Innehållsförteckning för February 2025 från BBC Science Focus Magazine

A new meta-analysis published in the journal Psychological Bulletin could rock dinner table tensions across the world, after revealing that eldest daughters are more likely to receive preferential treatment from their parents. Researchers evaluated how the birth order, gender and temperament of 19,469 participants were linked to parental favouritism. Though researchers expected to find that mothers favoured daughters and fathers favoured sons, the study found that both mothers and fathers were more likely to have a daughter as their favourite child. “Both mothers and fathers were more likely to have a daughter as their favourite child” Parents were also more likely to give elder siblings greater autonomy, which researchers recognised as preferential treatment. They also classified favouritism as being shown through how much money parents were spending on their children,…

The internet is currently awash with articles, videos and podcasts promising to help you “reset your brain's reward system” and “rediscover the joy in life's simple pleasures.” Lowering your current level of stimulation, they claim, will help you not only regain your ability to focus, but also become more productive. The practice has come to be known as dopamine detoxing and, according to its advocates, the reason so many of us are so easily distracted and apathetic is because of the over-availability of short-term rewards. Temptations such as social media, video games, junk food, online shopping, coffee and alcohol have burnt out our brains' dopamine-based reward systems. The near-constant buzz of these hits has depleted our dopamine levels, leaving us unable to focus on what matters or appreciate the finer…

New Jersey is the new Roswell – or so it might seem after a swarm of bright lights, glowing orange-red orbs and unidentified flying objects filled the skies throughout December 2024. As expected, these strange orbs gave rise to a flood of conspiracy theories involving UFOs and foreign interference. One US Republican congressman even claimed the lights were aircraft originating from an “Iranian mothership,” a theory swiftly dismissed by the Pentagon.. Although the exact source of the objects remains unconfirmed, US officials suggest that the majority of sightings were most lik kely caused by - you guessed it - civilian-operated drones. The New Jersey drone saga is yet another example of how many so-called UFOs have perfectly logical explanations. But not all phenomena are so easily dismissed. For decades, scientists…

When archaeologist Stéphen Rostain first started doing fieldwork in the Amazon rainforest about 40 years ago, there was very little interest in the region. Archaeologists studying the history of the Americas before European colonisation were largely focused on the remains of pyramids and temples built by the ancient Mayas who lived in Mexico and Central America. It was believed that for the past 2,000 years or more, small, nomadic tribes had lived in the dense forests of the Amazon, but that civilisation, as we know it, had never reached them. “We were less than 10 archaeologists working in the Amazon,” says Rostain, now director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. “Everybody said there's nothing to find.” For four decades, Rostain carried out excavations…

LORI SCHAEFER, VIA EMAIL WHY DOES MY STOMACH DROP ON A ROLLERCOASTER OR WHEN I'M DRIVING OVER A BUMP? No one knows for sure, but when you experience that 'stomach drop' feeling on a rollercoaster, or abruptly descending in a lift, or even going over a big bump in the car, it's likely to do with how your body and internal systems respond to rapid changes in motion and gravity. Normally, your organs are held in place by a network of tissues and muscles, and gravity is pulling everything down. But when you go over a bump or a dip in a car, you experience a sudden change in speed and direction – especially when you quickly accelerate downward. In that moment, your organs don't 'fall' at the same rate…

PENCILS AT THE READY! ACROSS 7 Risk not starting walk (5) 9 Mad at award for unprocessed information (3,4) 10 North Star, round and large in capital (7) 11 Diets affected by sea changes (5) 12 Pictures one playing games (6) 13 Bob has you, ultimately, in his head (6) 16 Last to finish by river (6) 17 Knock a self-service arrangement (6) 19 Not starting trouble – that's different (5) 21 Liberal broadcaster outside is modest (7) 22 Endless objection wrapped in hackneyed praise (7) 23 Clan flourished around a waterway (5) DOWN 1 Theatrical spectacle reported in temporary accommodation (8) 2 Repeatedly perceive agreement in the house (4,4) 3 Bishop, reckless and full of himself (5) 4 Studious person pulls back (4) 5 Biblical location of endangered hybrid (6,2,4) 6 Service means a great deal (4) 8 Party also with a feature outside – restraint…

