WELCOME

Issue 173

Stigma under the microscope

© Getty These are the reproductive organs of

Serpent’s snack

© Alamy It’s lunchtime for this golden tree

Where desert and sea meet

© NASA/JSC This is Adair Bay, or Bahia

Cosmic clouds

© ESA/Hubble, NASA & STScI, C. Britt, T.

‘Zombie’ viruses revived from Siberian permafrost

GLOBAL EYE Showcasing the incredible world we live

EGYPTIAN RING FEATURING THE ‘GOD OF FUN’ DISCOVERED

This gold ring shows an engraving of Bes

Radioactive space rocks could have seeded life on Earth

A special type of radioactive meteorite could have

The Elgin Marbles may finally return to Greece

The Elgin Marbles on display at the British

NASA CANCELS GREENHOUSE-GAS SATELLITE

An artist’s representation of GeoCarb studying carbon gases

A weighted blanket may boost the sleep hormone melatonin

Do weighted blankets boost users’ melatonin levels? ©

THE US MILITARY REPORTS ‘SEVERAL HUNDRED’ UFO SIGHTINGS

The Pentagon, home to the US Department of

American black bears evolve cinnamon-coloured coats

Some American black bears in the western US

Greenland’s glaciers are melting faster than estimated

G reenland’s glaciers are melting 100 times faster than

Webb captures extraordinary clouds on Titan

4 NOVEMBER 2022 Evolution of clouds on Titan

Uncovered toilets shoot out aerosol plumes

Scientists used green lasers to illuminate the normally

JOUSTING ANKYLOSAURS WHACKED THEIR PEERS WITH THEIR TAILS

With massive tails studded with spikes, ankylosaurs were

WISH LIST

The latest tech for STEAM TOYS

Is it possible to build a time machine?

Amazing answers to your curious questions

WHAT IS WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY?

Danish physicist Niels Bohr was a supporter of

WHAT’S THE RAREST BIG CAT, AND WHY?

Gavin Peterson The rarest big cat is the

HOW DO SMARTPHONES ACCESS THE INTERNET?

Lucy McKenzie The way smartphones send and receive

Why do pelicans have such large beaks compared to other birds?

© Alamy / Getty Rebecca McTavish It’s

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NEUTRON STAR, A WHITE DWARF AND A BROWN DWARF?

Steve Redd A neutron star is the remnant

What’s the oldest pyramid in Egypt? Who was it built for?

Chris Sanders The step pyramid at Saqqara is

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF COLOUR BLINDNESS?

@macdonut Some people might not be able to

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DNA AND RNA?

Michelle Williams With the exception of some viruses,

How does a SEM work?

Charles Rodway Microscopes can uncover tiny details in

Could we colonise Mars?

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO: HOW IT WORKS MAGAZINE

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEATHER AND CLIMATE CHANGE?

David Black Weather is temperature, precipitation – rain,

WHAT IS AN ELECTRODE?

Gavin Oldfield Michael Faraday coined the term ‘electrode’

WHY DO 3D MOVIES LOOK WASHED OUT?

Kelly Banks Modern 3D cinema uses a system

What is the source of the River Nile?

Gemma Craven © Getty One of the

AMA ZING ANIMAL JOURNE YS

The latest book releases for curious minds

MAKE A SELF-INFL ATING BALLOON

Watch a balloon expand thanks to these two reactive kitchen ingredients

WEEING IN WINTER

I have a question that has been bugging me. Why is it that whenever I get really cold I need to have a wee?

QUESTIONS ABOUT CANDLES

What’s a candle wick made from? As the wax gets lower, does this mean lighting a candle fills the air with wax?

MULLING IT OVER

Does mulled wine actually have alcohol in it? I like the taste of it, but to me it tastes similar to juice. Is this because the heat burns all the alcohol off?

TAIL TALENTS

I love monkeys. I think they’re the most interesting animals to watch how they move, especially when they climb with their tails. How else do monkeys use their tails?

PEACEFUL SLEEPING

Why don’t I fall out of bed at night when sleeping? Does this happen to people anyway?

WE ASKED YOU

This month on social media, we asked you:

WEIRD SCIENCE

Discover the strange scientific studies that answer the questions you didn’t know needed answering

IG NOBEL WINNERS

Meet the Ig Nobel Prize winners of 2022

WHAT ARE WEATHER BALLOONS?

These high-altitude inflatables carry the tools needed to produce weather forecasts

HOW FREEDIVERS PLUNGE SO DEEP

Take a dip into this extreme sport and see what drives divers deeper into the underwater world

PROFESSIONAL FREEDIVER GEORGINA MILLER

British freediver Georgina Miller ranked in the top

WHY SOME FEET SMELL CHEESY

Discover the bacteria that brews inside your socks

GIANT MARTIAN VOLCANO

Mars’ Olympus Mons is three times as high as Everest, but how did it get so big?

MARS MOUNTAIN MISSIONS

Almost everything we know about Olympus Mons comes from space missions. Here are some of the most important

MARS INSIGHT

This small NASA lander, which operated between 2018 and 2022, was designed to study past and present seismic activity on Mars by probing its interior

NATURE’S CRAZIEST CANNIBALS

From starvation to devouring an opponent, there are many reasons why an animal might feast on its own kind

PRAYING MAN T IS ANA T OMY

The features that make these insects perfect predators

MORE THAN MOTHER’S MILK

A female caecilian and her flesh-eating offspring There

TOXIC MASCULINIT Y

Cobras are among the most cobras, which chose

SELF-SACRIFICE

The mother allows herself to be eaten by

SIBLING RIVALRY

How sand tiger shark mothers grow cannibals

STEPPARENTS FROM HELL

An adult polar bear eating a year-old cub

IT’S A CRAB-EAT-CRAB WORLD

There aren’t many crustaceans their old skin. It’s

CLUCKING CANNIBALS

Putting too many chickens in a coop may

WHERE DOES TOBACCO COME FROM?

Often found packed tightly into cigarette paper, this dry and woody product is unrecognisable from its natural form

HOW ROBOTIC LIMBS CHANGE LIVES

Discover the body-enhancing bionics that can give humans and animals a new lease of life

IPHONE 13 PRO TEARDOWN

How It Works explores the tech behind this smartphone’s three artistic eyes

THE BIRTH OF THE JET FIGHTER

Jet fighters are the masters of modern aerial combat, but in the early years their dominance was far from inevitable

WHY DO CARS HAVE TYRES?

How these rubber rings help vehicles get from A to B and stay safe on the roads

TYRES OF THE FUTURE

The concept design for Michelin’s sustainable tyres ©

HOW THE WORLD TURNED ELECTRIC

From battery to bulb, find out how electricity was harnessed and used to light up the planet, sparking the most productive period of technological innovation ever seen

HUMAN POPUL ATION

Why it took just 200 years for the world’s population to increase eightfold to 8 billion

THE ORIGIN OF HUMANS

Modern humans originated 200,000 years ago and began to spread across continents

THE HUMAN TAKEOVER

These events helped the human population reach 8 billion