In this issue

MICHAEL MOSLEY
Fermented foods are popping up on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus, but do these dishes actually do you any good?

THE AWESOME POWER OF SLEEP
The pandemic may have left many of us feeling sleep deprived, but it’s really important to prioritise your slumber, as Dr Matthew Walker reveals.

Bird Photographer 2021 finalists announced

Now in its sixth year, the Bird Photographer of the Year competition saw more than 22,000 entries from 73 different countries all competing for the £5,000 grand prize.

1 min

POO: SHOULD WE BE PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO IT?

The trend for stool-gazing has health-conscious people staring into their toilet bowls. Before you don the rubber gloves, let’s flush out the truth from the pseudoscience

4 mins

Covid-19: Why Is It So Difficult To Figure Out Which Animal It Came From?

Was it bats? Was it pangolins? Was it both? Was it something else? Finding the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is vital for fighting future epidemics

3 mins

TIME TO SHINE

A FEW YEARS AGO, SCIENTISTS BELIEVED ONLY A TINY BAND OF CREATURES COULD EMIT LIGHT. BUT A STRING OF NEW DISCOVERIES HAS ILLUMINATED A WIDER WORLD OF GLOW-IN-THE-DARK LIFE FORMS

6 mins

THE AWESOME POWER OF SLEEP

Matthew is a professor of neuroscience and psychology and the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the author of the international bestseller, Why WeSleep: The New Science Of SleepAnd Dreams, published by (£10.99, Penguin Random House).

10+ mins

Hide And Seek In Cyberspace

A puzzle that remained unanswered for more than 14 years has now been solved, thanks to technological leaps in image searching

3 mins

LOOT BOXES: THE NEXT BIG BATTLEFRONT

Periodically, there have been moral panics about video games, with headlines claiming that “violent” and “addictive” titles are affecting impressionable players. At present, it is loot boxes’ turn to be put under the microscope. But should we be worried about video games, and are loot boxes a cause for concern?

10 mins

How Wildlife Vaccines Will Prevent The Next Human Pandemic

The coronavirus vaccines currently being injected into arms across the world are our escape route to normality. But keeping deadly viruses at bay and maintaining our freedoms in the future may require brand-new mass vaccination programmes that look very different to the ones currently taking place

9 mins

Should We Be Worried The Speed Of Earth's Rotation Is Changing?

We define a day as 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours – the time it takes for Earth to rotate once.

1 min

Why Do Some People Experience More Vaccine Side Effects Than Others?

Vaccines work by showing the body a microbial mugshot of a tiny perpetrator (such as a virus or bacterium) that is a threat to your body.

1 min

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.