Apocalypse now
The year began badly, and never really recovered…
1 Bush fires
On 2 January, authorities in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Whales declared states of emergency as wildfires destroyed vast areas of the country, requiring the evacuation of numerous communities, putting thousands of human lives at risk and exacting a terrible toll on wildlife, with an estimated half a billion animals perishing in the flames. In the US, the California wildfire season was the worst in recent history, with fires consuming over 4% of the state’s land area.
2 The threat of World War III
On 3 January – we should have seen the way the year was going then – the US authorised a drone strike at the Baghdad International Airport, killing an Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani, and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. This raised already simmering tensions in the region to boiling point, with Iran launching missile strikes at military bases in Iraq where American soldiers were based, and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shot down by Iranian forces (with 176 casualties) – after it was supposedly mistaken for a military aircraft.
3 Volcano
It didn’t, perhaps, cause the same level of disruption as the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 (over 100,000 flights in and out of Europe had to be cancelled), but when the Philippines’ Taal Volcano erupted for the first time in 43 years on 12 January, the ash thrown into the atmosphere caused evacuations; work, school and flight cancellations; and 39 deaths in the most densely populated parts of the Philippines, including the capital, Milan.
4 Brexit
Denne historien er fra January /February 2021-utgaven av Very Interesting.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January /February 2021-utgaven av Very Interesting.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
TAKE IT SLOW
Slow running is a fitness trend with some hard and fast science behind it
Physics, AI and music share a common thread. You just have to know where to look
Studying science can lead you in many directions and open doors to unexpected possibilities along the way
BED BUGS VS THE WORLD
When bloodthirsty bed bugs made headlines for infesting Paris Fashion Week in 2023, it shone a spotlight on a problem that's been making experts itch for decades: the arms race going on between bed bugs and humans
Kids are the key to understanding obesity. But we need more of their genes...
We can unravel the role that bodyweight plays in disease, but we need a bigger, more diverse, sample of genetic material to do so
COVID inquiry: What did we learn and what can we do better in future pandemics?
Masks, social distancing, lockdowns... how effective was the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
One hormone could be the key that unlocks a cure for morning sickness
The nausea and vomiting that, in extreme cases, can endanger mothers and babies might soon be just a memory
THE WORLD'S WEIRDEST CREATURES
Under the sea and upon the land, some animals look - to us - pretty strange...
WHEN MIND AND MACHINE COLLIDE
First, Elon Musk wanted to make electric cars ubiquitous, then he wanted to make space exploration a private enterprise. Now, with Neuralink, his newest venture, Musk hopes to merge humans and artificial intelligence. Turns out, it might not be such a crazy idea...
COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL
Social anxiety is more than just being shy. It's a phobia born out of our evolutionary past. But that raises a puzzling question: why do so many of us fear human interaction when we're supposed to be the most sociable species on the planet?
SPACE ODDITIES
Take a tour of the weirdest spots in the universe, where the 'normal' rules don't apply. Places that squeeze time, blow bubbles and even rain glass... sideways
