According to Nasa, a supermoon occurs when the moon, due to its proximity to Earth, appears up to 15% larger and 30% brighter than a regular full moon

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With vaping now more common than smoking, experts explain addiction and what actually helps people quit

More socially acceptable than smoking – yet just as addictive – vaping has become the UK’s default way of consuming nicotine.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics last month showed that the number of over-16s in Great Britain who use vapes or e-cigarettes has overtaken the...

Three decades after its modest beginnings on Channel 4, the TV juggernaut now has its own channel and global subscribers

Thirty-two years ago, a small group of archaeologists gathered for a weekend in Somerset to make a TV programme about a field in Athelney, the site where once, 1,200 years ago, King Alfred the Great rallied resistance to the invading Viking army.

There weren’t many...

We asked several experts to predict the technology we’ll be using by 2050

Scientists argue ape-like Sahelanthropus tchadensis that lived in Africa 7m years ago is best contender but more fossils are needed

In the murky first chapters of the human story is an unknown ancestor that made the profound transition from walking on all fours to standing up tall, an act that came to define us.

The odds of stumbling on the fossilised evidence of such an evolutionary prize are...

The BBC has seen several examples of it undressing women and putting them in sexual situations without their consent.

After losing a year to havoc and job-slashing at Nasa, the pressure is on billionaire administrator Jared Isaacman

With astronauts set to fly around the moon for the first time in more than half a century when Artemis 2 makes its long-awaited ascent sometime this spring, 2026 was already destined to become a standout year in space.

It is also likely to be one of the most pivotal, with new...

Robyn Thomson immunised thousands of animals in Cambodia after shocking death of her mother this summer

It was just a scratch. Among all the feelings and thoughts that she has had to wrestle with since the summer, disbelief is the emotion that Robyn Thomson still struggles with the most. “You never think it would happen to you,” said Robyn. “You don’t really think it happens to...

New year plant hunt shows rising temperatures are shifting natural cycles of wildflowers such as daisies

Daisies and dandelions are among hundreds of native plant species blooming in the UK, in what scientists have called a “visible signal” of climate breakdown disrupting the natural world.

A Met Office analysis of data from the annual new year’s plant hunt over the past nine years found an...

9,500-year-old pyre uncovered in Malawi offers rare insight into rituals of ancient African hunter-gatherer groups

A cremation pyre built about 9,500 years ago has been discovered in Africa, offering a fresh glimpse into the complexity of ancient hunter-gatherer communities.

Researchers say the pyre, discovered in a rock shelter at the foot of Mount Hora in northern Malawi, is thought to be the...

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we examine how the White House’s war on vaccines has left the future of a key technology uncertain and up for grabs

The late scientist and thinker Donald Braben argued that 20th-century breakthroughs arose from scientists being free to pursue bold ideas without pressure for quick results or rigid...

Peter Foreshaw Brookes says worry about falling sperm counts is misplaced

The Italian “demographic winter” has a number of causes, but rising male biological infertility is not one (A child is born: Italians celebrate village’s first baby in 30 years, 26 December).

A lot of worry about falling sperm counts has been generated by some studies, but a more recent meta‑analysis found, through...

Dan Richards, 37, from Swansea was injured in a freak accident on New Year’s Eve in 2023.

We bring you Tech Life highlights from a fascinating year in global tech.

The tech giant wants to build into its own AI tools which do complex things with minimal interaction.