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Archaeologists and astronomers to study Wiltshire site’s lesser understood connection to the moonThe rising and setting of the sun at Stonehenge, especially during the summer and winter solstices, continues to evoke joy, fascination and religious devotion.Now a project has been launched to delve into the lesser understood links that may exist between the monument and the moon during a rare lunar event. Continue reading...

The tree all but vanished in the 1970s. Now, thanks to two amateur nature lovers, it may soon grace our landscapes againConstable painted them. Shakespeare wrote of them. And Francis Drake sailed the world in a ship made from them. English elms were a mainstay of England’s landscape and culture – until they all but disappeared to Dutch elm disease in the 1970s.Since that...

The total eclipse visible in North America may be seen as a partial one in some UK areas – weather permitting Millions of people in the US, Canada and Mexico are planning to gather to watch Monday’s solar eclipse, when the daylight skies will be momentarily engulfed in darkness as the moon passes between the sun and the Earth.More than 31 million people live...

Spectacular aurora borealis caused by geomagnetic storms on sun’s surface may be visible in North America as far south as the midwestSolar eruptions are sending a stream of particles towards Earth, creating spectacular auroras in both hemispheres.The aurora borealis – in the northern hemisphere – will be potentially visible on Monday night in the US as far south as the midwest. The northern lights,...

National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme aims to understand why population has declinedArtificial intelligence will be used for the first time to track hedgehog populations as part of a pioneering project aimed at understanding how many of them are left in the UK and why they have suffered a decline.Images of the prickly mammals snuffling around urban parks, private gardens, woodlands and farmland will be captured...

Employees say there is a trend of limited diversity among the senior scientific leadership at the London centre for AI Staff at the UK’s national institute for artificial intelligence and data science have expressed “serious concerns” about the organisation’s approach to diversity after it appointed four men to senior roles.A letter addressed to the leadership of the Alan Turing Institute (ATI) said the appointments...

Exclusive: Paper by UCL professor says ‘wobbly’ space-time could instead explain expansion of universe and galactic rotationDark matter is supposed to account for 85% of the mass in the universe, according to conventional scientific wisdom. But proponents of a radical new theory of gravity, in which space-time is “wobbly”, say their approach could render the elusive substance obsolete.The proposition, outlined in a new paper,...

Exclusive: Significant discovery, made by James Webb telescope, provokes disagreement over conditions on planet’s surfaceAstronomers have observed a distant planet that could be entirely covered in a deep water ocean, in findings that advance the search for habitable conditions beyond Earth.The observations, by Nasa’s James Webb space telescope (JWST), revealed water vapour and chemical signatures of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of...

Team at Imperial College London say techniques could be used to flag warning signs during surgeryIt is a high-stakes scenario for any surgeon: a 65-year-old male patient with a high BMI and a heart condition is undergoing emergency surgery for a perforated appendix.An internal bleed has been detected, an anaesthetics monitor is malfunctioning and various bleepers are sounding – before an urgent call comes...

Exclusive: Rothamsted Research is having to pause ‘non-essential’ work, according to a letter from its directorThe UK’s leading agricultural research facility is facing a funding crisis with its future work in jeopardy, it can be revealed.Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843, and its research has been credited with preventing...

National Museums Scotland restores soldier’s brass guard, only the third of its kind known to existA spectacular brass guard that would have protected the sword arm of a high-ranking Roman soldier some 1,800 years ago has been reconstructed from more than 100 fragments found at Trimontium, the Roman fort complex in Scotland.The extraordinary jigsaw puzzle has been pieced together by National Museums Scotland (NMS)...

US biotech firm designs cheaper, less invasive multi-cancer screening test it says could be ‘gamechanger’Scientists have developed a simple DNA test that can identify 18 early-stage cancers that experts say could represent a medical “gamechanger”.Cancer accounts for one in every six deaths worldwide, but early detection can significantly improve outcomes. Existing screening tests have drawbacks, including invasiveness, cost and low levels of accuracy for...