
Is this the Enigma machine that will defeat West's enemies? War ‘brain' that can predict attacks before they happen-
A MODERN-DAY version of the Enigma machine is being rapidly created by the West to help defeat its enemies - with it already helping Ukraine.
The remarkable software is the latest piece of war tech being tested on the frontlines as it aims to predict and repel Russian attacks before they even happen.
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Estonian-based SensusQ's Winning Minds technology is able to digest and process real-time information from warzones into valuable facts and figures with ease.
This has proven vital on the battlefield in Ukraine across the past three and a half years on the ground, in the air and at sea.
The technology combines decades of military and intelligence experience with a top team of software engineers.
The official SensusQ team describe their invention as "the tool they wished they had" available during their own war time experiences.
Erik Markus Kannike, CSO at SensusQ, told The Sun: "We're unique in the sense that we're focusing more on the kind of smartness behind war.
"We're not producing physical drones or weapons systems but what we do is try to bring that intelligence part of fighting into the 21st century.
"Many people usually think it's already very high tech and as you see in the Hollywood movies but in fact, it's mostly still pen and paper.
"What we see in Ukraine, for example, you have hundreds of drones, if not thousands, currently in the air, all of which are producing information.
"And you have social media and things from satellites but how do you actually manage all this information and make sense of it?"
This is where SensusQ comes in as it is able to automatically process this data and find connections between it all.
This can then be presented to people in the simplest form possible so it is easily understandable.
Erik also revealed that they have already been partnered with various parties in Ukraine since early on in the war.
These range from military users to even law enforcement.
He added: "I can't go into direct detail on what we're doing or who it is with but the end result is the same as we're helping them to make sense of the information that they might miss otherwise."
The main goal is always to be more effective, to use your resources more effectively and to save lives
Erik Markus KannikeCSO at SensusQ
There is also a secure app called Verdandi used by soldiers on the ground who file real-time reports on all wartime activity.
Another aspect of SensusQ's technology that sets them apart is how the data is used and shared.
Whoever is in command of the system - Ukrainian officials for example - control the entire thing.
They can program it as they like, deploy it when they want to and the results remain a secret to them only.
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SensusQ as a company don't receive the data themselves meaning all the results can stay classified.
One of the other key areas is the time it takes for the device to collect the data.
On a battlefield, the situation can rapidly change day-to-day meaning that a lot of information has to be short term and quickly adjusted.
This means any system must be able to kick into action fast - and the Winning Minds tech can often be set up within a few hours.
We're not producing physical drones or weapons systems but what we do is try to bring that intelligence part of fighting into the 21st century
Erik Markus KannikeCSO at SensusQ
SensusQ has now even developed a system which involves digital maps which helps with "situational understanding" in conflict zones.
"You're able to actually look at long-term patterns and you're able to see who's connected to what," Erik added.
"Then, based on this information, you're already able to start predicting.
"If you are actively fighting, the pace is such that you rarely have the time to actually do detailed analysis and craft future plans but with our system it allows them to actually have that perspective and to present it.
"The main goal is always to be more effective, to use your resources more effectively and to save lives."
What was the enigma machine?
THE Enigma machine was a secret cipher device used by Nazi Germany during World War II to encode and decode secret messages.
It was an electromechanical device that utilised a series of rotors and a plugboard to create complex encryptions around what the Nazis had planned.
The secrecy of the device made it extremely difficult to decipher what was being talked about without the correct settings to unlock it.
The machine played a significant role in military communications for years before it was finally cracked by a clever allied team.
In total, there were around a billion possible combinations which were required to use the system.
The Brit often credited with solving the war-saving puzzle is Alan Turing.
The cracking of the Enigma codes is widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements in cryptography and intelligence history.
SensusQ has been designed to essentially eliminate mistakes in war and ensure that no information obtained ever goes to waste, Erik said.
He also spoke on how valuable the Ukraine war has been to help develop the system over the past few years.
Erik said: "The lessons we've learned from Ukraine, and we are still learning are invaluable.
"They've affected a lot of how the system works as there's some things that you cannot imagine.
"The pace of innovation in Ukraine is quite incredible so we continuously take those lessons learned and integrate into our software."
Could the UK ever use the tech?
Erik says the SensusQ software is available to whichever allied nation needs it most at any given time.
The tech is set to be a major player in the world of combat should a continental conflict ever break out or even a world war.
The lessons learnt in Ukraine have already helped out other European states, Erik says.
