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How It Works UK Magazine - Issue 206

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In this issue

WHY IT TOOK OVER 70 YEARS TO DISCOVER THE MOST FAMOUS SHIPWRECK

HOW DINOSAURS BECAME BIRDS

WHAT’S INSIDE AN XBOX ONE?

WORLD SPACE AGENCIES

WHAT IS OZEMPIC?

EPIDURALS EXPLAINED

TRUMP’S $4 00M ‘FLYING PAL ACE'

WHY CAN’T ENERGY BE DESTROYED?

IS YOUR SMOKE ALARM RADIOACTIVE?

WHY WE STUDY SPACE DUST

The world's dams hold so much water they've shifted Earth's poles

The construction of thousands of dams since 1835 has caused Earth's poles to wobble, new research suggests. Scientists found that large dams hold so much water, they redistribute mass around the globe, shifting the position of Earth's crust relative to the mantle, the planet's middle layer. Earth's mantle is gooey, and the crust forms a solid shell that can slide around on top of it. Weight on the crust that causes it to shift relative to the mantle also shifts the location of Earth's poles. \"Any movement of mass within the Earth or on its surface changes the orientation of the rotation axis relative to the crust, a process termed true polar wander,\" researchers wrote in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

2 mins

BURMESE PYTHONS HAVE CELLS THAT HELP THEM DIGEST ENTIRE SKELETONS

Researchers found that specialised cells in Burmese pythons' intestinal lining process calcium from the bones of their meals. This helps explain how these predators digest whole prey.

1 mins

Scientists transform urine into material fit for medical implants

Scientists have developed a method that can transform human urine into the hard mineral in bones and tooth enamel. The research, funded by the US military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), uses yeast to break urine down into hydroxyapatite, a form of calcium used in bone and dental implants. And hydroxyapatite isn't useful only for implants; the researchers behind the study said the material could be used in archaeological restoration, as biodegradable alternatives to plastic and as building materials for construction projects.

1 mins

SALLY RIDE MEMORABILIA COLLECTION SELLS FOR OVER £100,000

A set of memorabilia chronicling Sally Ride’s pioneering path to space just fetched a pretty penny at auction.

1 mins

Severed bow of US warship finally found in the South Pacific

The bow section of the US warship USS New Orleans, which was blown off by a Japanese torpedo in 1942, has been located near the island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. Although the ship survived the attack, more than 180 of the crew on board the heavy cruiser were killed when one of the ship's magazines of ammunition was hit by a torpedo and detonated, tearing off the front of the vessel.

1 mins

Melting glaciers could trigger volcanic eruptions around the globe

Melting glaciers could make volcanic eruptions more explosive and frequent, worsening climate change in the process, scientists have warned. Hundreds of volcanoes in Antarctica, Russia, New Zealand and North America rest beneath glaciers. But as the planet warms and these ice sheets melt and retreat, these volcanoes are likely to become more active, according to the authors of a new study analysing the activity of six volcanoes in southern Chile during the last ice age. “Glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them. But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively,” said Pablo Moreno Yaeger, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2 mins

Europe tests its largest ever Mars parachute above the Arctic

A giant parachute built for Europe's beleaguered ExoMars mission has aced a drop test with a mock lander during a test campaign in the Arctic.

2 mins

JAPAN SETS A NEW INTERNET SPEED RECORD

Researchers in Japan say they have set a new world record for the fastest internet speed, transmitting over 125,000 gigabytes of data per second over 1,120 miles. That's about 4 million times the average internet speed in the US. This is also more than twice the previous world record of 50,250 gigabytes per second, set by a different team of scientists in 2024. To achieve this new speed, which has not been independently verified, the team developed a new form of optical fibre to send information over roughly the distance between New York and Florida.

1 mins

First-ever evidence of stellar 'double detonation' captured

For the first time, astronomers have captured stunning visual evidence of a star double-detonating itself to death. The twin eruption was discovered by scientists studying two concentric rings of calcium that surround SNR 0509-67.5, a remnant of a star that met its explosive demise in a type la supernova centuries ago. And the discovery isn’t just a pretty picture. The researchers who made it say that much of our knowledge of how the universe expands — a major controversy in cosmology — depends on reliably measuring this type of supernova, which is also the primary source of iron throughout the cosmos. For these reasons, “the explosions of white dwarfs play a crucial role in astronomy,” said Priyam Das, a graduate student at the University of New South Wales Canberra in Australia. “Yet despite their importance, the longstanding puzzle of the exact mechanism triggering their explosion remains unsolved.”

