BBC Focus 2017 №303 January

Immediate Media Co Bristol Ltd. — 116 p.Dinosaurs seem to be having a bit of an image crisis of late. On the one hand, the silver screen offers up the dinos we know and love – reptilian and full of roars – while on the other, scientists are building completely new pictures of what these prehistoric beasts looked like. You’d think the palaeontologists would be happy, fed on a glut of new fossils, imaging and sampling technologies, but they’re not. Barely have they finished one theory, or a visualisation, before some new piece of evidence comes to light that they have to factor in. Of course, I’m exaggerating, but I just want to stress what a golden age of dinosaur discovery we’re in right now. To make sense of it all, we asked a scientist and writer at the front line of palaeontology to take a break from brushing off bones to reveal the biggest puzzles in the world of dinosaur research right now. Find out more on p36. Cryonics – the science of using extremely cold temperatures to preserve human tissue – has also come on leaps and bounds in the last decade, so much so that one man in Texas wants to build the
world’s biggest facility dedicated to freezing human bodies. It’s the stuff of science fiction, so we got in touch to find out his plans. Turn to p54 to see what he said.
Enjoy the issue!Regular columns include:
Agenda (an overview of events in science over the past month)
Eye Opener (unusual photos united by a common theme)
Q&A (detailed answers to readers' questions)
The Guide - book, TV, and Internet reviews
Last Word - Robert Matthews' concluding remarks: an essay on one of today's controversial subjects
The World's Greatest Mysteries, an objective and comprehensive analysis of one or another "mystery of the century"