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FROM THE EDITOR Do we all have a ‘lizard brain’? �p86 CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTORS Earth’s core is a scary place, when you think about it. If you t r avel led s t r a ig ht down for a rou nd 2,900k m (1,802 miles) – t hat’s roug h ly equ iva lent to t r avel l i ng f rom London to Ed i nbu r gh fou r or f ive t imes over – you’d r each it . Speci f ica l ly, you’d have dug through Earth’s mantle to reach the outer core. Here, rock gives way to liquid metals and the temperature soars to nea rly 2,700°C (5,000°F). Dig (or sw im?) a l it t le deeper, a not her 2,000k m (1,243 miles) or so, a nd you’l l r each t he i nner core. Here, temperat u r es double, r i si ng to over 6,000°C (10,800°F) – a s hot a s t he su r f ace of t he Sun. At this temperature almost everything vaporises, even diamonds, but the mater ia l here i s under enough pressu r e to keep it l iqu id. Most of t h i s heat i s r esidua l, lef t over f rom ou r pla net’s for mat ion, a nd it emanates out f rom the core to get locked away in the rocks that make up Ea r t h’s mant le a nd c r ust. All this heat, and energy, is essential for life on Earth. Without it the tectonic plates wouldn’t move, volca noes wouldn’t er upt a nd t here would be no continents or oceans, or habitats in which life could form. But this furnace could be the solution to humanity’s most pressing existential crisis. It could be key to generat i ng enough ener g y to wean ou r selves of f fossi l f uels wit h t he kind of urgency needed to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. Mercifully, we don’t need to reach Earth’s core, but we might have to dig deeper t ha n we’ve ever dug befor e i n sea r ch of some ver y specia l rock s… Head to p68 to find out more. G A L E , A D A M X 3 I M A G E S : G E T T Y PA G E I S T H C H A N : A N S O N C O V E R Daniel Bennett, Editor WANT MORE? FOLLOW SCIENCEFOCUS ON FACEBOOK X (FORMERLY TWITTER) PINTEREST INSTAGRAM PINTEREST INSTAGRAM ON THE BBC THIS MONTH... CrowdScience: Can We Improve the Shipping Container? The CrowdScience team think s out side the box to f ind out i f the shipping indus t r y ’s method f or carr y ing car go is due a re think . Listen now on BBC Sounds Inside the Wasp Factory A study of human violence, The Wasp Factory was f ir s t published in 1984. To mark i t s 40th anniver s ar y, a panel of li ter ar y exper t s tea se apar t the threads that make Ia in Banks’s work of science fiction so special. Listen now on BBC Sounds The Battle to Beat Malaria From the Horizon team comes this f ilm, which look s at the r ace to create a COVID jab and i f i t could help us produce a vaccine for Malaria. Watch now on BBC iPlayer SOFIA QUAGLIA C an animals f eel empathy? Nature writer Sofia Quaglia tells us how new research carried out on poison dar t frogs may help us to f ind the answer. ->p30 DR EMMA BECKETT Lion’s mane mushrooms are being tou ted a s t he l ate s t all-powerful health food. Nutrition scientist Emma Beckett looks into their purported benefits. ->p34 MIRIAM FRANKEL Many psychopaths have surprisingly high levels of empathy, as journalist Miriam Fr ankel e xpla ins , and t his could make t hem more dangerous. ->p62 JHENI OSMAN There’s a potentially limitless source of green energy beneath our feet. Could geothermal power solve the energy crisis? Jheni Osman investigates. -> p68 CON TAC T US Advertising David.DSouza@ourmedia.co.uk 0117 300 8110 Le tt er s f or publication reply@sciencefocus.com Editorial enquiries editorialenquiries@sciencefocus.com 0117 300 8755 Subscriptions ourmediashop.com/contact-us 03330 162113* Other contacts sciencefocus.com/contact xed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minut *UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon to Fri 9am-5pm. If calling from overseas, please call +44 1604 973721. BBCScience Focus (ISSN 0966-4270) (USPS 015-160) is published 14 times a year (monthly with a Summer issue in July and a New Year issue in December) by Our Media, Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST. Distributed in the US by NPS Media Group, 2 Enterprise Drive, Suite 420, Shelton, CT 06484. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBC Science Focus, PO Box 401 Williamsport, PA 17703. 3