The Artificial Human: Should AI have a 'kill switch'? Artificial Intelligence experts Dr Kanta Dihal and Prof Michael Rovatsos analyse the potential perils and immediate pitfalls of AI. Listen now on BBC Sounds BBC Inside Science: Is 1.5 still alive? Does the 1.5°C climate warming limit have any bearing in 2025? Climate scientist Prof Mark Maslin and environmental psychologist Prof Lorraine Whitmarsh investigate. Listen now on BBC Sounds Winterwatch: Series 13 An up-close and expert look at the best of Britain's wildlife during the most challenging time of year. Watch all episodes now on BBC iPlayer…

“Obesity represents one of the biggest global threats to cardiovascular health in our lifetimes, yet our way of defining obesity is inadequate” For those of us that eat red meat, there's nothing better than a fat-marbled steak. Japanese Wagyu beef, in particular, is prized for the streaks of white fat that ribbon intricately through the red meat. Now experts are saying that not only does this kind of fat exist in human muscle, but that an excess can be a better indicator of heart health than the measurements we currently use. The pockets of fat dispersed throughout muscle are known as intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT). Although experts have known about the existence of IMAT in animals since 1972, it's only been studied in humans since the turn of the century,…

Aew study from Columbia University has revealed the best way to improve your mental wellbeing in later life. The researchers behind the study discovered that volunteering reduces the risk of depression in retirees by as much as 43 per cent. The researchers think volunteering provides social interaction and a sense of purpose, both of which contribute to an enhanced feeling of life satisfaction. Depression is a serious health concern for the growing age group of people over 60, who form 17 per cent of the world's population. People who are depressed are far more likely to develop other chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and higher blood pressure, which can all result in premature mortality. The new study found that higher rates of depression were found in the 65–69…

Whether it's wealth, fame or power, it's human nature to mimic those we perceive as more successful than us in the hopes of achieving similar status. Thankfully, many tech CEOs, celebrities and fitness influencers are willing to share their daily routines, often claiming their regimes ensure maximum productivity and continued success. But whether it's Mark Wahlberg's 2:30am prayer-and-workout blast, Grimes's other-worldly wellness routine, Gwyneth Paltrow's oil pulling and sauna strategy, or Bryan Johnson's bleak immortality grind, such routines are often… rather extreme. Being so incompatible with the average person's life – and, invariably, science – why do the overwhelming majority of successful people seem to promote lengthy, complex and unobtainable daily routines? It's odd to think that the rich and successful adopt such punishing daily routines because they desire 'control'…

We all know eating fruits and vegetables is good for our health. But how much is enough, exactly? The World Health Organization (WHO) says, to help lower the risk of serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and several types of cancer, we should each be eating at least 400g or 14oz a day (for context, a medium-sized apple weighs about 150g/5oz). How close people get to this target varies around the world. But across the 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (which includes the UK and US), only 15 per cent of people eat the recommended amount. That's worrying because, as you'd expect, fruit and vegetables contain a smörgåsbord of nutrients that keep our brains and bodies in tip-top shape. That…

One in ten people suffer after eating a meal. Instead of sitting back to relax while feeling sated, nourished and full, these people associate finishing a dish with stomach cramps, bloating and problems emptying O their bowels (either too quickly or too slowly). This suffering is caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and it's estimated that around 10 per cent of the world's population (possibly more according to some estimates) experiences it to some degree. IBS is an unpleasant experience for anyone afflicted with it, and that tends to be more women than men. Yet for such a common condition, we know frustratingly little about what causes it and how to go about treating it. There are plenty of suggestions for possible causes. For example, some point towards a leaky…

It takes a diver with very keen eyesight to spot one of the ocean's most adorable molluscs. This species of tiny sea slug, Costasiella kuroshimae – also known as the leaf sheep – grows, at most, to a centimetre in length (about a fingernail's width). And they're superbly camouflaged. Their green bodies perfectly match the colour of the seaweeds they live on, because this is also what they eat. And when they do eat it, something amazing happens: they turn into solar-powered sea slugs. Just like land plants, seaweeds have tiny structures inside their cells called chloroplasts, which carry out the process of photosynthesis. They harness energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into sugars. When the leaf sheep eats seaweed, like sheep grazing on grass, they can digest those…

