Science (Page 259)

Vladimir Melnikov/Shutterstock We all know that Father Christmas would struggle to deliver presents to everyone around the world without the help of his magical reindeer. But why were they chosen to pull the sleigh rather than any other animal? It turns out that the biology of reindeer makes them idealContinue Reading

The alleged Downing Street Christmas party held during last year’s COVID-19 restrictions is the latest in a growing list of incidents where those in government appear to have flouted their own rules. The most obvious examples hardly need re-stating – from the prime minister’s former aide Dominic Cummings’ trip toContinue Reading

Elizabeth McDaniel/Unsplash If at some stage during the COVID pandemic you’ve had a face mask mysteriously disappear from your pocket, you’re not alone. From March 2020 countless discarded blue and white masks started appearing around the world. While face masks are an important protective measure against COVID-19, it quickly becameContinue Reading

Twitter recently announced that it will no longer allow “the sharing of private media, such as images or videos of private individuals without their consent”. The move takes effect through an expansion of the social media platform’s private information and media policy.   In practical terms, this means photos andContinue Reading

We have only sent people to the Moon six times so far. Design Projects/Shutterstock Why can’t we put a space station on the Moon? – Ronak, aged 17, Jaipur, India A space station on the Moon could be very useful. It would provide future space missions with a stopping pointContinue Reading

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock If someone asked you to read this text aloud in a French accent or an Italian one, you would likely understand what that means and be able to produce some version of it, even if it’s not entirely accurate (assuming you’re not a native French or ItalianContinue Reading

SeventyFour/Shutterstock The term “binge-watch” was a contender for the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2013 word of the year. Although it didn’t win (“selfie” ultimately took the crown), this pointed to the rise of what was becoming a popular activity of watching multiple episodes of a TV show in a single sitting.Continue Reading

Each year the Home Office publishes data on stop and search from all 43 police forces in England and Wales. The latest figures for the year ending March 2021 reveal a familiar pattern: stop and search disproportionately affects black people and targets drugs, not serious violence. The figures come asContinue Reading