New Scientist - USA (2019-12-21)

21/28 December 2019 | New Scientist | 1

Welcome all to your bumper holiday edition of the

magazine. I hope you will agree that we have stacked the

treats pretty high this year, whether you are interested in

runaway stars, a dodo mystery, an intimate history of

roundabouts, mixing yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster...

or simply in looking back over an extraordinary decade of

science, technology and planetary change. I really hope you

enjoy the issue and, on behalf of all the staff here, I would

like to thank you, our very wonderful readers, for making

New Scientist part of your lives.

Emily Wilson, Editor

News

Pull-out

Features Views

Review of

the year

6 Time travel paradox

Finite number of parallel

histories solves classic problem

9 Oral rejuvenation

Anti-ageing drug gives old

mice more youthful mouths

12 Japan’s exoskeletons

How technology is helping

older people to remain in

the workforce for longer

47 A peeling activity

How to craft a satsuma-skin

stegosaurus – and more!

20 The Greta effect

The year the world woke

up to climate change

23 The tech backlash

Big tech’s inevitable fall

from grace in 2019

29 Preview of 2020

The scientific delights –

and dangers – to come

33 Comment

Expanding beyond Earth will

change us, says Martin Rees

36 Aperture

The snowy travails of the

spotted nutcrackers of Bulgaria

38 Culture

The first English translation of

a new short story from Cixin Liu

42 Letters

Why failure can be glorious

89 Stargazing at home

Spot Santa’s sleigh

90 Puzzles

A bumper celestial crossword

and five festive teasers

92 Quiz of the year

Test your knowledge of the

science stories from 2019

95 Feedback

The winners of our inaugural

awards for absurdity

96 The Q&A

Janelle Shane on the delights

of AI strangeness

44 Scientific guide to chit-chat

A masterclass in conversation

for the most social time of year

52 The very friendly octopus

Far from being loners, some

cephalopods like company

54 Stars behaving badly

A guide to the Milky Way’s

most outlandish inhabitants

57 Frankincense in peril

It used to be a gift for kings, but

now everyone wants a piece

60 How Rudolph beats jet lag

Reindeer’s real superpowers are

more impressive than fiction

62 Tonic’s sparkling history

From medical miracle to gin’s

ideal accompaniment

65 Why people hate

roundabouts

They’re safer, cleaner and more

efficient, yet still face resistance

68 The return of the Zeppelin

Helping the steampunk fantasy

of vacuum airships take flight

70 Snow’s surprising life

It may appear cold and empty,

but it hides a vibrant ecosystem

72 When truffles go to war

Unearthing the violent lives

of our most expensive fungi

74 Who killed the last dodo?

A unique specimen with

a mysterious past

77 How to mix the perfect

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

Brewing science fiction’s most

intoxicating beverages

80 A slice of the auction

How scientific memorabilia

can be good for the wallet

82 The case for a £1.75 coin

Radical solutions to save the

future of cash

The back pages

Vol 244 No 3261/

Cover image: Rob Snow

Contents

44 Features

“ We consistently

underestimate how well

we are perceived by others”

Holiday

special