A dog hurtles past me, chasing a ball at top speed, across the wide-open flats of Seascale Beach in Cumbria. A small park and a row of shops and houses overlook the long, windswept sands. As I walk northward, tall chimneys and large cuboid buildings

We've all seen it so often in science-fiction movies that the concept seems utterly plausible: a character enters a command and their starship leaps to warp speed, jumps to hyperspace, or creates a wormhole through space and time. Whatever the termin

Feeling stressed? That's not surprising. The modern world, with its relentlessly breaking bad news and always-on communication, is more or less set up to keep us on edge. But there's a problem: our bodies are built for fight or flight, not fear monge

This isn't the moment a swarm of tiny red ants (Formica rufa) finally overcomes a mighty blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus) after a protracted battle to the death. No, luckily – for the ants, at least – the beetle was already dead when they foun

Deep in the Chihuahuan Desert in northern Mexico lies a mysterious area known as the Mapimí Zone of Silence, where legend has it radio signals and other forms of communication can't be received. The Zone of Silence developed its supernatural reputati

Today, the Moon is a cold, dead world, but early in its history it was ripe with volcanic activity. Now, the first-ever samples returned from the far side of the Moon by China's Chang'e 6 probe have revealed that this volcanism could have happened mo

For more than a century, giant patterns and pictures sketched into the plains south of Lima, Peru, have mystified archaeologists. Named for their makers, the Nazca people who lived between 200 BC and 650 AD, the ‘Nazca lines’ remain one of archaeolog

Nobody likes to be cheated on. When researchers ask divorcees about their reasons for breaking up, infidelity always comes out on top. Whether married or not, when someone is unfaithful, break-up often ensues – and the experience can be especially up

Researchers are training giant rats to sniff out smuggled goods p19 Scientists claim they've found the best way to throw a frisbee p21 Smoking leaves a lasting mark on your skeleton, say archaeologists p22■

Researchers have discovered two vast ancient cities, shedding light on civilisations that existed over 1,000 years ago. Found 2,000m (6,561ft) above sea level in Uzbekistan's mountains, the settlements were based along Asia's Silk Road, the infamous

Scientists claim they've discovered the optimal way to hold a frisbee to achieve peak performance, helping disc-throwers everywhere avoid the embarrassment of lobbing one into a nearby picnic. The researchers from Berry College, Georgia, in the US, a

Humans have long sought ways to measure the world we live in. Having systems of measurement, and of units, helps us understand ourselves and our surroundings. This is true whether we're building, buying and selling, or adopting theories of fundamenta

Bats have long been viewed as a menace. Their nocturnal lives, as well as their unusual looks and behaviour, earned them a reputation for devilry. Stories of blood-sucking, shape-shifting vampire bats were common across central Europe during the 1700

Daylight makes finding astronomical objects, apart from the Sun, difficult. In December, however, it'll be worth trying to locate the 89-per-cent-lit, waning gibbous Moon during the day because it's due to hide Mars (an event known as a lunar occulta

Certain pieces of kitchenware have earned their place in our kitchens, thanks to their affordability, durability and ease of cleaning. However recent research suggests that some staples – black plastic utensils, plastic chopping boards and non-stick

An archaeological breakthrough has revealed that smoking may not just yellow your teeth, but it could actually change your bones too. It also suggests that the smoking culture during the Georgian and Victorian eras in the UK was very different to wha

A team of researchers has trained African giant pouched rats to pick up the scents of endangered animal anatomy – pangolin scales, elephant ivory and rhino horn – in an effort to provide a low-cost detection system to prevent illegal smuggling. The r

No, this isn't an ostentatious sea cucumber or an alien organism. It turns out that when you look really closely at a cannabis plant, you find these rather funky colours and bulbs. Really close, mind – you'll need a microscope capable of 20x magnific

Balancing on one leg may sound easy, but new research says that any wobbling or near-falls could indicate your body is ageing faster than you might have hoped. The study, published in PLOS, says that how long you can sustain this ‘unipedal stance tes

For over 53 million years Earth was ruled by dinosaurs, until their demise at the hands of an asteroid. But how did they become ‘top dogs’ in the first place? A new study suggests that a ‘volcanic winter’ eradicated most of the other creatures on the