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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ON THE BBC THIS MONTH…
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CONVERSATION • YOUR OPINIONS ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND BBC SCIENCE FOCUS
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MALE CONTRACEPTIVE PILL ONE STEP CLOSER • The researchers behind the drug hope it will start human clinical trials later this year
Astronauts could grow super lettuce to keep bones strong in space • The genetically engineered salad leaf produces a hormone that stimulates bone growth and could be cultivated aboard a space station
‘Vampire’ star system spotted 1,000 light-years from Earth • In this binary system, one of the stars sucks gas and dust away from the other star
168-million-year-old fossil suggests stegosaurs originated in Asia • The fossil is one of the oldest ever discovered and could shed light on the evolution of one of the world’s most instantly recognisable groups of dinosaurs
The Amazon rainforest may be approaching a tipping point • The rainforest is losing its ability to recover from fires and droughts and is nearing a critical time that would see much of the land turned into savannah
Damaged areas of the brain could explain confusion in dementia patients • Researchers have found dementia patients have damage in the ‘highly evolved’ areas of the brain that usually help us to recognise new information
Revolutionary heart transplant carried out on a toddler could lower the risk of organ rejection • Along with the heart, the child received a donation of thymus tissue, which is a key part of the immune system
Switching to a Nordic diet could help us to stay healthy • The diet, which focuses on produce available in the Nordic countries, could help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure
Knobby starfish could inspire super-light, super-strong materials
What’s next for the team that found Shackleton’s sunken ship? • Huge headlines were made when the Endurance22 research team discovered Endurance at a depth of 3,008m. Now they’ve found it, how will they study it? Expedition members Nico Vincent and Lasse Rabenstein spoke to us from their research vessel…
REALITY CHECK • SCIENCE BEHIND THE HEADLINES
MIGRAINES: CAN NEW TREATMENTS HELP EASE THE SUFFERING OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE? • Better understanding of the processes driving migraine pain is leading to promising new remedies
HAPPINESS: IS IT RIGHT TO PURSUE IT AT ALL COSTS? • Research suggests that focusing on your own happiness can end up making you miserable
INNOVATIONS • PREPARE YOURSELF FOR TOMORROW
This fabric can hear your heart beat • I’m picking up good vibrations, she’s giving me the excitations…
Can a smartphone be eco-friendly and desirable?
Ideas we like…
FIT TO BURST • INFLATION IS A USEFUL TOOL IN NATURE, ALLOWING ANIMALS TO PROJECT SOUNDS, SCARE OFF PREDATORS OR EVEN ATTRACT A MATE. LET’S BRING ON THE BLOAT!
THE RACE FOR THE MOON • A new space race has begun. Over the coming years, an armada of rockets will head to the Moon to hunt down precious resources, satisfy the urges of billionaire tourists and maybe do some intriguing science along the way…
The path to permanence • A rundown of future missions to the Moon, both real (near-term) and imagined (long-term)
WHY I DITCHED MY FITNESS TRACKER • Stop chasing a 10,000-step target –...