Racing driver with prosthetic leg targets Le Mans 2020
James Russell from Nailsea wears a prosthetic leg and “can’t wait to get on the track” A rugby player who uses a prosthetic leg has joined a team aiming to be the first “all-disabled” group to race at Le Mans. James Russell from Nailsea has been invited to join the Team Brit outfit after its […]
The mystery of the lost Roman herb
Alamy Julius Caesar kept a cache of it in the government treasury and the Greeks even put it on their money. It was worth its weight in gold – but no one knows if it still exists. Long ago, in the ancient city of Cyrene, there was a herb called silphium. It didn’t look like […]
US and China trade conspiracy theories
BBC Speculation about the origin of the virus has been rife online From the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, conspiracy theories about the origin and scale of the disease were spread on online platforms. Among these were the false claim that the virus was part of a Chinese “covert biological weapons programme”, and a […]
Sir Roger Moore’s unseen home videos
Watch home video of Roger Moore with Kirk Douglas and Olivia Newton-John He had a licence to charm on screen, with his sultry voice and suave, chiselled good looks. But in private, actor Sir Roger Moore – who played James Bond in seven films – was equally as comfortable behind the camera. A new BBC […]
The secret tricks hidden inside restaurant menus
Alamy Great thought and effort go into creating restaurant menus – and there are some very powerful psychological tricks employed to make you choose. BBC Future has brought you in-depth and rigorous stories to help you navigate the current pandemic, but we know that’s not all you want to read. So now we’re dedicating a […]
Twitter fined £400,000 for breaking EU data law
Getty Images Twitter has been fined €450,000 (£400,000) by the Data Protection Commission in Ireland for breaking Europe’s GDPR data privacy rules. It’s the first time the EU regulator has penalised a big US tech firm under GDPR legislation. It ruled that Twitter failed to notify it within 72 hours after identifying a data breach […]
The intriguing puzzle of extreme sleepiness
Daniel Stier at Twenty Twenty There is still no real cure for narcolepsy (Credit: Daniel Stier at Twenty Twenty) Shortly after his 21st birthday, Henry Nicholls realised he had the symptoms of narcolepsy. His quest to find out why led him to a fascinating tale of scientific discovery, involving luck, foresight… and some surprisingly sleepy […]
Look familiar? How rapid tests changed the pandemic
Science Photo Library Lateral flow tests are now part of life for much of the UK. Billions of pounds of public money have been spent on test kits. Has it all been worth it? Earlier this week, 38-year-old Hailing Hackney unwrapped the last lateral flow test in her kitchen cupboard. “I was feeling tired, but […]
The disease that could change how we drink coffee
Getty Images If rust takes hold, can Colombian coffee’s distinct flavours survive intact? (Credit: Getty Images) For years, researchers in Colombia have been engaged in a little-known battle against a disease that could disrupt coffee drinking everywhere. If you landed in Bogota in the 1960s, one of the first things you would have probably seen […]
Murder probe into missing mother of five
Kent Police Sarah Wellgreen was last seen during the evening of 9 October The disappearance of a missing mother of five is being treated as a murder inquiry. Sarah Wellgreen, 46, was last seen in the Bazes Shaw area of New Ash Green, in Kent, on the evening of 9 October. Her car was left […]