New Scientist - USA (2021-12-18)

New Scientist Live

Our mind-blowing festival of ideas is

returning to the stage in a new venue,

combining the best of in-person and

virtual experiences. We will welcome

more than 9000 visitors, 40 speakers

and 30 exhibitors in person for talks and

hands-on demonstrations. Join us from

12 to 14 March 2022 at Manchester

Central, UK. The first two days are open to

all, with the final day dedicated to schools

and home learners. Find out more about

what’s happening online:

live.newscientist.com

Video

What’s so funny?

To find out, we visited Laughter Lab,

an exhibition and social experiment at

London’s Cartoon Museum. The exhibition

explores our reaction to humour,

showcasing a wide selection of

cartoonists. Don’t forget to subscribe

to our channel for more great videos:

youtube.com/newscientist

Podcast

Weekly

The team discusses why the omicron

coronavirus variant might dodge

immunity; climate journalist Emily Atkin

drops in to chat about new Netflix satire

Don’t Look Up, about two astronomers’

attempts to warn humanity of an

approaching comet; and Steven Pinker

talks about his new book Rationality. Plus:

the bubbling sounds of melting glaciers

and news of a GPS-like navigation system

that uses cosmic rays to orient itself.

newscientist.com/nspod

Elsewhere

on New Scientist

Hybrid event

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70 Razor sharp

Occam’s razor, a principle invented

by a monk, is still incredibly useful

72 What your laugh says

about you

There’s a lot more to laughter

than just joking around

75 Shimmering secrets

Grasping the secrets of iridescence

could lead to supercooling paints

77 When spiders play

Lots of creatures seem to enjoy

messing around. Why do they do it?

Views

33 The columnists

New Scientist’s columnists give

their unique take on the year

36 Letters

If our species was so kind,

where did it all go wrong?

38 Culture short story

An exclusive science-fiction

tale by Mary Robinette Kowal

46 Aperture

Volcanic ash blankets the

landscape in the Canary Islands

Festive fun

43 World’s hardest word search

Test your wits against New

Scientist’s giant word puzzle

The back pages

81 Citizen science

Snowflake spotters sought

82 Puzzles & bumper crossword

Try our crossword and

brain-teasers

84 Quiz of the year

Can you remember all the biggest

science news of 2021?

88 Feedback

Revealing the 2021 Feedby awards

88 Twisteddoodles

for New Scientist

Picturing the lighter side of life

34 Oxygen gardens When science fiction gets botany hilariously wrong

Features cont.