Iris Lennox

When the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the globe, I discovered I could swap my hectic commute for a few extra minutes in bed. It turns out I was not alone. A landmark study at the University of South Australia, which began tracking workers before the crisis, has revealed that giving people the choice to work from home delivers significant gains in well being and transforms how we view our jobs.

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Imagine Earth as a giant bar magnet, its invisible field shielding us from cosmic radiation. Now picture a large patch where that protection thins out dramatically. Welcome to the South Atlantic Anomaly, a sprawling zone of weakened magnetism hovering over South America and the South Atlantic Ocean. Scientists trace this quirk back to deep within our planet—around 1,800 miles below the surface—where swirls of molten iron and nickel generate the geomagnetic field.

Here’s the twist: two factors conspire to create this magnetic weakness. First, Earth’s magnetic axis is tilted relative to its spin, so the field isn’t spread evenly. Second, a massive dense structure—known as the African Large Low Shear Velocity Province—disturbs the flow in Earth’s outer core. The upshot is a local dip in field strength, akin to a small reversal, which leaves a gap in our natural defences.

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Earlier this spring, I was idly zooming around Google Earth when I stumbled upon an enormous construction site just north of Beijing—so vast it looked more like a small city than a military installation. Recent satellite imagery confirms what I saw: China is carving out nearly 1,000 acres of underground tunnels and chambers, creating what may become the world’s largest subterranean command centre. As tensions simmer in the Indo-Pacific, this mega hub offers a stark reminder of the ever-evolving landscape of strategic competition.

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