Complete for Science Focus
Articles about Complete for Science Focus
Experts studied the world's longest-living people – and found something surprising about their drinking habits
Blue Zone communities are famous for their daily glass of wine. But the science behind it is far murkier than the tradition suggests
7 simple habits that could reverse diabetes
It takes a lot of work, but it is possible to push back the condition
Monk fruit sweeteners are surging in popularity, here's why
The ancient fruit that could help you cut sugar.
The subtle signs that somebody secretly dislikes you, according to a psychologist
Wondering whether a colleague secretly dislikes you? From avoiding eye contact to subtle facial expressions, psychologists explain five signs to look out for – and why you shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
The subtle signs of ADHD that most people miss, according to doctors
ADHD is linked to asthma, gut problems, obesity and heart disease. Scientists explain why – and what it could mean for how ADHD is spotted and treated.
We’re finally unlocking the biggest mysteries of the clitoris
From its anatomy to its purpose, there’s a lot we don't know about the female organ
The surprising ways Parkinson’s can now be spotted years early
A wave of new breakthrough tech could detect the disease years – even decades – before major symptoms strike
5 surprising lessons about GLP-1s, from the scientists who study them
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are having unexpected effects beyond appetite suppression and weight loss. Discover five surprising findings from research into these increasingly popular medicines.
The surprising truth about your body's brown fat, according to Harvard professors
Is brown fat really the miracle weight-loss tissue wellness influencers claim it is? Experts sift the science from the hype.
Why the ocean is so noisy – and which animals are making all that sound
These sea creatures need to start a heavy metal band
'If I'm wrong, I can retire': Why some physicists are now betting big that dark energy doesn't exist
There’s a big, gaping hole in our understanding of the Universe. Meet the scientists trying to understand it.
Record numbers of humpback whales are gathering – and experts don’t know why
After nearly going extinct only a few decades ago, these giants are getting together to put on one of nature’s most spectacular – and mysterious – shows
NASA has found a mysterious giant hexagon over Saturn’s north pole
During its mission to Saturn in 1981, NASA’s Voyager 1 probe discovered an odd, long-lived hexagonal cloud pattern around the gas giant’s north polar region.
6 life-changing lessons on transforming your heart health, from world-leading cardiologists
After spending all day helping patients with their heart health, here is how cardiologists look after their own
How to cut your dementia risk: 7 key lessons from the world’s most important studies
The latest research is revealing clues about how you might be able to lower your chances of getting dementia. Here’s what the science says about keeping your mind sharp.
The biggest factor controlling where your body stores fat (and what you can do about it)
Whether it’s bums and tums or your arms and hips, flab can gather in all sorts of places. Here’s what controls body fat distribution and how to change it.
The simple words that can expose any liar, according to a forensic linguist
Lie detectors don’t work. Body language is unreliable. But there are ways to tell if someone is lying. You just have to listen carefully to what they’re saying
Here’s what a world without Arctic ice would actually look like
The Arctic is losing ice at an alarming rate, and the consequences could be dire
'The world isn't what it seems': 7 ways your brain is being fooled by the universe
The world isn't what it seems. Here's how science has exposed the fallacies and misconceptions of Earth and the heavens throughout history.
The science of sports supplements: Performance boost or placebo | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Athletic enhancers are big business. But it’s not always clear which ones actually work – or what might be in them
The overlooked foods that can boost your natural GLP-1 (and make weight loss easier)
Not all fibre is created equal. Here's the kind that feeds your gut, curbs your appetite and helps keep weight off – and where to find it
A staggering number of Americans now have high cholesterol, say doctors. But statins might not be the answer
New cholesterol guidelines aim to tackle heart disease decades before it strikes. But is earlier treatment always better?
This 450-million-year-old fish has gone viral in Japan for the weirdest reason
Meet the Sacabambaspis, an extinct fish without jaws or fins that became an internet sensation after a fateful exhibition
The surprising real cause of prediabetes (and how to reverse it)
You can reverse the slide towards type 2 diabetes if you catch it early enough and make the right lifestyle changes
An invisible force could be changing your lifespan, study suggests
The Earth’s magnetic field could influence how quickly we age, a new study has suggested. According to research on fruit flies by scientists at the University of Nottingham, being shielded from the effects of the Earth’s magnetic field could increase lifespan by up to 20 per cent. Escaping its effects, however, isn’t as simple as stepping indoors: the Earth’s magnetic field passes through buildings – and through our bodies. “We live our entire lives within the Earth’s magnetic field,” said Prof Lisa Chakrabarti, who co-led the study.