This is because the information collected on the battlefields of Kursk, Donetsk and beyond are already being reflected and passed on to other clients.
Erik also noted that the UK in particular would be in a similar position to Ukraine should they go to war with a larger nation such as Russia or even China.
The world can and SHOULD learn from Ukraine
EXPERTS have said the way Ukraine has handled themselves in their gruelling conflict is something other military's can aspire towards.
Kyiv has constantly come up with new plans of attack from the use of SensusQ to its ingenuous guerrilla warfare tactics to deplete Vlad's army.
Colonel Hamish De Bretton Gordon told The Sun: "They've changed the way we fight, and the use of AI to control multiple thousands of drones at a time is something all us military people are looking at and learning from.
"I know that the British army itself is looking at it, to see how they can learn.
"How can they fight as effectively as these, in effect, amateurs who have very quickly become a professional.
"The ways of fighting and technology always accelerate during warfare, and we've had over three years of it now.
"What we must do as a country is make sure we're absolutely up to speed, and are learning and copying all the really good things that Ukraine has done."
He said: "The key, as we're seeing both in the UK and in Europe, is we understand that numerically and maybe in terms of equipment, it's hard to compete with whoever our potential adversaries are.
"Take Russia, they have a million personnel and quite a large capacity to rejuvenate their equipment and their armoured vehicles etc.
"So what needs to happen is that we need to use what we have in a smarter way so choosing what to hit becomes more and more important.
"So you have to have what we call decision dominance where you need to understand the enemy better than the enemy understands themselves.
"And this is what we aim to provide to the entire alliance."
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The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
UK broadcasters hail rare win over Netflix in battle for streaming ads
Shows such as Netflix's TV history-making Adolescence and Disney's romp Rivals are among the latest hits to continue the subscriber juggernaut, as the US streamers continue to mount pressure on UK TV broadcasters. However, research reveals that a new breed of viewers being banked on to drive their next era of growth are watching up to 40% less content on some services, giving traditional broadcasters hope that their own streaming services will not ultimately be outmuscled in the battle over the rapidly growing £1bn-plus streaming ad market. It has been two and a half years since Netflix reversed its resistance to advertising, leading the charge to tap a new market as subscriber growth petered out and the cost of living crisis made consumers more open to paying less in return for seeing ads. The strategy has helped breathe life into stalling subscription growth. Netflix added the most customers in a quarter in its history in the final three months of 2024, with 55% choosing its ad-supported package. About a third of its 300 million-strong global subscriber base are now watching with ads. Disney+ followed suit in late 2022 and has since amassed 157 million ad-tier subscribers, including its US-only ESPN and Hulu services. And in February last year, Amazon started automatically introducing ads to the 200 million potential monthly viewers of Prime Video, requiring customers to pay if they wanted an ad-free experience. However, research into streaming households shows that homes that watch with ads are 'lighter' viewers, in the words of one media agency executive, compared with those who pay for higher-priced, ad-free packages. A snapshot of UK streaming in the fourth quarter of 2024 showed that Netflix households with advertising-supported subscriptions watched an average of 22 minutes less content a day than those with an ad-free subscription, a difference of almost 22%. Netflix is estimated to have about 17.6 million subscribers in total in the UK, of whom just over 4 million are on an ad-supported package, according to Ampere Analysis. At Amazon's Prime Video, which is estimated to have about 12 million UK users, the same trend has emerged. Viewers who accepted ads watched an average of 23 minutes less content a day than those who had opted to pay for an ad-free experience – a difference of 44%. While viewing minutes were not available for Disney+ UK subscribers, the research showed it had the narrowest gap, with those on ad-supported accounts watching just five fewer minutes of content a day on average than those paying for an ad-free subscription. Matt Ross, the chief analytics officer at the streaming research firm Digital i, says two distinct types of viewer have emerged, but adds that lower levels of viewing in ad-supported households is partly because those subscriptions also typically offer access on fewer devices. 