New Scientist Australian Edition 9-May-20

New Scientist covers the latest developments in science and technology that will impact your world. New Scientist employs and commissions the best writers in their fields from all over the world. Our editorial team provide cutting-edge news, award-winning features and reports, written in concise and clear language that puts discoveries and advances in the context of everyday life today and in the future.

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Virtual event Podcasts Events Online event: Decoding Reality Join physicist Vlatko Vedral at 6pm BST on 21 May as he delves into the quantum nature of reality. newscientist.com/events Podcasts Weekly Dreams in the time of coronavirus, sleep tips from renowned neuroscientist and bestselling author Matthew Walker, and much more! newscientist.com/podcast Newsletter Launchpad Our free newsletter sends you on a monthly voyage across the galaxy and beyond newscientist.com/sign-up/launchpad Online Covid-19 daily update The latest coronavirus coverage updated every day at 5pm with news, features and interviews from New Scientist newscientist.com/coronavirus-latest…

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IN THIS ISSUE

Elsewhere on New Scientist

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A note from the editor

New Scientist editor In my last editor’s note, written when the full scale of the pandemic was becoming clear, I talked about the possibility that we might have trouble printing one or more issues of the magazine during the crisis. The good news is that this hasn’t yet been a problem. In fact, we have now successfully produced eight print magazines remotely, with all New Scientist staff working from their homes. Our printers and distributors have also continued their work, although we are aware that there have been postal issues in some regions. For anyone who is waiting for a magazine to arrive or is unable to go out and get one, do be aware that we have now made our app – which is a digital version of the weekly print magazine…

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IN THIS ISSUE

A note from the editor

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IN THIS ISSUE

Good science, bad science

THE covid-19 pandemic has upended many of the things that we once took for granted, but perhaps the most insidious is what it is doing to our ability to tell fact from fiction. Science remains the best tool we have – though by no means a perfect one – for creating reliable knowledge. It is playing a central and mostly heroic role in the fight against the coronavirus. Yet it is also becoming hard at times to sort good science from bad, and worthwhile hypotheses from conjecture, hyperbole and nonsense. The result is widespread confusion and scarce resources being squandered (see page 12). There are many causes of this, but the main one is that masses of people suddenly have access to raw scientific information – without necessarily knowing how to judge…

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On the cover

What comes after the ICU?

HEALTH systems must start ramping up services for helping people recover from intensive care treatment for coronavirus, doctors are warning. After spending several weeks on a ventilator, people will need extensive physical and mental rehabilitation for weeks or even months. “We’re going to have an epidemic of post-intensive care rehab requirements for people who survived,” says Kathryn Mannix, a palliative care doctor in north-east England. “They’re not going to come back home well.” Many countries are now treating unprecedented numbers of covid-19 patients in intensive care whose lung function has got so bad they need mechanical ventilation. To have a tube put down their throat and a machine take over their breathing, they need to be sedated into unconsciousness and receive drugs that paralyse their muscles. Many people at this stage are deteriorating…

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