FROM THE EDITOR

COVER: JOE WALDRON THIS PAGE: GETTY IMAGES X2,

Hitch a ride

DERBYSHIRE, UK

A helping hand

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

The aftermath

ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA

DON’T JUST READ THIS MAGAZINE… LISTEN TO IT TOO

Discover the podcast from the team behind BBC

Energy companies shift blame to consumers

Study finds top polluters weave ‘eco-hero’ narratives

Earth’s inner core may be changing its spin and its shape

Changes to seismic waves travelling through the planet could reveal unusual activity in Earth’s core

Prioritise regular sleep patterns over total hours, says study

HEALTH

Turtles dance when they get near feeding sites

The adorable behaviour may unlock the secrets to their powers of navigation

Crowds of people act like liquids

Researchers observe human ‘ripples’

Bennu asteroid could spark a global winter if it hits Earth

SPACE

Omega-3might slow your biological clock

HEALTH

Breakthrough in genetic engineering creates mice with two dads

BIOLOGY

A glimpse into the future of space-born surveillance

New mapping by ESA satellites could track everything from natural disasters to illegal activity

The map that may lead to a new obesity treatment

A better understanding of the pathways in the human hypothalamus has huge possibilities for medicine

The simple recipe for making powerful astrophysical jets

You need just three ingredients to make these truly colossal ‘double-sided lightsabers’

We can learn valuable lessons from the ‘polar bear capital of the world’

As the climate crisis pushes humans and animals closer together, it’s crucial that we coexist with kindness

‘Brain rot’: is TikTok causing brain abnormalities?

A new study seems to prove what we've all suspected: bingeing on short-form videos is bad for our brains. But not all experts are convinced…

Is creating a ‘woolly mammoth mouse’ a step too far for biotechnology?

Are scientists so preoccupied with whether or not they could bring back mammoths, that they’re not concerned with whether they should?

GOING DEEP

An advanced new research station is being developed to explore the potential for a human settlement under the ocean

FIVE OF THE BEST NOISE-CANCELLING HEADPHONES

The outside world is noisy. But you can stop it from interfering with your choice of tunes with a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Here’s our pick of the top five…

IDEAS WE LIKE…

Our pick of the month’s smartest tech

Fast radio bursts: Are these mysterious signals from deep space getting even stranger?

New discoveries are shaking up what little we thought we knew about fast radio bursts

DOES YOUR NAME AFFECT YOUR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE?

LUKE GILLESPIE, SUNDERLAND

DOES ANYTHING EXCRETE GOLD?

Scientists have identified several bacteria that consume metal

HOW OLD IS JUPITER’S GREAT RED SPOT, REALLY?

Recent research suggests the age of the Great

THE ASIAN PALM CIVET

The world might have paid little attention to

ARE SATELLITES BURNING UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?

About 13,000 satellites currently orbit Earth, roughly 10,000

HOW EASILY COULD AI CREATE A DIGITAL DOPPELGÄNGER OF ME?

All too easily. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools

WHAT IS THE HEADACHE BONE AND CAN YOU REALLY ‘WORK IT’ TO REDUCE HEADACHES?

You might have heard people talk about the

ASTRONOMY FOR BEGINNERS

HOW TO SAFELY VIEW THE PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

WHEN: 29 MARCH 2025 A partial solar eclipse

WHY DO I FIND IT SO DIFFICULT TO SWITCH BETWEEN TASKS?

First, the good news is you’re not alone

WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING EVER STOLEN?

Most robberies involve the sort of goods you

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

DILEEP BAGNALL VIA EMAIL WHAT ARE EARLOBES FOR?

CROSSWORD

PENCILS AT THE READY!

THE SURVIVOR’S SHOPPING LIST

What you really need in a doomsday bunker

HOPE PREVAILS

Optimism trumps mindfulness when things get tough, says the science

A HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE QUANTUM WORLD

Quantum physics is confusing. Really confusing. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly confusing it is. Fortunately, scientists have been exploring it for years now and are, finally, beginning to make some sense of it all

BEHIND DEATH’S DOOR

They leave their bodies, witness a bright light and return forever changed. But do survivors of near-death experiences truly glimpse the great beyond? New research into the brain’s final moments could decode these visions at life’s edge

GET HEART SMART

NEW STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT SEVERAL SMALL LIFESTYLE CHANGES CAN DRASTICALLY IMPROVE YOUR HEART HEALTH

ECHOES OF ATLANTIS

OVER HALF A MILLION PEOPLE MAY HAVE LIVED IN THE LOST LANDSCAPES NORTH OF AUSTRALIA… BEFORE THEY WERE CONSUMED BY THE OCEAN