'We've seen that more engaged viewers typically opt for ad-free tiers, valuing the uninterrupted experience they provide,' Ross says. 'More premium plans offer multiple simultaneous streams, which appeals especially to larger households and families. This combination of premium features and flexibility often results in higher daily activity for ad-free plans.' Nevertheless, the phenomenon of 'light viewers' will be grasped by UK broadcasters trying to stop the deep-pocketed US giants conquering the streaming advertising market in the same way as they have the world of paid subscriptions. 'The appeal of the global streamers' ad tiers to advertisers doesn't stack up against the streaming services offered by British broadcasters,' says one senior TV industry executive. Certainly in the UK, at least, the drive into advertising by the big US streamers has had a mixed reception from the media agencies that buy commercial space for brands. Netflix started with a gung-ho attitude, buoyed up by the success it had had building a huge paid subscriber base and the belief advertisers would leap at the chance to be able to place commercials in its mega-hits for the first time. However, it demanded almost 50% more than ITV or Channel 4's services charge for advertising, alongside a hefty commitment to a minimum spend, despite initially only having a small audience and extremely limited ability to target ads. 'The rollout was a disaster,' says the chief executive of one media agency. 'Take-up was underwhelming, to say the least. They had to try again six months later and lost their lead over rivals and are now behind the curve in terms of pricing, data and reach versus, say, Amazon.' Amazon charges about the same as the public service broadcasters' streaming services, while Disney+ charges more, despite having the smallest base of the big three US streamers, a situation the media executive describes as a 'mad outlier, given their volume'. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Last month Netflix rung the changes, announcing that Warren Dias, the head of UK's ad sales, was to leave after two years in the post. The world's biggest and most profitable streaming service has acknowledged it is still a newbie when it comes to the ad market. 'I think you can say that 2025 is the year that we transition from crawl to walk,' Greg Peters, the co-chief executive of Netflix, said in a recent call with analysts. Peters said overall viewing hours per subscriber on its ads plans internationally was similar to those on its standard non-ad plans, and that it expected to double advertising income this year as it focuses on improving ad targeting for brands. The company launched its in-house ad-tech platform in the US in April and intends to start rolling it out to other markets in the coming months. While UK broadcasters feel the tentative start by the US giants has given them the upper hand in the British streaming advertising, which is putting further pressure on the shrinking £3.58bn traditional TV ad market, there is a sense of foreboding that history may ultimately repeat itself. 'We were successful and revolutionised TV viewing,' says Damien Bernet, the vice-president of ad sales for the EMEA region at Netflix. 'We believe we are going to be able to do the same for ads.' More people visit and watch Netflix than any other streaming service in the UK, and in March it made TV history with Adolescence becoming the first programme on a streaming platform to top the weekly audience charts of all shows aired in Britain. In February, 65% of 18- to 64-year-old internet users accessed Netflix, compared with 59% for the BBC's iPlayer, 48% for Prime Video, 46% for ITVX and 34% for Channel 4's streaming service, according to survey data from Ampere Analysis. The US streamers' ad tier strategies have reignited overall growth, are rapidly increasing the scale and attractiveness of the offering for advertisers, and the cheaper pricing has made users more 'sticky' and less likely to think about cancelling. 'Fundamentally, advertising is a scale game, and in that regard many of the streamers are only just getting started,' says Richard Broughton, a director at Ampere. 'UK and European broadcasters will be far from complacent, given the competition they have faced for viewers over the past decade, but they have only a narrow window to batten down the hatches before they start to feel more pressure across their advertiser base too.'


Auto Express
9 hours ago
- Auto Express
Citroen e-C4 vs Volkswagen ID.3: which affordable EV is best for the family?
