CATEGORIES

OBJECT HOTTER THAN THE SUN FOUND ORBITING A DISTANT STAR AT BREAKNECK SPEED

A weird celestial object that’s blurring the line between planet and star has been uncovered

TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG

Time dilation, brought about by the relativistic expansion of space, has resulted in the observed slowing of ‘clocks’ in the early universe

A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE

J221951 is one of the most extreme examples yet

Lights in the darkness Photographing the aurora

Wilderness photographer Valtteri Hirvonen - who spends nearly half the year in darkness in his native Finland - reveals how he found new inspiration in the Northern Lights

The rock hunter RETURNS

As OSIRIS-REx becomes the latest spacecraft to bring back samples from another world, Ezzy Pearson examines how these missions help reveal our Solar System's history

Star-hopping

Steve Tonkin explains an easy technique to navigate your way around the night sky

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MILKY WAY

The Milky Way is our home galaxy – a vast star factory with a monstrous black hole at its heart. Join our tour of the cosmic pinwheel that’s home to every star we can see in the night sky

MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE

Rugged terrain had kept Ingenuity from communicating with its robotic partner, the Perseverance rover

SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS

It turns out that the sky isn’t the limit when it comes to a good old-fashioned practical joke

Highlights of the autumn skies

From returning favourites to unmissable one-off events, Katrin Raynor picks out the best night-sky sights coming up in the months ahead

COSMIC 'SANDWICH' THEORY COULD EXPLAIN HOW SMALLER PLANETS ARE FORMED

Sandwiched planet formation may arise as the result of gas and dust being squeezed between large planets

MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS

Get up close to the ‘Monarch of the Moon’

How does the fitness app on my phone know how many steps I've taken, especially if it's in my bag?

Your phone uses GPS to track distance travelled. But try disabling it and you'll notice that fitness apps will still give you step counts.

Blood and bone

The human body is a wealth of parts and connections the skeleton, 86 billion 206 bones in neurons in the brain, roughly 25 quadrillion potential neural pathway routes... and yet there are just 20 arteries carrying your entire blood supply.

Who needs wings?

This little critter with the cheeky grin is a Mizoram parachute gecko, Gekko mizoramensis, a previously unknown species of gliding gecko from the tropical forests of northern India.

SPACE: A RADIATION 'ECHO' FROM A SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE IS SPREADING ACROSS THE GALAXY

The sleeping cosmological giant woke up around 200 years ago and devoured everything in the vicinity, releasing intense amounts of radiation in the process

ENERGY: THE COSTS OF SWITCHING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY WILL HIT THE SUPER-WEALTHY HARDEST

A new study says a future fuelled by sustainable energy is possible, if the top 10 per cent are prepared to accept some losses

COSMOLOGY: GRAVITATIONAL RIPPLES COULD HELP CRACK THE UNIVERSE'S SECRETS

New findings provide evidence of a background hum’ produced by low-frequency gravitational waves rippling across spacetime

BIOLOGY: WORMS CAUGHT HITCHING RIDES ON BEES BY USING ELECTRIC FIELDS

As well as hitchhiking, the nematode worms also form conga lines

MEDICINE: SCIENTISTS TO TEST 'POO TRANSPLANT' PILLS IN GROUND-BREAKING GUT HEALTH TRIAL

Your number twos could be the number-one defence against liver disease

MEDICINE: SCIENTISTS DISCOVER WHY SPACE TRAVEL WEAKENS ASTRONAUTS' IMMUNE SYSTEMS

Astronauts routinely break out in rashes or get ill while aboard the International Space Station. Now we know why

NEUROSCIENCE: AI USES BRAINWAVES TO PERFECT YOUR PERSONALISED PLAYLIST

Your mood and energy levels may reveal your preferred musical genres to streaming services

YOU'RE HARDWIRED TO TRUST CONFIDENT VOICES... EVEN WHEN THEY'RE WRONG

Human evolution has led to us naturally believing statements that are delivered in a more assured manner

MEWING: CAN THE TIKTOK TREND GIVE YOU THE JAWLINE OF A MODEL?

Its supporters claim a simple tongue exercise can not only reshape your jaw and help you sleep, but can even improve your teeth. Here's what the experts say...

OLDER DADS: ARE YOU EVER TOO OLD TO BECOME A FATHER?

What are the risks and rewards, to you and your children, of becoming a father late in life?

SIGNS OF LIFE: COULD A SUPERNOVA BE A SIGNAL?

Astronomers think aliens could use supernova explosions to inform us of their presence

AI art's hidden echo chamber is about to implode

Artificial intelligence creates millions of images a day, flooding the internet. But what happens when it starts to train on its own data?

SHOULD I EAT DESSERT WITH BREAKFAST TO HELP ME DIET?

It's hard to say whether devouring a dessert at breakfast actually helps with weight loss. The most reported research comes from a team led by endocrinologist Prof Daniela Jakubowicz at Tel Aviv University in Israel. In 2012, her team published a study of 193 people on a calorie-controlled diet who consumed either a low-carbohydrate breakfast or one with high protein and high carbohydrate, including a sweet treat such as a piece of cake or a doughnut.

WHY DOES MY DOG GIVE ME SIDE EYE?

Dog side eye, aka 'the shady gaze', is the subject of many seemingly humorous memes. But this canine characteristic is often more loaded than the videos suggest.

DEAR DOCTOR: HOW DO I STOP HICCUPING? WHAT WILL ACTUALLY WORK?

Hiccups, those sudden and sometimes annoying contractions of the diaphragm, can be a perplexing phenomenon. During a hiccup your diaphragm contracts and, immediately after this, the top of your windpipe (your glottis) closes, making the typical 'hic' sound.