Tom Clarke

Carlo Rovelli’s first book ‘Seven Brief Lessons on Physics’ was one of the fastest-selling science books on record. Now, he’s back to explore the mysteries of time.

NASA has launched its new satellite into orbit on a two year mission to scour star systems for potential signs of life. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite – known more colloquially as TESS, has four specialised cameras on board enabling it to view around 20 million stars. Scientists leading the mission say they don’t know…

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has denied that the government is dragging its feet over creating an environmental watchdog that will replace the oversight that currently comes from the European Union. The Prime Minister promised the body would be set up as part of her 25-year plan for the environment announced in January.

A leaked report into the Grenfell Tower disaster has revealed that not a single life would have been lost if the building’s original facade had been left intact. The interim report confirmed that crucial design flaws in the cladding and windows installed during a disastrous refurbishment allowed the fire to spread rapidly, leading to the…

The most detailed study yet of a major cancer type has revealed that genetic damage can begin years, or even decades, before symptoms appear and diagnosis is possible. The study also suggests that many patients could avoid unnecessary surgery and chemotherapy.

1400 British jobs have been secured – well into the next decade – after Vauxhall’s French parent family said its new van would be built in Luton. PSA said it was making the investment despite the uncertainty over Brexit – secured after talks with unions and the Government, including a British financial contribution worth £9…

Scientists have discovered that Antarctica’s ice sheet is melting from below even though it can’t be seen from the surface. Researchers used satellite images to work out how the warming ocean waters were eroding the ice – and understand the environmental change. Our science editor Tom Clarke reports.

The mass slaughter of pilot whales in the inlets and beaches of the Faroe Islanders has been greeted with widespread outrage. But after befriending a group of Faroe Islands fishermen, filmmaker Mike Day gained unprecedented access to the  whale hunt on the remote islands – populated by the ancestors of Vikings. His feature length documentary,…

In the 1990s campaigns to tackle cot deaths were amazingly successful – reducing the tragedy of sudden infant deaths by 81 per cent in the UK. But since then the number of cases has remained constant at around 300 a year. Now scientists have identified a particular gene that could be a factor in some…

Shoppers across England who buy bottles or cans of drinks could soon be charged a surcharge which they’d get back once they return the containers. Full details of the scheme, announced by the Environment Secretary Michael Gove, will go out to consultation.  

It hasn’t been plain sailing this week for Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations, with a backlash building over fishing. Much to their annoyance, Britain’s fishermen learned this week they will have to wait until the end of 2020 to take back control of British waters. But on leaving the EU, British rights will extend up to…

This morning, Nigel Farage helped trawlers and campaigners dump a box of dead haddock into the River Thames. The protest was held on a boat outside Parliament by Brexiteers angry that a transition deal could see the UK subject to EU fishing rules long after Brexit. But not everyone agrees Britain should be allowed to…

Stephen Hawking, the celebrated cosmologist, has died. He was a pioneer of the study of black holes and the origins of the Universe, and despite an illness that made communication almost impossible, he shared his enthusiasm for his subject with the widest audience.

China’s parliament has rubber stamped an unprecedented move allowing President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely. The constitutional change tears down a system put in place to avoid any return to a Mao style autocratic dictatorship – and the authorities have already moved to suppress any signs of public dissent.

The Syrian government claims its military assault is intensifying in rebel-held eastern Ghouta, with regime forces surrounding two main towns in the embattled region, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. Aid groups believe around 1000 people have been killed in the last three weeks of fighting.