Experts have found an unexpected side-effect of weight-loss drugs
GLP-1s are linked to hair and nail changes, which experts say are reversible
Think you know Pompeii? These are the 7 myths you probably still believe
We all think we’ve heard the story of the deadly Roman-era volcanic eruption. But there’s so much more to learn
10 times space missions went hilariously wrong
From dropped tool bags to farting astronauts, spaceflight has had its fair share of amusing mistakes and embarrassing oversights
The 5 absolute best space images of 2026 (so far)
A dark, shark-shaped nebula 650 light-years away has won Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2026. See the overall winner and the best category images.
How to permanently change your relationship with alcohol in 30 days
How much good can ditching drink for a month really do? Answer: A whole lot. Science shows even short-term abstinence could unlock a cocktail of lasting benefits.
Armed robots are now battling on Ukraine’s front line. What comes next is even stranger
Unmanned ground and air vehicles are changing warfare as we know it
What an optimal cortisol rhythm feels like – and how to make it your norm
Though cortisol has received a bad reputation online recently, the hormone is actually crucial to our health and body’s cycles
These are the best exercises for improving your blood pressure, according to a doctor
High blood pressure is a major health concern, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and kidney problems. As a GP, I’m often asked how to manage it, and my advice always includes exercise. But how much is enough?
This surprising factor could reveal how compatible you and your partner really are, says science
How do you know you have found The One? Simple: they share your love of the Backstreet Boys or obscure Brazilian bossa nova. At least, that’s the conclusion of one new study.
The 6 most important questions about anxiety, answered by a psychologist
Here are the simple, science-backed ways of reframing your inner demons.
‘Surprisingly sophisticated’: Experts discover a common houseplant can count
Can plants enumerate 1 to 10 on their root tendrils? No. But scientists say certain plants can ‘count’ and even do simple maths because they possess uncanny abilities to keep tabs on insect invaders and their own food stores.
How to actually become more attractive, according to science
It turns out the most magnetic people all share a few simple habits
A secret Stonehenge under Lake Michigan is baffling archaeologists
Stone circles are the stuff of ancient rituals and druid mythology. While many of us are most familiar with the stone circle at Stonehenge near Amesbury, England, which dates back to about 2500 BC (4,525 years ago), there are numerous examples of ‘menhirs’ (standing stones) and ancient stone arrangements worldwide.
Weight-loss jabs may slow biological ageing, landmark new study suggests
GLP-1 drugs are best known for treating diabetes and obesity, but could they also help to slow down how we age?
The 5 most surprising lessons about cholesterol, according to world-leading experts
From eating eggs to spotting the signs, there’s a lot to get wrong when it comes to your blood fats.
'Discovery of the century': Experts have found secret DNA that could unlock a cancer vaccine
Mysterious sequences buried in our genetic code are being found to have unexpected effects
'It's extremely controversial': The bizarre, once-shunned idea that could finally cool our heating planet
As Earth's climate continues to warm, experts are increasingly wondering if we could, and should, take more drastic action and start tinkering with the planet in the hope of saving it
This everyday drink outranks 150 foods for its impact on your gut health, experts find
Coffee does more than wake you up in the morning
Mercury is shrinking faster than anyone thought
Wrinkles on the surface are clues as to the planet’s previous size
Millions of people see ‘visual snow’. But the problem isn’t with their eyes
Do you see a world permanently overlaid with static?
This simple diet change could slow your biological age in just four weeks, study suggests
Changing the balance of your diet could help you turn back your body's biological age in just a matter of weeks, a new study suggests.
Even 'triple-washed' lettuce could be nowhere near as clean as you think, warn experts
As the US suffers a parasite outbreak linked to lettuce, experts share how to enjoy your summer salads safely
This scientist wants you to stop flushing your toilet. Here's why
It’s time to bring ‘pee-cycling’ back
Experts tracked lions for four years and found something incredible
Think of hyenas and you may picture opportunistic creatures, such as the ones in The Lion King, who simply follow lions and feed off their scraps. But that image is wrong, new research suggests.
How to become a morning person: the simple, expert-backed tricks that actually work
If you’re a night owl, you probably have a hard time waking in the morning. Here's how you can tinker with your body clock to make it easier to rise with the larks.
Could doing less be better for your health?
From sleep to gut health, we investigate the simple habits that science says could make a difference.
'Mental flexibility' is science's best predictor of lasting willpower. Here's how to improve yours
Psychologists are now finding that mental flexibility, not pushing through at all costs, is the real key to perseverance.
The simple, unexpected ways to keep your energy from crashing after lunch, according to science
Recent research is revealing what’s causing your post-lunch lethargy and how to get your brain back into gear.
Here's how long you spend swallowing, blinking and yawning over a lifetime
A commonly cited figure is that we blink an average of 12 times a minute while we’re awake and each blink lasts about a third of a second. So that’s 11,520 blinks in a 16-hour day, taking up just over an hour.
