National Geographic Magazine - UK

What's inside the yellow box? Amazing discoveries and experiences await you in every issue of National Geographic magazine.

INSPIRED BY NATURE

Apollo: Missions to the Moon takes viewers along

Preserving Earth’s Undersea Treasures

SPIRIT WORLDS • LOOKING AT THE EARTH FROM EVERY POSSIBLE ANGLE

THE BACK STORY • THE DREGS OF A FINISHED GLASS OF SCOTCH WHISKY CAN YIELD WILD CELESTIAL SCENES.

Let’s Send Only Women to Space • PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY, FEMALES HAVE THE RIGHT STUFF FOR LENGTHY MISSIONS IN SPACE. SO WHY SEND MALES AT ALL?

Gender, sex, and space

Firsts for females in space

STRAW POLL: WHICH ONES ARE ECO-FRIENDLY TO USE?

ELIZABETH MYNATT

WHAT’S SO FUNNY? • IT CAN BE HARD TO GUESS what might make a stranger laugh. Now researchers at the University of Alberta, in Canada, have developed a formula. After reading a study in which participants rated the humorousness of some 5,000 English words, psychologists Chris Westbury and Geoff Hollis wanted to break down what makes a word intrinsically comical. They expanded the list to almost 45,000 words, then generated a complex statistical model to score the funny factors and analyze the humor of each one.

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

To Sleep, Perchance to Heal

MYTHICAL CREATURE FOUND IN ANCIENT WOOD • PRAYING MANTIS IS A SVELTE ‘UNICORN’

NEW PLACES TO GO

A FROSTBITTEN EVEREST DESCENT • THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL U.S. EFFORT TO REACH THE SUMMIT OF EVEREST TOOK A TOLL ON THE OWNER OF THESE BOOTS.

HOW DOES THIS OCEANIC ODD COUPLE MANAGE TO HAVE SEX?

A SALTY ISLAND IN THE SEA • Visiting an island-like salt formation in the Dead Sea meant a swim in one of the world’s briniest bodies of water.

Flashes in the Dark • A PHOTOGRAPHER SHIFTS HER GAZE FROM THE ONGOING INSTABILITY AND VIOLENCE IN MEXICO TO THE FLEETING BEAUTY OF ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S NATURAL WONDERS.

FEATURES

IN SPACE

T MINUS

PIONEERS • ANIMALS WERE OUR FIRST SPACE TRAVELERS, CLEARING THE WAY FOR ASTRONAUTS WHO BECAME FAMOUS—AND FOR LESSER KNOWN HEROES.

GETTING THERE • EARLY ROCKETEERS FIGURED THAT A MULTISTAGE LAUNCHER COULD PROPEL HUMANS TO THE MOON. THE SATURN V DID THAT—AND SET THE STAGE FOR THE FUTURE.

LIFTING OFF

SUITING UP

WHERE WE WENT • APOLLO MISSIONS FOCUSED ON THE MOON’S NEAR SIDE. NOW UNCREWED PROBES ARE REVEALING MORE ABOUT THE MOON AND BEYOND.

NEW PHASE OF EXPLORATION

AFTER APOLLO

WHAT WE TOOK • ASTRONAUTS COLLECTED ROCKS, PEBBLES, SOIL, AND DUST. THEY ALSO TOOK PERSONAL ITEMS TO SPACE THAT REFLECTED THEIR INTERESTS, BELIEFS, AND PASSIONS.

IN POP CULTURE • FROM TV SHOWS TO MOVIES, TOYS, FOOD, AND THE WAY WE EXPRESS OURSELVES, SPACE CONTINUES TO HAVE A HOLD ON OUR IMAGINATION.

WHAT’S NEXT • IT MAY SEEM AS IF WE’VE BEEN GOING NOWHERE FOR DECADES. BUT A NEW AGE OF SPACE TRAVEL IS COMING, MIXING EXPLORATION WITH A RACE FOR PROFITS.

GETTING INTO ORBIT

SPACE INC. TAKES OFF

THE SEA AT THE END OF THE WORLD • ONE OF THE MOST REMOTE PLACES ON THE PLANET IS ALSO AMONG THE MOST ABUNDANT WITH LIFE. ARGENTINA PLANS TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.

A NATION ON THE EDGE • IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S ROUGHEST NEIGHBORHOODS, NIGER CLINGS TO STABILITY. BUT FOR HOW LONG?

PRECARIOUS CROSSROADS

Why did a U.S. mission in Niger turn deadly? • A NEW DOCUMENTARY QUESTIONS THE PENTAGON’S ANSWER, WHICH PLACED BLAME ON A SPECIAL OPERATIONS TEAM.

A Great Forest Shrinks, and Lives Are Washed Away • RISING WATERS AND ILLICIT LOGGING ARE KILLING THE TREES THAT PROTECT THE INDIA-BANGLADESH COAST.

Lost Protection

SMAHA JAHANGIR • PHOTOS FROM OUR COMMUNITY