New Scientist Editorial Errors

I like the New Scientist web site; I visit it often, and enjoy their articles. However, they have quite a high rate of editorial errors – grammar, punctuation, typos, etc. – the sort of things an editor is supposed to catch. They apparently don't care about it, as I've emailed them three times and received no response.

I first started tracking these errors in September 2002, and as of September 2008 have recorded 120. 20 per year may not seem like a lot, but it's unacceptable for a professional publication, and some of them are exceptionally sloppy. I also don't read every article, so there are likely more. I don't mean to pick on NS, but sloppiness bugs me, especially indifferent sloppiness. So, for the record, here they are:

Notes and corrections are in red. Some of the more obvious errors do not have a notation.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992742
"...suggests the same gene could play a role in both...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994666
"...discover and analyse the stratigraphy of the order and position of the layers...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994685
"...all of whom are all over the age 45."
Redundent "all"

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994723
"...hospital-acquired superbug MSRA...."
It should be MRSA

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994724
"...Mars once had water using data...."
There should be a comma after "water"

http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns24391
"...Hong Kong, where millions of people lived...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994875
"The mission is already has one record...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994899
"...recordings preserved on a warped and damaged records...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994905
"...computers can 'flip' these spins at in a few billionths of a second...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994929
"...particles that still cling to the newly polishing surface."
"...green tea might also provide be an effective compound...."
"...and an abrasive chemical it produced a mixture...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994978
"...without revealing the network address of their computer to other users."
"...identity of their users, meaning an outsider can find a user's (IP)...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994994
"...reached an altitude of 65,000 metres...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995011
"A that increasing temperatures will dramatically affect the world's great rivers."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995047
"...Gary Huffnagle at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbour."
It's America -- it's spelled "Arbor" :)

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995054
"...can be fired at from an ordinary paint-ball gun."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995057
"...$100,000 to whoever makes this discovery."
It should be "whomever".

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995063
"'My sense is they do have confer some kind of advantage.'"

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995101
"...asked Rico to go in fetch two randomly chosen items...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996052
"...Rutan said, about around 2400 km/h...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996113
"Caspari and Lee found a five-fold increase in the number of individuals...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996126
"The new diode showed performed better in tests than have previous nano-diodes."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996245
"...has also temporarily prevented use of the craft's two other...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996256
"The glass is coated with the chemical vanadium dioxide."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996494
"...the CO2 level had reached at 368 ppm."
"On current trends, this figure, is likely to be reached...."
Extraneous comma in the second one.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996530
"...you could just take a light beam and communicate...."

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996563
"The judges’ were unanimous...."
Extraneous apostrophe.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996568
"...platypuses have a set of ten-chromosomes that determine their sex."
Extraneous hyphen.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996596
"...has lead to the death...."
It should be "led".

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6833
"...cloning will never produce a perfect replica of any animal is also associated...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6914
"He suggests that machine's could one day use this technique...."
Extraneous apostrophe.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7353
"...a series of mechanical breaks will activate...."
It should be "brakes".

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7419
"...behaviour that comes close to what physicists calculate...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7421
"The exhibition features a mock-ups of homes...."
"ApriAlpha is an armless droid..... Its larger sibling, ApriAlpha...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7432
"Current DVDs can hold a maximum of 8.5 gigabytes - roughly 1 billion bytes...."
"Giga" = 1 billion; thus 8.5gb = 8.5 billion bytes, not 1 billion.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn7564
"...in the constellation Pisces Australis...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7570
"The findings are similar to studies of vervet monkeys...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7578
"...could put and end of the misery...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7598
"Companies ... face the prospect of a legal blitz...."

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn7633
"It will do accomplish this using a different approach...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7705
"...the Al Wathba racing track in Abu Dubai...."
There is no Abu Dubai. The Al Wathba track is in Abu Dhabi, which is near Dubai.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7835
"...strings may represent collations of data different regions...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7847
"...capacity of these nanostructures is, in comparable to that of today's silicon transistors."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6175
"'Patently improbably'"
"But some of Persian soldiers set sail...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7925
"So perhaps it's unsurprising...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7927
"...to four times longer that their hosts...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8027
"The two divers left for 6 hours in shark-invested waters...."
Gotta watch out for those investment sharks! :)

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn8259.html
"...fire a 5-gram pellet into the surface and attempt to suck up the resulting debris."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8383
"Holding it in one place while strumming...."
"...players can easily create a unique air guitar style."

