How It Works - UK (2020-05)

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©Getty

Are there still

undiscovered

elements?

AliceHarrison

Q Scientiststhinkso,butarestrugglingtofind

any thingbeyondthe 118 wealreadyknowabout.

A nynewelementwouldprobablyonlyexistfora

tinyfractionofa second.AE

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TimWaddington

Q We might be more likely to remember a

dream if we wake up while it’s still happening.

There’s ev idence that our memor y centres store

memories of emotionally charged dreams.

Scientiststhinkdreaminggivesusa c

get rid of excess information thebrain

in during the day. This would explain

dream about things we’ve seenorhear

and why we don’t remember allofthe

©Getty

Our brains are

sorting, storing

and ‘deleting’

memories while

we’re deep

in slumber

Could

vaccinations

have stopped

the spread

of plague

in medieval

times?

Ros Denton

Q The deadly plague that killed a

third of Europe was caused by a

bacteria called Yersinia pestis. If

the people of the 1300s had

today’s technology they could

indeed have created a vaccine.

Scientists today have developed

vaccinations against several

strains of the Black Death. Lab

trials of this vaccine had a

success rate of 80 to 100 per

cent. You might think developing

a plague vaccine now is too little

too late, but hav ing a treatment

ready could prevent another

widespread outbreak. Plague hasn’t

been eradicated completely. Up to 3,000

people a year contract it to this day. AG

Why do we only remember

some dreams?

Scientists modified plague bacteria

to trigger an immune response

rather than causing disease

What’s the

difference

between the

chemical

structures of

jam and jelly?

Stephanie Black

Q There are a lot of different chemicals in

both! In the UK, jelly refers to the wobbly

deserts made with gelatine. Gelatine is made

from a protein called collagen taken from

animals, which helps to make their skin firm,

so isn’t suitable for vegetarians. Jam is mostly

just fruit and sugar. AE

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