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This week's magazine

16 May 2026

Issue 3595

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Editor's picks

Statue of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates in Athens, Greece.; Shutterstock ID 1882791124; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other:

Physics

Science doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas

Comment
Uta Frith

Mind

Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum

Features
2D36Y7E Dramatic clouds and supercell thunderstorm get swept up by a linear storm at sunset during a severe weather outbreak near St. Francis, Kansas

Environment

Can cloud seeding save us from water bankruptcy?

Features
Colourful smears across the screen slowly form beautiful flowers

Physics

Where did the laws of physics come from? I think I've found the answer

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

Statue of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates in Athens, Greece.; Shutterstock ID 1882791124; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other:

Physics

Science doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas

Scientific disciplines often shy away from asking fundamental "what if" questions. But philosophy – if unencumbered by dogma or ideology – has much to offer evidence-based enquiry

Comment

News

Physics

300-year-old experiment could become world's best dark matter detector

An update to an experiment run by Henry Cavendish in 1773 could be a cheaper and faster way to spot a potential dark matter particle – and may be 10,000 times more sensitive

News

Space

Tiny frozen world unexpectedly appears to have an atmosphere

News

Technology

Quantum computers simulated their biggest molecule yet – with help

News

Life

Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia

News

Technology

Backlash builds over NHS plan to hide source code from AI hacking risk

News

Humans

Bronze Age Britons fashioned copper-mining tools out of old bones

News

Physics

Pressure from individual particles measured for the first time

News

Environment

Huge landslide in Alaska caused 481m-high tsunami

News

Humans

Dating over 50 is probably on the rise – but we know little about it

News

Humans

Neanderthal 'kneeprint' found next to mysterious stalagmite circle

News

Environment

Deforestation could trigger Amazon tipping point in the 2030s

News

Health

PCOS postpones perimenopause and allows pregnancies at older ages

News

Health

Coffee's mood-boosting effects aren't just down to caffeine

News

Environment

There has been a sudden increase in the rate of sea level rise

News

Technology

Tiny 'metajets' could use light to steer sails for interstellar travel

News

Life

Doubling their genomes may have helped plants survive mass extinctions

News

Mind

Slow breathing can calm the mind without any need for mindfulness

News

Environment

Fire is spreading in the Chernobyl exclusion zone after drone crash

News

Environment

A vast dam across the Bering Strait could stop the AMOC collapsing

News

Humans

Huge study of ancient British DNA reveals only minor Roman influence

News

Space

Stars in massive clusters are born faster than those in smaller ones

News

Analysis

Technology

Can floating data centres meet AI's huge energy demand?

A US start-up is putting autonomous data centres in the ocean, powered by wave energy, but experts warn that the harsh environment could make maintenance challenging

News

Aperture

Shocking turtle photo reveals efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade

Environment

Shocking turtle photo reveals efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade

Winner of an environmental photography award, this shot of a sea turtle seen under ultraviolet light shows how forensic evidence is being used to help catch poachers and animal traffickers

Regulars

Features

Colourful smears across the screen slowly form beautiful flowers

Physics

Where did the laws of physics come from? I think I've found the answer

The rules governing gravity and other laws of nature seem like eternal truths, but cosmologist João Magueijo has always questioned their origins. Now, he has a bold new proposal

Features

Environment

Can cloud seeding save us from water bankruptcy?

Features

Mind

Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum

Features

Culture

Lascaux Cave is a Palaeolithic cave situated in southwestern France, near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region, which houses some of the most famous examples of prehistoric cave paintings. Close to 600 paintings ??? mostly of animals - dot the interior walls of the cave in impressive compositions. Horses are the most numerous, but deer, aurochs, ibex, bison, and even some felines can also be found. Besides these paintings, which represent most of the major images, there are also around 1400 engravings of a similar order. The art, dated to c. 17,000 ??? c. 15,000 BCE, falls within the Upper Palaeolithic period and was created by the clearly skilled hands of humans living in the area at that time. The region seems to be a hotspot; many beautifully decorated caves have been discovered there. The exact meaning of the paintings at Lascaux or any of the other sites is still subject to discussion, but the prevailing view attaches a ritualistic or even spiritual component to them, hinting at the sophistication of their creators. Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979, along with other prehistoric sites in its proximity. Valley, France.

Life

91av recommends a smart new account of human exceptionalism

Why did humans decide they weren't like other animals, or animals at all? Has this exceptionalism twisted us out of shape? Michael Bond's book Animate offers a page-turning account of where we are now

Culture

Environment

Suzanne Simard on the wood wide web, connectedness – and Avatar

Culture

91av recommends visiting the blooming corpse flower at Kew

Culture

More

Space

The problem of cosmic inflation and how to solve it

One of the best-performing models in cosmology is also one with the least physical rationale behind it. Columnist Leah Crane says this leaves us with a puzzle that could make or break physics as we know it

Comment

Health

Honey has been used as medicine for centuries – does it really work?

Comment

Mathematics

The mathematician who doesn’t exist

Comment

Tom Gauld on the correct use of abbreviations

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on signing people up for a medical study

Regulars

Regulars

When ChatGPT went full goblin mode

Comment

When ChatGPT went full goblin mode

Feedback, prone to fixations, is pleased to learn this is an issue that also applies to AI chatbots like ChatGPT, which had to be sternly ordered to stop mentioning gremlins and the like

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

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