June 2016
Issue 11: Sport
Scientists aren't always considered the sportiest of people, but at Lateral we're not content with sitting on the sidelines. This month, we're shooting high and diving deep into the science of sport.
From dance therapy to the competitive world of eSport, the benefits and evolutionary origins of exercise to the extreme world of birdwatching – we're kicking goals. So whether you're purely a spectator or looking to join our team, we hope you'll go the distance with us this issue.
Cover illustration by Nichla Smith.
Editorial
Features
Talons come out and feathers get ruffled in the surprisingly intense and competitive sport of birdwatching.
The entire world hangs in the balance when athletes clash on the sporting field – or, at least, that's what our bodies want us to think.
Researchers are exploring how dance can give sufferers of both mental and physical illness a new way to express themselves and retake control of their lives.
We all know exercise does your body good, but it can also do the same to the mind.
Improbable events, like Leicester City's recent Premier League win, break our brains, so statisticians and sports fans alike need to be careful.
Professional eSports players have a lot more in common with traditional athletes than you might think.
Articles
The Australian federal election is this Saturday. What have the major parties promised to do for scientific research and climate change?
At least half of the people on Earth can speak more than one language. So what happens when we juggle two languages in one brain?
Marathon training has always focussed on building physical endurance, but what if it's your brain pushing you those extra miles?
Columns
What do you do when your science is a bust? For Emma Beckett, the most famous failed experiment in the history of physics was nothing short of revelatory.
It's one of the most infamous events in history, but many of us have the facts wrong. What really happened at Chernobyl in April 1986?
With the prevalence of Parkinson's disease set to increase by 4% every year, pharmacogenomics is helping to improve the quality of life for patients.
Get ready for a competition of the greatest science, technology and engineering the world has to offer, where research and innovation win medals.