Table of contents for February 2024 in BBC Science Focus Magazine

The ‘fountain of youth’ is not locked away in a sorcerer’s stone or mythical water source, according to new research. In fact, scientists in the US say the key to slowing ageing is hiding in our bodies. Published in Nature Aging, the new research reveals that the trick to antiageing lies within the white blood cells, known as T cells. The scientists behind the research discovered that they can reprogramme these cells to turn them into ageing-cell killing machines, called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. When they tested the treatment on mice, the mice went on to live healthier lives, with lower body weights, improved metabolism and glucose tolerance, and increased physical activity. And all without any tissue damage or toxicity. ‘If we give it to aged mice, they…

As the world grapples with the accelerating pace of climate change, the UK’s expansive network of roads, which stretches over 400,000km (250,000 miles), is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather. From tarmac melting during intense heatwaves to the proliferation of potholes due to repeated freeze-thaw cycles, the challenges facing the UK’s road infrastructure are growing in both scale and complexity. A recent survey conducted by climate change group Round Our Way has shed light on the severity of the situation. Based on information provided by 60 per cent of Britain’s local authorities, the survey reported that there was a staggering total of 750,000 potholes peppering the roads of England, Scotland and Wales in 2023. Surrey County Council, responsible for the area below southwest London, topped the list…

COUNTERINTUITIVE COSMOS FEATURE Our view of reality is severely limited. The reason for this is simple: we evolved on an African plain three million years ago. And so we have the senses necessary to survive on an African plain: eyes that can see far enough to spot a predator approaching, ears sensitive enough to hear a rustling in the long grass… Those senses have revealed only an infinitesimal fraction of the world and provided us with a certain ‘common sense’. But, at every level, we’re deceived by our ape-like intuition. Most of nature is deeply hidden from us and the world isn’t what it seems. So many things that seem obviously true are not. And here are just a few… 1 EARTH IS FLAT Apart from the lumps and bumps…

The science of astronomy has never been more exciting. Every day brings new discoveries, amazing insights and a deeper understanding of the Universe and the wonders within it. The stargazers of history would be overwhelmed by the achievements of modern astronomy. We’ve discovered over 5,500 exoplanets; we’ve captured an image of a black hole; and we’ve detected gravitational waves, a century after they were first theorised. But among these astronomical curiosities is a mystery much closer to home.There’s something strange happening out beyond Neptune, and it might just change everything we thought we knew about our Solar System. Planetary potential In 2016, astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown made an incredible announcement.They’d noticed some strange behaviour in the orbits of a number of celestial objects they were studying, the potential…

KARL STEWART, LEICESTER WHY DOES PROTEIN MAKE ME FART? Speak to dieticians, gastroenterologists or nutritional scientists and they’ll say that carbohydrates are more likely to turn you into a natural gas factory than protein. When undigested carbs ferment in the gut, they release gas. If you’re taking protein supplements, check the ingredient lists for things like fructose, lactose, xylitol or stevia. These sugars and sugar substitutes are likely the real culprits. If you’re taking a protein powder with milk or other dairy products, you may have an undiagnosed lactose intolerance. Protein sources like lentils and beans often come with fibre and a type of sugar called oligosaccharides. Neither of these are easily digested and can also cause flatulence. A lot of meat and dairy products contain sulphur, which turns into…

Scientists have finally figured out what’s hidden inside mysterious deposits buried beneath Mars’s equator. Using new data gathered by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter, scientists have discovered pockets of water ice that stretch for several kilometres underneath the Red Planet’s surface. The water ice was found beneath the Medusae Fossae formation. Mars Express has examined this part of the planet before, but when the orbiter last carried out observations of this area, 15 years ago, the results raised more questions than they answered. Back then, Mars Express revealed that there were massive deposits estimated to be 2.5km (1.6 miles) under the formation, but no one knew what these deposits might be. Now, new results show that the deposits are water ice and that they’re thicker than previously thought:…