Stupid hot: runaway heatwaves are making us dramatically dumber – and it's only going to get worse
Hot weather doesn’t just make us more drowsy and irritable, it directly affects our brain chemistry and brain function
New issue: The dark dimension
Most of the Universe seems to be missing – or at least, we don’t know what 95 per cent of it is. And at this point, my biggest question is, does it matter? Most of the missing stuff (68 per cent) is something called ‘dark energy’. It was ‘discovered’ in 1998 when astronomers observed that distant supernovae (exploding stars) were dimmer than expected. We knew the Universe was expanding, and so the supernovae should become fainter over time, but we thought that expansion was slowing down.
BBC Science Focus Crossword solution #437
Here is the solution to the crossword from issue 437 of BBC Science Focus magazine
These are the only Earth creatures tough enough to survive on Mars
Scientists have conducted a variety of experiments to find out what, if anything, could survive the harsh conditions of Mars.
"Can and will happen": A deadly ‘tsunami from the sky’ could soon hit the US, warn experts
The recent disaster in Nepal may be a warning of what's to come for the rest of the world
This is the best way to respond to an insult, according to science
It’s often said, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” But that’s wrong; because criticisms and rejection cause brain activity that’s indistinguishable from actual pain. Basically, insults do hurt.
I tried a magnetic nasal strip to stop snoring. Here's what actually happened
Can a magnetic nasal strip open your airways, improve your breathing and stop you snoring?
The Moon might soon host the craziest experiment in human history
Scientists have considered putting a super-collider on the Moon. What benefits would this have over the Large Hadron Collider at CERN?
Hidden ADHD often resurfaces in women as adults. Here's why
More perimenopausal women are getting diagnosed with ADHD than ever before, for a plethora of biological and societal reasons
"Cold-blooded killer": The strange rise of Borneo's 'vampire squirrel'
Meet the tufted ground squirrel of Borneo, which has been said to gorge on the hearts and livers of deer and chickens
Here’s how to tell if your dog actually loves you, according to science
Your dog is so pleased to see you when you get home. Then again, that’s also when you feed them. So does your dog see you as their best friend or merely a food delivery system?
The simple, surprising habits that can slow your immune ageing by years
New research on the thymus and T cells is helping us understand how our immune system ages
5 mind-blowing inventions that are already turning humans into cyborgs
A future where humans can lift incredible weights, see in the dark and fly sounds far-fetched, but actually... it’s already here.
The animals that get the most drunk (and what it does to them)
It’s not hard to find stories of animals getting tipsy. A moose in Sweden was found with its head stuck in a tree after being seen staggering around, eating fermented apples.
5 surprising perimenopause signs most people miss, according to a doctor
One third of women aren't sure if they're in perimenopause or not
These are the absolute weirdest spacesuits ever designed
Spacesuits of the future could use memory alloy coils to become skin-tight and maybe even recycle an astronaut’s pee back into drinking water.
Scientists are now seriously asking if humans were seeded by aliens. Here’s why
The idea that life on Earth began elsewhere in space has long been controversial, but it’s now gaining traction.
6 science-backed ways to protect and improve your memory
Forgetfulness doesn’t have to be an inevitable part of life. There are habits you can adopt to keep your memory sharp.
6 simple ways to instantly improve your dog’s life, according to science
What's the way to your dog's heart? A steak? A permanent place on the sofa? On open car window to lean out of during a long drive?
9 of the world’s weirdest-ever military inventions
From vomit guns to nuclear chickens, these are some truly bizarre ideas that never quite took off
‘A really substantive jump’: The most powerful weight-loss drug ever tested has arrived
A new weight-loss drug has arrived. And it’s far more powerful than anything that came before
6 simple, science-backed ways to fix your broken attention span
Primed for constant interruptions, your brain is now distracting itself, says science. It’s time to break the cycle and retrain your focus
The (very cute) reason dogs are obsessed with trash
Our pampered pups are descended from grey wolves, and just like wild wolves, they can enjoy playing in and with the foulest-smelling stuff.
The 7 hidden factors that determine how much exercise your body needs
How much exercise do I need to do? Here are the seven biggest factors to look out for, explained by a doctor.
The best technique for spotting a liar, according to psychologists
A look into the minds and personalities of prolific liars, here is why some people simply can’t stop lying all the time.
How to overcome the biggest barrier to weight loss
Research suggests your fat cells have a memory, hence any weight you lose always seems to find its way back to your body.
The genius tricks that make any new habit actually stick, according to a psychologist
Our lives are filled with habitual behaviours, both good and bad, but how do they form and how can we build better ones?
The weird, high-stakes plan to save Earth from a world-ending asteroid
When asteroids come tearing towards Earth, we rely on NASA’s planetary defence team to save us from disaster.