Science

Science

Artemis II Moon Mission

NASA's Return to Deep Space

Choosing to go to the Moon in this decade is no longer about putting a man or woman on its surface, but a much grander ambition: to use new technological feats to push lunar exploration further than ever before – and, ultimately, to enable a crewed mission to Mars. On the evening of 1 April 2026, Artemis II launched from the Kennedy Space Center and, for the first time since Apollo 17 – more than half a century ago – humanity left the safety of low Earth orbit and set its course for the Moon. Artemis II was a nine-day lunar flyby mission and the first crewed flight of NASA’s new programme. The four astronauts onboard the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity by the crew, were NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Each was on an historic voyage: Glover became the first person of colour, Koch the first woman, Hansen the first non-US citizen and Wiseman, at 50, the oldest person to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Despite the high-tech machinery in mission...

Science

The Future of Food at the Science Museum

How science is reshaping what – and how – we eat.

In Future of Food, the Science Museum delivers a compelling deep-dive into how science and innovation are revolutionising the way we grow, cook, and consume food. With more than 100 thought-provoking objects on display – from 3,500-year-old Egyptian sourdough to lab-grown beef steak and cricket burgers – the free exhibition challenges visitors to confront the […]

Science

Voyager: Mankind’s Love Letter to the Stars

Humanity’s boldest messenger carries our hopes across the Cosmic Sea

There is something intrinsically romantic about a lone spacecraft drifting through the infinite horizon. It valiantly continues to communicate, even if its time is finite. In February this year, travelling at 61,197 km/h (38,026 mph) relative to the sun, Voyager 1 crossed the 25-billion-kilometre mark (about 15.6 billion miles) from Earth. Radio signals now take […]

Lifestyle, Science

Olympic timing: from 1964 to 2021

How technology has changed from one Tokyo Games to the next.

When American Bob Hayes crossed the finish line at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, winning gold in the Men’s 100 metres, there were two times measured. One manually by the stewards, one via a fully automatic timing device. Although it was not evident as Hayes celebrated his triumph, in that moment Olympic timing changed forever. […]

Science

New Blood

The European Space Agency (ESA) looks for new recruits

For the first time in 11 years, ESA is looking for a new astronaut squad. These recruits will work alongside their existing astronauts as Europe enters a new era of space exploration. Established in 1975, the European Space Agency now has 22 Member States and cooperates with many others. Their mission is the peaceful exploration […]

Science

Ella Podmore

Breaking moulds... and other things

At the tender age of 24, glamorous Ella is literally breaking moulds in the automotive sector as one of the youngest female materials engineers working in the industry, specialised in corrosion science and metallographic fracture analysis. As a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) industries ambassador, Ella goes around schools inspiring kids to go down […]

Science

Women’s Relentless Pursuit of Science

by Anna Reser and Leila McNeill

In a white farmhouse in the small town of Granby, Massachusetts, retired schoolteacher Abbie C. E. Lathrop made herself into a scientist. To make an income, Lathrop had started a business breeding fancy mice and selling them as pets; and in the process, she learned how to breed them for specific genetic traits. A self-taught […]

Lifestyle, Science

Let’s talk about love

by Dr Jacqui Gabb

How have your relationships fared this year? As we well know, 2020 has been excellent at turning everything on its head. What better than the total crisis of a global pandemic to give you a newfound sense of perspective on your relationship? Only 63% of people reported that their relationship had stayed much the same […]

Science

Musings of two fermentation fetishists

The importance of fermented foods

Sandor Ellix Katz is a fermentation revivalist. His explorations in fermentation developed out of overlapping interests in cooking, nutrition, and gardening. He is the author of two best-selling books: Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation, which won a James Beard Foundation award in 2013 and the recently published Fermentation as Metaphor. Miguel Toribio-Mateas is a clinical neuroscientist […]

Science

The Pump of Curiosity

by Graham Jones

The Fermi paradox is one of the most puzzling problems in science. Could solar eclipses have anything to do with it? It took Enrico Fermi, a giant of 20th-century physics, just three words to brutally expose a troubling fact about the universe: where is everybody? Fermi’s question — generally referred to as the Fermi paradox […]

Science

Corona Virus

Is the planet spring-cleaning?

British Biologist Sir Peter Brian Medawar defined viruses as “a piece of bad news wrapped in a protein coat.” Many viruses were put at bay in the 20th century by the development of vaccination. Thanks to vaccines, horrible diseases like poliomyelitis, small pox or rubella were eradicated. However, we don’t yet have vaccines against all […]

Science

The True Freedom

by Irena Tyshyna

How often did you try to change yourself, your life or the lives of others? By “changing” we always assume “changing for the better.” Practically everybody is striving to be a better person, a better citizen, a better parent, spouse, friend. We also want to have the best children, politicians, lawyers, work colleagues, wives, husbands. […]