1 mins

World's first planned migration of an entire nation

More than 5,000 people have applied for a first-of-its-kind migration visa that offers residents of a Pacific island an escape from the worst effects of climate change. Applications for the visa closed to people in Tuvalu on 18 July. Under its terms, 280 Tuvaluans can relocate to Australia each year from 2025 through a ballot system. Four days after the ballot opened, 3,125 Tuvaluans, roughly one-third of the nation's population of 11,000 people, had already registered for a chance to receive the visa. “This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen,” Australian government representatives said. The representatives said that they recognised the “devastating impact climate change is having on the livelihoods, security and well-being of climate-vulnerable countries and people, particularly in the Pacific region.”

1 mins

SOUTH KOREA WANTS TO BUILD A MOON BASE BY 2045

South Korea's space ambitions keep growing. The nation wants to build a Moon base by 2045, The Korea Times reported on 17 July, citing a long-term exploration road map that the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) laid out that same day.

1 mins

1,600-year-old tomb of Maya city's first ruler unearthed in Belize

Archaeologists in Belize have unearthed the tomb of the first ruler of the ancient Maya city of Caracol, which was a major centre in the Maya Lowlands during the 6th and 7th centuries.

1 mins

DISCOVERING THE TITANIC

Finding the remains of this iconic liner on the seabed was no easy feat, but after more than seven decades the wreckage revealed itself

6 mins

NEANDERTHAL INVENTIONS

These caveman creations kept our ancient hunter-gatherer relatives alive

4 mins

INSIDE TRUMP'S 'PALACE IN THE SKY'

This luxurious intercontinental jumbo jet will be the US president's new Air Force One

3 mins

ENERGY EXPLAINED

It's one of the most basic concepts in physics, governing the behaviour of everything from subatomic particles to galaxies

1 mins

TRACKING SEA MONSTERS

How a NASA star-mapping tool is being put to a new use - following the largest fish in the sea, whale sharks

5 mins

HOW DINOSAURS BECAME BIRDS

Dinosaurs were prehistoric egg-laying reptiles that went extinct millions of years ago, but their survivors still live among us

5 mins

HOW SNAILS BUILD A SHELL

All they need is a specialised organ, some calcium-rich food and time

2 mins

THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL LASERS

What happens when a beam of energy 100 times the power of the global electricity grid is concentrated onto a pinpoint?

4 mins

BACKYARD POWER STATIONS

With growing demand and dwindling resources, there's only one direction fuel bills are going. But soon we could have power stations in our gardens

4 mins

WHY ARE SMOKE DETECTORS RADIOACTIVE?

These devices use a radioactive element to help sniff out smoke and alert you to a potential fire

2 mins

AN XBOX ONE?

A victim of the Xbox 360's success

2 mins

WHAT CAUSES POWER CUTS?

A series of unfortunate events can plunge our homes into total darkness

1 mins

WORLD'S BIGGEST SPACE AGENCIES

Between their rivalries and collaborations, how have the world's top national space agencies contributed to our knowledge of the cosmos?

7 mins

WHY WE STUDY SPACE DUST

Long ignored by scientists, cosmic dust is becoming an increasingly important field of study

2 mins

Why are we still sending probes to Mars?

Mars is perhaps the most interesting, and certainly the most Earth-like world in the Solar System, and there's a huge amount still to find out about it.

1 mins

Read all Stories from How It Works UK

How It Works UK Magazine Description:

Publisher: Future

Category: Science

Language: English

Frequency: Monthly

The magazine that feeds minds, Welcome to How It Works, the magazine that explains everything you never knew you wanted to know about the world we live in. Loaded with fully illustrated guides and expert knowledge, and with sections dedicated to science, technology, transportation, space, history and the environment, no subject is too big or small for How It Works to explain.