As the old saying goes, you can't polish a turd, but you can – and arguably should – study them. Doctors have long known that the contents of our toilet bowls offer real insights into our overall health. Now that wisdom extends to how often we fill those bowls. Last year, a team of researchers found a link between the frequency of bowel movements and long-term health. They analysed 1,400 healthy adults, discounting people with certain conditions or using medications that might affect their stools. Next, they devised four categories of unclogging the trumpet: constipation (one or two bowel movements per week), low-normal (between three and six bowel movements per week), high-normal (between one and three bowel movements per day), and diarrhoea. Within this scale, the team found a kind…

Frozen in time YAKUTIA, SIBERIA 'Yana', a female baby mammoth found in thawing permafrost in Siberia, is something special. The scientists examining her say she's the best-preserved mammoth carcass that's ever been found. It's estimated that Yana's remains are 50,000 years old. They weigh in at over 100kg (220lbs) and measure just 1.2m tall (4ft) tall, and from what they can tell, scientists think Yana was just one year old when she died. Even so, she's still able to give us a glimpse into the past. She was discovered and identified by people who live near the river Yana, (hence her name). The area is well-known for its prehistoric discoveries, as the permafrost that covers it is melting due to climate change and revealing the secrets hidden beneath. Scientists also…

The cheerful trill of birdsong is typically a welcome sign of spring rather than a sound you'd expect to encounter in the vastness of space. Yet scientists at Beihang University in China have just detected something similar over 100,000km (62,000 miles) away from Earth. Analysing data from NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites, the scientists identified a phenomenon known as a 'chorus wave' – bursts of electromagnetic radiation that travel along Earth's magnetic field lines. They then converted these waves into audio signals for analysis, creating the strange chirping sound. Chorus waves are actually quite normal. What's strange about these new electromagnetic chirps, however, is how far away they've been detected from Earth. Usually, the waves are found around 51,000km (32,000 miles) away, where something called the 'magnetic dipolar effect' gives…

Watch Pompeii: The New Dig – House of Treasures on BBC iPlayer now Archaeologists have made a once-in-a-century discovery at Pompeii, the ancient city buried under volcanic ash nearly 2,000 years ago. The international team of experts uncovered a massive private bathhouse, potentially the largest ever found in the city – a remarkable find that sheds new light on Pompeii's reputation as a hub of innovation and wealth. Complete with hot and cold rooms, intricate artwork and a sizeable pool, the bathhouse is believed to have accommodated up to 30 people. Private baths were a rarity in Pompeii, reserved only for the rich. In one cramped room, the remains of two people were found: a man, believed to be a slave, and a high-status woman. The woman's bones and teeth were…

Over the last few years we've been treated to stunning sights sent back to Earth by the James Webb Space Telescope. But the Hubble Space Telescope has still been diligently working away in the background. This is one of Hubble's images (made up of 600 pictures) and took over 10 years to create. It shows the Andromeda Galaxy (also known as Messier 31), a spiral galaxy that sits 2.5 million light-years away from the Milky Way – making it our nearest galactic neighbour. It was the confirmation of the distance between us and Andromeda, made by Edwin Hubble in 1925, that revealed the Milky Way was just one galaxy in a Universe filled with them. A century later, the telescope named after Hubble has captured the same galaxy in extraordinary…

The biggest tech event in the world, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), takes place every January in Las Vegas. Each year the focus falls on the latest marvels, from medical devices to flying machines, increasingly with artificial intelligence built in. But there's always another, arguably more interesting, category of gadgets on display at CES: weird tech. Each year, the exhibitors unveil a raft of strange devices. Some of them are genuinely useful, others are questionable (at best). Here are just a few of our favourite examples from this year's crop… The year's biggest tech event has come and gone. Here's our pick of the weirdest gadgets that caught our attention No 1 AN AI-POWERED BIRD BATH Birdfy Bath Pro £205, birdfy.com Whether you just like birds generally or are a committed…

While the menopause occurs as a single day in a woman's life – when the ovaries cease producing hormones – the time leading up to this life-changing event can last for several years. This extended period in a woman's life is referred to as the perimenopause. On average, women hit the menopause at 51 years old, so the majority of women will begin experiencing perimenopause symptoms in their mid-40s. And these symptoms can vary wildly between individuals. Hot flushes and irregular heavy periods are often noted as the tell-tale signs, but they're not necessarily experienced by everyone. And even within an individual, the type, frequency and intensity of symptoms are prone to change. “The type and dose of HRT depends on the symptoms being managed, the risks to the individual…