Did medieval explorers expect to find new land when they discovered the Americas?

WELCOME

The magazine that feeds minds!

MEET THIS ISSUE’S EXPERTS…

Andy Extance Andy is a freelance science writer

AR ZONE!

Scan the QR code with your device’s camera

HOW THE AUGMENTED REALITY WORKS

After being launched by the QR code, the

PARASITE LIPS

© Getty Meet the roundworm (Contracaecum rudolphii), also

BEHIND THE SPACE VEIL

© ESA/Hubble & NASA, Z. Levay Around 2,100

BAT BONANZA

© Alamy You might think that the animal

WISHLIST

The latest back to university gadgets

12 UNBELIEVABLE INVENTIONS

THESE FAMOUS PRODUCTS WERE DESIGNED FOR ONE THING, BUT FOUND SUCCESS DOING SOME THING COMPLE TELY DIFFERENT

Why do I get songs stuck in my head?

SCIENCE

What is the most expensive instrument?

The buyer of the $16 million Vieuxtemps Guarneri

Did pop music exist in Victorian times?

■ There wasn’t any pop music as

How is paint made with so many different colours?

© Alamy ■ The secret lies in dyes

Why is downloading much faster than uploading?

© Getty ■ Many broadband companies deliberately design

Why do whales sleep vertically?

© Getty ■ Vertical sleeping in sperm whales

BOOK REVIEWS

The latest releases for curious minds

BRAIN GYM

GIVE YOUR BRAIN A PUZZLE WORKOUT

Make water travel against gravity

Practical projects to try at home

INBOX

Speak your mind…

FAST FACTS

Amazing trivia to blow your mind

BUILDING THE BIGGEST ROCKET

The Artemis program seeks to carry humans farther

Signs of alien life on Saturn’s moon?

The methane wafting from Enceladus may be a

Gene-editing stops human coronavirus replicating

A new gene-editing approach could one day serve

New expedition seeks Shackleton’s Antarctic wreckage

A team of scientists will attempt to find

X-ray telescope reveals ghostly ‘hand’

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured this imagery of

Florida’s manatees die in record numbers

A record-breaking number of manatees have died this

‘Zombie fingers’ parasitic fungus faces extinction

A fungus that resembles decaying human fingers is

Mars may have lakes beneath its south pole

The bright-white region of this image, captured by

Scientists may have cracked da Vinci’s DNA

Leonardo da Vinci, the great Renaissance artist, inventor

Plastic waste converted into vanilla flavouring

In the future, your vanilla ice cream may

Free divers’ heart rates drop to 11 beats per minute

The world’s best free divers can survive

Elusive glass octopus spotted in remote Pacific

A glass octopus moving in the deep sea

Most Americans think intelligent aliens exist

The release of a US intelligence report on

HOW A CITY WORKS

Discover the roads, underground pipelines and cables that are the lifeblood of a metropolis, and the new technology enhancing them

5 LAYOUTS FOR SAFER ROADS

Shorter blocks Shorter blocks mean more junctions between

How microchips are made

These tiny, silicon devices power the modern world

Toaster technology

How these appliances transform a slice of bread into a tasty toasted snack

ASTEROIDS, MOONS AND DWARF PLANETS

MEET THE ROCKY ODDITIES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND DISCOVER WHAT DEFINES THEM

How satellites fall to Earth

Satellites do fall out of orbit, but it takes longer than you might think

TRAIN JOURNEY BACK IN TIME

England’s high-speed rail link is currently being built and lines dug, transporting archaeologists hundreds of years into Britain’s past

Tanning leather

Discover the historical methods used to produce this versatile material from animal skin

The lost settlement of Qumran

Home of the Dead Sea Scrolls, this ancient ruin still holds many secrets

HERE COMES THE BIN LORRY

YOU BAG IT, BIN IT AND TOSS IT OUT ON THE STREET, BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR RUBBISH WHEN IT’S COLLECTED?

Train line treasure trail

Some fascinating finds have been discovered along the route of HS2 Phase One

Truck components

Piece together this garbage-gobbling machine

Inside the world’s fastest car

No car has ever gone as fast as ThrustSSC – here’s the story behind its record-breaking speed

THE CHEMISTRY OF TEA & COFFEE

Whichever of these hot beverages you prefer, find out exactly what you’re drinking

Meningitis

Recognising this illness could save someone’s life

Weird and wonderful ANIMAL BABIES

From hazardous births to deceptive parenting, explore the funny world of newborns

How Monument Valley formed

Made famous by the cowboys of the Wild West, Monument Valley harbours a fascinating history

Where rivers come from

The vital waterways that transport water around continents begin as just a tiny trickle

Do parrots get lonely?

© Getty ■ Parrots are intelligent flock birds.

Why does your taste change when you have a fever?

© Getty ■ Food and drink flavours combine

When did humans first start to write?

© Getty ■ The first type of writing,

Why did people say that WWI was the ‘war to end all wars’?

British soldiers battling through the night from the

What’s the least explored wilderness on Earth?

ENVIRONMENT

Why do birds sing?

ENVIRONMENT

If we can use vegetable oil to fuel cars, why do we bother pumping oil out of the ground?

© Alamy ■ At first glance vegetable oil

What makes you crave certain foods?

You crave the taste, but you might crave

Why aren’t birds electrocuted when they land on power lines?

■ They are electrocuted sometimes. You shouldn’t see

How strong is Earth’s magnetic field?

■ The field originates in Earth’s outer core,