New Scientist - USA (2022-03-05)

2 | New Scientist | 5 March 2022

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Podcasts Timeless beauty See Prague’s world-famous astronomical clock

Newsletter

Essential guide

Life on Earth

Over 3 billion years in the making,

the latest New Scientist Essential

Guide is a sweeping survey of

the history of life on our planet,

the wonders of biodiversity

today – and the threats it faces

from human activity. This is the

11th edition of our Essential

Guides, which you can buy

individually online or take out

a subscription to get them

delivered to your door.

shop.newscientist.com

Discovery

Tours

Kepler’s Prague

Discover the legacy of

astronomers Johannes Kepler

and Tycho Brahe in a city where

astronomy, maths, music and

art collide. Accompanied by

astronomer and historian Martin

Griffiths, you will explore Prague’s

medieval marvels, including

the world’s oldest astronomical

clock. This six-day tour starts

on 10 September 2022.

newscientist.com/tours

Weekly

The team unpacks two of the

consequences of Russia’s war

in Ukraine: the way it will affect

western Europe’s reliance on

Russian oil and gas, and the

threat of Russian cyberattacks.

Plus, with the last remaining

covid-19 restrictions scrapped

in England, we are joined by

healthcare expert Christina Pagel

to ask if this was the right decision.

And the team discusses the

intelligence of orangutans,

based on their ability to use

and make tools.

newscientist.com/nspod

Fix the Planet

Get Adam Vaughan’s newsletter

on the climate emergency and

its solutions delivered free to

your inbox each week. Adam

often considers technological

fixes, but in the latest issue,

he takes a careful look at the

role of behaviour change and

social science in getting us

to net-zero emissions.

newscientist.com/

fix-the-planet

Video

Evolving robots

These days, robots have impressive

abilities. But there are some jobs –

say, mapping a distant asteroid – for

which we can’t easily predetermine

what robots should be capable of.

One solution is to use machines

that can evolve, adapting and

reproducing to generate better

versions of themselves. Our

latest video looks at these

evolving robots.

youtube.com/newscientist

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Smart ape A new study shows orangutans spontaneously use tools

Podcast

Those of you who have been

New Scientist readers for more

than two years will know that

live events are a thrilling part of

what we do. The most exciting

of all our events is New Scientist

Live, our annual show in London,

featuring riveting talks on

multiple stages and a huge

exhibition floor to explore.

Because of covid-19, we have

only done online events since

March 2020. But we know many

of you have missed the buzz of

being there in the flesh, so I am

delighted that there will be two

big in-person New Scientist Live

events in the UK this year.

We will be back in London this

October with our flagship event

at the ExCel Centre. But first, our

festival of ideas and discovery will

be setting up its stall at Manchester

Central on 12 to 14 March, and

it’s not too late to get tickets.

With fantastic speakers ranging

from geneticists Turi King and

Giles Yeo to physicists Jim Al-Khalili

and Alex Keshavarzi, there will

definitely be something there for

everyone. And the good news for

those who don’t live in the UK or

can’t get to Manchester is that

we will also be live-streaming

the event all weekend.

So, whether in person or

online, I do hope you can come

join us at the world’s greatest

science festivals this year!

Emily Wilson

New Scientist editor

A note from

the editor

Discovery Tours