BBC Science Focus Magazine

All that's new and exciting in science, technology and the natural world

BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
On The BBC This Month…
Sliced Bread retu rns with a new series that cuts through the advertising hype to find outwhetherthe latest wonder products really do whatthey claim. First to go underthe microscope this season, are anti-snoring devices and barefoot runningshoes. BBC
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Contributors
A professor of psychology, Pete researches how screens, and in particularvideo games, affect children. We asked him whethersocial media is ruining childhood. ➔p70 Neuroscience expert Ginny finds out whether the blueprints of teenagers brains can pred
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Eye Opener
GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA It might look like a pool that needs a clean, but it's actually a sliver of hope for the world's coral. The inflatable nursery pictured here is home to larvae that will becomethe next generation of the Great Barrier Reef
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
From The Editor
Your brain is a tough nut to crack. Psychologists have been trying to understand what's inside our heads for over a century (which actually isn't very long, as science goes), and there are still gaping cavities at the roots of our models. We have a p
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Letter Of The Month
The article by Catherine Offord about how it can be hard to get a good night's sleep (February, p66) certainly resonated with me. Up to a few years ago, I slept soundly most of the time. Then I had a number of health and family problems and, of cours
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Discoveries
“These brave four will kickstart our journeys to the Moon… and beyond” Norm Knight, director of flight operations, NASA p22 ■
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min readChemistry
Scientists Discover Natural Anti-ageing Mechanism In Humans
Humans can effectively de-age after recovering from stressful events, a new study from Harvard Medical School and Duke University School of Medicine has found. The study shows that while stress can age a person biologically, the body can reverse this
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Dairy Was Essential To The Survival Of Ancient Humans In Extreme Environments
Dairy consumption was crucial to the survival of ancient humans in one of the world's most inhospitable environments at least 3,500 years ago, according to new research at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany. Archaeologists at the
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
New Omega-3 Oil Could Fend Off Sight Loss Due To Alzheimer's Or Diabetes
Anew form of the fatty acid omega-3 could help to stave off the deterioration in vision related to Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and several other disorders, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have found. In healthy eyes, an omega-3
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Conversation
reply@sciencefocus.com BBC Science Focus, Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST @sciencefocus www.facebook.com/sciencefocus @bbcsciencefocus I read your article ’How processed food harms your mood’ (March, p66) with great interest and a building sense of ala
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
These Ravenous Crabs Could Help Save The Great Barrier Reef… By Eating Starfish
Red decorator crabs could help to save the Great Barrier Reef from coral-crunching starfish by eating them for lunch, according to a study carried out at the University of Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system an
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Plants Scream When We Forget To Water Them
Biologists from Tel Aviv University have found that plants emit sounds comparable in volume to normal human conversation when they are stressed. With frequencies of 20-100kHz, these sounds are too high-pitched for humans to hear, but it is likely the
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Think Snakes Are Scary? What If They Can Somersault?
