Science Illustrated

Science Illustrated delivers natural science, break through discoveries and an understanding of the world for the entire family. Packed with stunning photography and in-depth editorial it’s a visually spectacular gateway to the world looking into the beginning of life to distant objects in the universe.

Science Illustrated Australia

Star quality: Chile telescope produces super-sharpness

Tiger king: tree hugger of a different stripe

Life on Earth could be observed from more than 1000 stars • ‘Is there a lower limit to temperatures our bodies can tolerate even when wrapped in clothes? Can temperatures become so low that the lungs freeze when breathing air?’

Stone Age women hunted big game • The excavation of a 9000-year-old hunter grave is changing scientists’ idea of gender roles in Stone Age hunter-gatherer communities.

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Changing fat from white to brown • The removal of one single gene in our fat cells could be the key to a new obesity treatment where scientists could make fat cells burn energy instead of accumulating it.

Wind turbine harvests power from high-speed traffic • Air pressure caused by cars could generate power for street lamps and the grid.

Memory without a brain? The secrets of the Venus flytrap • Genetically-modified versions of the Venus flytrap plant reveal that it uses memory in its search for insects.

Gene therapy could return sight to people who are blind • The eye disease glaucoma destroys the optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain’s centre of vision. According to new experiments, a protein can repair the damage.

New reactor paves the way to fusion energy • British scientists have built a test reactor that takes a step closer to the dream of fusion energy and its promise of an inexhaustible source of green energy.

Magnetar throws radiation bombs • Scientists have identified the source of one of the mysterious radio bursts that have briefly penetrated space. It was emitted by a magnetar in our own galaxy.

Monster gulls conquered the air after pterosaur extinction

New method helps patients sober up three times faster

What is the lowest temperature a human being can survive? • ‘Is there a lower limit to temperatures our bodies can tolerate even when wrapped in clothes? Can temperatures become so low that the lungs freeze when breathing air?’

…cats always land on their feet? • Is it just a figure of speech that cats always land on their feet, or is it actually true? If so, why don’t all animals do this?

How can a hen lay an egg inside another egg? • “I’ve heard stories of people finding eggs inside another egg, complete with shell and everything. Can this happen, and how?”

Can you hear sounds in space?

Tourists to sightsee from the ISS: 2021: A SPACE ODYSSEY • Space is now finally within reach of ordinary (if wealthy) people. If you have the money and can face 15 weeks of astronaut training, you could spend your next summer holiday in a state of weightlessness inside and outside the International Space Station.

Space in space for seven • The Crew Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX consists of two parts – a cargo bay and a space capsule for the astronauts. The capsule can carry seven people, including pilots. They share a space of 9.3m3 – rather smaller than the back of a transit van.

Orbit requires higher speeds • A rocket can only lift off if it produces a force that beats gravity. Space officially begins at an altitude of 100km, which can be reached by means of a relatively small rocket. To leave Earth completely and enter orbit, a complex rocket engine and hundreds of tonnes of fuel are required.

Checking in at the space hotel • Axiom Space of the USA plans to spend a decade constructing a ‘hotel’ in the first...