Science

In pictures: Artemis II's spectacular Moon mission, from launch to dramatic splashdown

The crew of Artemis II are safely back on Earth after a successful splashdown, completing their historic loop around the Moon.

The lost medieval pronouns of English intimacy

Wit, unker and git are among a dazzling range of now-extinct pronouns that reveal what people once thought about "two-ness".

A Sumerian tablet from around 3200BC some of the earliest known mathematical exercises (Credit: Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative)

The ancient reason there are 60 minutes in an hour

A mysterious 5,000-year-old decision led directly to how we still count time today.

The mission was a triumph. Now comes the hard part

The deep cave bacteria resistant to modern medicine

Has Artemis II shown we can land on the Moon again?

What will the next footprints on the Moon be like?

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A solar eclipse seen from the dark side of the moon

Artemis II's historic lunar flyby... in 90 seconds

The four astronauts in the Orion spacecraft set a new record for distance travelled from Earth.

4 days ago

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Earth's spectacular and remote 'capital' of lightning

Inventor reveals one-ball successor to viral bike

A giant tortoise being released on the Galu00e1pagos island of Floreana

Giant tortoises return to Galápagos island after nearly 200 years

Slow-motion footage reveals secrets of snake bites

Fascinating reads

A collage of a woman smiling at a mirror, the reflection shows an older woman looking back at her (Credit: Serenity Strull/ BBC)

How defying ageism can help you live longer

Research shows a positive attitude towards ageing can make people feel younger and live longer.

International Space Station (ISS) in orbit (Credit: Nasa)

How to evacuate a doomed space station - quickly

Astronauts orbiting the Earth are drilled to deal with the worst possible scenarios. That includes having to leave their space station on short notice.

Panels and cables of the Large Hadron Collder at Cern (Credit: Alamy)

The ultra-cold temperatures needed for epic nuclear science

One of the world's most sophisticated scientific facilities is turning to jaw-droppingly low temperatures to try and unravel the secrets of the Universe.

Carlos Alcaraz jumps to return a ball with his tennis racket (Credit: Getty Images)

What are your chances of beating top tennis stars?

An unusual tennis competition that pits amateurs against professionals in one-point matches is launching at the Australian Open.

A footballer wearing a yellow jersey with a dark stripe, stretches to head a ball

The unseen damage from heading a ball in sport

Why sports stars who head the ball are much more likely to die of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.

A black-and-white image of Mercury partly in shadow captured by the Messenger spacecraft (Credit: Nasa)

The planet that shouldn't exist

Mercury has long baffled astronomers because it defies much of what we know about planet formation. A new space mission arriving in 2026 might solve the mystery.

More science

7 days ago

The rat Magawa was pictured in 2010 with his PDSA medal for gallantry - sometimes described as the George Cross for animals.

Cambodia unveils statue to honour famous landmine-sniffing rat

The statue honours the late African giant pouched rat who sniffed out more than 100 landmines during his lifetime.

7 days ago

8 Mar 2026

A barreleye (Opisthoproctus soleatus) seen from above with bulbous eyes swims in the deep sea - there is a dark black background due to its depth

Spectacular images reveal unique sea creatures and corals off Caribbean islands

Scientists discover underwater mountain ranges, golden towers of coral, and never-before-seen sea creatures.

8 Mar 2026

2 Apr 2026

A woman smiles and claps as she watches the launch, with many people behind her looking to the skies, also watching.

'We go for all humanity' - emotional moment as Artemis II blasts off

There was giddy euphoria at the Kennedy Space Center after the launch, writes the BBC's Pallab Ghosh.

2 Apr 2026

18 Mar 2026

A treated image of a Large Hadron Collider Atlas detector whilst under construction

Higgs boson breakthrough was UK triumph, but British physics faces 'catastrophic' cuts

Britain is preparing to cancel its contribution to one of the Large Hadron Collider's next major upgrades.

18 Mar 2026

13 Mar 2026

A man in jeans and a blue jacket stands on the blackened turret of a tank destroyed in the Ukraine-Russia conflict

Can Ukraine's war-torn wheatfields be cleansed?

Researchers take 8,000 soil samples from battlefields to see if it is safe to grow crops.

13 Mar 2026

5 Mar 2026

Group portrait of anthropological models based on hominid fossils (Credit: S Entressangle/ E Daynes/ Science Photo Library)

What stone-age language sounds like

The fossilised bones of our ancestors remain silent. So, how can we possibly imagine what our earliest languages sounded like?

5 Mar 2026

24 Feb 2026

Ilya Kazansky, CEO of Sphotonix wearing a white lab coat and blue latex gloves holds up a small square glass plate with grid markings on it to see through it (Credit: SPhotonix)

How 'memory crystals' could slash data emissions

In the face of rising emissions from data centres, researchers are turning to micro-explosions in glass, and using DNA to solve big data's big problem.

24 Feb 2026

20 Mar 2026

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, is seen as it rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B, Friday, March 20, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Nasa's Artemis Moon rocket rolls back to pad for possible April launch

Nasa is preparing a mission to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

20 Mar 2026

12 Mar 2026

An artists' conception of two Van Allen Probes spacecraft in the Van Allen Radiation Belt

Nasa spacecraft weighing 1,300lb re-enters Earth's atmosphere

Much of the Van Allen Probe was expected to burn up in the atmosphere, though Nasa said there was a "low" risk of people being struck by surviving components.

12 Mar 2026

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