The science of sci-fi

H umans love conspiracy theories. From the JFK assassination, the Illuminati and the ‘deep state’, to vaccine distrust and ‘chemtrails’, the modern world is awash with beliefs in collusion and hoaxes.

Imagine you’re in a woodland, with sunlight filtering through the endless green canopy overhead. There’s uniqueness everywhere. Some trees grow bolt upright, but others are wizened and twisted. Here t

During the 1960s, I lived on a farm on the outskirts of Huddersfield. One night something happened to a friend and me which we were unable to explain. The farm was at the top of a hill and there were

When comet 3I/ATLAS was discovered in July, on a one-way interstellar journey through our Solar System, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb suggested it might be an alien spacecraft paying us a visit. Back in

Who hasn’t watched a show like Gladiators or Total Wipeout and thought: “Yeah, I could do that”? Or even: “I bet I could do better”? In my case, that thought also extended to – wait for it – astronaut

One of the most important features of extrasolar planets is whether they have an atmosphere or not. For astrobiology in particular, small, rocky planets blanketed with an atmosphere offer the best hop