On the front cover of this week’s paper it’s a case of one small step for humankind, one giant leap for entrepreneurs. Alan Yuhas reports on the new space race, which has fewer superpowers and more billionaires than the original.
Last week Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket into deep space, carrying one of the businessman’s Tesla electric cars as it went. As an act of self-promotion it was hard to beat, but Musk is far from alone in looking skyward. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, through his Blue Origin company, is among a slew of entrepreneurs with their eyes on the stars.
While the competition between the fledgling aerospace companies has fired dreams of a new era of discovery, the reality of boldly going to distant planets remains, for now at least, far, far away.
The news pages bring their own voyage of discovery, too, as we introduce two articles from the Guardian’s Upside project to showcase positive news. Jon Henley travels to Helsinki to find the secret of Finland’s good governance, and we report on an innovative approach to tackling mental health issues. Mark Rice-Oxley explains more about the aims of The Upside here.
Weekly Review marks the centenary of some women getting the vote in Britain. Eleven writers look back at how each decade – from the early exploits of the suffragettes to modern pop culture – has brought steps forward and steps backward in the long march for equality between the sexes.
Books features a rare interview with renowned travel writer Dervla Murphy. The intrepid author recounts her more than 50 years of pioneering travel with self-effacing charm.
Science strikes a positive note this week, reporting on a DNA database that could offer hope to children who suffer from genetic mutations. The 100,000 Genomes Project aims to sequence the genomes of 100,000 individuals and, researchers hope, holds the key to beating some of the rarest diseases.
Culture catches up with Greta Gerwig, who recently became only the fifth woman ever to be nominated for a best director Oscar for her film Lady Bird. The former darling of the indie film scene reveals the female film-makers who inspired her, and her hopes for how Hollywood will reshape itself in light of recent scandals.
Rounding off the issue, George Monbiot makes a case for rethinking how we value volunteering and the benefits it can bring to society.
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