24 October 2020 | New Scientist | 1On the
cover23 The herd immunity myth
Why ‘let it rip’ arguments
are fundamentally flawed10 Could treatments
make the virus evolve?News
Views
Features
12 Gibbon them a hand
Endangered apes get a
boost from a rope bridge13 Older mothers
Signs that daughters of older
mothers have lower fertility16 Trump’s science legacy
As the US election approaches,
how has Donald Trump
affected science?23 Comment
Letting people get covid-
won’t cause herd immunity,
says Graham Lawton24 The columnist
Annalee Newitz asks
why email still exists26 Aperture
A giant particle hunter
gets a major upgrade28 Letters
Life on two legs is complicated30 Culture
How big data won an
election for John F. Kennedy51 Citizen science
Track your cat’s effect on wildlife52 Puzzles
Try our quick crossword,
quiz and brain teaser54 Almost the last word
Does a hop beat a step
in the world of birds?56 Feedback
Spreadsheet error doom
returns: the week in weird56 Twisteddoodles
for New Scientist
Picturing the lighter side of life34 When viruses team up
Viruses have social lives and
can work together in ways
that we ignore at our peril40 The problem with risk
Coping with the pandemic
requires us to constantly assess
risks – but we are awful at it46 Great balls of fire
Are we any closer to explaining
the enigma of ball lightning?The back pages
9 Forgotten disease The pandemic is increasing TB deaths in IndiaVol 248 No 3305
Cover Image: Andrea De Santis40 What’s your
covid-19 risk?
A scientific guide
to navigating a new
world of uncertainty8 Circuit breakers
Do short, sharp
lockdowns work?ANUP
AMNATH
/AP/SHUT
TE
RSTO
CKNews
14 First room-temperature
superconductor
13 Did climate change
kill the Neanderthals?
16 Trump’s science legacy
46 The mystery of ball lightning
12 Snake tries to eat womanThis week’s issue
46 Features
“ Lightning
was guided
through
dozens of
materials
including
water,
metals and
bat guano”