FROM THE EDITOR

COVER: ANDY POTTS THIS PAGE: GETTY IMAGES X2,

HAPPINESS: IS IT RIGHT TO PURSUE IT AT ALL COSTS?

Research suggests that focusing on your own happiness can end up making you miserable

A far-out way in RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

Imagine arriving at an event, joining the queue

Open wide

MONTEREY CANYON, CALIFORNIA

CONVERSATION

LETTERS MAY BE EDITED FOR PUBLICATION

THE TEAM

EDITORIAL Editor Daniel Bennett Managing editor Alice Lipscombe-Southwell

MALE CONTRACEPTIVE PILL ONE STEP CLOSER

REPRODUCTION

Astronauts could grow super lettuce to keep bones strong in space

The genetically engineered salad leaf produces a hormone that stimulates bone growth and could be cultivated aboard a space station

‘Vampire’ star system spotted 1,000 light-years from Earth

SPACE

168-million-year-old fossil suggests stegosaurs originated in Asia

PALAEONTOLOGY

The Amazon rainforest may be approaching a tipping point

ENVIRONMENT

Damaged areas of the brain could explain confusion in dementia patients

BRAIN

Revolutionary heart transplant carried out on a toddler could lower the risk of organ rejection

MEDICINE

Switching to a Nordic diet could help us to stay healthy

HEALTH

Knobby starfish could inspire super-light, super-strong materials

MATERIALS 

What’s next for the team that found Shackleton’s sunken ship?

Horizons

COVID RISK: IS IT SAFE FOR ME TO RESUME ALL MY NORMAL ACTIVITIES?

SCIENCE BEHIND THE HEADLINES

MIGRAINES: CAN NEW TREATMENTS HELP EASE THE SUFFERING OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE?

Better understanding of the processes driving migraine pain is leading to promising new remedies

This fabric can hear your heart beat

I’m picking up good vibrations, she’s giving me the excitations

Can a smartphone be eco-friendly and desirable?

REVIEW The Fairphone’s case can be removed so

Ideas we like…

…the ultimate barista setup Forget the bar, cafe

WHY I DITCHED MY FITNESS TRACKER

Stop chasing a 10,000-step target – Active 10 is an easier, more effective way to get fit

ARGOS OR AMAZON: WHO DID IT FIRST?

You can thank an in-flight catalogue, not the internet, for the emergence of convenient same-day deliveries

IF MY BRAIN CAN’T FEEL PAIN, WHY DO WE GET HEADACHES?

CHARLIE SIMPSON

HOW TO SEE THE NORTHERN CROWN

ASTRONOMY FOR BEGINNERS WHEN: MID-APRIL TO MID-MAY Corona

HOW CAN I GET BETTER AT WORDLE?

It is of course, perfectly possible to cheat

DO WE FART MORE AS WE GET OLDER?

There is limited evidence that we fart more

WHAT’S THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CIGARETTE BUTTS?

NATALIE RYAN

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPACE ROCK?

DWARF PLANET Dwarf planets are massive enough to

WHY DO SO MANY CATS HAVE WHITE PAWS?

PETER ROBINSON

COULD A DEEP FAKE UNLOCK AN IPHONE?

A deep fake can indeed duplicate a face,

CROWDSCIENC E

Every week on BBC World Service, CrowdScience answers

WHAT IS A FOGBOW?

A fogbow is an arc that forms over

HOW DOES PHOTOSYNTHESIS WORK?

Photosynthesis is the process used by plants, algae

DEAR DOCTOR...

HE ALTH QUESTIONS DE ALT WITH BY SCIENCE FOCUS EXPERTS

WHY ARE EGGS SO USEFUL IN BAKING, AND ARE THERE ANY SUBSTITUTES?

Eggs contain over 40 different proteins, which hold

THE YETI CRAB

If a furry snow boot and a crab

WHY ARE MINOR CHORDS SAD AND MAJOR CHORDS HAPPY?

PAUL FARNHAM-SMITH, FOLKESTONE

THE EXPLAINER CERN

WHAT IS CERN AND WHAT DOES IT DO?

CROSSWORD

PENCILS AT THE READY! ACROSS 7 Row between

DOES YOUR DOG REALLY LOVE YOU?

GETTY IMAGES PLUS STORIES OF SEASHELLS Dr Helen

Are we living in a multiverse?

Are there universes where the laws of physics do not apply, like in the newest Doctor Strange outing?

FIT TO BURST

INFLATION IS A USEFUL TOOL IN NATURE, ALLOWING ANIMALS TO PROJECT SOUNDS, SCARE OFF PREDATORS OR EVEN ATTRACT A MATE. LET’S BRING ON THE BLOAT!

THE RACE FOR THE MOON

A new space race has begun. Over the coming years, an armada of rockets will head to the Moon to hunt down precious resources, satisfy the urges of billionaire tourists and maybe do some intriguing science along the way…

THE DNA DETECTIVE

All sorts of mysteries lurk in our family trees, from long-lost relatives to adoptees’ hidden heritages. In the new series of DNA Family Secrets, geneticist Prof Turi King sets out to solve them with the help of presenter Stacey Dooley and home genetic testing kits. She talks to Sara Rigby

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE METAVERSE

Facebook recently changed its name to ‘Meta’ in order to position itself at the forefront of a new digital frontier called the metaverse. But what the heck is the metaverse, and what can it offer us mere mortals who do not inhabit the shiny Silicon Valley bubble?