New Scientist - 24 July 2010

New Scientist is a weekly international science magazine and website covering recent developments in science and technology for a general English-speaking audience. New Scientist has maintained a website since 1996, publishing daily news. As well as covering current events and news from the scientific community, the magazine often features speculative articles, ranging from the technical to the philosophical.
Content:
Don't fear the tweeter: your data trail is doing good The more digital fingerprints we leave all over the place, the closer we get to discovering the laws of human behaviour Oil spill memory will fade fast The Gulf oil disaster is a wake-up call, but we slept through the last one Fishing skews sex ratios in fish Population crashes in many species of reef fish may be linked to an excess of males brought about by fishing – and quotas won't help Geoengineering fix won't suit everyone Pumping aerosols into the atmosphere could help offset climate change, but everyone will want to use different amounts Senate to NASA: Build massive rocket now! A key Senate committee has approved a bill that would require NASA to start building a hefty new rocket earlier than President Barack Obama wanted Deep space X-ray flash is most powerful ever recorded An unknown event in a distant galaxy has blasted our solar system with an intense burst of X-rays, temporarily blinding an astronomical satellite 60 Seconds Needle patch for painless vaccination, US bioterror research under threat, whales' sharp noses, and more BP Top Hat cap tests are inconclusive Has the new cap on the wrecked Gulf well head finally got the better of the gushing oil? Heart problem no problem for fliers It's OK to fly even if you have serious heart problems, according to this week's advice from the British Cardiovascular Society Vaginal gel could slow spread of HIV In a South African trial, women using an anti-retroviral gel halved their risk of HIV infection - suggesting use of the gel could slow the epidemic Gulf of Mexico becomes an accidental laboratory An army of ecologists is gearing up for an arduous campaign to document the damage caused by the Gulf oil spill and chart the eventual recovery Old faithful Tevatron collider leads race to Higgs The Tevatron collider is poised to beat the Large Hadron Collider in the race to detect the Higgs boson Every black hole may hold a hidden universe Our own universe could be inside a black hole – if an analysis based on a modified version of Einstein's general relativity proves to be correct Skull tells tale of the lost primates of the Caribbean A primate skull found in an underwater cave on Hispaniola is evidence of the primitive and strange fauna that the Caribbean has lost 'Sleep control' cells allow blind mice to see Mice lacking rod and cone cells can still navigate mazes. They must be using a third light receptor previously thought to have no role in vision Serotonin cell discoveries mean rethink of depression Far from being caused by low levels of serotonin in the brain, some types of depression may in fact be the result of too much serotonin Comet tail confirmed on alien planet The first known planet with comet-like tail has been discovered as it is frazzled alive by its host star Enlist malaria-resistant mosquitoes to stop its spread A novel gene that cranks up a mosquito's immune system helps it stay malaria-free, despite drinking infected blood Sneaky dogs take food quietly to avoid getting caught If their owner isn't watching, dogs go into stealth mode to steal food. It is more evidence that they can tell what others are thinking Speeding star traced back to galaxy's centre The path taken by a hypervelocity star suggests supermassive black holes, found at the heart of galaxies, kick-start these stars How a changing diet rules a growing baby's guts A baby's first peas are a life-changing event, at least as far as the microbes in its gut are concerned Stingy aliens may call us on cheap rates only We could be missing alien communications because we are not taking into account the fiscal constraints on sending out intergalactic messages ...and more!