Â鶹´«Ã½

This week's magazine

31 January 2026

Issue 3580

Â鶹´«Ã½ issue 3580 cover
Previous issue Next issue
arrow
View in the app
Check out this magazine in our easy-to-navigate mobile app
arrow
Find a previous edition online
Search through our digital archive of over 30 years of magazines

Editor's picks

It would be a mistake to rush into an under-16 social media ban

Health

It would be a mistake to rush into an under-16 social media ban

Comment
Chemist Omar M. Yaghi

Chemistry

Nobel prizewinner Omar Yaghi says his invention will change the world

Features
Illustration of sandy beach in bay

Humans

Ancient humans were seafaring far earlier than we realised

Features
A collage of analog clocks against a black background. Some are broken in half

Physics

The daring idea that time is an illusion and how we could prove it

Features

Table of contents

Leaders

It would be a mistake to rush into an under-16 social media ban

Health

It would be a mistake to rush into an under-16 social media ban

Many countries are debating whether to follow Australia and ban social media for younger teenagers. But with more robust evidence on its harms coming, we shouldn't be too hasty

Comment

News

Humans

Stick shaped by ancient humans is the oldest known wooden tool

Excavations at an opencast mine in Greece have uncovered two wooden objects more than 400,000 years old that appear to have been fashioned as tools by an unknown species of ancient human

News

Health

Barnacle gloop could improve inflammatory bowel disease treatments

News

Environment

Hybrid megapests evolving in Brazil are a threat to crops worldwide

News

Space

Satellites could use magnetic fields to avoid collisions

News

Life

Bubble feeding trick spreads through humpback whale social groups

News

Humans

Oldest known rock art is a 68,000-year-old hand stencil with claws

News

Humans

Ape-like hominin Paranthropus was more adaptable than we thought

News

Health

Why singing, dancing and engaging with art is good for your health

News

Health

Cross-training may be the key to a long life

News

Space

SpaceX’s Starlink dodged 300,000 satellite collisions in 2025

News

Space

Mars's gravity may help control Earth’s cycle of ice ages

News

Physics

The edge of the quantum world just moved closer to our reality

News

Life

Our earliest vertebrate ancestors may have had four eyes

News

Life

Bird retinas work without oxygen, and now scientists know how

News

Life

Why did magic mushrooms evolve? We may finally have the answer

News

Health

Ancient bacterium discovery rewrites the origins of syphilis

News

Health

Our oral microbiome could hold the key to preventing obesity

News

Environment

Termination shock could make the cost of climate damage even higher

News

Analysis

Health

Does limiting social media help teens? We'll finally get some evidence

A trial will finally reveal whether limiting the time teens spend on social media really does affect their mental health

News

Aperture

Caption: Belgium | Two of the main protagonists in Kristina Steiner?s winning story: Stefaan rides his horse, Dina, to catch shrimp in the summer waters of the North Sea. ?Kristina Steiner for Onewater

Environment

Startling images win water photography competition

From a powerful horse to South Korea's sea women, these are some of the winners of the Walk of Water photography awards

Regulars

Environment

Cold War bunker collapses onto beach

Regulars

Features

Chemist Omar M. Yaghi

Chemistry

Nobel prizewinner Omar Yaghi says his invention will change the world

Chemist Omar Yaghi invented materials called MOFs, a few grams of which have the surface area of a football field. He explains why he thinks these super-sponges will define the next century

Features

Humans

Ancient humans were seafaring far earlier than we realised

Features

Physics

The daring idea that time is an illusion and how we could prove it

Features

Culture

BEIJING - AUGUST 11: (L-R) Eamon Sullivan of Australia, Michael Phelps of the United States and Amaury Leveaux of France compete in the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final held at the National Aquatics Center on Day 3 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing, China. The United States finished the race in first place in a time of 3:08.24 and wins the gold medal and set a new World Record. Eamon Sullivan of Australia set a time of 47.24 in the first leg, a new World Record. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Physics

Engaging look at friction shows how it keeps our world rubbing along

How much do you know about friction? Jennifer R. Vail's charming, if sometimes technical, "biography" of the force showcases its amazing and largely overlooked role in everything from climate change to dark matter, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Culture

Health

Fascinating but flawed book explores how sickness shapes our lives

Culture

Comment

Â鶹´«Ã½ recommends pioneering artist Ryoji Ikeda's new work

Culture

Physics

A remarkable book on quantum mechanics reveals a really big idea

Culture

More

FHYMKG Big Bang, conceptual image Computer illustration representing the origin of the universe The term Big Bang describes the

Space

The most important second in the entire history of the universe

In the 13.8 billion years that our universe has been around, some moments stand out over others – for the most exciting and impactful one, we have to go back to the very beginning, says cosmology columnist Leah Crane

Comment

Mathematics

Bored of snakes and ladders? Some maths can help bring back the fun

Regulars

Health

How your health is being commodified by social media

Comment

Tom Gauld: Our journey began with a simple question

Regulars

Twisteddoodles: So, you're a rocket scientist?

Regulars

Regulars

Think of a card, any card – but make it science

Think of a card, any card – but make it science

Feedback has been informed about a "global telepathy study" which is currently taking place, but isn't entirely convinced about its merits

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word

Browse past issues

View all
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop