WELCOME

Issue 206

Birdy bedhead

© Getty If you think you look rough

Road to the stars

© ESO In 2024, a drone captured this

Raising the Golden Gate Bridge

© Getty Standing on the edge of the

Clinging to mucus

© Getty This stained sample shows the filamented

The world’s dams hold so much water they’ve shifted Earth’s poles

Showcasing the incredible world we live in

Scientists transform urine into material fit for medical implants

The new technique uses a genetically modified yeast

BURMESE PYTHONS HAVE CELLS THAT HELP THEM DIGEST ENTIRE SKELETONS

Did you know? Burmese pythons can have up

Severed bow of US warship finally found in the South Pacific

The USS New Orleans near Tulagi the morning

SALLY RIDE MEMORABILIA COLLECTION SELLS FOR OVER £100,000

A set of memorabilia chronicling Sally Ride’s pioneering

Melting glaciers could trigger volcanic eruptions around the globe

Melting glaciers could make volcanic eruptions more explosive and

JAPAN SETS A NEW INTERNET SPEED RECORD

Researchers in Japan say they have set a

Europe tests its largest ever Mars parachute above the Arctic

A giant parachute built for Europe’s beleaguered ExoMars

First-ever evidence of stellar ‘double detonation’ captured

SNR 0509-67.5. Calcium is shown in blue and

World’s first planned migration of an entire nation

More than 5,000 people have applied for a first-of-its-kind

1,600-year-old tomb of Maya city’s first ruler unearthed in Belize

The Maya city ruin of Caracol in Belize

SOUTH KOREA WANTS TO BUILD A MOON BASE BY 2045

South Korea’s space ambitions keep growing. The nation

WISH LIST

BACK TO SCHOOL

What are the physics involved in bungee jumping?

Amazing answers to your curious questions

Why are we still sending probes to Mars?

Mars is perhaps the most interesting, and certainly

BRAIN GYM

Give your brain a puzzle workoutGive your brain a puzzle workout

Spot the difference

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

MAKE DIRTY COINS SHINY

Practical projects to try at home

INBOX

Speak your mind

HOW IT WORKS

Future PLC Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1

FAST FACTS

Amazing trivia that will blow your mind

DISCOVERING THE TITANIC

Finding the remains of this iconic liner on the seabed was no easy feat, but after more than seven decades the wreckage revealed itself

NEANDERTHAL INVENTIONS

These caveman creations kept our ancient hunter-gatherer relatives alive

INSIDE TRUMP’S ‘PALACE IN THE SKY’

This luxurious intercontinental jumbo jet will be the US president’s new Air Force One

ENERGY EXPLAINED

It’s one of the most basic concepts in physics, governing the behaviour of everything from subatomic particles to galaxies

WHAT ARE EPIDURALS?

How drugs injected into the spine can have a powerful anaesthetic effect

WHAT IS OZEMPIC?

This diabetes drug controls blood sugar levels and suppresses appetite

TRACKING SEA MONSTERS

How a NASA star-mapping tool is being put to a new use – following the largest fish in the sea, whale sharks

HOW DINOSAURS BECAME BIRDS

Dinosaurs were prehistoric egg-laying reptiles that went extinct millions of years ago, but their survivors still live among us

HOW SNAILS BUILD A SHELL

All they need is a specialised organ, some calcium-rich food and time

THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL LASERS

What happens when a beam of energy 100 times the power of the global electricity grid is concentrated onto a pinpoint?

BACKYARD POWER STATIONS

With growing demand and dwindling resources, there’s only one direction fuel bills are going. But soon we could have power stations in our gardens

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO GENERATE ENERGY AT HOME

The future of personal heat and light generation isn’t just solar. Here are some other ways to seize the power

WHY ARE SMOKE DETECTORS RADIOACTIVE?

These devices use a radioactive element to help sniff out smoke and alert you to a potential fire

WHAT’S INSIDE... AN XBOX ONE?

A victim of the Xbox 360’s success

WHAT CAUSES POWER CUTS?

A series of unfortunate events can plunge our homes into total darkness

WORLD’S BIGGEST SPACE AGENCIES

Between their rivalries and collaborations, how have the world’s top national space agencies contributed to our knowledge of the cosmos?

WHY WE STUDY SPACE DUST

Long ignored by scientists, cosmic dust is becoming an increasingly important field of study