Artemis project aims to create a ‘sustained’ human presence on the moon by 2028There can be no doubt that Nasa is serious about trying to land astronauts on the moon by 2024.Even though the Artemis programme has yet to be fully funded, Nasa has issued a call to US companies for a lunar landing spacecraft that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon’s surface. The call has...

Quarter of mammals and nearly half of birds assessed are at risk of extinction, says State of Nature reportPopulations of the UK’s most important wildlife have plummeted by an average of 60% since 1970, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date.The State of Nature report also found that the area inhabited by officially designated “priority species” has shrunk by 27%. The species...

Observations reveal cluster of galaxies about 12bn light years away linked by gas filamentsThe cosmic web, a vast, mysterious structure that links up far-flung galaxies, has been observed directly for the first time.The observations reveal that an ancient cluster of galaxies about 12bn light years away in the constellation of Aquarius are linked together by a network of faint gas filaments. The...

We can’t solve all life’s problems with a motivational mantra. Sometimes it seems like a misguided use of energyAt the theatre on Saturday night, I watched Diana Nyad, the long-distance swimmer, ignite an audience for over an hour. She recounted her record-breaking 111-mile swim from Cuba to Florida at the age of 64 after several failed attempts, and in the face of killer sharks, deadly...

Pterosaur had four-metre wingspan, lived about 90m years ago and was capable of crossing continentsIn the heart of Queensland, palaeontologists have found the fossilised partial skeleton of a new pterosaur species capable of flying across continents.The pterosaur, with a four-metre wingspan, may have lived about 90m years ago. Continue...

Nonpartisan taskforce of ex-government officials reports ‘almost weekly violations’ of norms meant to safeguard objective researchThe treatment of science by the Trump administration has hit a “crisis point” where research findings are manipulated for political gain, special interests are given improper influence and scientists are targeted for ideological reasons, a nonpartisan taskforce...

Floating boom finally retains debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, creator saysA huge floating device designed by Dutch scientists to clean up an island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France has successfully picked up plastic from the high seas for the first time.Boyan Slat, the creator of the Ocean Cleanup project, tweeted that the 600 metre-long (2,000ft)...

Mangrove monitoring trip to remote coast finds shocking impact of two cyclones across hundreds of kilometresA cascade of impacts including rising sea levels, heatwaves and back-to-back tropical cyclones has created 400km of dead and badly damaged mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria, a scientific monitoring trip has discovered.Prof Norman Duke, of James Cook University, spent 10 days monitoring...

Francis Galton is rightly criticised for advancing this immoral, racist non-science. But remember, his ideas were mainstreamHow should we remember historical figures who we know have done terrible things? It’s a dilemma we face more often, as universities and public institutions critically examine their histories, reassessing the past with 21st-century eyes. And over the last year, University...

The language of violence and outrage is dominating our discourse. To defeat it, we must learn not to respond in kindIs this democracy’s death spiral? Are we, in this country and others, falling into a lethal cycle of fury and reaction, that blocks the reasoned conversation on which civic life depends? Related: The Guardian view on language in politics: playing with fire | Editorial Continue...