There's a new buzzword in the world of electric vehicles – affordability. It seems that with each new model that's launched, prices become cheaper, while those EVs that have been around for a bit longer have seen a steady fall in their prices over time. Take the Citroen e-C4 as an example. This electric crossover hatchback has been on the market since 2020, and during its time on sale it has gone through a number of revisions to keep it competitive. Most recently, the e-C4 benefited from a facelift to incorporate Citroen's latest family look, but the French firm also took the opportunity to knock around £4,000 off its list price, too. Advertisement - Article continues below Volkswagen is another company that has constantly tinkered with its model line-up, and the ID.3 hatchback has been updated with the arrival of a new entry-level variant. Called Essential, it does exactly what it says by offering the smallest battery and lowest power output in the range, but still has enough kit to make it an attractive option. So which model makes the best case for itself? Does the e-C4 offer great value? Or does the ID.3 deliver enough to justify its price tag? Model: Citroen e-C4 50kWh Plus Price: £27,650 Powertrain: 50kWh battery (50kWh usable), 1x e-motor, 134bhp 0-62mph: 10.0 seconds Test efficiency: 3.6 miles/kWh Official range: 219 miles Annual VED: £195 The Citroen e-C4 uses the same platform as cars such as the Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa superminis, but its dimensions are more like a compact hatchback's. As with those models, it also comes with petrol and hybrid powertrains, but here we're concentrating on the all-electric version. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below View 3 Series View Grandland X View Q4 e-tron Prices start at £27,650, which is around £4,000 less than the pre-facelift model. This gets you a car with a 50kWh battery, while the top-spec Max model is the only one with the larger 54kWh pack. Tester's notes The e-C4's three drive modes are selected via a rocker switch next to the drive selector on the centre console, but as with other Stellantis models with this set-up, they seem a bit superfluous to me. The system defaults to Normal when you start the car, so you stick with that most of the time. Advertisement - Article continues below Eco mode cuts the power, so it feels as if you need to work harder to maintain the same speed. Power adds a snappy throttle response that requires you to adjust your driving style to compensate. It feels at odds with the car's character. One place where the e-C4's roots as a combustion-engined vehicle are most obvious is beneath the boot carpet. Lift it up and you'll find a circular recess for a spare wheel, but while the petrol C4 has a completely round indentation, the e-C4's is squared off to make space for the battery. Ironically, not even the petrol version of the C4 has the option of a spare wheel – you'll just have to rely on the tyre pressure warning system and standard repair kit to keep you going if you suffer any damage. Model: Volkswagen ID.3 Essential Price: £30,860 Powertrain: 55kWh battery (52kWh usable), 1x e-motor, 168bhp 0-62mph: 8.2 seconds Test efficiency: 4.1 miles/kWh Official range: 241 miles Annual VED: £195 It's been five years since the Volkswagen ID.3 kicked off the electrification of VW's line-up, and since then it has been joined by a range of models that use largely the same running gear. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below The ID.3 itself was given a facelift in 2023, while the Essential model tested here has helped lower the overall starting price of the line-up. At £30,860, it falls between the 50kWh and 54kWh versions of the e-C4 on price, while the battery is rated with a usable capacity of 52kWh, which VW says is enough for a range of 241 miles. Advertisement - Article continues below Tester's notes I think Match trim adds enough extra to the ID.3 to justify its mark-up over the Essential version. Alloy wheels look smarter than the plastic trims on the base spec, while the reversing camera, navigation and main beam assist are all useful features to have. Another handy addition is the two-zone climate control. All ID.3s have two bars beneath the main display that you slide your finger across to adjust the temperature. On Essential cars they keep the dash symmetry intact, because they have the same function. Adding options involves paying for some pricey packs instead of individual items. VW's smart-looking head-up display comes with either the £1,175 Driver Assistance Pack or the Assistance Package Plus (£2,240), which also adds semi-autonomous driving tech that can change lanes. It also includes a memory function and a remote parking operation. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below If you want improved driving dynamics, the £955 Sports package adds Volkswagen's DCC Dynamic Chassis Control and progressive steering for sharper responses. On the road As with other Citroens, the e-C4 is geared towards comfort over sporty handling. Grip is good and the electric powertrain is responsive to a point, but the soft ride encourages you to take things easy and revel in the cosseting feel. The ID.3's rear-wheel-drive set-up and responsive electric motor sound like a recipe for fun, and it's certainly more engaging than the Citroen, but the ride is fidgety at lower speeds. Advertisement - Article continues below Tech highlights All versions of the e-C4 come with a 10-inch touchscreen. Plus and Max trims feature navigation and voice control, but all variants include wireless smartphone connectivity. The ID.3 also features this tech, while adaptive cruise control is included as standard too. Neither car comes with a heat pump as standard, but it's a more affordable extra on the Citroen at £450; it costs £1,150 to add to the VW. Price and running There's an overlap in prices between the highest-spec versions of the e-C4 and the entry point to the ID.3 line-up, but both models feature a similar amount of kit. The VW proved to be more efficient on test, with a return of 4.1 miles per kWh compared with 3.6mi/kWh for the Citroen. Combine this with the bigger battery, and the ID.3 can travel more than 210 miles between charges. