WELCOME

Issue 196

Running on water

© Alamy Meet the common basilisk, also known

Harnessing solar energy

© Alamy This is one of the largest

Ariane 6 in the air

© ESA -S. Corvaja On 9 July 2024,

Eggshell science

© Shutterstock The bone-like lattice structure shown in

Nuking an asteroid could save Earth from destruction

SPACE

A simple trick could lower city temperatures by two degrees Celsius

Summer temperatures in London are predicted to get

1,700-year-old ‘barbarian’ burial discovered in Germany

ARCHAEOLOGY

ASTRONOMERS CAPTURE THE MOST DE TAILED MAP OF THE MILKY WAY

A selection of regions of the Milky Way

Japan will start building the first ‘zeta-class’ supercomputer in 2025

Japan has announced plans to start constructing the

TECHNOLOGY

CHINA’S ENORMOUS RADIO TELESCOPE IS GET TING EVEN BIGGER

Creepy ‘biotwang’ noises from the world’s deepest trench have finally been explained

A Bryde’s whale lunging through a school of

Aweird river may have made Mount Everest taller

A‘weird’ river in the Himalayas may have pushed

Pollen allergies drove woolly mammoths to extinction

ANIMALS

First-ever observation of ‘spooky action’ between quarks

Physicists at the world’s largest atom smasher have

JUPITER-BOUND PROBE SNAPS A PHOTO OF EARTH

Earth and the Moon as seen by the

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Amazing answers to your curious questions

What is the world’s tallest waterfall? The two

THE LIBRARY

The latest book releases for curious minds

Sp ot the dif ference

See if you can find all six changes between the images below

HOW TO…

Practical projects to try at home

INBOX

Speak your mind

BIOLUMINESCENT LIFE

Dear HIW, Why do deep-sea creatures generate their own light in such dark environments? Does it not make them more vulnerable to predators?

SNAPPING PLANTS

Dear HIW, How do plants like the Venus flytrap react to the movement of flies if they don’t have a nervous system?

ANT EFFICIENCY

Dear HIW, Do ants give themselves roles to keep them carrying food in organised lines?

BAREFOOT BENEFITS

Dear HIW, If you walked everywhere barefoot, would your feet be tougher and more useful?

FINDING THE DINO-KILLING ASTEROID

Hurtling for billions of miles across the Solar System, a gigantic chunk of rock zipped past the planets until it collided with ours. But where did it come from, and how did it change the course of Earth’s history forever?

INITIATING AN IMPACT WINTER

How an asteroid hitting Earth caused countless animals to perish

WHO WAS THE FIRST HUMAN?

50 years ago, Lucy, the famous fossil and most complete skeleton of the species Australopithecus afarensis, was discovered, filling in gaps in human history

SKELETAL FINDINGS

What does each fossilised body part tell scientists about Lucy’s species?

ANCESTOR EVOLUTION

How Australopithecus afarensis became Homo sapiens

LUCY’S DEMISE

Research that took place in 2016 – 42

FINDING LUCY

How we have learned from Lucy in the 50 years since her remains were uncovered

EXCAVATION IN ETHIOPIA

How did Lucy’s environment conceal and preserve her?

MAKING FACES

Reconstructing a digital image of Lucy’s face is

GLADIATOR II MOVIE MYTHS BUSTED

We sort fact from fiction in Ridley Scott’s upcoming Roman epic sequel

PUTTING ON A NAUMACHIA

Inside the arena that brought sea onto land to host staged naval battles

THE WORLD’S FASTEST ELECTRIC RACE CAR

Formula E cars are the most powerful and efficient electric racing cars ever made. We jump into the title-winning Jaguar I-Type 6 to find out what makes these racers tick

LEADING THE CHARGE TO VICTORY

We’re in the cockpit with James Barclay, Jaguar TCS Racing team principal

LIGHTNING-FAST ELECTRIC RACE CAR

A Formula E car like the Jaguar I-Type 6 is packed with incredible technology

HOW HIBERN AT ION WORKS

Winter can bring additional survival challenges to the wild, so some animals have evolved strategies that enable them to avoid these colder, leaner months altogether

EXPLORING BLUE HOLES

The remains of crocodiles, bats and even humans have been found in these openings in the ocean floor

WHAT IS A SWIM BL ADDER?

Rising and sinking through water would be impossible for fish without this inflating organ

LASER WARFARE

From dazzling defences to quick communication, these amplified light beams have multiple applications in the military

POWER-GENERATING BUOYS

How wave energy converters produce clean power from the ocean

HOW FIXED SPEED CAMERAS WORK

Why there’s no escaping the flash of a speed camera when you break the speed limit

HOW TO RUN A SPACE STATION

The International Space Station has been in orbit so long it’s easy to take it for granted, but keeping it up and running isn’t a simple business

SPACE EXPERIMENTS

1 ALPHA MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER LAUNCH: 16 MAY 2011

SPACEWALK HARDWARE

A look at some of the tools and safety equipment astronauts need on an EVA

EXPLORING THE HUMAN ECOSYSTEM

Our bodies are covered and filled with microbes, and we’re only just beginning to understand how vital they are in keeping us alive

MICROBE TREATMENTS

How to make that good bacteria work even harder for you

WHAT IS G-FORCE?

The faster you move, the more of this stomach-churning force you feel

TWINS EXPL AINED

Why do people have multiple babies in a single pregnancy?

WHAT IS THE BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER?

How cell-lined blood vessels in the brain control what enters this organ