Science (Page 185)

black hole Black holes could explain a mysterious form of energy that makes up most of the universe, according to astronomers. The existence of “dark energy” has been inferred from observations of stars and galaxies, but no one has been able to explain what it is, or where it comesContinue Reading

Gene editing revolutionised science. PopTika/Shutterstock It is the most exciting time in genetics since the discovery of DNA in 1953. This is mainly due to scientific breakthroughs including the ability to change DNA through a process called gene editing. The potential for this technology is astonishing – from treating geneticContinue Reading

Andrey Prokhorov/Shutterstock Humans are naturally afraid of the dark. We sometimes imagine monsters under the bed and walk faster down unlit streets at night. To conquer our fears, we may leave a night light on to scare away the monsters and a light over the porch to deter break-ins. Yet,Continue Reading

What is your love language? NDAB Creativity/Shutterstock If you’ve ever flipped through the pages of a women’s lifestyle magazine, there’s a good chance you’ve stumbled onto a quiz promising to answer the question “what is your love language?”. Or if social media is more your speed, there’s no shortage ofContinue Reading

The earthquakes that struck in Turkey and Syria in the early hours of February 6 have led to terrible destruction on a scale not seen in Europe for many decades. At the time of writing, the death toll has risen beyond 11,000 people and will continue to rise over theContinue Reading

Communal bathing can get pretty disgusting. monic zrivoic/Shutterstock For many centuries we have bathed in communal waters. Sometimes for cleanliness but more often for pleasure. Indeed, in ancient Greece, baths were taken in freshwater, or sometimes the sea – which was thought of as a sacred place dedicated to localContinue Reading

Virgin Orbit is launching satellites using a rocket slung under the wing of an aircraft. Virgin Orbit, Author provided Having the capability to launch satellites from UK soil has been a long time coming. The recent attempted launch from Cornwall did not succeed, despite high hopes. Nevertheless, it marks anContinue Reading

Pexels/ajay donga It’s one thing to know what makes people happy, but quite another to live a happy life oneself. I didn’t get a true taste of happiness until I quit my decade-long career as a happiness academic, packed all I’d need for many months onto a bicycle, and beganContinue Reading