The cholesterol-lowering supplement you might be taking without realising - BBC Science Focus Magazine

The fight against dementia is one that science – and humanity – is losing. More than 55 million people live with the condition today. That number is expected to double every 20 years in our ageing population. By 2050, there will be almost 140 million people with dementia, and their care is projected to cost as much as 1 per cent of the global GDP.

Representative Image (AI-generated)A lake in northwestern Ontario became the setting for a landmark experiment on the effects of acid rain. For 17 years, scientists deliberately added sulfuric acid to Lake 223 every week, gradually changing the water's chemistry to mimic the effects of acid rain that was damaging lakes across North America and Europe. Between 1976 and 1993, the lake's pH fell from 6.8 to 5.2 as researchers watched how the changing conditions affected its ecosystem. The experiment ended decades ago, and the lake's water chemistry has since returned to conditions similar to those that existed before the experiment. But the ecosystem has not recovered at the same pace. According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development's Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA), the lake trout population remains at less than half its pre-experiment level, and the fish are also growing more slowly. A lake turned into a laboratoryLake 223 is part of the IISD Experimental Lakes Area, a collection of 58 lakes and their watersheds in northwestern Ontario that have been set aside for scientific research.

Sundays are for realising that this is speeder racing. No, not podracing. You're not skilled enough for that yet. You've got to get your reps in to be the best of the best on the tracks of the galaxy far, far away. You've got to beat Ary Quill, Griff Halloran, Soren Zaks, Katja Mox, and the rest. But it's futile. Because you won't beat one crocodile-shaped little creature. YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT BIDDY BLAS. HE WILL BLAS PAST YOU IN A BLAS OF GLORY, BIDDYING YOU FAREWELL AS HE ROCKETS BY. HE IS THE GREATEST RACER WHO EVER LIVED. HE IS THE STAR WARS: GALACTIC RACER, AND THE FORCE SHINES OUT OF HIS BIDDY BOTTOM. Oh, you're challenging him to a race? Prefer to be BIDDYLASTED INTO OBLIVION.