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FROM THE EDITOR

Do we all have a ‘lizard brain’? �p86

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTORS

Earth’s core is a scary place, when you think about it. If you t r avel led s t r a ig ht down for a rou nd 2,900k m (1,802 miles) – t hat’s roug h ly equ iva lent to t r avel l i ng f rom London to Ed i nbu r gh fou r or f ive t imes over – you’d r each it . Speci f ica l ly, you’d have dug through Earth’s mantle to reach the outer core. Here, rock gives way to liquid metals and the temperature soars to nea rly 2,700°C (5,000°F). Dig (or sw im?) a l it t le deeper, a not her

2,000k m (1,243 miles) or so, a nd you’l l r each t he i nner core. Here, temperat u r es double, r i si ng to over 6,000°C (10,800°F) – a s hot a s t he su r f ace of t he Sun. At this temperature almost everything vaporises, even diamonds, but the mater ia l here i s under enough pressu r e to keep it l iqu id.

Most of t h i s heat i s r esidua l, lef t over f rom ou r pla net’s for mat ion, a nd it emanates out f rom the core to get locked away in the rocks that make up Ea r t h’s mant le a nd c r ust.

All this heat, and energy, is essential for life on Earth. Without it the tectonic plates wouldn’t move, volca noes wouldn’t er upt a nd t here would be no continents or oceans, or habitats in which life could form. But this furnace could be the solution to humanity’s most pressing existential crisis. It could be key to generat i ng enough ener g y to wean ou r selves of f fossi l f uels wit h t he kind of urgency needed to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

Mercifully, we don’t need to reach Earth’s core, but we might have to dig deeper t ha n we’ve ever dug befor e i n sea r ch of some ver y specia l rock s… Head to p68 to find out more.

G A L E

, A D A M

X 3

I M A G E S

: G E T T Y

PA G E

I S

T H

C H A N

: A N S O N

C O V E R

Daniel Bennett, Editor

WANT MORE? FOLLOW SCIENCEFOCUS ON FACEBOOK X (FORMERLY TWITTER) PINTEREST INSTAGRAM PINTEREST INSTAGRAM

ON THE BBC THIS MONTH...

CrowdScience: Can We Improve the Shipping Container? The CrowdScience team think s out side the box to f ind out i f the shipping indus t r y ’s method f or carr y ing car go is due a re think . Listen now on BBC Sounds

Inside the Wasp Factory A study of human violence, The Wasp Factory was f ir s t published in 1984. To mark i t s 40th anniver s ar y, a panel of li ter ar y exper t s tea se apar t the threads that make Ia in Banks’s work of science fiction so special. Listen now on BBC Sounds

The Battle to Beat Malaria From the Horizon team comes this f ilm, which look s at the r ace to create a COVID jab and i f i t could help us produce a vaccine for Malaria. Watch now on BBC iPlayer

SOFIA QUAGLIA C an animals f eel empathy? Nature writer Sofia Quaglia tells us how new research carried out on poison dar t frogs may help us to f ind the answer. ->p30

DR EMMA BECKETT Lion’s mane mushrooms are being tou ted a s t he l ate s t all-powerful health food. Nutrition scientist Emma Beckett looks into their purported benefits. ->p34

MIRIAM FRANKEL Many psychopaths have surprisingly high levels of empathy, as journalist Miriam Fr ankel e xpla ins , and t his could make t hem more dangerous. ->p62

JHENI OSMAN There’s a potentially limitless source of green energy beneath our feet. Could geothermal power solve the energy crisis? Jheni Osman investigates. -> p68

CON TAC T US

Advertising David.DSouza@ourmedia.co.uk

0117 300 8110 Le tt er s f or publication reply@sciencefocus.com

Editorial enquiries editorialenquiries@sciencefocus.com

0117 300 8755

Subscriptions ourmediashop.com/contact-us

03330 162113* Other contacts sciencefocus.com/contact xed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minut

*UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon to Fri 9am-5pm. If calling from overseas, please call +44 1604 973721. BBCScience Focus (ISSN 0966-4270) (USPS 015-160) is published 14 times a year (monthly with a Summer issue in July and a New Year issue in December) by Our Media, Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST. Distributed in the US by NPS Media Group, 2 Enterprise Drive, Suite 420, Shelton, CT 06484. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBC Science Focus, PO Box 401 Williamsport, PA 17703.

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