New Scientist - USA (2021-12-11)

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No more beef Calls grow for cattle pasture to make way for forests

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Reality+

Virtual reality (VR) technology

is advancing apace and some

shared VR worlds could be the

next phase of the internet. In this

talk, philosopher David Chalmers

draws on science and philosophy

to argue that virtual worlds need

not be fake. Instead, he says, they

can be genuine, meaningful

realities. Join us on 10 February

from 6pm GMT (1pm EST).

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Stay up to date with the most

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pandemic with our briefing,

updated every weekday. We

round up all the latest news,

plus give links to exclusive

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Omicron, the new covid-

variant, has become dominant

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fast. The team examines

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vaccines and immunity. Plus:

research on 5000-year-old jars

shows that ancient Egyptians

used to eat alcoholic porridge -

yes, seriously! And there is new

evidence suggesting that water

may have first arrived on Earth

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Fix the planet

Get Adam Vaughan’s newsletter

about the climate emergency

delivered for free to your inbox

every week. In the latest edition,

he talks to an entrepreneur who

thinks livestock farmers could be

better off ditching animals and

planting trees on their land, even

if the price of carbon were just

£38 per tonne.

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Video

Rise of the xenobots

A team of researchers has

developed “robots” made from

the skin cells of Xenopus laevis

frogs. Watch how they move,

gathering up mounds of other

cells that then turn into new

robots. It is a strange new form

of reproduction. Don’t forget

to subscribe to our channel for

more incredible discoveries

and explainers.

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Another reality Why virtual worlds could be more than just fiction

Event

Essential guide

How did the universe begin?

What is it made of? Do black holes

exist? Albert Einstein’s space- and

time-warping theories of relativity

have revolutionised our view of the

cosmos over the past century. Find

out how in the 10th New Scientist

Essential Guide, available now.

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“ Could

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