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below Practicality The Citroen looks rakish next to the upright VW, but these two cars offer a similar amount of space inside. The ID.3 has more headroom and legroom, but both cars are equally wide, and boot space is pretty much comparable between them, too. The VW's bay is longer and wider, but there's a high load floor because of the rear-mounted electric motor that takes up space beneath the boot. Advertisement - Article continues below Charging Volkswagen offers a faster DC charging rate than Citroen. A 10-80 per cent top-up can take as little as 25 minutes from a 145kW source, but the e-C4 maxes out at 100kW, and Citroen quotes a 20-80 per cent charge time of half an hour. If you can take advantage of 11kW three-phase charging, you'll need to pay £300 to upgrade the e-C4 to use it – it's a standard feature on the ID.3. Ownership Both models come with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty, while VW includes three years of roadside assistance to Citroen's one. Servicing costs are very similar between these two models, with the annual price of Citroen's £508 four-year package working out nearly the same as VW's £384 three-year deal. Citroen was fifth out of 32 in the last Driver Power brands' survey, well ahead of VW in 29th. While the Volkswagen Golf set a benchmark in the compact hatch class, the Volkswagen ID.3 hasn't quite had the same impact in the EV sector. Updates have improved the car, though, while the latest Pure-battery variant delivers good value for money while still offering a decent range. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below We'd go as far to say that this model in Match trim is the sweet spot in the range. It offers all the kit you could possibly want at a price that makes higher-spec variants look expensive. The roomy cabin and decent driving manners help it to slot easily into family life. Advertisement - Article continues below Latest Volkswagen ID.3 deals Picking between these two cars is difficult because they both have key strengths. There's lots to like about the Citroen e-C4, especially its comfortable ride and plush seats, while the reduced list prices make it even more tempting. As a family car, the C4 ticks the right boxes for space and practicality, while the choice of petrol, hybrid or EV powertrains means there should be a model for most buyers. As an EV, it's a refined machine, but the range and slow charging capability mean it's a little behind the curve when compared with the ID.3. Latest Citroen e-C4 deals Citroen e-C4 Volkswagen ID.3 Our choice e-C4 50kWh Plus ID.3 Pure Essential Price from/price of our choice £27,650/£29,310 £30,860/£33,135 Powertrain and performance Powertrain 1x electric motor 1x electric motor Power 134bhp 168bhp Torque 260Nm 310Nm Transmission Single-speed auto/FWD Single-speed auto/RWD 0-62mph/top speed 10.0 seconds/93mph 8.2 seconds/99mph Battery capacity/usable 50/50kWh 55/52kWh Official range 219 miles 241 miles Test efficiency/range 3.6mi/kWh/180 miles 4.1mi/kWh/213 miles Charging 100kW (20-80% in 30 mins) 145kW (10-80% in 25 mins) Dimensions Length/wheelbase 4,355/2,670mm 4,264/2,770mm Width/height 1,800/1,520mm 1,809/1,564mm Rear kneeroom 585-830mm 637-869mm Rear headroom/elbow room 910/1,445mm 956/1,444mm Boot space (front/seats up/down) 380/1,250 litres 385/1,267 litres Boot length/width 800/1,005mm 852/1,013mm Boot lip height 725mm 774mm Kerbweight/towing weight 1,571/454kg 1,712/548kg Turning circle 10.9 metres 11.5 metres Costs/ownership Residual value (after 3yrs/36,000 miles) £9,899/35.8% £15,708/50.9% Depreciation £17,751 £15,152 Insurance group/quote/VED 22/£757/£195 20/£601/£195 Three-year service cost £508 (4yrs) £384 Annual tax liability std/higher rate £166/£331 £185/£370 Annual fuel cost (12,000 miles) £832 £732 Basic warranty (miles)/recovery 3yrs (60,000)/1yr 3yrs (60,000)/3yrs Driver Power manufacturer position 5th 29th NCAP Adult/child/ped./assist/stars 80/83/57/63/4(2021) 87/89/71/88/5(2020) Equipment Metallic paint/wheel size £595-£720/18 inches £810-£965/18 inches Parking sensors/camera Rear/yes Front & rear/no Spare wheel/Isofix points Repair kit/two Repair kit/three Keyless entry & go/powered tailgate No/no Yes/no Leather/heated seats No/no/£450 No/no/£1,150 Screen size/digital dashboard 10.0 inches/yes 12.9 inches/yes Climate control/panoramic sunroof Two-zone/no Two-zone/£795 USBs/wireless charging Three/no/£400 Four/no/yes Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto Yes/yes Yes/yes Blind-spot warning/head-up display No/yes No/no Adaptive cruise/steering assist No/yes Yes/yes Citroen Most extras are reserved for the top-spec Max model. This includes the Techno Pack, which adds 360-degree cameras, adaptive cruise control and a wireless phone charger for £500. A sunroof costs £790 on Max trim. Volkswagen As well as