BBC Science Focus - 03.2020

RADAR

THEDANCE OF LIFE

MAGDALENA ZERNICKA-GOETZ AND ROGER

HIGHFIELD

£18.99, WH ALLEN

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz

studies mammalian development

and stem cell biology, and when

pregnant, found her baby may

have had a chromosomal

mutation.The Dance of Lifeis a

deeply moving story intertwined

with the science of human

development , research into

solving IVF disorders, preventing

miscarriages and life’s beginning.

READING LIST

NEW BOOKS TO THUMB THROUGH

OURHOUSE IS ON FIRE

MALENA AND BEATA ERNMAN, SVANTE

AND GRETA THUNBERG

£12.99, ONEWORLD

Howdoes a teenager become

the head of a global climate

change campaign? In a series of

scenes, Malena Ernman tells

the story of how her daughter,

Greta Thunberg, shot to fame.

She describes their family and

experiences leading up to that

seminal day when Greta sat

outside the Swedish parliament

to protest climate inaction, and

their lives changed forever.

THERULES OF CONTAGION

ADAM KUCHARSKI

£16.99, WELLCOME COLLECTION

Frominfectious diseases to

financial crises, viral social

media posts to technological

innovation, epidemiologist

Adam Kucharski shows how

scientists are using maths to

predict and contain contagion,

and why some outbreaks still

take us by surprise.The Rules of

Contagionexpands further than

just media headlines. “What

about the outbreaks that never

happen at all?” asks Kucharski.

EDITOR’S

CHOICE

byAmy Barrett

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

T

hanks to this month’s reality check, p34, I know our

best guess is that it’ll be around 100,000 years

before Betelgeuse goes supernova. But the starhas

been dimming, so why not take this opportunity to look to

the night skies and spot its orange glow, forming what we

see as the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.

Towards the end of the month, we’ll be treated to a

fantastic photo opportunity – on 28 March, look up to see

a waxing crescent Moon, the bright light of Venus, and the

open cluster of stars called the Pleiades, in what is known

as a Moon-Venus conjunction.

There’s plenty to watch and

listen to on the BBC this

month – see p3 and p98 for

some of our favourites – but

I’ll definitely make a point of

listening to the second series

ofChanging World, Changing

Bodieson BBC Sounds.

Produced by Kevin Mousley

for the BBC World Service, this

three-part series will look at

how modern life has changed

our relationship with sleep,

how our height has more

impact on our success than

we might have thought, and

the populations who outlive

the rest of the world and why.

The city of Bristol (where

theBBC Science Focusteam

work their magic) will host

theBristol Festival of Ideasin

March. Communications

officers, scientists and

policymakers question how

we should think about the

future with writer Margaret

Heffernan, while Gaia Vince,

science and environmental

journalist as well as award-

winning author, discusses

how our social culture and our

love for the beautiful played a

huge part in human evolution.

RECOMMENDED

WHAT’S CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION THIS MONTH

“Atthe Bristol Festival

of Ideas, scientists

and policymakers will

question how we think

about the future with

Margaret Heffernan”