The first life – primitive bacteria – originated 4 billion years ago. For a very long time, they had Earth to themselves, until 600-700 million years ago, when the first multicellular life forms, or primitive animals, originated. 8377 active satellit

1 Unlike Antarctica’s landmass to the south, the northern ‘cap’ of the globe is covered by ocean. With an area of around 14 million km2 , the Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world’s oceans. In comparison, the world’s largest ocean, the Pacific, c

On the surface of the dwarf planet of Pluto is a 1600km-wide region covered in a thick layer of nitrogen ice. It has puzzled astronomers since it was discovered in 2015, back when NASA’s New Horizons space probe travelled past the small ice world on

1 The mantle begins 5-10km below the ocean floor, and extends roughly 2900km down. Scientists are investigating how minerals from the mantle may contact ocean water via volcanoes, possibly producing materials for the origin of primitive life. 2 Accor

The sense of smell informs us about the outside world, and bad odours are usually a warning to keep your distance. Faeces are full of bacteria that could infect us, even kill us in the worst cases, if they enter the bloodstream. So the body interpret

When nature calls, it does makes a difference how we sit. A study in 2003 compared how effectively test subjects defecated from different positions and on different designs of toilet: a regular toilet bowl and seat, a low toilet, and squatting. The c

Heat drains you of energy, as high temperatures force your body to activate cooling processes to keep your body temperature stable and avoid overheating. So the warmer it is, the harder your body has to work. When the body gets too warm, blood vessel

You come home from work tired, and immediately notice what a mess the family home is in. You have to straddle toys and games left on the floor; used dishes are on the kitchen table despite the household rules about clearing away. At the back of the e

When a big star in the Cassiopeia constellation burned out, it released its outer layers of gas and shattered in a violent explosion. The James Webb Space Telescope captured this detailed image of the remains: the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, whic

Volcanic eruptions are not just a phenomenon of Earth. Volcanoes erupt on a large scale on other heavenly bodies; in fact, evidence of volcanic activity has been found on every rocky planet in our Solar System – on Mercury, Venus and Mars – as well a

It is widely accepted that some 66 million years ago it was an asteroid the size of Mount Everest striking Earth that led to the loss of up to 75% of species on the planet – including the dinosaurs that had ‘ruled’ for 160 million years. One key piec

As you have noticed, hailstones can be far from spherical, depending on their size and the way that they formed in the atmosphere. Yet most research and forecasting models do assume hailstones to be spherical, says Dr Joshua Soderholm from the Univer

In the spring of 1845, London society was all agog at newspaper columns overflowing with reports of preparations for an impending voyage of discovery. Sir John Franklin’s expedition would seek once more for the fabled Northwest Passage, a shortcut fr

Imagine a small group of men and women, dressed in spacesuits, ready for a great expedition: perhaps the most extreme expedition in history. As they buckle into seats in their spacecraft, they have no idea where it will take them, nor what they will

Today’s modern fighter jets – such as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning – are the airborne equivalent of Formula 1 racecars. Their ultra-precise mechanics are controlled by sophisticated computers, making them capable of extreme manoeuvres at speeds f

Strong bites serve many animals, nearly always to capture or kill food. Shark bites are powerful enough to break a human in half (though extremely rarely; most shark bites are not fatal). The jaws of large crocodile species can snap shut with a force

1 The expedition encounters thick pack ice in the Victoria Strait, and the ships Erebus and Terror are stuck in the ice on 12 September 1846. Later expeditions find the bodies of two crew members and a note explaining that Expedition Leader and Capta

1 If the universe is flat, the journey ends in desolate darkness. But since a flat universe is probably infinite, the most unlikely things could occur at any point – such as a solar system similar to our own appearing out of nowhere. 2 If the univers

The sun has not yet risen, but the first morning light reveals a sperm whale about to go hunting. Shane Gero and the other researchers from the Dominica Sperm Whale Project watch the whale’s tail fin flick above the surface before she disappears into

1 In 1960, 2 billion people lived in rural areas (green line) and 1 billion in cities (red line). By 2007, the balance had switched. Today around 4.5 billion people live in cities; 3.5 billion live in rural areas. The trend seems set to continue. 2 T

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, and can occur in almost any organ. It results when one or more of the body’s 50 trillion cells start to behave abnormally, ignoring the body’s signals to terminate itself if something goes wrong.

As night falls over the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, a young male polar bear climbs onto a small iceberg and carves out a primitive bed. Polar bears sleep 7 to 8 hours a day (unlike other bears, they only hibernate when pregnant) and, like huma

1 Located asymmetrically on the left side of the body, the heart is itself also asymmetrical. The right side pumps oxygen-poor blood a short distance to the lungs, while the left side must pump oxygenated blood all the way around the body, and is hen

1 On lunar missions in the 1960s, astronauts took seismographs that have provided insight into the Moon’s sub-surface structure. Analyses have shown that the Moon has an iron core, a rocky mantle, and a thin outer crust. 2 Our closest neighbouring pl

SAVE UP TO 12% That’s 4 issues of SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED for just $9.75 a copy (normally $9.99)! Every issue of Australian Science Illustrated includes news and features on: • New science discoveries • Astronomy, cosmology and the universe • Plant and a

1 The Chikyu is equipped with six azimuth thrusters – flexible ship engines that can rotate the vessel 360 degrees. Using GPS coordinates, the engines keep the ship stationary in the correct position above the drill hole. 2 The vessel can drill at de