having more kit, the ID.3 has more options, too. Alloys (£1,310) can replace the standard wheel trims, there are trick LED lights (£1,725) and a tow hitch (£1,105), but this is just for mounting a cycle carrier. Looking for your next car? You can now search our nationwide dealer network for a choice of great cars on offer right now with new, used and leasing deals to choose from... New BYD Dolphin Surf Comfort review: the best BYD yet New BYD Dolphin Surf Comfort review: the best BYD yet The new BYD Dolphin Surf Comfort is arguably the Chinese brand's most convincing model in its range Best cars to own: Driver Power 2025 results Best cars to own: Driver Power 2025 results The best new cars to own in the UK right now according to the people who already do. It's the 2025 Driver Power results! New entry-level Renault Symbioz is £3k cheaper than a Nissan Qashqai New entry-level Renault Symbioz is £3k cheaper than a Nissan Qashqai The Renault Captur has also been fitted the new full-hybrid powertrain, which gets a bigger battery for more pure-electric driving


BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
'There's a huge amount that we don't understand': Why sperm is still so mysterious
How do sperm swim? How do they navigate? What is sperm made of? What does a World War Two codebreaker have to do with it all? The BBC untangles why we know so little about this mysterious cell. With every heartbeat, a man can produce around 1,000 sperm – and during intercourse, more than 50 million of the intrepid swimmers set out to fertilise an egg. Only a few make it to the final destination, before a single sperm wins the race and penetrates the egg. But much about this epic journey – and the microscopic explorers themselves – remains a mystery to science. "How does a sperm swim? How does it find the egg? How does it fertilise the egg?" asks Sarah Martins da Silva, clinical reader of diabetes endocrinology and reproductive biology at the University of Dundee in the UK. Almost 350 years on from the discovery of sperm, many of these questions remain surprisingly open to debate. Using newly developed methods, scientists are now following sperm on their migration – from their genesis in the testes all the way to the fertilisation of the egg in the female body. The results are leading to groundbreaking new discoveries, from how sperm really swim to the surprisingly big changes that occur to them when they reach the female body. "Sperm – or spermatozoa – are 'very, very different' from all other cells on Earth," says Martins da Silva. "They don't handle energy in the same way. They don't have the same sort of cellular metabolism and mechanisms that we would expect to find in all other cells." Due to the huge range of functions demanded of spermatozoa, they require more energy than other cells. Plus sperm need to be flexible, to be able to respond to environmental cues and varying energetic demands during ejaculation and the journey along the female tract, right up until fertilisation. Sperm are also the only human cells which can survive outside the body, Martins da Silva adds. "For that reason, they are extraordinarily specialised." However, due to their size these tiny cells are very difficult to study, she says. "There's a lot we know about reproduction – but there's a huge amount that we don't understand." One fundamental question that remained unanswered over almost 350 years of research: what exactly are sperm? "The sperm is incredibly well-packaged," says Adam Watkins, associate professor in reproductive and developmental physiology at Nottingham University in the UK. "We typically thought of the sperm as a bag of DNA on a tail. But as we've started to realise, it's quite a complex cell – there's a lot of [other] genetic information in there." The science of sperm began in 1677, when Dutch microbiologist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek looked through one of his 500 homemade microscopes and saw what he called "semen animals". He concluded, in 1683, that it wasn't the egg that contained the miniature and entire human, as previously believed, but that man comes "from an animalcule in the masculine seed". By 1685, he had decided that each spermatozoon contains an entire miniature person, complete with its own "living soul". Almost 200 years later, in 1869, Johannes Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss physician and biologist, was studying human white blood cells collected from pus left on soiled hospital bandages when he discovered what he called "nuclein" inside the nuclei. The term "nuclein" was later changed to "nucleic acid" and eventually became "deoxyribonucleic acid" – or "DNA". Aiming to further his studies of DNA, Miescher turned to sperm as his source. Salmon sperm, in particular, were "an excellent and more pleasant source of nuclear material" due to their particularly large nuclei. He worked in freezing temperatures, keeping laboratory windows open, in order to avoid deterioration of salmon sperm. In 1874, he identified a basic component of the sperm cell that he called "protamine". It was the first glimpse of the proteins that make up sperm cells. It took another 150 years, however, for scientists to identify the full protein contents of sperm. Since then, our understanding of sperm has moved on leaps and bounds. But much still remains a mystery, says Watkins. As scientists have started to better understand early embryonic development, he adds, they are realising that sperm doesn't just pass the father's chromosomes on, but also epigenetic information, an