27 February 2021 | New Scientist | 1On the
coverFocus on coronavirus
8 Race to create a universal
vaccine 10 Long covid in
children 7 Real-world vaccine
data begins to emerge44 First cities
Did human civilisation
begin in Ukraine?News
Views
Features
14 Life plumbs new depths
Microbes found deep under
the ground in China15 Exotic discovery
We’ve spotted a neutrino
blasted out by a black hole
shredding a star16 The great white hunt
Braving the Southern Ocean
to survey a gigantic iceberg21 Comment
Why insulting people’s
intelligence is incompatible
with open debate22 The columnist
James Wong on aversion
to monosodium glutamate23 Letters
Is this why advanced life
may be extremely rare?26 Aperture
Glory in a mummified gecko28 Culture
Synchronic, a thrilling film
about a time-warping drug49 Science of gardening
Top tips for stopping slugs and
snails wrecking your plants52 Puzzles
Try our crossword, quick
quiz and logic challenge54 Almost the last word
How does our brain stop us falling
out of bed while asleep?56 Feedback
AIs judge your online backdrops56 Twisteddoodles
for New Scientist
Picturing the lighter side of life32 Metabolism myths
The biggest metabolic
misconceptions you need
to know about38 The power of money
How to make a difference
to climate change, disease
and poverty with $1 trillion44 Ancient urbanites
The rise and fall of the culture
that invented civilisationThe back pages
13 Mars mission A spectacular arrival for the Perseverance roverVol 249 No 3323
Cover image: Francesco Ciccolella32 Metabolism myths
Seven things we always
get wrong about diet
and exercise38 The trillion
dollar question
How much would it really
cost to fix the planet?NASA
/JPL-CALTECHNews
13 Stunning Mars landing
13 Battery mountains
17 Mammoth DNA
30 Space Sweepers
12 New laser weaponsThis week’s issue
38 Features
“ Universal
health care
is by far the
best way
to make
immense
gains on a
global scale”