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Photo of a person clutching their knee with both hands, you can see the x-ray of the bones and joint through the skin

We're on the brink of curing arthritis. Here's how

We might finally be able to spot osteoarthritis early… and bring it to a halt
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The latest ETH microrobot is this small

This magnet-powered micro-robot could soon swim through your bloodstream

It's steered using magnetics, like a tiny remote-controlled bubble zooming through your bloodstream
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Mallard duckling swimming

Forever chemicals are altering the DNA of unhatched ducklings, study finds

Forever chemicals, or PFAS, take a really long time to break down naturally and they’re everywhere
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We've been thinking about blood sugar all wrong. Here's why

These are the five biggest blood sugar myths, debunked by nutrition experts
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Issue 426 of BBC Science Focus

New issue: On the Edge

I wonder how many discoveries in human history were made because someone thought: Let’s take a look around the corner? This time, the corner – figuratively speaking – is the region of space just beyond Pluto. More precisely, the area where the Sun’s influence begins to fade – the boundary of the heliosphere. Think of the heliosphere as a vast bubble, emanating from the Sun, that envelops our Solar System. Solar wind blasts out from the Sun in all directions, but eventually, it fizzles out the further away it gets. Where the winds are strong, they push back more harmful cosmic radiation gusting in from elsewhere in our Galaxy, shielding us. But the further these winds travel, the weaker they become, until, eventually, the solar particles become inconsequential. This is the place that scientists consider to be the edge of our Solar System and the beginning of the interstellar medium. Here, space roils with a cosmic zoo of exotic particles from strange places. This is exactly what NASA’s recently launched Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) wants to study. Its mission is to make sense of the stuff that’s arriving here from other parts of space, to understand how our Sun forms a barrier that protects us from the more harmful elements out there, and to chart what’s going on at the very edge of what we know. Get the full story in the November issue.
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A young Japanese man and woman walk arm in arm down a street

Japanese people still aren’t having sex. And nobody knows why

Around 1 in 10 Japanese people reach their 30s without ever having had sex
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Close up photo of a phone screen with "You've gone incognito" written on it

7 ways to keep your personal data safe, according to cybersecurity experts

The Online Safety Act has thrust VPNs into the spotlight, but what are the best ways to protect your identity online without relying on one?
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A NASA engineer checks six flight-ready segments of the JWST's primary mirror, a third of the final total.

The 25 most powerful ideas of the 21st century (so far), picked by the world’s top thinkers

We asked the world's foremost minds to highlight some of the game-changing scientific breakthroughs shaping our world since the year 2000
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Anthropomorphic alien creature in futuristic silver spacesuit looking at camera at dark night.

Why aliens are (probably) too lazy to make first contact

Space is big. Why not kick back, relax, and wait for them to come to you?
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