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Rocketry is hard, and international players in the industry are constantly trying to learn from any failures. The year 2021 saw more than 10 failures of various missions during or shortly after launch, from the United States to China to South Korea. Below are the list of failed space missions this year and what we … Read more
By Gege Li A larva of a polychaete worm Jan van IJken Photographer Jan van IJken THESE mesmerising shots reveal the microscopic beauty of plankton – and their predators. They are part of a film and photo project called Planktonium by photographer Jan van IJken, who captured this diverse array of species in various Dutch … Read more
By Sally Adee The Unfamiliar Garden / The Sky Vault Benjamin Percy Hodder & Stoughton Not one but two sequels to The Ninth Metal come out this year. A comet peppers Earth with a new metallic super-ore whose discovery changes everything. Out in January and August, respectively. Goliath: A novel Tochi Onyebuchi Tordotcom In … Read more
By Graham Lawton Yang Zheng/VCG via Getty Images WHEN it comes to selecting venues for crunch talks on the future of the planet, the United Nations does a nice – if possibly unintentional – line in irony. Much was made of last year’s decision to hold the COP26 climate talks in the UK, which as … Read more
By Alasdair Lane Finnish peat bogs that were drained for forestation are now being restored Jani Riekkinen/EyeEm via Getty Images LIKE much of Europe, Finland was left economically bereft by the second world war. It needed to ramp up productivity fast and the government decided the answer was forestry, the country’s industrial backbone for generations. Vast … Read more
Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Humans 29 December 2021 Josie Ford Glowing reports Happy new year, happy new year – may we all have a vision, now and then, of a world where every neighbour is a friend! You catch us having our annual bath, … Read more
By Adam Corner Simone Rotella LAST year saw a wave of climate change coverage and record levels of public concern. One poll found that 40 per cent of people in the UK thought climate change was the most important issue facing the country, and a major 30-country study found similar results, with most people in … Read more
By Michael Le Page The delta variant, viewed using an electron microscope Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library WE HAVE been watching evolution in action as one coronavirus variant after another emerges and triggers further waves of infections around the world. There is every reason to think this will continue during 2022 – and there is no … Read more
By Simon Ings If we can’t beat water, perhaps we should learn to go with the flow Pete Saloutos/Getty Images Explore and protect ACROSS the globe, water went wild in 2021. Floods hit everywhere from Afghanistan to New Zealand, and the UK was affected by flash floods in the summer. So, as we begin 2022, … Read more
It’s now been two years since Chinese authorities first informed the World Health Organization about an unknown virus in Wuhan. How has our understanding of the virus changed since then and where does that leave us? Health 31 December 2021 By Helen Thomson A new hospital was rapidly built in Wuhan, China, in early 2020 … Read more