umbria"...

• Open letter to all UK chiropractors

  Lettersp26

  This is an invitation to all UK chiropractors to stop the confusions, misunderstandings and animosities that arose during the recent debate about the effectiveness of...

• Enigma Number 1551

  Opinion > Enigmap26

• Circus cruelty

  Letterspp26-27

  You report on a study of animal circuses by the University of Bristol, UK. The British government is still stalling over...

• Ballast buoyancy

  Lettersp27

  I think Feedback and Paul Spicker took a poorly aimed shot at the advertisement for "5 star Luxury European River Cruises" when remarking on its...

• Black Sea life

  Lettersp27

  In his review of Alanna Mitchell's Seasick, Fred Pearce states that the Black Sea "has been lifeless for thousands of years"...

• Flat Earth

  Lettersp27

  In discussing whether the universe is flat, Eugenie Samuel Reich compares this premise to the myth that once upon a time, we believed the Earth...

• For the record

  Lettersp27

  In our story on premature babies' posture and IQ, we should have said that researchers filmed the babies 11 to 16 weeks after their expected...

• The two vectors

  Lettersp27

  C. P. Snow correctly identified the self-segregation of our intellectuals into two mutually isolated cultures, but he did not understand...

• Finding a fair price for free knowledge

  Opinion > Essaypp28-29

  When technology makes knowledge globally available, reshaping the economics of buying and selling it becomes crucial, argues Peter Eckersley

• Ice on fire: The next fossil fuel

  Features > Cover Storypp30-33

  Methane trapped in sub-marine ice and permafrost could possibly fuel the world for hundreds of years – but there's an explosive snag

• Disorderly genius: How chaos drives the brain

  Features > Featurepp34-37

  Your brain is like a pile of sand, but don't worry: that's why it has such remarkable powers

• Building a crash-proof internet

  Features > Featurepp38-41

  The web is groaning under its own weight – now there's a radical plan to rebuild it from the bottom up

• Solar ghosts may haunt Earth's radioactive atoms

  Features > Featurepp42-45

  Mysterious seasonal wobbles in the rate of radioactive decay may be caused by elusive particles from the sun

• Surf's up: Learning to forecast the waves

  Historiespp46-47

  Walter Munk worked out how to forecast surf conditions to aid amphibious invasions of the second world war – now he's a legend among surfers

• Review: The Geek Atlas by John Graham-Cumming

  Opinion > Books & Artsp48

  Don't leave home without your guide to 128 places of scientific or technological wonder

• Review: The Illustrious Dead by Stephan Talty

  Opinion > Books & Artsp48

  Why did Napoleon's Russian campaign fail so disastrously? The author pitches man against microbe in this gripping tale

• Review: Wetware by Dennis Bray

  Opinion > Books & Artsp48

  How can complex behaviour arise in simple life forms? The author looks to the similarities between living cells and computers to find out

• Review: Why Does E = mc²?

  Opinion > Books & Artsp48

  Don't be fooled by the breezy title of this book: it delves into some deep principles of science to get at the origins of Einstein's iconic equation

• Review: Darwin's Camera by Phillip Prodger

  Opinion > Books & Artsp49

  Darwin didn't just influence biology – he also contributed to art, pushing the limits of photography in his time

• Let's get it together

  Careers > The Insiderpp50-51

  Find out why Germany is offering a warm welcome to British scientists, and how you can get a piece of the action

• It's that time again

  Feedbackp76

  How a broken clock can be right more than twice a day, how to rebrand for reduced clarity, and a relativistic schoolchild

• Pretty in pink

  The Last Word > Last Word Answerp77

• Wakey wakey

  The Last Word > Last Word Answerp77

• Wotsisface?

  The Last Word > Last Word Answerp77

• Blood brothers

  The Last Word > Last Word Questionp77