BBC Science Focus Magazine - August 2023

In this issue

PROF STEPHON ALEXANDER
Big Bangs, Big Crunches and Big Bounces… physicists are questioning how the Universe began.

THE POWER OF HABIT
Whether they’re good or bad, habits can have a profound effect on your life. But understanding a little of the psychology behind them, can help you make or break them.

DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN
The space around Earth is filling up with satellites, both functional and defunct, jeopardising our continued use of it. But there are plans afoot to clear up the potentially catastrophic mess..

Birthday wishes

This is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. It's the closest star-forming region to Earth - around 390 light-years away - and in stellar nursery terms, it's a rather small, quiet region.

1 min

Let's work together

There's a reason they call the ocean Earth's unexplored frontier. Dive into any of this planet's waters and you soon discover an entirely different ecosystem, populated with strange and unexpected species.

1 min

Show your stripes

Pictures may tell a thousand words, but this one goes even further. These stripes appeared along Dover's White Cliffs on 21 June, as the iconic landmark was gradually turned into a scientific graphic.

1 min

ASTRONOMY : EERIE 'SONG' OF TWINKLING STARS DRIVES UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR NUCLEAR CORES

Taking a musical approach helps scientists determine how much a star should shine

2 mins

VIROLOGY : NEW AI COULD IDENTIFY VIRAL 'DARK MATTER' OF NEXT PANDEMIC

The early warning system is based on machine learning and could have predicted the emergence of the COVID variants

1 min

MEDICINE : ANT HONEY USED IN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN MEDICINE COULD INSPIRE POWERFUL NEW ANTIBIOTICS

It's a first for Western science, but Indigenous Australians have been using the honeypot ant medicinally for thousands of years

2 mins

ASTRONOMY : RARE 'ULTRACOOL' BROWN DWARF STAR FOUND EMITTING RADIO WAVES

Unusual radio signals have led astronomers to a surprising astronomical object

1 min

BIOLOGY : MOTHERS ARE FORCED TO FIGHT A NUTRIENT WAR WITH THEIR UNBORN BABIES

A study on mice enabled scientists to discover that children inherit 'greedy genes' from fathers

1 min

MEDICINE : SCIENTISTS PRODUCE THE FIRST CELLULAR MAP OF THE HUMAN INTESTINE

Fluorescent antibodies reveal the atlas of cell that cooperate to protect you 'neighbourhoods'

1 min

PRIMER : DEEP-SEA MINING

Why the next gold rush is happening at the bottom of the ocean

4 mins

PALEO IS A FLINTSTONE FANTASY

'Big farmer' has changed our digestive capabilities... and that's just one of the reasons why you can't eat like a caveman

3 mins

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BANG SINGULARITY?

The Big Bang marks the beginning of the Universe, right? The physicists brave enough to look beyond it aren't so sure

3 mins

DON'T KICK THE ROBOT

If something's got no feelings, you can't hurt it, right? So where's the harm?

3 mins

LIVE FACIAL RECOGNITION: THE MET POLICE'S CONTROVERSIAL NEW TECH

It has already been used at high-profile events, despite concerns about the privacy, accuracy and bias of this Al-driven system

3 mins

SKIN CANCER: CASES ARE RISING. WHAT CAN WE DO?

Annual cases are expected to reach 2.7 million by 2040

3 mins

HAY FEVER: IS IT REALLY GETTING WORSE?

Hay fever sufferers say their allergies are getting worse... and climate change could be to blame

3 mins

Artificial intelligence discovers drugs to fight ageing

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh use machine learning algorithm to identify drugs with potential new applications in minutes

3 mins

Five of the best BBQs for the summer

There are hundreds of BBQs on the market, all boasting their own impressive features. But which is the best? The BBC Science Focus team picks their faves...

3 mins

Ideas we like...

Our pick of the month's smartest tech

2 mins

SAY AHHH

EVERY LIVING THING HAS TO EAT SOMEHOW... WHATEVER TYPE OF MOUTH IT MIGHT HAVE. AND THERE ARE SOME TRULY BIZARRE MOUTHS IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. SOME OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLES ARE ENOUGH TO LEAVE YOU SLACK-JAWED

6 mins

THE POWER OF HABIT

Our lives are filled with habitual behaviours, both good and bad, but how do they form and how can we build better ones?

10 mins

A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN

Earth is blanketed by a swarm of human-made debris hurtling around at speeds of up to 8km per second - about five times the speed of a bullet. The UK's Earth & Space Sustainability Initiative hopes to catch these fast-moving projectiles and clean up the nasty, and potentially lethal, mess our cosmic littering habit has caused

7 mins

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I GET STRANDED ON SNAKE ISLAND?

Just off the coast of southern Brazil lies the island of Queimada Grande, known as 'Snake Island'. Covering just 43 hectares (106 acres), this rocky island is home to between 2,000 and 4,000 highly venomous golden lancehead vipers (Bothrops insularis), which can grow to 70cm (just over 2ft). The snakes were trapped there around 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, when rising sea levels cut them off from the mainland.

2 mins

GREAT EARED NIGHTJAR

Lock up your goats, it's the great eared nightjar; a big-mouthed, teat-wrangling, milk-gobbler of a bird that will desiccate your bleaters and leave them blind.

2 mins

OBJECTS IN OPPOSITION WHEN: LATE AUGUST - EARLY SEPTEMBER 2023

Opposition describes an object being opposite the Sun in the sky. For some planets this can be a big deal, as the weeks around opposition offer us the best views of them. At opposition a planet is also visible all night long.

1 min

WHAT IS BLUE LAVA?

Most people - if they've heard of it at all - are aware of 'blue lava' thanks to the otherworldly photographs of French photographer Olivier Grunewald. The images, which Grunewald captured at the Kawah Ijen volcano on the island of Java in Indonesia, seem to show rivers of electric-blue lava, incandescent against a black velvet night.

1 min

A SCIENTIST'S GUIDE TO...PILLOWS

THE RIGHT SUPPORT CAN HELP RELIEVE BACK PAIN

2 mins

IS IT TRUE THAT WEARING HEADPHONES INCREASES EAR BACTERIA?

Your ears are already dark, moist and full of oils and dead skin - an all-you-can-eat buffet for many bacteria. Sealing off the entrance with headphones or earphones seems like it could only make that environment more inviting to these microbes.

1 min

DEAR DOCTOR : WHY DO I CATASTROPHISE SO MUCH AND HOW DO I STOP?

Catastrophe-filled thoughts are common, especially for people prone to anxiety. You might find yourself imagining that your first day at a new job will be an excruciating disaster, that you'll flunk an upcoming exam, or that your flight to New York will crash. These thoughts are unpleasant, but they're essentially your mind working overtime to keep you safe. If you start to act on these catastrophic thoughts, trying to avoid any risk in your life, that's when this thinking style can start to become debilitating.

2 mins

Should you underestimate the power of the Force?

It's an energy that lets you control people's minds and.... make things float. So where do midi-chlorians fit in?

2 mins

Read all stories from BBC Science Focus

BBC Science Focus Magazine Description:

BBC Focus Magazine is the magazine of popular science and technology that explains the wonders of the Universe through stunning photography and accessible articles. Contributors include the very best writers and science experts, with columns every issue from renowned science writer Robert Matthews, TV presenter and scientist Helen Czerski, and science fiction author Stephen Baxter. From archaeology to neuroscience, climate change and particle physics, BBC Focus Magazine keeps you up to speed with the cutting-edge science and gadgets that will change our world.