For the first time, a cartwheeling motion that is exceptionally rare in vertebrates has been observed in a snake species and reported in a study published in the journal Biotropica. The dwarf reed snake (Pseudorabdion longiceps) is a nocturnal reptil
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Two Of These Astronauts Will Be The First Humans To Step On The Moon Since 1972
On 3 April, NASA announced the names of the four astronauts who will crew Artemis 2, in preparation for the first Moon landing in over 50 years. The crew, formed of three NASA astronauts and one astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, includes the
BBC Science Focus Magazine4 min read
Low-carbon Houses
The building industry accounts for an astonishing 37 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. To address this, the roof-window specialists VELUX recently launched Living Places Copenhagen: an open-source “experimental living environment”. The sev
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Life On Mars: Step Inside The Habitat That'll Become Nasa's Martian Base
This June, four volunteers will begin a year-long simulated Mars mission, and what you see here is the 3D-printed ‘habitat’ they'll call home. The 518m2 Mars Dune Alpha habitat sits within a white warehouse at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston,
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
Robots Aren't Coming For Your Job… The System Is
Shortly after ChatGPT was released, in early 2023, a freelance writer named Jason Colavito posted on social media that a client was replacing him with AI, because it could write content for free. But the client also wanted to hire Colavito — at a fra
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min read
How One Particle Could Soon Rewrite Our Laws Of The Universe
When we look across vast distances using our most advanced telescopes, we look back in time. Einstein taught us that light has a finite speed; therefore, it takes light longer to travel to us the further one looks. Thanks to this, cosmologists have b
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min read
Why Everything You Know About Weight Loss Is Wrong
Recently, I was interviewed by Steven Bartlett on the Diary Of A CEO podcast about my work on obesity. While I've done a gazillion previous podcasts, either as host or guest, this one stood out for three reasons: first, the interview was long-form an
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min read
Reality Check
Tick bites | Alien life | Gene-edited food With the number of critters on the rise, the UK is seeing increasing cases of tick-borne viruses Visit the BBC's Reality Check website at bit.ly/reality_check_ or follow them on Twitter @BBCRealityCheck Earl
BBC Science Focus Magazine4 min read
Aliens: The Truth Is Out There, Says Harvard Prof
Everyone, it seems, has heard of the idea that the US government is sitting on proof that extraterrestrials exist and have been visiting Earth for decades. It's a conspiracy theory so prevalent it has entered the mainstream. It's easy to dismiss such
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min readDiet & Nutrition
Gene-edited Food: Where's My Super Meal?
So-called ‘superfoods’ are often touted as being beneficial for our health but the concept is mostly just marketing hype designed to sell us more expensive fruit and veg, rather than providing any actual benefits. However, with gene editing now appro
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Innovations Prepare Yourself For Tomorrow
86.2% of the world's population currently owns asmartphone Around half of all smartphone users in the UK have an iPhone $13.5 bn The expected value ofthe smartphone market in 2023 ■
BBC Science Focus Magazine4 min read
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Overkill Never Looked So Good
Once again, Samsung has made one of the best smartphones you can buy. The S23 Ultra is powerful, sleek, built-tosurvive and generally everything you could ever want from a phone. And yet, it's going to be a device that very few people should buy, bec
BBC Science Focus Magazine4 min read
For The Wearable Tech Of Tomorrow, We Need To Rethink Our Human Rights
Through technology, we're now able to track our steps, our heart rate and even our vascular age. But as technology advances, there is a new metric to access – our brain waves. New ‘brain sensors’ promise much, but as Nita Farahany – an author and pro
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Ideas We Like…
Too often, we focus on technology that dazzles, performing impressive feats at shockingly high prices, rather than spending time on the no-frills devices that just work. IKEA's new shower speaker costs a comforting £12 and yet boasts a more-than-impr
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
The Best Alternatives
There are plenty of smartphones that try to match the 523 Ultra but Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Maxis its only true rival. Just as expensive, it adopts the same idea of excess, packing in the features to guarantee you won't think your money's been wasted.
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Ideas We Don't Like…
The metaverse has inspired a whole range of strange trends, concepts and… well, let's be honest, scams. But one thing we weren't prepared for was real-life pixelated clothes. For a somewnat crazy price of £7,300, you can set yourself up with an outfi
BBC Science Focus Magazine4 min read
Anxiety
Essentially, anxiety is an emotional state of nervous apprehension that often involves negative and worrisome thoughts and physical jitters. Although anxiety is often focused on a specific upcoming event or challenge, it can sometime be more diffuse
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min read
An Emergency Toolkit For When Anxiety Strikes
Bouts of anxiety often begin with catastrophic thinking about an upcoming event. You start imagining the myriad ways you'll make a fool of yourself on a first date; you picture yourself tongue-tied during an interview; or you conjure vivid images of
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min read
Long-term Tools To Lessen Your Anxiety
It's natural to want to avoid the situations that make you anxious but, in the long-term, this is only likely to fuel your anxiety. When you avoid anxiety-provoking situations, not only do you risk missing out on opportunities in life, but you never
BBC Science Focus Magazine7 min read
Mental Health Is Other People
Dr Gillian Sandstrom was at the opera when she realised how good she had become at talking to strangers. A woman with Parkinson's was feeling anxious and needed an aisle seat and when Sandstrom noticed what was happening, she asked a whole row of peo
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Conversations With Strangers
“Talking to someone with a dog or a baby is a little less scary somehow and it's more acceptable,” says Dr Gillian Sandstrom. Plus, it gives you an instant conversation starter. The weather is a classic conversation opener for a reason: it's somethin
BBC Science Focus Magazine8 min readPopular Culture & Media Studies
Is Social Media Ruining Childhood?
