The Wonders of Science has been our overarching theme throughout 2017, SCIplanet’s tenth year; we have already tackled three broad core sciences: Astronomy and Space, Earth, and Life Sciences. Naturally, there are many more fundamental sciences to have a closer look at in the future; however, in this concluding issue for this year, we have selected a rather enigmatic branch of science that is rarely tackled, at least by us. After having had a look at the broader sciences of our universe, our home-planet, and our own bodies, we find it is high time we probed further inside our own selves; to delve deeper inside our own minds and psyche as we explore communication and psychological sciences.

In the third instalment of our series “The Wonders of Science”, we focus our attention on our inner body. In reality, every single science branch is related to our life in one way or another, but nothing is more relevant to us than Life Sciences. What we care about most is our own selves; our bodies, our health, our existence.

Leaping from historical quests of knowledge, we fast-forward to modern-day mindboggling discoveries, inventions, and technologies that in some cases, seem like science fiction. It is our honor in this issue to pay tribute to two Egyptian pillars of knowledge as we bid them farewell: Dr. Mostafa el-Abbadi and Dr. Mona Bakr.

This year, marking the tenth since the launch of this periodic publication, first as the PSC Newsletter, then as Egypt’s first popular science magazine, we are returning to the wonders of natural sciences as our overarching annual theme. After delving into astronomical and space sciences in our latest issue, we turn our attention in this issue to Earth Sciences.

Our articles tackle a variety of aspects relating to the Earth’s structure, its climate and the ongoing and pressing issue of climate change, its amazing biodiversity and its enthralling revelations. As usual, we also discuss noteworthy figures that have contributed significantly to our knowledge of Earth; we also look into some cultural aspects relating to Earth Sciences. We trust you will find this newest issue of our “Wonders of Science” series intriguing and informative; it will hopefully incite your interest to read more about Earth Sciences. As always, we hope you enjoy your read. 

Ten years ago, a periodic newsletter was launched to further inform the public about the Planetarium Science Center. With the success of the PSC Newsletter, it was revamped in 2014 to become the quarterly publication SCIplanet. It has always been SCIplanet’s Editorial Team’s objective to engage the public with diverse annual overarching themes, each presented in four subthemes.

In this new year, marking the tenth anniversary, we begin with astronomy, the science of the universe and the science for which planetariums were created to begin with, although in modern-day planetariums, including ours, all sciences and science-related themes are tackled. Dear Reader, we hope you have enjoyed your journey with us throughout the past years, and that, in our new year, we meet your expectations with every new issue hereafter.

We have chosen to spotlight groups of scientists and inventors who have transformed our life and the world, but who are often unnoticed, overlooked, or marginalized, if not altogether forgotten.

We conclude our series about the people of science with an issue dedicated to a handful out of countless scientists and inventors who, for one reason or the other, have been unseen or unheard of by the public. In this issue, we humbly attempt to give due credit to those who have unpretentiously changed our lives and made it somehow better to live, yet their names have been concealed or simply forgotten. Hopefully, we intrigue you to attempt discovering for yourself more of and about the invisible people of science.

History brims with child prodigies that have continued to marvel generation after generation for centuries following their departure from our world. 

In this issue, we aim to give youth a boost and give older adults a nudge to do the same. From Aristotle to Mark Zuckerberg, we explore examples of young successes in the world of knowledge, science and technology. We highlight eminent Nobel Laureates who have achieved, or embarked on life-changing discoveries at a young age. We discuss challenges that sometimes face young intellects, curious creations by young inventors, and modern conceptions by young innovators that may shape our tomorrow. Finally, we certainly pay special attention to Egyptian youth, how they think, and where they may lead us someday. We hope to inspire all our readers of all ages.

In this issue, we highlight just a few examples of women’s ingenuity throughout the ages; from Hypatia in Ancient Alexandria, to the famous Arab Maryam “Al-Asturlabiyya”, to the iconic Caroline Herschel and Marie Curie, whose name has become synonymous with the phrase “Women in Science”.

We also refer to other significant women, whose contributions have changed the world as we know it; a couple of cases in point are Rachel Carson and Maria Montessori. Not only that, we highlight modern day women warriors of science, their battles, and their victories; women who have the power and the will to take mankind to Mars, reshape information technology, cure tenacious human ailments, just to name a few of their endeavors.

Indeed, we promise you an exciting and enlightening read that just might change how you think of the world and maybe your purpose in it.

We dedicate the issues of SCIplanet 2016 to the “People of Science”. Naturally, because we could never do justice to all the people of science, we have decided to focus on four groups of such people that we find most relevant to us Egyptians at this point in time. Within this context, we are dedicating this first issue of 2016 to “Science of the Arabs”.

In this issue, we attempt to highlight some distinctive Arab scientists of the past and the present and their impact on different sciences, and in turn on our lives and the lives of all humans. We also try to shed some light on the opportunities versus challenges Arabs, especially Arab scientists, are exposed to. We wish you a happy and blessed new year, full of achievement and progress.

This year 2015, we have chosen the overarching theme of “Bare Necessities”. Naturally, food is a major bare necessity, without which life ceases to exist. Not only is food a necessity of life, but its quality also determines the quality of our life.

In this issue, we tackle some issues related to the necessity that is food, and its main source: agriculture. Each is a huge subject that no one can ever cover entirely. We have thus made a selection of a few interesting subjects. Among them, we discuss the possibility of farming in outer space, ancient Egyptian cuisine, safety and health in agriculture, growing farming problems, as well as farming advances and new technologies.Finally, you must not miss the final episode of the Sci-Fi series “The Human Civilization Enigma”.

On the most fundamental level through photosynthesis, light is necessary to the existence of life itself. It plays a vital role in our daily lives and is an imperative crosscutting discipline of science in the 21st century. It has revolutionized medicine, opened up international communication via the Internet, and continues to be central to linking cultural, economic, and political aspects of the global society.

We dedicate this issue to Light, the source and future of life. Among the topics we approach and the valuable contributions of our regular collaborators, we tackle historical and modern aspects relating to artificial lighting, how light helps cure diseases, the role of light in communication, how special organisms produce their own light, and how different organisms perceive light to see the world around them. We hope our new issue lights up your life!