12 September 2020 | New Scientist | 1On the
coverCoronavirus latest
8 The northern hemisphere
braces for winter
10 What happens when
covid-19 combines with
colds and flu?16 China’s secret spaceplane
Mystery craft returns
after two-day missionNews
Views
Features
14 CRISPR babies
Gene-edited humans could
go ahead despite safety fears15 Antisocial media
How Facebook’s war with
Australia could go global15 Solar windows
Nanoparticles sandwiched
between glass could lead to
windows that generate power23 Comment
Our covid-19 data collection
is failing minority communities,
says Alisha Dua24 The columnist
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
on escape via wormholes26 Aperture
Whooper swans in flight28 Letters
Coronavirus affects our
social norms in many ways30 Culture
One man’s fight to return
beavers to England53 Puzzles
Quick crossword and the quiz54 More puzzles
Can you weigh four hippos
using some dodgy scales?54 Cartoons
Life through the lens of
Tom Gauld and Twisteddoodles55 Feedback
Grunts of discontent for Elon’s
cyber-pig: the week in weird56 The last word
Is there a way to set a real
benchmark for sea level?34 Precision nutrition
We all respond to food in
different ways, so there is no
diet that works for everyone39 Beyond DNA
Proteins extracted from archaic
fossils could fill the gaps in
humans’ evolutionary story44 Blue-sky thinking
Anousheh Ansari on being the
first Muslim woman in spaceThe back pages
12 Miss Maple Trees could help detectives search for dead bodiesVol 247 No 3299
Cover image: Tatsuro Nishimura
Food styling by Abigail West34 Precision nutrition
Why there’s no such thing
as healthy food – only
what’s healthy for youEV
GENII^PA
RILOV/ALAMYNews
19 Medium-sized black holes
20 Upside-down boats
16 Ultracold atoms
14 CRISPR babies
18 Can vaping help you quit?This week’s issue
39 Features
“ We are
missing
vital genetic
information
from most
of human
evolutionary
history”