DISCOVERIES PSYCHOLOGY Tinnitus, a condition that causes a ringing in the ears, can be debilitating for anyone who suffers from it. But an international team of researchers say they may have found a possible solution. Publishing their findings in the journal Frontiers in Audiology and Otology, the researchers were able to reduce patients’ tinnitus symptoms in a few weeks with an app they developed, called MindEar. The initial trial focused on 30 sufferers, with almost two-thirds experiencing a ‘clinically significant improvement’ while using the app. Now, the researchers plan to run larger trials in the UK alongside the University College London Hospital. “Cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT] is known to help people with tinnitus, but it requires a trained psychologist. That’s expensive and often difficult to access,” said Suzanne Purdy, Professor…

REALITY CHECK REVIEW REALITY CHECK THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE HEADLINES Tongue scraping | Water bottles | Potholes “Bad breath that isn’t related to eating garlic, onions or other odorous foods can be hard to shift. It comes down to the particulars of a person’s mouth bacteria” For more fact-checking news, visit the BBC’s Verify website at bit.ly/BBCVerify Search for the term ‘tongue scraper’ on TikTok and you’ll be met with an avalanche of videos extolling the virtues of small tongue-cleaning devices that resemble a cross between a vegetable peeler and a bottle opener. Perhaps, in pursuit of a brighter, fresher gape, you’ve had a go with a tongue scraper yourself. But what does the science say about these tools? Should you be spending extra time scraping bacteria off your tongue? And…

When the Australian television producer Rhonda Byrne hit rock bottom in 2004, she found salvation after discovering what she calls ‘the secret’ - the title she gave to her multi-millionselling book and film released a couple of years later. Apparently known and guarded by highly successful people for generations, the secret is that your thoughts shape your life. “Remember that your thoughts are the primary cause of everything,” Byrne wrote, citing the ‘Law of Attraction’ as the underlying mechanism, which is the notion that your thoughts communicate with the cosmos and, in return, it gives you what you want. Through a process of ‘manifestation’ or ‘manifesting’, if you devote time to imagining that you already have what you want and even feeling grateful, as if you already have it, then…

ACROSS 1 Feigned to go back inside coach (5) 4 Hidden nuisances include boredom (5) 8 A ring from coral reef (5) 9 Valid among the police (2,5) 10 Twitch, somewhat sticking (3) 11 Dance with strange graduate (5) 12 State king, as an alternative, to son (6) 14 Get in touch with man with directions for visual aids (7,6) 17 Posh fur that’s functioning (6) 19 Country at home with aid distribution (5) 22 Part of one tampering with trap (3) 23 Sarcastic expert assembled crib (7) 24 Ordinary people not initially donkeys (5) 25 Illuminated, chap becomes graceful(5) 26 Handy sort of tunesmith (5) DOWN 1 Transport people to annual event (4,4) 2 Initially generating space for husband (5) 3 Fruit for ruler’s wife (7) 4 Delicate and…

EYE OPENER MALDEN, NETHERLANDS What looks like a tiny firework display watched by hundreds of insects is, in fact, more like a giant game of spitball. These wood ants (Formica rufa) are shooting formic acid at a potential predator - in this case, the Dutch photographer and biologist René Krekels. The spray is said to smell like the vinegar you put on your chips. It’s not ant saliva you’ll be pleased to hear, but a spray released from their abdomens. According to entomologist Prof Adam Hart, it can cause “irritation and pain (but rarely any lasting damage) to the eyes and noses of any animals trying to dig up the ants’ nests to reach the nutritious larvae inside.” While it may look like the ants’ fusillade is going in every…

DISCOVERIES SPACE We all have bad days, committing to a monumental strop here or a display of anger there. But have you ever had a tantrum so bad that you threw an entire galaxy off balance? Well, that’s what one particularly badly behaved black hole has done and its outburst has been witnessed by the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton space observatory. Zoom in on the centre of every large galaxy and you’ll find a supermassive black hole, drawing in matter from its surroundings with its immense gravity. As the material spirals inwards, it’s crushed into what’s known as an accretion disc - a flat disc of dust and gas that orbits the black hole’s event horizon. Over time, all the material closest to the black hole crosses the event horizon…