What do we really know about the relationship between social media and teenage mental health? I ask because the other day, my daughter asked me if she could have her own phone. She's only three years old, so the request caught a little off guard. Thi
BBC Science Focus Magazine9 min read
Patient, Diagnose Thyself!
If you're struggling with your mental health, what are you meant to do about it? Thanks to many campaigns dedicated to it, ‘awareness’ of mental health concerns is rising all the time. And that's good. Awareness is only the beginning, however. It's a
BBC Science Focus Magazine7 min read
Signs Of trouble
Mental health conditions are not only common, they're increasing, with one report estimating that 1 in 6 children had a probable mental health condition in 2021. The NHS spends £15.5 billion every year on treatment and still thousands of people who c
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Chinese Giant Salamander
If you like your salamander's big, then this behemoth is for you. The smiley faced whoppe rows up to 1.8m long and weighs as much as a 10- year-old child. It sounds like a child too, making crying and moaning noises that have earned it the nickname ‘
BBC Science Focus Magazine8 min read
Q&A
…WHY DO WE LOVE GIFS SO MUCH? …WHAT IS THE GUNGE FROM KIDS TV SHOWS LIKE DICK & DOM IN DA BUNGALOW MADE FROM? …WHY DO WE STILL HAVE DIAL TONES ON PHONES? …WHY DOES IT GET HARDER TO STAND UP AS YOU GET OLDER? …ARE YOGA'S CLAIMS TO DECREASE STRESS AND
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min readDiet & Nutrition
Mythbusters
When Lionel Messi, one of the world's best foot ball players, posted a picture on Instagram of yerba mate, everyone wanted to know about the green drink and whether we should we all be sipping it. Well, it turns out the tea-like beverage does have a
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
How To Read A Weather Map…
Most of us have seen weather maps at some point in our lives – in geography lessons at school, or in weather forecasts. But what do all the lines labels and shapes actually mean? Areas of high and low air pressure are labelled on weather maps with th
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Crowdscience
Yoga involves postures (called ‘āsanas’ and regulated breathing exercises (called ‘prānāyāmas’). Various studies suggest that breathing coupled with conscious movement can balance the autonomic nervous system (ANS), reduce cortisol, levels and provid
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min read
Guiding Stars
During May, the length of darkness falls dramatically and quick sky navigation helps maximise your observing time. As an example, consider this route to find an object called Messier 13. First, locate the Plough or, as it's also known, the Saucepan a
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
Crossword
ANSWERS For the answers, visit bit.ly/BBCFocusCW Please be aware the website address is case-sensitive. . ■
BBC Science Focus Magazine2 min readDiet & Nutrition
Question Of The Month
It coild be that you're eating too many highsugar foods, which readily release glucose in the body. This causes a spike in insulin and a subsequent drop in blood sugar levels, which can leave you craving more of the same. Foods rich in protein and fi
BBC Science Focus Magazine3 min read
Are Mermaids Real?
The myth of the mermaid has endured for centuries. In Ancient Syria, people worshipped Atargatis, a halfhuman, half-fish goddess who ruled over fertility. Then in Ancient Greece, sailors would set out to sea in fear and lust of the siren, who, if giv
BBC Science Focus Magazine1 min read
BBC Science Focus Magazine
THE TEAM EDITORIAL Editor & brand lead Daniel Bennett Managing editor Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Commissioning editor Jason Goodyer Digital editor Thomas Ling News editor Noa Leach Staff writers Alex Hughes, Holly Spanner ART Art editor Joe Eden Pictu

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