But the real culprit may be humans spreading disease. Debora MacKenzie reports Wicked weather Space storms are dangerous beasts and tricky to track down. Unleash the power of supersonic shock waves and you can push anything from proteins to engine oils to their limits. In the 1950's she found that exposing pregnant mothers to X-rays doubled the risk of cancer in their children. This week Stewart, who is now 93 publishes new research supporting her claims that low doses of radiation might be harmful.
Most scientists think that genetically modified foods are safe, yet the public remains uneasy.
In the week the world remembers the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima, Peter Hadfield urges Japan to come clean about its use of biological weapons. We bring you the best stories, plus all of New Scientist's conference coverage since January 1999. The outbreak of new variant Creuzfeld Jakob disease, the human form of BSE, seems to be gathering momentum as new cases are discovered. There isn't much that goo can't do Alcohol Essential reading for revellers. Everything you ever wanted to know about the stuff but were too drunk to ask.