20 February 2021 | New Scientist | 1On the
coverCoronavirus
8 What variants mean
for a return to normality
11 England’s flawed
quarantine plan
10 Did the virus come
from frozen foods?12 Martian invasion
The new race to the Red PlanetNews
Views
Features
14 What makes ice slippery?
Physicists finally get a foothold
on the problem16 Stonehenge origins
The iconic monument may
have started as a stone circle in
Wales, 280 kilometres away17 Ancient brains
Mini brains genetically altered
to be Neanderthal-like23 Comment
Insects will help us create AI,
says James Marshall24 The columnist
Annalee Newitz on using tech
to explore ancient cities26 Letters
On the debate about baby
formula milk at food banks28 Aperture
Royal Photographic Society’s
science competition30 Culture
Bill Gates’s fine primer on
avoiding climate disaster51 Stargazing at home
An easy way to locate the planets
or where an eclipse will happen52 Puzzles
Try our crossword, quick quiz
and logic puzzle54 Almost the last word
Why do dogs shake themselves
dry next to humans?55 Tom Gauld for New Scientist
A cartoonist’s take on the world56 Feedback
Unusual units and overtly sexual
cows: the week in weird34 A rescue plan for nature
A prescription for saving our
ecosystems before it’s too late –
and ourselves along with them42 Back from the brink
Lessons from the species we
have saved from extinction46 How old are you really?
If you want to know how well
your body is ageing, you may
be in for a surpriseThe back pages
13 Sky crane NASA’s Perseverance rover set to land on MarsVol 249 No 3322
Cover image: Egal/iStock34 A rescue plan for nature
It’s not too late to save the
planet. Here’s howNASA
/JPL-CAL
TE
CHNews
20 Vampire bat adoption
17 Cannibal cockroaches
30 Bill Gates on climate change
46 How old are you really?This week’s issue
42 Features
“ We have the
tools to stem
biodiversity
loss – we need
the will”