New Scientist Australian Edition

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A twist of human fate • The story of the lost Denisovans shows the path our species might have taken

New Scientist Australian Edition

EU squeeze on vaccines • Vaccine producers exporting to countries outside the European Union, including the UK, will face new roadblocks, says Michael Le Page

Can you relax after one dose? • Millions of people have now received their first shot of a vaccine against covid-19. Where does this leave them, asks Michael Le Page

Herd immunity no-show • Most people in Manaus, Brazil, have had covid-19, but the virus is still spreading

Is the new UK variant more deadly as well as spreading faster? • Evidence is mounting that the variant first detected in the UK is more lethal, but there is no need to panic, reports Michael Le Page

Virus variants found in sewage before tests reveal them

Making a conspiracy theorist • The way websites moderate their content affects the spread of fringe views

Extreme drought set to rise steeply by 2100

Machine identifies songs from people’s brainwaves

Climate may undermine food security efforts

Under the bonnet • Strange fossil is the first to show an ammonite without its shell

Volcanic rock slide travelled 60 kilometres

Being graded by an AI could improve your piano playing

Hyperchaos could help us build better quantum computers

Time for RNA editing • Altering RNA rather than DNA could be a safer approach for medicine

Physicists work out the best way for insects to jump

Six-star system puts on a stunning display of eclipses

SUVs cancel out climate gains from electric cars

Quarter of all bee species not seen for three decades

Data reveals racial bias in recruitment

Swimming machine cracks squid motion

Really brief

Owner’s personality rubs off on their dog

Extremely rare fossil reveals sex secrets of the dinosaurs

Frozen world may contain rocket fuel

Formula wars • An overzealous push for breastfeeding has spilled over to hit food banks, worsening problems for the poorest people, writes Clare Wilson

What’s so great about native anyway? • There’s a tendency among horticulturists to prefer native plant species, but we shouldn’t assume they are better, writes James Wong

Your letters

Galactic growth

The right place to be • David Attenborough’s A Perfect Planet blends earth science with dazzling images to show how natural forces nurture life, says Ibrahim Sawal

Zero carbon, high costs • Demand for rare metals will increase as we move to a zero-carbon economy. A new book lays out the high cost, finds Simon Ings

Don’t miss

How we end • Last and First Men is big on brutalist architecture, with a sometimes chilly narrator, but this strange history of 2 billion years of humanity ranks with Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey. It may even break your heart, says Simon Ings

The other humans • A mysterious prehistoric people once known only from DNA they left behind are now emerging from the shadows, finds Michael Marshall

Where did the Denisovans come from and where did they go?

How far did Denisovans roam?

Were Denisovans a distinct species?

Mind control • Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that warps your...