2024 was a big year for tech. While we bettered humanity through tools, gadgets and high-tech advancement, just as many innovations left us fretting for the future.

Timing is everything. It’s the one thing stand-up comedians and experimental physicists have in common. The ability to measure time precisely underpins our observations of the world. But the atomic clock – the current benchmark by which units of time are calculated – is based on the behaviour of jumpy electrons, so, by its very nature, it’s a sensitive creature. A nuclear clock on the other hand, which would be based on the ticking of nuclear material, is – in theory – a much more rugged beast. In practice, this means that it would be both more accurate and more robust when it comes to the kinds of measurements required to interrogate the very fabric of the Universe. It’s game-changing stuff and in this issue, Prof Jon Butterworth explores the significance of nuclear time-keeping.

What’s different about the minds and personalities of prolific liars?

Scientists have found that using underground water has more of an impact on Earth’s tilt than melting polar caps.