In this issue

MISSION INTO THE SUN
Are we finally ready to explore the star that has continued to remain stubbornly out of reach?

What a wind
The solar wind carried with it the sun’s magnetic field and streams out into space at about 1,600,000km/h (1,000,000mph).
It bathes the planets, and when it collides with the Earth, it sparks the stunning auroras that shine in the polar skies.

She's Having A Bubble!

Kedah, Malaysia

1 min

Jovian ‘Twilight Zone'

This image captures the swirling cloud formations around the south pole of Jupiter, looking up toward the equatorial region.

1 min

Cockatoos Are Skilful Shape-Sorters

Who’s a clever boy, then? Goffin’s cockatoos, a species of small parrot native to Australasia, have been shown to have similar shape-recognition abilities to a human two-year-old.

1 min

Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Impact Was Worse Than We Thought

Some 66 million years ago, an asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula in Central America, forming the Chicxulub crater and wiping out the dinosaurs in what is known as the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event. But two new pieces of research suggest that this impact was even more cataclysmic than was previously believed. 

1 min

Newly Identified Orangutan Is World's Most Endangered Great Ape Species

A population of orangutans that lives in a remote part of northern Sumatra, and that was only discovered in 1997, has now been identified as a separate species. With only around 800 individuals known to exist, it’s now also the most threatened of all great ape species.

1 min

Deforestation Leaves Sumatran Tigers Dangerously Close To Extinction

Sumatran tigers are increasingly under threat due to their habitat being eaten away by deforestation, a year-long study by researchers at the University of California has found.

1 min

Mission Into The Sun

We’ve visited Pluto and the outer reaches of the Solar System, and our rovers are trundling over the surface of Mars. Yet the Sun has remained stubbornly out of reach… until now

8 mins

Norman England's Warrior Queen

The achievements of Matilda of Boulogne, wife of King Stephen, are often overlooked in favour of her enemy, Empress Maud. Alison Weir examines the woman who raised an army in the 1140s to defend the English throne.

7 mins

Prof Raj Lada

Helen Pilcher quizzes the founder of the Christmas Tree Research Centre to find out his secret formula for avoiding a carpet covered in pine needles…

2 mins

Helen Czerski On… Aerosols

“MY FAVOURITE SCARF NOW SMELT LIKE THE START OF A TEENAGE LAD’S NIGHT OUT”

3 mins

Read all stories from BBC Earth

BBC Earth Magazine Description:

A bi-monthly publication containing a feast of information for the curious mind. Every issue is packed with fascinating images, thought-provoking and entertaining articles about the world around us, the natural life that populates it, the history that has shaped our existence upon it, and the science that has driven it and continues to propel us into the future.