GB News

A groundbreaking theory put forward by researchers suggests that conscious experience may not be limited to biological organisms made of flesh and blood. Professor Eric Schwitzgebel from the University of California and Dr Jeremy Pober of the University of Lisbon have developed what they call the 'Copernican Principle of Consciousness'. Their proposal argues that awareness is not an exclusive tra…

Approximately 20,000 people descended upon Stonehenge in the early hours of Sunday morning to mark the summer solstice at the ancient Wiltshire monument. The crowd assembled around the prehistoric site's heel stone, which serves as the entrance to the structure, to observe the sunrise at 4.52am on what is the longest day of the year in Britain. The astronomical solstice itself was due to take pla…

Scientists in Brazil have developed a novel biomaterial that could transform how severe gum disease is treated, offering hope for patients who have lost bone and tissue around their teeth. The material, created by researchers at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, combines an unusual trio of ingredients: latex extracted from jackfruit, pomegranate peel extract and simvastatin, a medi…

A 17th-century gold ring featuring a skull design has been unearthed in a Lancashire field and is set to go under the hammer next week. Metal detectorist Amanda Parker discovered the memento mori memorial ring while searching farmland in Catforth. The piece, which bears an inscription dedicating it to Dr Richard Busby, is expected to sell for approximately £3,000 when it is offered at Noonans auc…

A mystery behind Botticelli's Birth of Venus may finally have been solved after hundreds of years. For centuries, art enthusiasts have puzzled over the distinctive squint visible in the Renaissance masterpiece. Theorists had long proposed Venus's misaligned eye was a symbol representing piety and beauty. But now, researchers from Queen Mary University of London have offered a different explanatio…

Archaeologists have uncovered a hidden monument just three miles from Stonehenge that may have served as its predecessor. The site in Bulford, Wiltshire, consists of two wooden poles positioned 120 metres apart. Scientists believe these poles formed a precise alignment with the rising sun at the summer solstice and the setting sun at the winter solstice. Reconstructions of the ancient sky demonst…

A massive cultic stone unearthed at an ancient Israelite mansion in southern Israel could provide fresh archaeological support for the biblical account of King Hezekiah's religious reforms, according to research published in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology. Bar-Ilan University's Professor Avraham Faust argues in the 2026 study the imposing stone monument, known as a massebah, was deliberatel…

Vikings melted down Islamic coins to make their own pennies, new research has revealed. Some of the earliest Viking cash on record was crafted using silver from Middle Eastern coins known as dirhams. The findings, published in the journal Archaeometry, confirm a long-suspected connection between early Scandinavian coinage and Islamic silver. Scientists examined coins from the Damhus hoard, a coll…

A conservation organisation has secured £18,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help protect Britain's red squirrels. The Upper Coquetdale Red Squirrel Group will use the funding to acquire 50 motion-activated devices as part of efforts to safeguard England's dwindling red squirrel population. The equipment will be positioned throughout remote woodland areas in the region, enabling the…

A remarkable archaeological find in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave has compelled scientists to fundamentally reconsider the timeline of human mastery of fire. Researchers working at the site, renowned for its exceptional prehistoric finds, have identified burned mammal bones dating to approximately 1.79 million years ago. This discovery extends the known record of controlled fire use by roughly 8…

A world-famous shipwreck, miraculously well preserved in the Antarctic Ocean, is at risk of being lost forever, with conservation groups fighting to protect the wreckage. Ernest Shackleton once called the Weddell Sea the "worst portion of the worst sea in the world", after an unforgiving ice shelf destroyed his renowned vessel Endurance in 1915. The legendary ship lay hidden for over a century un…

The history of an iconic UK landmark could be turned on its head, researchers have revealed. Scientists have uncovered fresh insights into how the Giant's Causeway came to exist. Research from the British Geological Survey shows Northern Ireland's volcanic history unfolded far more rapidly than experts previously believed. The volcanic activity that produced the Causeway's famous columns took pla…

Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) have completed an excavation at Stanton Cross in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, revealing what has been described as a "remarkable window into life in the area during the Roman period". The dig covered nine hectares at a new housing development situated near Chester House Estate, where evidence of an ancient Roman settlement had previ…

Spending more than an hour and a half in the sun each day could raise your chances of developing depression, dementia and dying early, according to new research. The findings, published in the journal Public Health, challenge the conventional wisdom sunny weather invariably boosts wellbeing. Scientists have long understood excessive sun exposure increases skin cancer risk. However, this study mar…

A critically endangered western lowland gorilla has given birth to a baby boy via caesarean section at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, in what is believed to be only the twelfth time such a procedure has been carried out on the species. Olympia, a 29-year-old gorilla weighing approximately 90kg, delivered the 5.4lb infant last month with the assistance of a combined team of human and veterinary medi…

Hundreds of birdwatchers have flocked to Wales after a "mega rare" bird appeared in the UK for the first time. Ornithologist Simon Hugheston-Roberts made the historic identification of the western reef heron, a species normally found along coastal areas from West Africa through to India, at Y Foryd in Caernarfon, North Wales. He made the discovery at approximately 10am on Saturday morning while d…

Hertfordshire Zoo has achieved a remarkable second consecutive breeding success with its rare black and rufous sengi, commonly known as elephant shrews. The twin pups arrived on April 22 to parents Nuru and Mala, just months after the pair produced the first-ever UK-born litter of this unusual African species in March. Weighing merely 30 grams at birth — equivalent to a standard first-class lette…

An archaeology student has uncovered a ninth-century Viking grave in Cambridge with an unusually tall skeleton inside. A routine training excavation conducted by University of Cambridge archaeology students has yielded an extraordinary ninth-century mass burial site at Wandlebury, located just three miles from the city centre. The 2025 dig initially appeared unremarkable before researchers uncove…

A shark with a face "not even a mother would love" has been spotted at sea by some of the world's leading marine scientists. Live goblin sharks were captured swimming in their natural deep-sea environment for the first time in recorded history, ending decades of mystery surrounding these ancient predators. The remarkable spot, made by research teams from Australia and Hawaii, were published in th…

Scientists have calculated the staggering extent of underground fungal networks to be 700 million times the distance from Earth to the Sun. The research, conducted by the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (Spun) and published in the journal Science, mapped what is often called the "wood wide web" – the hidden fungal systems linking plant roots across the globe. They revealed the …