extra layer of information that affects how and when the genes should be used. "It can really influence how the embryo develops and potentially the lifelong trajectory of the offspring that those sperm generate," says Watkins. Sperm cells begin to form from puberty onwards, made in vessels within the testicles called seminiferous tubules. "If you look inside the testes where the sperm are made, it starts as just a round cell that looks pretty much like anything else," says Watkins. "Then it undergoes this dramatic change where it becomes a sperm head with a tail. No other cell within the body changes its structure, its shape, in such a unique way." It takes sperm about nine weeks to reach maturity within the male body. Unejaculated sperm cells eventually die and are reabsorbed into the body. But the lucky ones are ejaculated – and then the adventure begins. After ejaculation, each of these tiny cells must propel themselves forward (alongside their 50 million competitors) using their tail-like appendages to swim for the egg. And while you may have seen plenty of videos of tadpole-like sperm swimming around, in fact scientists are only just beginning to understand how sperm really swim. It was previously thought that the sperm's tail – or flagellum – moved side to side like that of a tadpole. But in 2023, researchers at the University of Bristol in the UK found that sperm tails follow the same template for pattern formation discovered by mathematician and World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing. In 1952, Turing realised that chemical reactions can create patterns. He proposed that two biological chemicals moving and reacting with each other could be used to explain some of nature's most intriguing biological pattern formations – including those found in fingerprints, feathers, leaves and ripples in sand – an idea known as his "reaction-diffusion" theory. Using 3D microscopy, the Bristol researchers discovered that a sperm's tail – or flagellum – undulates, generating waves that travel along the tail to drive it forward. This is significant as understanding how sperm move can help scientists to understand male fertility. So, now the sperm are on the move. They travel through the cervix, into the womb and up the oviducts – tubes that eggs travel down to reach the womb, known as the fallopian tubes in human females – in search of the egg. But here we hit another gap in knowledge, because scientists don't fully understand how sperm actually find their way to the egg. Spermatozoa which are healthy and take the right route are rare. Many take a wrong turn in the maze that is the female body – and never even make it near the goal line. For the ones that do find their way to the fallopian tubes, scientists think that they may be guided by chemical signals emitted by the egg. One recent theory is that sperm may use taste receptors to "taste" their way to the egg. Once the sperm find the egg, the challenge is not over. The egg is surrounded by a triplicate coat of armour: the corona radiata, an array of cells; the zona pellucida, a jelly-like cushion made of protein; and finally the egg plasma membrane. The sperm cells have to fight their way through all the layers, using chemicals contained in their acrosome, a cap-like structure on the head of a sperm cell containing enzymes that digest the egg cell coating. However, what prompts the release of these enzymes remains a mystery. Next the sperm use a spike on their "head" to try and break their way in to the egg, thrashing their tails to force themselves forwards. Finally, if one sperm makes contact with the egg membrane, it is engulfed and can complete fertilisation. Human cells are diploid. This means they contain two complete sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. If more than one sperm were to fuse with the egg, a condition called polyspermy would arise. Nondiploid cells – ones with the incorrect number of chromosomes – would develop, a condition lethal to a growing embryo. To prevent this from happening, once a sperm cell has made contact with it, the egg quickly employs two mechanisms. First, its plasma membrane rapidly depolarises – meaning it creates an electrical barrier that further sperm cannot cross. However, this only lasts a short time before returning to normal. This is where the cortical reaction comes in. A sudden release of calcium causes the zona pellucida – the egg's "extracellular coat" – to become hardened, creating an impenetrable barrier. So, of millions of sperm that set out on the journey, only one – at most – gets to do its job. The sperm's epic journey culminates in its fusion with the egg. Today, researchers are still attempting to uncover the identity and role of cell surface proteins that could be responsible for sperm-egg recognition, binding and fusion. In recent years, several proteins have been identified – albeit in mice and fish – as being crucial for this process, but many of the molecules involved remain unknown. So, for now, how the sperm and egg recognise each other, and how they fuse are yet more mysteries that remain unsolved. One way researchers are hoping to shed light on sperm is by studying species other than our own, says Scott Pitnick, a professor of biology at Syracuse University in New York. Human sperm cells are microscopic, so we can't see them with the naked eye. But some fruit fly species produce sperm cells 20 times their own body length. That would be like a man producing sperm the length of a 40m (130ft) python. Pitnick engineers the heads of fruit