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The magazine that feeds minds!

BAT BABY

© Getty This is a coloured scanning electron

UP, UP AND AWAY

© Getty This is a snapshot of the

BEHIND THE EYES

© Alamy Behind the lens of an eye

STELLAR TANTRUM

© ESA/Hubble & NASA One of the rarer events

GLOBAL EYE Showcasing the incredible world we live in

SPACE

Meerkats happy to see zoo visitors return

Meerkats at a zoo in Italy during a

Antarctic sea creatures uncovered

On 26 February 2021, an iceberg large enough

70,000 viruses found in the human gut

An artist's illustration of the human microbiome ©

Ancient Greek helmet found in Israel

A well-preserved ancient Greek helmet likely worn by a

Monster antimatter particle slams into Antarctica

The surface portion of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Napping Arctic walrus wakes up in Ireland

This photo shows an Arctic walrus, like the

Plague of mice ravages eastern Australia

Mice in the cabinets. Mice in the streets.

The ISS dumps 2.6-tonne hunk of space junk

The orbiting lab discarded a 2.6-tonne pallet of

Earth may have a hidden core

Earth is made up of three layers ©

Super-Earth has super-fast orbit

We keep getting reminders that the Milky Way’s

First US COVID-19 vaccine vial headed to museum

The vaccine vial used for the historic first

WISH LIST

The latest educational robots

BOOK REVIEWS

The latest releases for curious minds

BRAIN GYM

GIVE YOUR BRAIN A PUZZLE WORKOUT

Make a red cabbage acid test

Test the pH level of household products with this vegetable 

INBOX Speak your mind…

A meteorite needs to survive its journey

MASS EXTINCTION

THE DEATH OF THE DINOSAURS WAS JUST ONE OF FIVE GLOBAL EVENTS THAT SAW MILLIONS OF SPECIES WIPED OUT HOW DO THESE EVENTS HAPPEN?  

Holocene extinction

AROUND 8,000 BCE TO PRESENT

Saving animals from space

DR OLGA ISUPOVA, CREATOR OF THE ELEPHANT-TRACKING AI, TELLS US HOW THIS TECHNOLOGY COULD BE USED IN THE FUTURE

The state of the sixth mass extinction

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

AMAZINGLY WEIRD AUSSIE ANIMALS

Meet some of the world’s strangest species from down under

Inside a rattlesnake’s rattle

What gives these reptiles their distinguishing sound?

GHOST TOWNS

These settlements were deserted and left to deteriorate. Come, explore them with us

LIFT TO THE ELEMENTS

These human-made structures sit empty and desolate around the world

Stanford Ovshinsky

The environmentalist and tech genius whose inventions transformed the devices in your home

SMARTER KITCHENS

HOW THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY IS  CHANGING THE WAY WE INTERACT  WITH EVERYDAY APPLIANCES AND  HOW WE PREPARE OUR FOOD

INSIDE A SMART KITCHEN

5 INTELLIGENT DEVICES

Folding phone teardown

Take a look inside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 smartphone

SAVIOURS OF THE SEA

How salvage vessels recover floundering ships and deep-sea wrecks

RECOVERY MISSION

Discover the power of a salvage tugboat

Hydrogen: the future of cars?

We’re heading towards a greener future, which could mean switching from petrol to hydrogen power

MARS 2020

THE BOLDEST MISSION YET TO THE RED PLANET FEATURES THE PERSEVERANCE ROVER AND INGENUITY HELICOPTER

The Ingenuity helicopter

It may only weigh 1.8 kilograms, but Ingenuity is a highly innovative technology demonstrator

THE PERSEVERANCE ROVER

BRISTLING WITH SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, THE LATEST ROBOT EMISSARY TO MARS IS THE MOST SOPHISTICATED YET

How to identify a galaxy

Hubble’s ‘tuning fork’ sorts a bewildering variety of galaxies into a small number of basic types

NASA’s rocket hub

Take a look inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, where spacecraft prepare for liftoff

WHEN FOOD GOES BAD

WHAT’S EATING AWAY  AT THE EDIBLES IN  YOUR KITCHEN?

WHAT CAUSES SPOILAGE?

FROM CREATURES TO CLIMATE, THESE ARE THE CULPRITS IN FOOD’S EXPIRATION

MEET THE MICROBES

HOW DO THESE CELLS FORM COLONIES, CONTAMINATING OUR FOOD?

HEAT-RESISTANT BACTERIA

THESE THREE BACTERIAL GROUPS CAN LIVE ON FOOD IN A RANGE OF TEMPERATURES

How we hear

See inside the vital organs that help us to communicate and make sense of our surroundings

How your metabolism works

Discover the many ways our bodies stay energised

BRAIN DUMP

Because enquiring minds need to know…

Is it only mammals that have emotions?

Scientists found evidence of emotions in sea bream

Why does Britain have a queen and a prime minister?

The queen and prime minister work together, neither

Why are some plants’ leaves purple?

© Getty scimaxfacts (Instagram) ■ A plant might have

Why is poo brown when we eat food of various other colours too?

Poo is brown because it contains waste products

Why is it that sometimes if I try to remember something I can’t recall it, then it just comes to me later without trying?

© Alamy ■ Sometimes remembering something can be

Why doesn’t Mercury orbit on a wonky axis?

© NASA ■ All the planets in the Solar

Why is it called ‘Scotland Yard’ when it’s in London?

© Getty ■ The Metropolitan Police headquarters used

Are we constantly producing saliva?

© Getty ■ Yes. We normally produce the

Will we ever be able to go on trips to space?

Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity took three people into

How can some birds fly as high as aeroplanes?

© Alamy ■ Bar-headed geese have been clocked

Do all galaxies rotate?

© NASA ■ Galaxies don’t rotate like solid

Was the Silk Road a real road?

© Getty ■ The Silk Road was actually

How much Drive space does Google have? Could it run out?

■ Google has 22 data centres around the

Why do trees live for so long?

Trees conserve their energy by growing extremely slowly,

Are Venus and Earth the only cloudy planets?

■ Clouds on Earth are formed from water

How does bulletproof glass work?

© Getty ■ Bulletproof glass is usually made