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Welc me

THE EPICENTRE OF OUR

SOLAR SYSTEM

Massive, powerful, radiating heat and light, powered

by nuclear fusion, the Sun is the life sustaining force

for living beings on Earth. Just under 5 billion years

old, the sun in our own Milky Way planetary system

has been the object of worship for many civilisations

such as the ancient Mayans, the Aztecs and the

Egyptians. The sun has also been featured in many

religious texts, and continues to be a part of our

everyday lives, as we base how we look at time in

modern human civilisation through the rising and

setting of the sun.

With growing global demands for more energy, the

traditional source and dependency on limited fossil

fuels can only sustain us all for a finite period of

time. Scientists are now looking towards fusion, used for a more destructive

purpose in the form of the hydrogen bomb years ago, there is however a greater

purpose for fusion, in the area of clean and efficient energy or production of

power for practical uses. Although there’s at least some ways to go before such

fusion power stations come to fruition, at the very least, it is a step in the right

direction for clean, abundant and economical energy.

BBC Knowledge Magazine

Includes selected articles from other BBC specialist magazines, including

Focus, BBC History Magazine and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Important change:

The licence to publish this magazine was acquired from BBC Worldwide by

Immediate Media Company on 1 November 2011. We remain committed to

making a magazine of the highest editorial quality, one that complies with BBC

editorial and commercial guidelines and connects with BBC programmes.

SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY FUTURE

http://www.sciencefocus.com

http://www.historyextra.com

http://www.discoverwildlife.com

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SCIENCE t HISTORY t NATURE t FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

BBC Knowledge Magazine provides trusted, independent advice and information that has

been gathered without fear or favour. When receiving assistance or sample products from

suppliers, we ensure our editorial integrity and independence are not compromised by

never offering anything in return, such as positive coverage, and by including a brief credit

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Ben Poon

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Experts in this issue...

Lilian

Anekwe

Dr Finkel is a curator

at the British

Museum in charge of

‘cuneiform’ inscriptions on ancient stone

tablets. One of these tells the story of

Noah’s Ark, as he reveals on p34.

Lilian is consumer health

editor for the weekly

journal BMJ. With school

holidays fast approaching, who better to

investigate the health benefits of our national

addiction: chocolate? p

Brian is the author

of popular science

titles including A Brief

History Of Infinity and Build Your Own Time

Machine. This issue he tackles the search

for science’s Holy Grail: nuclear fusion. p

Brian

Clegg

Irving

Finkel