“The technology reads your brain waves and passes this data to a computer”

Issue 200 SCAN HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO LIVESCIENCE’S

Marine mouthbrooders

© Alamy Taken in the tropical waters off

Cutting through clouds

© NASA A NASA pilot captured this spectacular

Microbiology in your pocket

© Shutterstock What might look like an artist’s

A starshaped city

© Shutterstock In Italy there’s a town built

Invisible ‘flickering’ on the Sun could predict dangerous solar flares

SPACE Showcasing the incredible world we live in

China’s ‘artificial Sun’ shatters a nuclear fusion record

A view of China’s nuclear fusion device at

YELLOWS TONE’S ‘QUEEN OF THE WOLVES’ KILLED BY RIVAL PACK

Yellowstone National Park has lost one of its

The skull of ‘Cleopatra’s sister’ actually belongs to an 11-year-old boy

ARCHAEOLOGY

NEW IMAGES SHED LIGHT ON MERCURY’S NORTH POLE

New photos of Mercury’s mysterious north pole reveal

The ‘Stonehenge’ in the Golan Heights may not be an astronomical observatory

Archaeologists think the oldest parts of the Rujm

THE ESA PLANS TO LAUNCH AN ADVANCED MARS LANDER IN 2035

SPACE

The speed limit of human thought is ridiculously low

Human brains take in sensory data at over

Did our outer ears come from ancient fish gills?

Human outer ears may have arisen from ancient gills,

Anew database reveals how DNA mutations trigger genetic diseases

HE ALTH

A bathymetric map of the Axial volcano created using sonar

An undersea volcano off the Oregon coast could

WISH LIST

The latest GAMING ACCESSORIES

WHAT’S THE OLDEST KNOWN DISEASE?

Amazing answers to your curious questions

THE EXPERTS

ALICE ROBERTS Alice is a TV presenter and author

AMA ZING WORLDS OF SCIENCE FIC TION AND SCIENCE FACT

SCIENCE-FICTION WORLDS LIKE TATOOINE AND ARRAKIS AREN’T AS FAR-FETCHED AS YOU THINK

EATOPEDIA

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HOW ANIMALS EAT, DIGEST AND POO

CRYSTALS, ROCKS AND GEMSTONES

EXPLORING THE MANY SPARKLING TREASURES OF THE EARTH

DON’T SQUISH A SLUG

A WONDERFUL CELEBRATION OF MARVELLOUS MINIBEASTS

IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

A COUNTING POEM ABOUT OUR COSMIC NEIGHBOURHOOD

Spot the difference

See if you can find all six changes

MAKE DANCING CORN

This acid-base reaction will make popcorn kernels go crazy

RISEOFTHE ZOMBIES

Dear HIW , There have been many cases of ‘zombie fish’ where I live. What could be a likely cause of this? Could concentrations of tritium in the sea be the cause?

CAPTURING THE NIGHT

Dear HIW , I’m always amazed at the ability of my phone to take pictures at night. Even when I can’t see something, taking a photo in night mode can make the image look like it was taken in daylight. How does this work? Where does the light come from to create the photo?

STAYING HYDRATED

Dear HIW , Do caffeinated drinks dehydrate you? If so, does that mean drinking tea or coffee has the opposite effect to other drinks?

MIC TECHNOLOGY

Dear HIW , How do microphones block out the sound of wind? How does the covering block out one sound but keep the sound of vocals clear?

GYM BEGINNINGS

Dear HIW , When did exercising indoors become popular and when were the first gyms established?

IS THIS THE HUMAN OF TOMORROW?

HOW WIRES AND CIRCUITS ARE MINGLING WITH BLOOD VESSELS AND NERVES TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION

READING MINDS

HOW THE CONNEXUS DIRECT DATA INTERFACE TAPS INTO BRAIN ACTIVITY TO REVEAL WHAT A PERSON IS THINKING

HUMAN UPGRADES

THESE REAL-WORLD AUGMENTATIONS COULD CHANGE THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY, THOUGH SOME ARE ALREADY TRANSFORMING PEOPLE’S LIVES TODAY

CUTTING WITH CRISPR

HOW ENZYMES OPERATE ON DNA TO ALTER GENES

THE FUTURE OF HUMAN AUGMENTATION

DR DAVID CHENELER, SENIOR LECTURER IN ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LANCASTER, SHEDS SOME LIGHT ON HOW AUGMENTATION MIGHT ALLOW US TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OURSELVES

THE WORLD’S WEIRDEST ISLANDS

Travel across the globe with us to discover unique and beautiful lands dotted across oceans and waterways

ANIMAL REFUGE

Discover places where animals dominate the landscape

PREDICTING THE WEATHER

To take an umbrella or not? How we get those all-important forecasts

HOW THATCHED ROOFS ARE BUILT

Learn all about this historic building method that masterfully tops roofs with layers of dry vegetation

HOW THEY’RE LAID

1 FRAMING WITH BATTENS The underlying support

WHY WE HAVE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

When did some countries start adding and subtracting an hour to their clocks?

WHAT ARE HEADACHES?

From shooting sensations to dull aches, we explore the many causes of pain around the brain

TYPES OF HEADACHE

Where are the pain points behind the aches?

FOLLOWING THE PHASES

What are the stages of a migraine?

MIRROR PHYSICS

Reflect on the science of light bouncing off smooth and shiny surfaces

HOW LIGH T BOUNCES BACK

Reflective materials bend and manipulate light to produce a mirror image

WHAT IS THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE?

This mathematical pattern appears in nature, intriguing scientist for centuries

WHY ARE GEMS DIFFERENT COLOURS?

Unearth the gemstone chemistry that results in a spectrum of decorative stones

COLOUR CHEMISTRY

Rare colours and compositions – alongside their hardness rating on the Mohs scale – can be attributed to a gemstone’s chemical composition

WHAT IS A QUASAR?

A mystery when they were first discovered, we now know these bright objects are powered by supermassive black holes

THE HUNT FOR FARAWAYMOONS

Astronomers are looking for moons outside our Solar System that may have even more chance of hosting life than the planets they’re orbiting

SCIENCE-FICTION MOONS

Some incredible worlds in the imaginary universe

INSIDE A BALLPOINT PEN

Discover the mechanism that gives this everyday item the power to write

RISE OF THE ROBOCOPS

Meet the speedy, durable and autonomous robot police forces catching criminals and patrolling pavements

A PLAYSTATION 2?

We crack open this retro console to discover the hardware that made it so popular

HOW TRAIN TRACKS ARE LAID

This feat of engineering keeps long carriages in-line and fixed to the ground

INSIDE A NARROWBOAT

All about these lengthy canal cruisers, from boating basics to style specifics