This week's magazine

Table of contents

Leaders

Health

2026 is set to be an even bigger year for weight-loss drugs

GLP-1 agonists have already had an outsized influence on society, and with pill versions and more advanced formulations on the horizon, that looks set to continue

Comment

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News

Society

Russia-US nuclear pact is about to end and we won't see another

After the New START treaty expires in February, there will be no cap on the number of US and Russian nuclear weapons - but some are sceptical about whether the deal actually made the world safer

News

Space

2026 Mars mission will set out to solve the mystery of its moons

News

Technology

Controversial satellites launching in 2026 will reflect light to Earth

News

Environment

EU carbon border tax will force others to cut emissions from 2026

News

Space

NASA's Artemis II mission aims to return astronauts to moon in 2026

News

Health

The cost of weight-loss drugs should fall in 2026

News

Space

BepiColombo mission will start to unpick Mercury's secrets in 2026

News

Health

The weight-loss drugs on trial in 2026 may trump Ozempic and Zepbound

News

Health

We'll learn about LSD's potential for treating anxiety in 2026

News

Technology

US to fire up small reactors in 2026 as part of 'nuclear renaissance'

News

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Aperture

Environment

See how fire has changed the world's largest wetland, the Pantanal

Stunning and shocking images from upcoming exhibition Water Pantanal Fire show how this tropical wetland has been hit by wildfires

Regulars

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Features

Mind

The emotion you never knew you had, and how to feel more of it

The warm and fuzzy emotion of kama muta underlies vital feel-good experiences like social connection and feeling part of something bigger. But are you getting enough of it?

Features

Space

The century-long hunt for the gigantic meteorite that vanished

Features

Health

Low on energy? A new understanding of rest could help revitalise you

Features

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Culture

The best new popular science books of 2026

Clear out your shelves for a bumper new crop of books by authors including Naomi Klein, Rebecca Solnit and Xand Van Tulleken, says culture editor Alison Flood

Culture

The best new science fiction books of 2026

Culture

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More

Space

Why I'm going to reap the mental health benefits of stargazing in 2026

Navigating the night sky can have a positive effect on our well-being. This will be the year I learn the constellations, resolves Michael Brooks

Comment

Life

Could James and the Giant Peach inspire the future of food?

Comment

Life

Why stroking seedlings can help them grow big and strong

Regulars

Tom Gauld on the return to work

Regulars

Twisteddoodles: do we really need a new year?

Regulars

Health

Gene-edited babies are the future – but these CRISPR start-ups aren’t

Comment

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Regulars

Eyebrow-raising remaster of Mad Men now features a vomit hose

New year, new remaster of something that didn't need to be remastered. This time, it's a nauseatingly clunky edit of an award-winning television drama

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word