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Why look back? • Revisiting the coronavirus outbreak five years on can help us in many ways

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WHAT COULD CAUSE THE NEXT PANDEMIC? • Covid-19 won’t be the last global outbreak, so we need to be prepared, says Michael Le Page

Timeline • These are the key events of the covid-19 pandemic, from first infections to the end of the emergency

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT LONG COVID • Even mild covid-19 can have complications, which we are still trying to understand, writes Michael Marshall

HAVE WE LEARNED THE LESSONS OF COVID-19? • Science initially struggled in the face of the pandemic, but now we know much more, reports Penny Sarchet

THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS • When the first signs of an unknown virus began showing up in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, scientists raced to understand what was happening. In the five years since, they haven’t stopped running, with over 1 million papers published about SARS-CoV-2 and covid-19. Yet despite this outpouring, some big scientific questions about the virus remain, finds Graham Lawton

A NEW ERA OF VACCINES • mRNA technology altered the course of the pandemic – and has potential for much more, says Grace Wade

The covid-19 time warp • Many of us experienced time differently in the pandemic. Learning why can help us, say Ruth Ogden and Patricia Kingori

No planet B • Defossilise your life Everyday household products are made almost entirely from newly extracted fossilised carbon. But there is an exciting alternative, finds Graham Lawton

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Tune into 2025’s top TV • From Doctor Who to Apple Cider Vinegar, there are plenty of great sci-fi and science-inflected shows coming up this year, says Bethan Ackerley

The best of the best • New Scientist staff share their favourite sci-fi TV series of all time, from Quantum Leap to Black Mirror

Sci-fi movies to enjoy in 2025 • From M3gan 2 to 28 Years Later, this year is all about inventive sequels, series and remakes – plus some dazzling adaptations like Mickey 17, says Simon Ings

How to be an optimist • Optimism can be extremely beneficial – if it’s used in the right way. Sumit Paul-Choudhury wrestles with how to become a positive thinker

Dust to dust • The discovery of ancient human DNA in dirt opens a new window on prehistoric worlds, finds Laura Spinney

“Entangling your brain with a quantum computer could unlock higher levels of consciousness” • Hartmut Neven leads the Google lab that builds some of the world’s most powerful quantum computers. He tells Thomas Lewton how we might use them to test the idea that consciousness involves quantum phenomena

What day is it anyway? • A mathematical magic trick lets you work out the weekday of any date – with a little help from Lewis Carroll, says Peter Rowlett

Puzzles

Almost the last word

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