Robin Ince on… Comedy and Mental Health

“Some Believe That if You’re Joking About Something, You Haven’t Come to Terms With It ”

Nasa's Mining Bot Gets Rolling

We definitely dig this. NASA has started testing the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR).

Canberra, Australia's Charming Capital City

What was once known as a sheep town has now transformed into a scenic hinterland, filled with superb monuments and galleries for both educational and leisure purposes

This Viral Immunotherapy Appears To Be More Potent Than Others That Have Been Before

A team has created designer viruses that help the immune system target tumours. One of the researchers, Prof Daniel Pinschewer, describes this new approach to cancer therapy

This Queen Has Had No Equal On This Earth For 500 Years

She was one half of a 15th-century power couple that united Spain and helped propel the west towards global dominance. Of all Europe’s queens, argues Giles Tremlett, surely none had a greater impact than Isabella of Castile

Where Are All The Habitable Planets?

The number of known planets is increasing all the time, but how soon can we expect to find life? Stuart Clark takes a closer look.

The Cholesterol Drug Controversy

THE DEBATE ABOUT STATINS SHOWS THAT SCIENCE CAN’T ALWAYS SUPPLY EASY ANSWERS

My Life Scientific

This month, volcanologist Prof Twnsin Mather talks to Helen Pilcher about getting up close and personal with one of most destructive forces

Meet The Plant Messiah

Carlos Magdalena is on a mission to save the plants. From his base at Kew Gardens, he travels the world to rescue tropical species from extinction. The botanical horticulturalist talks to James Lloyd

What Causes Turbulence?

“PLANES CAN COPE WITH TURBULENCE, SO ALTHOUGH MY TEA MIGHT GET SPILT, THERE’S LITTLE DANGER”

Can We Trust Artificial Intelligence?

Deep learning is used in everything from speech recognition software to the assessment of mortgage applications. The only trouble is, we don’t really know how it works…

Celebrate Our Pets

It seems we can’t get enough of our animal companions. But why do we keep pets at all? John Bradshaw argues that the answer can be found deep in our evolutionary past. 

Meet Your Second Brain

Decision-making, mood, disease… scientists are discovering that the network of neurons in our gut is involved in a lot more than just digestion .

Winston Churchill: Atomic Warrior, Nuclear Peacemaker

At the dawn of the Cold War, Churchill was one of the west’s leading champions of the atomic bomb. But, as Britain found itself in the crosshairs of a Soviet attack, his attitude changed – and that, writes Kevin Ruane, set him at odds with the United States.

Scientists Reverse Signs Of Ageing

 New genetic treatment using stem cells suggests we can trun back the clock on old age.

Go Wild In Australia

Experience close encounters with Australia’s extraordinary wildlife renowned around the world

A Surgeon With A Secret

As part of our occasional series profiling remarkable yet unheralded characters from history, Jeremy Dronfield introduces Dr James Barry, the medical pioneer and eminent surgeon to aristocracy, who was forced to conceal a fundamental fact – that ‘he’ was in fact a ‘she’

How Africa Is Learning to Cope With Drought

New technologies are helping ethiopians to stave off famine

Where Does Time Come From?

US physicist Prof Richard Muller thinks that new chunks of time could be created as the universe expands. And he wants to peer into the heart of colliding black holes to prove it…

The Six Wives In A Different Light

From the scheming sophisticate who lost her head, to the hapless ‘mare’ who repulsed the king, the reputations of Henry VIII’s spouses are secure. But do the stereotypes stand up to scrutiny? Lucy Worsley investigates

Dinosaurs - The First Dinosaurs Could Have Come From Britain

Revolutionary new research may mean we have to redraw the dinosaurs’ family tree.

Dr John Roberts: When Top Gear Was Looking to Recreate the Car Chase in the Italian Job, They Came to Me

Engineer Dr John Roberts talks to Helen Pilcher about rollercoasters, Top Gear stunts and his latest design project, the British Airways i360.

Where Are All the Clones?

It’s 20 years since scientists in Edinburgh cloned Dolly the sheep. Commentators at the time promised us a world overrun by cloned animals and humans. So where are they?

The Righteous Royal Rebel

Man Of The People Or Power-Hungry Opportunist? The Duke Of Monmouth’S Bid For The Crown Perished On The Somerset Levels In 1685 – And, With It, His Reputation. But, Says Anna Keay, It’S Time To Revise Our Ideas About The Illegitimate Son Of Charles II

Quantum Weirdness

"The keenness of nutters to reach for the 'Q-word' has made life tough for researches."

Life After Man

From asteroid strike to climate change to nuclear war, humanity faces all kinds of existential threats. But if our species disappeared tomorrow, what would actually happen – and what kind of planet would we be leaving behind?

Dinosaur Brain Identified for First Time Ever

This ‘brown pebble’ found by a fossil hunter in Sussex more than a decade ago has been confirmed as the first known example of dinosaur brain tissue.

The Battle That Broke The Germans

When the Allies launched an offensive at Amiens 100 years ago this month, they did so with such precision and power that enemy troops were soon surrendering in their thousands. Nick Lloyd describes a battle that shattered German morale, and asks, why is it not more celebrated today?

The Genetic Hunt For Nessie

For centuries, many have claimed that a creature lurks in Loch Ness. Now, by seeking out monster DNA from the loch’s waters, scientists are going to find out what’s down there

The Most mysterious Objects In The Universe

The discovery in October 2017 of a bizarre, cigar-shaped object hurtling through our Solar System set imaginations racing. Was it an asteroid? A comet? Or an alien spaceship, sent here on a reconnaissance mission? Named ‘Oumuamua, it joined a select group of cosmic enigmas and celestial oddities that have astronomers scratching their heads…