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8636
"...noticed that the bills' move according to two mathematical rules...."
Extraneous apostrophe.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8640
"...is challenging that notion notion...."

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/dn8721.html
"...the hardening effect only lasts as long as the impact itself."

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/dn8723.html
"...John Stapleton of New Jersey, US, thinks the same trick...."
"The patent contains more theory that practical test results...."

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn8737.html
"...perform customer background checks after receiving an orders."

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn8744.html
"A planned life-hunting project is NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder, would look for life...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8866.html
"The return contain much more information...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8875.html
"The tube has with gold particles on its tip...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn8974.html
"Louise Crandal and her eagle, called, Cossack...." [Photo caption]
Extraneous comma.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9815.html
"...in order to function properly and affect repairs."
Should be "effect".

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9849.html
"... had not to matured fully."

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn8944
"...such slippage caused mission managers to reverse the rover's course...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn8973
"It also measures records the four most dominant tones...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn8992
"...they release photons at a steady rate...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9029
"Applying a second magnetic field to one of the materials...."

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9049
"The Phoenix Mars lander is expected to arrive on Mars...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9180
"...a volunteer improved the computer code used to comb through data...."

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/
"...wreaking havoc on drives using vices, thermite and corrosive chemicals."
It should be "vises".

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9568
"Once calibrated, its can weigh up fat content more accurately."
"...the capsule would remain in tact...."
"...when a fish bites the extra tension...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9712
"A plot to blow up passenger aircraft in en route from the UK to the US...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9743
"...use four infrared detectors would to pick up the reflected glow."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10121
"...what happens next is open to debate."

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn10180
"The Air Force has now given the go-ahead...."
"The US Air Force's interest...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10401
"...the challenge could be to can throw the object furthest...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10609
"...to work out a highly-security 512-bit encryption key...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10614
"...a screen of rapidly deployed parachutes...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10715
"...they used an array of these detectors...to monitor and log the movements of people...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10851
"...because it can be its signal can be switched...."
"...the speed at which they can of transmit information...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11082
"A lens capable to resolving objects too small for of conventional optics...."
"These 'evanescent waves' contain information about at finer resolution...."

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19325894.200
"These so-called 'foundation' species can underpin an entire ecosystem...."
"These so-called 'foundation' species can underpin an entire ecosystem...."
(duplicated)

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn11124
"...records show Nowak and Oefelein they did attend the same survival training session...."

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn11146
"The winner will initially only be give $5 million...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11200
"This is important any noticeable lag...."

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn11215
"More than half of the world's 7000 languages are endangered...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11220
"They used the method to create a sheet of interlocked rings and rectangles."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11551
"Delays may also last only last a few hundred milliseconds...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11690
"It is consists of a thin coating...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11748
"...another way of making smaller features, according to Japanese...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11775
"...while the Huntingdon protein which causes the neurodegenerative condition of the same name."
It's "Huntington", with a "t", plus the whole clause lacks a verb.

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11870
"...could advance of the hottest areas of physics...."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11906
"... to keep track of dozens of tags."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11937
"...adding a certain rare earth metals...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12169
"The display creates lifelike images appear in just in front of a flat screen."

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12168
"...some of the toys will be bound for the Acrtic Ocean...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12198
"The team hopes plans to further enhance the image quality...."

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12227
"...a normal combustion engine and a battery that be recharged...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14179
"Now, however, researchers now say...." "Royall thinks that the molecules of real glass takes on...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14185
"...a statistic that has change little since the first world war."
"...Huntingdon's [disease] treatment."
Again with the "d". Perhaps it's a Britishism, but George Huntington was American.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14184
"However a new study suggests that for some periods the deaths recorded could have been up to three times higher."
This is a bit of a nit-pick, to be honest. It's the actual deaths, not the recorded deaths
that are thought to be higher, and the sentence could be read that way, but I think it's
poorly worded.

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn9568.html
"...when a fish bites the extra tension...."
This is what the comma was invented for.

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn10401
"...suitcases that fold flat and small when empty but becomes big...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn10718
"...have found a way to make body armour flexible...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn11360
"...allowing the molten metal to escape into...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn11459
"...measuring the signals produced by the primary motor cortex...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14372
"...lets the soldier to use the same rifle for crowd control and combat...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14389
"...a quantity of fuel that has contains the same amount of energy...."

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn14756
"...say their discovery could us predict...."

http://technology.newscientist.com/ridiculouspatents.ns
"By adjusting the position of their arms, and the fabric...."
Inappropriate comma.