26 September 2020 | New Scientist | 1
On the
cover
10 Coronavirus
myths busted
Why the virus isn’t from
a lab, and why you didn’t
have it in December
32 Nuclear batteries
The forgotten power
source that could fuel
an energy revolution
News
Views
Features
8 Testing times
How the UK could get a
grip on coronavirus testing
12 Venus fly-by
The BepiColombo probe will
have a chance to hunt for life
18 Apple Watch
The latest Apple gadget can
monitor your blood oxygen
level, but why?
21 Comment
Let’s focus on Venus and
search for life, says Peter Gao
22 The columnist
Annalee Newitz takes the long
view amid a year of disasters
24 Aperture
California’s wildfires
caught on camera
26 Letters
Views on the “fuzzi-verse”,
the pandemic and much more
28 Culture
Incredible stories of the
human brain’s ability to adapt
51 The science of gardening
Green your home by growing ivy
52 Puzzles
A quick crossword, a page-count
conundrum and the quiz
54 Almost the last word
How people in the Arctic
learned to cope with little sun
56 Feedback
The weird science that won
this year’s Ig Nobel prizes
56 Twisteddoodles
for New Scientist
Picturing the lighter side of life
32 Nuclear batteries
A forgotten kind of nuclear
power could create amazingly
long-lasting batteries
38 Evolving evolution
Charles Darwin laid the
foundations of evolution.
Then came genes, which
explained how it worked.
Now our greatest theory
of nature is changing
once again
The back pages
16 ’Massive failure’ World falls short on biodiversity targets
Vol 247 No 3301
Cover image: Tim McDonagh
38 Evolution special issue
The changing face of our
greatest theory of nature
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News
21 Pivot to Venus
13 Halloween allergies
18 Fish that grab crabs
51 The science of gardening
19 Giraffes hit by lightning
This week’s issue
32 Features
“ A forgotten
type of
nuclear
power
could be safe,
powerful and
long-lasting”