With accessible features illustrated with the world’s best photography, BBC Focus Magazine explains the theory behind scientific phenomena and really brings science to life. In every issue you’ll find news of the latest major scientific developments, a lively Q&A section plus exclusive and astonishing photographic reports that range from the breathtaking to the downright odd.
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AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST EVER DINOSAUR DISCOVERED • The 30m-long titan Australotitan cooperensis is believed to be one of the biggest dinosaurs on the planet
Good month/Bad month
Breakthrough scanning technique allows researchers to look deeper into the brains of living organisms
‘Scuba-diving’ lizards breathe underwater by attaching air bubbles to their snouts • Anole lizards found in the streams of Costa Rica can use the technique to stay submerged for up to 16 minutes
In numbers
Heavy metals unexpectedly found in comets’ atmospheres • Iron and nickel vapours in comets’ atmospheres reveal a hole in our understanding of early Solar System
You may be about to breathe through your bum, and one day it could save your life • Japanese scientists have discovered that some mammals can breathe through their anuses, opening a back door for a new type of treatment for patients with respiratory failure
Scientists have grown mini hearts that beat • The new heart models – each about the size of a sesame seed – were created using ‘self-organising’ cells
Tardigrades fired out of a cannon
Reading stories to children in hospital helps relieve their pain and stress • All the children in a Brazilian study had increased levels of oxytocin after listening to stories
Sorry, the Milky Way isn’t as cool as we thought it was • But a new discovery could be a game-changer, both for the history of the Galaxy and the future of astronomy
Billions of ‘Brood X’ cicadas emerge after 17 years underground to get jiggy with it
Tiny chips use ultrasound to monitor your body… from the inside • Engineers at Columbia University have developed a single-chip medical device so small it can be injected into patients using a hypodermic needle
COVID BOOSTERS: WILL WE NEED THEM TO PROTECT US AGAINST FUTURE VARIANTS? • As the population continues to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, scientists are starting to investigate whether we’ll need annual boosters to keep it at bay
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: WHAT CAN WE DO WITH THE GROWING NUMBER OF DEAD BATTERIES? • What will happen to the batteries when the first generation of electric vehicles reach the end of their lifespans in around a decade? Are they bound for the scrapheap, or can they be salvaged?
SPIDERS: SHOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT BEING BITTEN BY A FALSE WIDOW? • A study has found that numbers of the spiders are increasing, along with the number of people being bitten. But what risk do they really pose?
INNOVATIONS • PREPARE YOURSELF FOR TOMORROW
The new age of the airship • Ian Taylor asks whether a form of transport with a dark past might have a brighter future, as cities rethink their infrastructure
Ideas we like…
THE SECRET LIVES OF HONEYBEES • Colonies of feral bees, thought to have died out decades ago, are generating a buzz in Germany’s ancient beech forests…
WHY DOES THE UNIVERSE EXIST? • Stephen Wolfram is trying to find a rule that dictates the Universe. And in doing so, he might even become the first person to finally devise a complete, fundamental theory of physics. Elegant, or what?
MASKING THE ISSUE • Even when...
