FROM THE EDITOR

Editor COVER: ANDY POTTS THIS PAGE: BBCX2, GETTY

TWO FREE ISSUES

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On the rocks

2021 IN IMAGES

A shot in the arm

COVENTRY, UK 8 DECEMBER 2020 A round of

Wandering lonely, under a cloud

GETTY IMAGES, NANOGRAPHICS GMBH/ NANOGRAPHICS.AT , NASA/JPL GALE

So that’s what you look like

BEIJING, CHINA JANUARY COVID continued to dominate the

Ghost detector

LAKE BAIKAL, SIBERIA 13 MARCH It may not

We have lift off

JEZERO CRATER, MARS 22 APRIL April saw the

Flying visit

GETTY IMAGES, NICHOLAS PAPAS, ESA, NASA/JPL VENUS 10

Bigger and bolder

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 26 MAY The Moon made a

Time is money

GETTY IMAGES SUEZ CANAL, EGYPT 27 MARCH This

Gone in a flash

BAD NEUENAHR-AHRWEILER, GERMANY 16 JULY Record-breaking rainfall in

Touch down

MARS 18 FEBRUARY This was the view from

Handle with care

GETTY IMAGES, NASA/JPL X2 REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER

Miracle house

GETTY IMAGES LA PALMA, CANARY ISLANDS 23 SEPTEMBER

Say ahh…

LEEDS, UK AUGUST Thanks to this somewhat unsettling

Pea brain

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 7 JANUARY No, this is not

Buckle up

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA 15 SEPTEMBER The four

Bone head

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS, GETTY IMAGES, SPACEX, HEPIA PARIS,

CONVERSATION

YOUR OPINIONS ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND BBC SCIENCE FOCUS

IT’S TIME TO GET EXCITED ABOUT THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE

ASTRONOMY

Earliest evidence of humans decorating jewellery unearthed in Polish cave

ARCHAEOLOGY

Animal and plant life has colonised the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

BIOLOGY

Rolls-Royce claims its all-electric plane is the fastest ever made

AVIATION

There is a link between inflammatory diseases and a disrupted body clock, new research finds

HEALTH

Air and water pollutants linked to changes in sex ratio of babies

REPRODUCTION

Chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID may overlap

HEALTH

An archaeological site, found by accident, contains a whole herd of mammoth fossils

Horizons

RUNNING CIRCLES AROUND DEPRESSION

Lacing up your trainers can help reduce your chances of developing depression

A WHOLE NEW WORLD?

Technology has transformed our lives in the last couple of years. Will it continue to do so as we ring in 2022?

Q&A

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED ... HOW DOES A PHONE

CROSSWORD

PENCILS AT THE READY! ACROSS 7 Temp, eccentric

NEXT ISSUE

COSMIC MEGA EXPLOSIONS GETTY IMAGES PLUS AIR TAXIS Several

Could you be cryogenically frozen?

It’s at ask harder than doing the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs

THE BIG BURNOUT

Long hours, low pay and a lack of appreciation — among other things — can make for a stressful workplace and lead to burnout. It’s something we should all be concerned about, because over half of the workforce reports feeling it

A VACCINE FOR CANCER

The pandemic derailed a lot of medical research. But the effort that was suddenly redirected towards developing a vaccine for COVID-19 may have helped us make important progress on at least one breakthrough: preventing cancer

GATEWAY TO THE FEATURE

2022 will see NASA, with help from its international partners, take the first major step on humanity’s journey back to the Moon, and the start of a mission to establish an outpost alongside Earth’s natural satellite

PUTTING NATURE TO RIGHTS

More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court

WHAT LIES BENEATH

The European Space Agency’s JUICE mission aims to peer beneath the icy surfaces of Jupiter’s moons to determine whether something could be living in the waters below

AUGMENTED INTELLIGENCE: A BETTER TYPE OF AT?

Why are we working so hard to make computers that compute better, when we could be using computers to help us think and act better?