Very Interesting
YOU, ME AND OUR MICROBES
Why you are more like your partner than you might think
2 min |
July/August 2022
Very Interesting
ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?
The search for alien life is ramping up. But what if, instead of searching for signs of biology, we looked for something more familiar: an extraterrestrial civilisation?
10+ min |
July/August 2022
Very Interesting
THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE
A mathematical phenomenon seen in everything from fruit to music
4 min |
July/August 2022
Very Interesting
A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
The volcanoes of 2021 blew our minds at a time when much of the world was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic
4 min |
July/August 2022
Very Interesting
NEW DADS: DO THEY GET POSTNATAL DEPRESSION?
Nearly one in four new fathers suffers from anxiety and depression in the first year following their children’s birth. Should we be doing more to help them?
3 min |
July/August 2022
Very Interesting
YOUR PRODUCTIVE BRAIN
Increasing your productivity is easy. It’s just a matter of making a few simple changes to your routine, or behaviour, or thinking, and your productivity will soar. At least, that’s what countless online articles claim. The actual science tells a different story. Even a modest amount of research reveals that some of the most commonly touted claims about how to boost productivity fall apart in the face of the evidence. So, here are some of the most common myths around boosting productivity, along with a number of approaches that have a more robust scientific basis.
10+ min |
July/August 2022
Very Interesting
An Immune System for the Planet
Can we build a global pathogen defence system – a planetary equivalent of the immune system – to protect us when the next pandemic arrives?
10+ min |
July/August 2022
Very Interesting
DOES YOUR DOG REALLY LOVE YOU?
Sure, they wag their tails to greet us and are happy to snuggle up and watch TV in the evening, but are our beloved pooches actually experiencing the same love for us as we feel for them?
8 min |
July/August 2022
Popular Mechanics South Africa
Elizabeth Ann is the first clone of a US endangered species. She was 33 years in the making
For the first time, scientists have created a clone of an endangered US species - a black-footed ferret named Elizabeth Ann. The researchers used cells from a donor that had been dead for more than 30 years, and the procedure's success could mean not only rescue for one of North America's most endangered mammals, but a watershed moment in conservation biology.
4 min |
July/August 2022
Forbes Africa
Cancer's cure
Dr Shaheenah Dawood says it's an exciting time for oncology research and is spearheading change in cancer care in the UAE, making sure that all patients, whether they come from the Middle East or Africa, have access to medication and treatment.
3 min |
June-July 2022
Very Interesting
NOT MY FIRST METAVERSE
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg might be getting excited about the metaverse, but the idea is nothing new
2 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
SEEING THE BLUES
Blue light from devices can have positive and negative effects on us
4 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
WHAT IS SYNAESTHESIA?
Connecting senses in fascinating ways means some people see the world completely differently
3 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
NASA'S SOLAR PROBE 'TOUCHES' THE SUN
The Parker Solar Probe is part of the way through its seven-year mission to investigate the inner workings of our nearest star
3 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
THE ΒΙΟ BOTS
Bio-inspired robots that can fly like birds and creep like cockroaches are helping researchers to understand more about how animals move and behave
6 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
THE VOLCANO THAT SHOOK THE EARTH
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano was a once-in-a-century geological event - and now the clock is ticking to study its effects...
5 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
ME YOU, AND INTIMACY TOO
When was the last time you were intimate with someone, emotionally, intellectually, or physically? Psychologist Dr Michelle Drouin says we are in an intimacy famine, and speaks to Amy Barrett about whether social media and smartphones are stripping us of one of our basic human needs
10 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
A Winning Formula
Beneath the rainforests of South America lives a fungi that consumes 50,000 leaves a day without ever coming to the surface. It relies on ants to bring it food in exchange for nutrients. Evolutionary biologist Dr Pepijn Kooij speaks to Amy Barrett about this special relationship...
9 min |
May/June 2022
Very Interesting
An end to ageing?
Eternal youth is the stuff of religion and mythology, but what if we could just have a bit more of it? What if there was a pill that could slow down the ravages of time, so that you could feel younger for longer. It sounds like snake oil, but there's a growing body of research that's betting on making it a reality
9 min |
May/June 2022
Fairlady
How to Make Your Own Luck
Luck isn’t easy to measure or study, but those who have managed to do it discovered it’s not the work of fate – it’s a skill you can cultivate and improve. So, how do you go about it?
8 min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
Skull From Ancient Human Ancestor Unearthed
The 250,000-year-old remains of a Homo naledi were found in the remote depths of the Rising Star cave system in Johannesburg
2 min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
Combatting Virus Variants Before They Emerge
The technology could be used to create universal vaccines for COVID, malaria and more, its creators say
2 min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
Beethoven's Unfinished 10th Symphony Completed by an AI
Computer scientists teamed up with historians, musicologists, and composers to teach artificial intelligence how to compose like Beethoven
5 min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
Bearing With a Sore Head
What hurts in your skull - and why
4 min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
Your Mysterious Brain
Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what's between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains...
10+ min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
Octopuses on Parade
With three hearts, blue blood, eight bendy arms, and intelligence that outsmarts other spineless animals, there's nothing quite like an octopus. Join us on a dive into their weird world...
6 min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
The First Black Holes
Since just after the Big Bang, ancient black holes may have been shaping the universe as we know it. Now, scientists are tantalizingly close to glimpsing these mysterious objects for the first time
10+ min |
March/April 2022
Very Interesting
Only in Your Wildest Dreams
Even today, scientists don't know why we dream. But now, psychologists have found a way to communicate with lucid dreamers - people who can take control of their dreams – in the hope that they might help us explore what goes on with our brains at night
10 min |
March/April 2022
Popular Mechanics South Africa
Elon Musk says settlers will likely die on Mars. He's right.
When Elon Musk said there’s a ‘good chance’ the first settlers on the Red Planet will die there, at an August 2020 conference, the outcome was easy to imagine. It’s a dangerous place, after all. But that obscures the ultimate goal of any colony: to have people comfortably die on Mars after a long life of work and play that, we hope, looks at least a little like life on Earth.
3 min |
January/February 2022
Farmer's Weekly
Why wetlands are vital for humans and nature: Part 1
Wetlands vary greatly in type, yet all are indispensable for purifying water and controlling its flow. They include mountain springs, midland marshes, flood plains, coastal lakes, mangrove swamps and estuaries.
2 min |