fly sperm so that they glow. This means he can watch them as they travel through dissected female fly reproductive tracts, revealing new details about fertilisation at the molecular level. "Why do males in some species make a few giant sperm?" asks Pitnick. "The answer, it turns out, is because females have evolved reproductive tracts that favour them." That's "not really much of an answer", he adds, because it's just the redirects the question: why have females evolved this way? "We still don't understand that at all." But it does teach us that sperm as they exist in the male body is only half the story, says Pitnick. "There's a massive sex bias historically in science. There's been this obscenely biased male focus on male traits. But it turns out that what's driving the system is female evolution – and males are just trying to keep up." Sperm, Pitnick says, are the most diverse and rapidly evolving cell type on Earth. Why sperm have undergone such dramatic evolution is a mystery that has stumped biologists for more than a century. "It turns out the female reproductive tract is this incredibly, rapidly evolving environment," says Pitnick, "and we don't know much about what sperm do inside the female. That is the big, hidden world. I think the female reproductive tract is the greatest unexplored frontier for sexual selection, theory and speciation [the process by which new species are formed]." The fruit fly's long-tailed sperm, suggests Pitnick, could be considered an ornament – much like a deer's antlers or a peacock's tail. Ornaments are a "sort of a weapon in evolution", explains Pitnick. More than just a defence from predators, ornaments like antlers and horns often have two roles to play. "A lot of these weapons are about sex, and usually male-male competition. The [fruit fly's] long sperm flagellum really meets the definitional criteria of an ornament. We think the female tract has traits that bias fertilisation in favour of some sperm phenotypes over others." We know a lot about pre-mating sexual selection, Pitnick says. "Say, it's prairie chickens dancing out on a grassland, or a bird of paradise displaying in a rainforest. It's motion, it's colour, it's smells?" Processing this sensory input, explains Pitnick, leads to decision making – whether the pair mate or not. But, Pitnick says, the sexual selection that goes on inside the female after mating – and how this drives the evolution of sperm – largely remains a mystery. "We still understand very little about the genetics of ornaments and preferences," he says. To fully understand sperm, we need to think about how the entire lifecycle of the sperm – and the female body, explains Pitnick, plays a huge role in the sperm's development. "Sperm are not mature when they finish developing in the testes, they're not done developing." Complex – and critical – interactions occur between the sperm and the female reproductive tract, he says. "We're now spending a lot of time studying what we call post-ejaculatory modifications to sperm across the whole animal kingdom." Even as scientists are unravelling the many and varied processes a sperm goes through in order to achieve fertilisation, other research is leading to real concern about the current state of human sperm. Men produce close to a trillion sperm during one lifetime, so it might be hard to imagine that sperm are in trouble. But research suggests sperm counts – the number of sperm in a sample of semen – are tumbling globally and the decline appears to be accelerating. More like this:• How pollution is causing a male fertility crisis• Pre-eclampsia: The deadly mystery scientists can't solve• Fewer than half of IVF cycles are successful. These scientists are trying to change that According to a 2023 report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), around one in six adults worldwide experience infertility – and male infertility contributes to roughly half of all cases. (It's also worth noting that many people around the world are not having as many children as they want for other reasons too, such as the prohibitive cost of parenthood, as a recent United Nation population Fund report highlighted). Pollution, smoking, alcohol, poor diet, lack of exercise and stress are all thought to impact male infertility. Yet for the majority of men with fertility problems, the cause remains unexplained. (Read more about the decline in sperm quality around the world). "With all those moving parts, there are so many things that could go wrong," says Hannah Morgan, a post-doctoral research associate in maternal and fetal health at the University of Manchester, UK. "It could be a mechanism: it doesn't swim very well, so it can't get to the egg. Or it could be something more intricate within the head of the sperm, or other regions of the sperm. It's so specialised in so many different ways, that lots of little things can go wrong." One way to see if a man may be infertile is to look inside the sperm, says Morgan. "How does the DNA look? How is it packaged? How fragmented is it? To break open the sperm, there's a whole range of stuff you could look at. But what is a good or bad measurement? We don't actually know." Perhaps by unravelling the mystery of sperm and how they function, Morgan says, we might begin to understand male infertility too. -- For trusted insights into better health and wellbeing rooted in science, sign up to the Health Fix newsletter, while The Essential List delivers a handpicked selection of features and insights. For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.