5 October 2019 | New Scientist | 1On the
cover38 Majority report
We now have the tech
to predict how entire
populations will behave14 Life’s origins
3.5-billion-year-old fossils
found in AustraliaNews
Views
Features
9 Ocean worlds
Watery planets could host
more life than Earth10 Google and the NHS
What you need to know about
Google Health’s deals with
hospital trusts in England12 Accidents in Alaska
More details emerge of rocket
launches gone awry21 Comment
Michael Le Page on genetic
engineering scare stories22 The columnist
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
on pesky cosmic dust26 Letters
Voters want incentives
to tackle climate change28 Aperture
A new exhibition offers a
bird’s-eye view of our world30 Culture
Volcanoes and wine make
a perfectly balanced blend51 Stargazing at home
Work out light pollution near you52 Puzzles
The crossword, a puzzle about
stamps and a quick quiz53 Feedback
Letters of note and rook-y errors:
the week in weird54 Almost the last word
Cycling no-handed and tidal
effects: readers respond56 The Q&A
Gelong Thubten on Buddhism,
science and mindfulness34 Seeing the woods
Trees are our most powerful ally
against climate change. Now
we’re learning their full potential38 Simulating the world
We have a way to predict –
and change – the future.
Should we use it?42 Case of the missing quarks
Do the most fundamental
particles of matter even exist?The back pages
Vol 244 No 325042 Mystery of the
missing quarks
Why do the most basic
building blocks of our
universe keep disappearing?News
16 Teabags that leak microplastics 17 Liquid knots
18 Benzodiazepine crisis 22 Space dust 15 Winning at workThis week’s issue
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Discover technologies
that will change what
it means to be human
at our four-day
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newscientistlive.com7 Up in smoke Exports of Botswana’s huge untapped coal reserves beginLO
ST
HORIZONIMAGES
/ALAMY38 Features
“ We can already model a
city the size of London.
Ultimately, the goal is
the whole world”
Cover image: Howard Kingsnorth/Getty Images