Magazine

The last 10 years on Earth have been the hottest since records began. To make matters worse, 2024 was the first calendar year that was, on average, 1.5°C warmer than the pre-industrial era. This will come as no surprise to anyone who follows the news. Summer is now synonymous with heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. But the numbers were confirmed at the start of the year in a report published by the World Meteorological Organization – a ringing alarm for those who can influence society’s carbon emissions. There were smidgens of hope in the report. One of the factors at play was El Niño, an enormous weather pattern that was particularly active over the last two years, functioning like bellows to a scorching planet. Plus, CO2 emissions, despite reaching a record level in 2024, have plateaued over the last decade. Though that modest achievement, most analysts would agree, won’t be enough. The carbon needle needs to move the other way, and fast. Trail-blazing climate action is needed, but exactly what form that action could take is one of the questions being asked by ARIA, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency. In this issue, we explore the ambitious projects aiming to cool the planet.

Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 421 of BBC Science Focus magazine

Is there life elsewhere in the Universe? If you look at the deep-field images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, it’s easy to believe there might be something. Those images capture a portion of the sky smaller than a grain of sand held at arm’s length, and yet, in them, you can see thousands of galaxies. Within each of the galaxies are billions of stars. In the face of those odds, it just feels implausible to think our little rock is the only one where life found a way. The more we study other-worldly materials, like meteorites from Mars and dust collected from asteroids, the more we find the type of ingredients needed for biological processes. The most compelling discovery of this kind came in January, when scientists declared they’d found 14 of the 20 amino acids that make up human proteins inside a sample returned from the asteroid Bennu. In fact, they found all five of the nucleotide bases that make up our DNA (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil). So, what does it all mean? Could life be quite common in the cosmos? Did life on Earth come from another world? Jonathan O’Callaghan picks up the story in this issue.

Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 420 of BBC Science Focus magazine

New science is uncovering how Alzheimer’s could be detected decades before symptoms strike

For decades, Hollywood has mined hypnotism as a cinematic trope, often portraying it through a lens of mystery, manipulation and mind control that reinforces enduring stereotypes far removed from its real-world practice. But scientists, too, have been looking into hypnotism for over a century now, and the more we learn about it, the more we’re finding it has potential for pain relief, both mental and physical. The thing is, that potential depends largely upon your ability to be hypnotised. In this issue, award-winning science writer David Robson sees if he can fall under hypnotism’s spell and, if so, how it could make doing his work a little easier.

Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 419 of BBC Science Focus magazine

Iceland sits upon two continental plates – the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. These huge chunks of Earth’s surface are yawning apart at a pace of 2cm (just shy of 1in) every year. This movement creates fissures in Earth’s surface, like cracks in its shell. In Iceland, the Silfra fissure sits over an aquifer, where glacial meltwater gathers underground, and so this crack became a lake. It's the only body of water in the world that you can dive into and find yourself swimming between two tectonic plates. You can, almost, reach out and touch the Eurasian plate with one hand and the North American plate with the other. I couldn’t tell you why that appeals to me as an idea, as something to see before I die, but it does. While the fissure is around 60m (200ft) deep underwater, in my imagination, swimming through those waters would feel like Earth was opening up beneath me. The idea that there’s another world beneath us has a special kind of hold on humanity, one that’s almost as alluring as the idea that there’s life beyond Earth. The thing is, seismology is now in a place where it’s able to give us a detailed picture of what’s really going on deep inside the planet. And every time it does, our understanding of what it’s like down there changes. In this issue, we share what we've discovered.

Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 418 of BBC Science Focus magazine

The textbook version of a heart can look flat and motionless, which doesn't really equip us with a proper understanding of how it works. It looks different on an ultrasound scan (also known as an echocardiogram). It's easy to be struck by how tireless it is: contracting and relaxing in a precise rhythm without change. It's hypnotic. But of course, the heart does tire – it just takes a few billion beats for it to happen. And for some of us, years of neglect means that it’s likely to happen a little bit sooner. So, how can we add some extra beats or, at the very least, make life a bit easier on the old ticker? Alongside all the usual advice (get some exercise, eat less bacon and so on) researchers are discovering that some surprising small changes can also significantly lower your risk of heart disease. And the good news is that they add up. In this issue, we share what we’ve uncovered.

Scientists are discovering there are some mind tricks that can take your powers of self-control to the next level…

Many of us liken dementia to a loss of memory, but the condition comes from a much more fundamental erosion of the very structures our brains depend on. Dementia has multiple causes, and the collective symptoms typically sneak up on us. Our grey matter will have been diminishing for years before we, or those around us, notice a difference in our behaviour. As a result, we’re only able to spot most cases of dementia very late. But mercifully, that could be about to change. In this issue, we look at the breakthrough science on the cusp of developing a biological test to spot dementia early.

Stories of spooky goings on pique our interest like nothing else, so there’s always a slight tinge of disappointment when science debunks them as fiction rather than fact. Case in point: the many yarns spun about the ‘Bermuda Triangle’. But truth is stranger than fiction. And although we’ve struck off one mysterious Bermuda Triangle, another – perhaps even stranger – one has risen to take its place: the South Atlantic Anomaly, or the so-called ‘Bermuda Triangle of Space’. Satellites and spacecraft risk being scrambled and pass through it at their peril, while astronauts avoid going on spacewalks when they’re anywhere near it. But what makes this orbital no-go zone so weird, is that it doesn’t stay put. It's been shifting from one place to another, and back again, over a very long time. So, what's behind this mysterious sinkhole that we have no control over?

Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 415 of BBC Science Focus magazine.

On the eve of a quarter century, it seems like a good time to pause and take a look back (and forwards) at the science that matters. Of course, it’s all important, but it’s fun to wind the clock back and argue about the breakthroughs that have really blown our minds since the year 2000. We asked some of the world’s leading scientists and science commentators for their take on the biggest breakthroughs of the 21st century (so far), including the Higgs boson particle, the Mars Curiosity rover, psychedelic therapy, HPV and HIV vaccines, programmable chemical robots, the James Webb Space Telescope... and more.

Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 414 of BBC Science Focus magazine.

The older I’ve gotten the more I’ve come to know my body’s immune system. In my twenties, a cold would hit me like a train. Fevers would burn like a furnace, I would sleep like the dead and then, in a few days, it’d be over. These days everything’s drawn out. First, come the aches, then the hot, dry eyes, and finally an overwhelming weariness. But what if we could turn back the clock on our immune system? It's an appealing thought, and as it turns out, one that might not just be wishful thinking. Grab a copy of our November issue to find out what the latest science says about sprucing up your body’s natural defences and the best thing you can do to give your immune system a helping hand.

Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 411 of BBC Science Focus magazine.