New issue: Think Yourself Younger

New issue: Think Yourself Younger

Your mindset matters. As I write this, I’m conscious it sounds like the title of an obnoxious self-help book or a soundbite clipped from a questionable podcast, but it’s true. There’s a growing body of evidence that your attitude – the way you approach the world – makes a big difference to your health. In fact, the effect is so strong that people with a rosier view of the future tend to live longer than those who are pessimistic, 7.5 years longer on average. There’s a more dramatic example that comes to mind if you still need some convincing that your brain can cure your body: sham surgeries. Under lab conditions, there are procedures for which the placebo surgery – an operation with all the elements of real surgery, from receiving anaesthesia, getting an incision and going through recovery – has the same recovery rate as the real surgery. The placebo is as effective as treatment. In fact, placebo painkillers can be effective too when it comes to chronic pain. It’s a take on medicine that’s well explored by the late Dr Michael Mosley in his film on placebos, which you can find on iPlayer (bit.ly/MosleyPlacebo). So it begs the question: if a positive mindset can lead to being healthier, can it also help slow the effects of ageing? Is there something to growing old ungracefully? Instead of expecting and resigning ourselves to aching joints and weary muscles, what if we adopted a more positive attitude, one that presumes the best years of our lives are still ahead? In this issue, David Robson examines what he calls the 'Expectation Effect.'

Holly Spanner

The cover of issue 424 of BBC Science Focus magazine

The far side of the Moon

Cosmic Dawn is the moment when the Universe emerged from darkness, and stars and galaxies started to form. And if we look far enough into the cosmos, we can see back in time. That's why the world’s astronomers are racing to build next-generation observatories on the far side of the Moon.

Get better sleep

Top tips from sleep scientists for when you can't drop off.

Quantum time

From our perspective, time seems to steadily progress forward with each tick of the clock. But the closer we look at time, the more bizarre it becomes. There are equations that state time should flow as freely backwards as it does forwards. There's the strange quantum realm where cause and effect can flip on their heads. Could it even be that time itself is an illusion? In this issue, we take a deep dive into why the nature of time continues to confound the greatest minds.

Heatquakes

The geological consequences of a warming world that no one is talking about, and how extreme weather could start to trigger devastating earthquakes around the world.

Plus

  • Top-secret US spacecraft: The X-37B returned to Earth last month, but details of its time in space remain a mystery.
  • Shock therapy: Can a wearable neuromodulation device that delivers small electric shocks banish anxiety?
  • Q&A: Your questions answered. This month: How much of the ocean is just whale pee? Where does the ink go when you get a tattoo removed? Does my internet speed impact my health? How stable is my personality? Was the sea always blue? Can noise-cancelling headphones damage my ears? Do any foods taste better in space? Why is Mars red? Could a virus change my DNA? Could someone across the cosmos pick up old radio programmes? And more…

Issue 424 on sale Tuesday 16 September 2025

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Holly Spanner

Staff Writer, BBC Science Focus

Holly is the Staff Writer for BBC Science Focus and looks after the popular Q&A section. She holds an MSc (distinction) in Geoscience (Space and Climate Physics) from UCL, and specialises in astronomy and earth sciences. Before joining Our Media, she worked as a geoenvironmental consultant and engineer, informing on ground risk and remediation in the north of England, while hunting for exoplanets in her spare time. Alongside this, she was regional editor of a popular theatre website for nine years, and has a solid background in curating and developing content for the digital space. Holly is also an artist and illustrator, and regular contributor to the craft website, Gathered. She has previously worked with the RSPB, English Heritage, Disney, Pilot and Brother, as well as on BBC Good Food magazine, Home Style magazine, and Papercraft inspirations magazine. She enjoys photography and has a sustained interest in antiques.

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