How we use cookies on our site and what information we collect.
A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie folder of the browser on your computer's hard disk so that the website can remember who you are. Two types of cookies are used on this website:

Session Cookies
These are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you leave the site. Due to the volume of traffic on our web sites, we use them to speed up the delivery of content to you, the user and to remember your preferences whenever you are logged in, such as on our Archive. Our session cookies contain the following information:

•  Name: JSESSIONID
•  Content: RANDOM STRING
•  Host: newscientist.com
•  Path: /
•  Secure server: no
•  Expires: at end of session (this is 30 mins or when you close your browser)

No personal or identifying information is held in these cookies. As soon as you leave our sites or close your browser, they are automatically deleted from your computer.

Persistent Cookies
These are cookies which remain in the cookie file of your browser for a much longer period, though how long will depend on the lifetime of the specific cookie. We currently set 2 persistent cookies to manage the number of times a day you will see one of our subscription pop-up ads. They are ns_entry and ns_exit and they contain the following information:

•  Name: ns_entry or ns_exit
•  Content: 1
•  Domain: .newscientist.com
•  Path: /
•  Secure server: no
•  Expires: Every 24 hours

Again, no personal or identifying information is held in these cookies. You have the ability to accept or decline these cookies by modifying the settings in your browser (see instructions below). However, if you do disable these cookies, you will be served a pop-up ad on every page you visit rather than our current frequency which is set at just once a day for both the entry and exit pop-ups.

To remove any of our cookies that we have previously set please visit this page www.newscientist.com/misc/zap.jsp.

For more information about cookies, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org

Third Party Cookies
In addition, the third party companies who sell and provide advertisements to the site and host our contacts database make use of cookies for the purpose of serving and targeting advertisements more effectively. These are used for the following purposes:

•  To serve advertisements on our site and track whether these advertisements are clicked on by users.
•  To control how often you are shown a particular advertisement.
•  To tailor content to your preferences such as geographical location.

For more information about these cookies, how you can opt out of receiving them and how this will affect your use of our website, please visit the websites of our third party suppliers:

Adtech - www.adtech.info/privacy_en.php
Bluestreak - www.bluestreak.com/web/aboutus_privacypolicy.htm

Disabling/Enabling Cookies
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. However, you may not be able to use all the interactive features of our site if cookies are disabled. Instructions are given below for the most popular browsers. If you browser is not on this list and you require help with your cookie settings then please contact us.

Internet Explorer 5.x
• Select 'Internet Options' from the Tools menu.
• Click on the 'Security' tab.
• Click 'Custom Level' button.
• Scroll down to the 'Cookies' section.
• To allow cookies:
• Set 'Allow cookies that are stored on your computer' to 'Enable'.
• Set 'Allow per-session cookies' to "Enable".
• Click 'OK'.
• To stop cookies:
• Set 'Allow cookies that are stored on your computer' to 'Disable'.
• Set 'Allow per-session cookies' to 'Disable'.
• Click 'OK'.

Mozilla 1.0
• Select 'Preferences' from the 'Edit' menu
• Click the 'Advanced' link
• Scroll down to the 'Cookies' section
• To enable cookies select 'Accept all cookies' (or 'Enable all cookies')
• To stop cookies being sent to your PC, select 'Reject all cookies' (or 'Disable all cookies')
• Click 'OK'

Netscape 4.x
• Select 'Preferences' from the 'Edit' menu
• Click the 'Advanced' link
• Scroll down to the 'Cookies' section
• To enable cookies select 'Accept all cookies' (or 'Enable all cookies')
• To stop cookies being sent to your PC, select 'Reject all cookies' (or 'Disable all cookies')
• Click 'OK'

Netscape 7.x
• Select 'Preferences' from the 'Edit' menu
• Double click the 'Privacy & Security' link so you can see all the sub-menus
• Click the 'cookies' link
• To enable cookies select 'Enable cookies based on privacy settings' (or 'Enable all cookies')
• To stop cookies being sent to your PC, select 'Disable cookies'
• Click 'OK'

Opera 7.0
• Select 'Preferences' from the 'File' menu
• Click the 'Privacy' link
• To enable cookies click the box next to 'Enable cookies'
• To stop cookies being sent to your PC, uncheck the box next to 'Enable cookies'
• Click 'OK'

Safari 1.0
• Click Safari on the top menu.
• Select Preferences.
• Make sure the Security tab is selected.
• Next to 'Accept Cookies' select Never