A bold new study claims we’ve had the megalodon all wrong. According to the study, the prehistoric predator Otodus megalodon may have been more of a long and slender shark than the chunky beast we imagine today. Nose to tail, the megalodon is generally thought to have been 15-20m (50-65ft) long. It dominated Earth’s seas between 15 to 3.6 million years ago, but very little evidence of it exists in the fossil record - with only teeth and vertebrae available rather than any complete skeletons. “It claims the animal was more comparable to the much slimmer, modern-day mako shark” That’s why some estimations of its dimensions have been based on that of the modern great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), giving megalodon a thick and rounded figure. But the new study,…

An artificial intelligence (AI) has made a surprising discovery: our fingerprints aren’t unique. Well, at least not when compared to other fingers on the same hand. It has long been believed that every digit has its own pattern of whorls, loops and arches, unlike those of any other finger - so your index finger’s print would be unlike that of your ring finger. This assumption of ‘intra-person fingerprints’ being unique has had a huge impact on forensic science. For instance, if a perpetrator left prints from different fingers at separate crime scenes, it would be difficult for police to link them to one person. However, a new ‘deep contrastive network’ AI built by scientists at Columbia University, in New York, could leave a big mark on future crime scenes. After…

COMMENT Humans aren’t the fastest or strongest species. We have no wings, fangs, claws, venom or armour. Physically, we’re largely nature’s also-rans. ‘Also-ran’ is an ironic term, though, because humans do physically dominate all other species in one area: long-distance running. Our bipedal gait and unique sweat glands mean humans can keep running long after other species collapse from exhaustion. Basically, humans evolved to spend long periods physically exerting themselves - that is, exercising. But while many people do indeed enjoy exercising, the less crowded gyms and abandoned New Year resolutions of mid-February reveal they’re in the minority. Even though, as a species, we’ve evolved to do it. Why? The baffling complexity of the human brain is to blame. Evolving an ability doesn’t automatically mean we’ll want to use it;…

Take a walk around any local park, office or city centre and there’s a good chance you’ll see a number of people drinking from reusable water bottles. They’ve become something of a fashion accessory, as well as a means to help us meet the NHS health recommendations of drinking 6-8 glasses of water per day and reduce our environmental footprint by cutting down on the need for single-use plastic bottles. But, while using a water bottle might be a noble, health-improving and planet-protecting act, the bottles may be carrying a hidden risk. Research carried out by US water filtration company WaterFilterGuru has shown that if you don’t regularly wash your water bottle thoroughly, bacteria and moulds can build up - both on the inside and outside - that, if swallowed,…

A fiery beast has awoken from centuries of slumber. The past three years have seen it create cracks in Earth’s crust on the southwestern tip of Iceland and belch fountains of lava up through them. It’s captivated people worldwide and inspired a mix of awe and fear. Experts say that after 800 years of quiet, this beast the Icelandic fault line - has entered a new period of activity that could last decades. Located in the North Atlantic Ocean, Iceland is a hotspot of volcanic activity, with over 30 active volcanoes distributed across the 100,000km2 (38,600-mile2) island. On average, an eruption occurs here once every three to five years, although they’re not evenly distributed over time and tend to come in clusters of activity, punctuated by periods of relative calm.…

TRICKS OF THE LIGHT WHEN:FEBRUARY-MARCH The early lunar crescent phases that follow the new Moon are well positioned in the early spring evening sky. As we head from February into March, the spring crescents look very beautiful against the glow of evening twilight. If you have binoculars or a small telescope, there are things to look out for. Known as a clair-obscur effect, or trick of the light, recognisable shapes appear among the Moon’s jumbled regions of light and shadow. Two popular examples are known as the Lunar X and V. These occur at the same time in different positions along the Moon’s terminator - the line dividing night from day. Spot them on 17 February at around 00:40am and again on 17 March in a daylight sky at 2:20pm.…

Ian is a freelance science writer and the former deputy editor of BBC Science Focus. Unless you’re a lipids researcher or a fan of health podcasts, you’ll be forgiven for not knowing what Apolipoprotein B-100 is. The protein (ApoB to its friends) is created in the liver. It helps shift dietary fat and cholesterol around the body, and bind them to cells where they can be used, stored or removed. But it’s also something of a celebrity: the focus of online chat, at-home health tests and biomedical research. All because measuring ApoB is a highly accurate way of predicting a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease — more so than traditional cholesterol tests. A 2021 paper in The Lancet Health Longevity said ApoB was emerging as the “crucial lipoprotein trait” in…