This week's magazine
7 March 2020
Issue 3272
On the cover
Editor's picks
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Our fight against climate change could help us rein in coronavirus too
Space
How red is a black hole? The strange reality of what space looks like
Humans
Gamifying hate: How alt-right extremists recruit and mobilise online
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The secret to killing cancer may lie in its deadly power to evolve
Table of contents
News
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Coronavirus: UK government reveals action plan to combat an outbreak
The UK government has published a 27-page document detailing how the country will respond to a growing covid-19 outbreak. Police and health workers may be restricted to urgent duties
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Coronavirus may have been circulating undetected in the US for 6 weeks
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How badly prepared is the world for a coronavirus pandemic?
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Coronavirus: What are the worst symptoms and how deadly is covid-19?
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Coronavirus: What you need to know to prepare for a covid-19 pandemic
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Coronavirus pandemic threatens to knock $1 trillion off global economy
Technology
Surprise contender Honeywell enters the quantum computing race
Mind
Meet the compulsive robot who could help us treat OCD better
Space
First private space rescue mission sees two satellites latch together
Space
Earth has acquired a brand new moon that’s about the size of a car
Humans
Thousands of Denisovan tools reveal their Stone Age technologies
Life
Silver uses a surprising trick to stop the spread of bacteria
Space
Our galaxy’s huge black hole may have created organic molecules
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Gut bacteria may be responsible for bowel disorders including cancers
Humans
Aboriginal Australians hunted kangaroos with dingoes a century ago
Space
China’s rover has discovered what lies beneath the moon’s far side
Humans
We have only just figured out how human feet work
Life
Seagulls are more likely to pick up food that humans have handled
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US opioid crisis: 100,000 overdose deaths may have gone uncounted
Life
It turns out loads of frogs and salamanders are fluorescent
Life
Weird worm is earliest known animal to evolve away body parts
Analysis
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Covid-19: Why won’t the WHO officially declare a coronavirus pandemic?
With outbreaks in multiple countries, the new coronavirus looks like a pandemic, but the World 91É«Ç鯬 Organization won't declare one because governments may react in the wrong way
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We were warned – so why couldn’t we prevent the coronavirus outbreak?
Environment
Binge watching TV isn’t as bad for the climate as some reports suggest
Technology
Politicians are mulling a global tax rate to tame the tech giants
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China has shut all of its wild animal markets – it was long overdue
Environment
Going car-free was painful – but you should do it too
Features
Space
How red is a black hole? The strange reality of what space looks like
Our images of deep space are spectacular, but don’t reflect what our eyes would see. Here's what their stunning true colours reveal about the cosmos
Humans
Gamifying hate: How alt-right extremists recruit and mobilise online
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The secret to killing cancer may lie in its deadly power to evolve
Culture
Life
This desert ant can run at the equivalent of 600 kilometres per hour
Desert ants zigzag around the searing sand at high speed but they always manage to find their way home. A new book explains their amazing abilities
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The Dream Season 2 review: How the wellness industry ropes people in
Humans
Don’t miss: War in Westworld, the power of sight and unearthly audio
Life
Greenwood review: Can humanity survive a tree apocalypse?
More
Tom Gauld on scientists explaining theories to their mothers
Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon
Humans
How to make a sourdough starter and delicious sourdough bread
Twisteddoodles ponders if disaster movies were real
Humans
Autism isn’t a defect – here’s why we should embrace neurodiversity
Regulars
The Hogwarts houses that attract different types of doctor
Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more