WELCOME

Issue 176

Bees taking a break

© Getty After a busy day of plant

Inside the pancreas

© Getty As part of the body’s endocrine

Gentle eruptions

© ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility/Earth Science and

Space superbubble

© NASA, ESA, V. Ksoll and D. Gouliermis

Groundbreaking volcanic activity on Venus detected

A computer-generated image of the surface of Venus

Ancient monster fish was short and chunky

A 360-million-year-old sea monster that was once thought

THE SUN SPEWS ‘DARK PLASMA’ INTO SPACE

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the ‘dark plasma’

Catastrophic fire revealed Notre-Dame’s ‘iron skeleton’

Notre-Dame Cathedral before it underwent a massive reconstruction

A NEW MOAI STATUE THAT ‘DEIFIED ANCESTORS’ DISCOVERED

A moai statue with the Ahu Tongariki moai

A stem cell transplant-cured HIV patient is virus-free after five years

A 3D illustration of HIV infecting an immune

ROLLS-ROYCE IS FUNDED FOR A TINY LUNAR NUCLEAR REACTOR

Artist’s illustration of a Rolls-Royce microreactor on the

An artificial sweetener may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke

A popular zero-calorie sweetener is being linked to

Scientists discover an enzyme that turns air into energy

A scanning electron microscope image of a bacterium

Antarctica’s sea ice reaches its lowest level since records began

The amount of sea ice surrounding Antarctica has

Bizarre dinosaur had gigantic but flimsy claws

An illustration of Therizinosaurus, an ‘utterly bizarre’ dinosaur

NASA SELECTS FIREFLY AEROSPACE FOR MOON MISSION

NASA has selected Firefly Aerospace to land payloads

BRAINDUMP

Amazing answers to your curious questions

THE LIBRARY

The latest book releases for curious minds

MAKE LIGHTNING

Learn about static science in this shocking weather simulation

INBOX

Speak your mind

FAST FACTS

Amazing trivia that will blow your mind

NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

The explosive science behind the biggest human-made blasts on Earth

What are the CROWN JEWELS WORTH?

Discover the history of the precious artefacts worn by Britain’s monarchs

St Edward’s Crown

444 stones make up the coronation crown

The sceptre and the orb

The sceptre and orb both feature jewelled

Changing traditions

DID YOU KNOW? 27 million people watched Queen

THE WEIRD WORLD OF AIRSHIPS

Pioneering aircraft that captured the imagination of a generation, airships have a brief but action-packed history

How we taste food

Discover the chemicals that combine to create an extensive assortment of flavours

HOW RADIATION SUITS WORK

These garments stop this invisible form of energy from wreaking havoc on the human body

WHAT IS SHINGLES?

This painful rash is the result of a lingering virus

SPIES IN THE SKY

From balloons to satellites, Earth is under constant surveillance from above

COLD WAR SPY SATELLITE

The KH-9 was 16 metres long and over

WEIRD CREATURES OF THE DEEP

Meet the strange and wonderful animals living thousands of metres below the surface of our oceans

THE POLAR VORTEX EXPLAINED

What is the polar vortex, and how does it keep the climate in check?

DRILLING FOR OIL

How machines and people work together on an oil rig

FITBIT SENSE TEARDOWN

How It Works explores the health-tracking technology of this smartwatch

WHAT IS THE CLOUD?

How the big computer network in the sky saves your photos, documents and more

INSIDE AIR FORCE ONE

What’s on board the US president’s personal aeroplane?