This week's magazine
3 October 2026
Issue 3615
On the cover
Editor's picks
Table of contents
News
Environment
Future of Amazon rainforest may hinge on Brazil presidential election
A general election in Brazil next month is widely seen as a choice between Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva and Fl谩vio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro
Technology
OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government healthcare website
Mathematics
Mathematician discovers rare eight-faced shape
Health
Severe meningitis outbreak caused by bacteria that took genes from microbiome
Environment
El Ni帽o heat could kill half a million people by February
Health
Should we use GLP-1 drugs to treat obesity in children?
Technology
Is AI really getting dangerously out of control?
Life
Dogs pay more attention to consonants than vowels when we speak
Health
Skin patch that collects sweat could predict ovulation
Life
Copying others can help young orangutans build a broad diet
Health
Blood test could gauge if a baby has a dangerous infection in 15 minutes
Space
Is China catching up to the US and SpaceX on reusable rockets?
Health
Backpack massages muscles when it detects they’re fatigued
Health
Lifestyle changes may be as effective as therapy at easing depression
Physics
Swimmer made of quantum light breaks Newton’s third law
Life
Fire amoeba breaks heat tolerance record for complex life
Features
Physics
Embracing the glitches in gravity could give us a unified theory of reality
Physicists have long struggled with their goal of making gravity a quantum force. A radical post-quantum approach might solve that problem 鈥� and clear up other cosmic mysteries, too
Life
Why are so many animals moving to hotter places as the world warms?
Health
The overlooked power of diet for improving your mental health
Culture
Comment
A new biography of Stephen Hawking gets to grips with a complicated man
Graham Farmelo has written the first authorised biography of the famous physicist. He should be applauded for digging into various controversies 鈥� but could have gone further, says Jacob Aron
Comment
Benjamin Labatut has written an utterly haunting novella about science
Comment
Moonfish, a haunting animation, captures a tragedy in space
Comment
Why do we have hair 鈥� on our heads and elsewhere? A new book explores
Comment
Our verdict on Chanda Prescod-Weinstein鈥檚 The Edge of Space-Time: a wild ride
More
Health
Anthropic鈥檚 discovery will, at best, be just another gene-editing tool
The AI company Anthropic has announced that its Claude large language model has discovered a system reminiscent of CRISPR, but that doesn鈥檛 mean the Nobel prizes will start rolling in, says Michael Le Page
Environment
How turning electricity directly into food could help save the planet
Sponsored
The astonishing collective impact of household energy shifts
Tom Gauld on an audience with the great theoretical scientist
Twisteddoodles on the discovery of a new cat species
Regulars
Comment
A ‘unique opportunity’: is this the weirdest RightMove listing ever?
Feedback is a little saddened to discover that a historic scientific building is up for sale, and wonders if any readers fancy opening a museum