BBC Knowledge - April 2016

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We live in such exciting times. In 1916, Albert Einstein had predicted the existence of gravitational waves – ripples generated in space-time when an event on a mammothian scale occurs, such as the collision of two black holes. It’s remained a theoretical concept since the early part of the century till a few weeks ago when Ligo physicists announced that they have discovered and are able to detect these waves. The announcement has the science community electrified. These waves are like no other they say. They are carrying data and information, in their purest form yet, about celestial bodies and events that happened billions of years ago – perhaps also about the Big Bang. The next on the list now could be dark matter. In this issue, we seek out a bit of the magic from the cosmos. The cover story is on the age-old quest of extra-terrestrial life. Will they look like the little green men with soulless eyes or as my 10-year-old suggested, could be in a form we haven’t yet learnt to recognise? Read the fascinating story about how we may be looking for E.T. in the wrong place altogether. Another fascinating feature is one where we put together all the milestones achieved last year in science. The compilation is so awesome that we wonder – was 2015: The Best Ever Year for Science? On page 38. Must read as well is At Work with David Attenborough, a day-in-the-life-kind-of piece with the world famous and enigmatic broadcaster and naturalist. And how can I forget – the magazine starts with the super special Q&A section, solely dedicated to Star Wars. It may a bit late in the day since the movie released but something tells me it’s never late in the day to talk about Star Wars. Happy reading.