A recent study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters investigates the potential existence of Mars-sized free-floating planets (FFPs)—also known as rogue planets, starless planets, and wandering planets—that could have been captured by our sun's gravity long ago and orbit in the outer solar system approximately 1,400 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. For context, the farthest known planetary body in the solar system is Pluto, which orbits approximately 39 AU from the sun, and is also part of the Kuiper Belt, which scientists estimate extends as far out as 1,000 AU from the sun.

The Wiltshire town of Westbury is best known for the white horse carved into the chalky hillside above its Victorian streets and visible for miles around.

But a more down-to-earth feature of the former mill and ironworks town – a road called Slag Lane – has been causing a stir.

Some residents of the lane are unhappy with the rather ugly name and, after unsuccessful calls for it to be changed, the signs mysteriously vanished.

Other local people argued the name was an important reminder of the town’s industrial past and demanded that the signs be reinstated. On Tuesday Wiltshire council confirmed that new signs had been ordered and would be in place soon.

Last year, Morgan Trowland was one of two Just Stop Oil protesters sentenced to more than two and a half years in prison for scaling the Dartford crossing.

The sentences handed down to Trowland and Marcus Decker are the longest sentences yet given to non-violent protesters in the UK. Now, after his release on licence last month, Trowland says the 13 months he spent behind bars hardly felt like punishment at all.

A spectacular year for stargazers is ahead. From the Quadrantid meteor shower in January to the opposition of Jupiter in December, there will be plenty of opportunities to witness the universe's wonders. Highlights of the year include a rare total solar eclipse seen from North America, a moonless Perseid meteor shower and two comets that will shine so bright they may be visible to the naked eye, making 2024 a year not to be missed for sky-watchers. While many of these events are visible with the naked eye, investing now in a good beginner telescope can greatly enhance your experience.

Here are some dates for this year's stargazing diary.

A £94 increase to the average annual household energy bill has come into effect after the regulator upped its price cap in response to a rise in global gas market prices.

The change, taking effect from 1 January, means average households are beginning 2024 with a 5% increase in energy bills – at the start of what could be the coldest three months of the year.

Every three months the energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, sets a maximum price that suppliers can charge customers on standard variable tariffs for each unit of energy. wallet with money Glimmers of hope: your personal finance diary January-April 2024 Read more

The increase means that for the period 1 January to 31 March, the price cap is £1,928 a year for a typical household that uses gas and electricity and pays their bill by direct debit. That is up from £1,834 a year during the final three months of 2023.

A new year often signals a fresh TBR (To Be Read) pile. It brims with good intentions, guilt divided evenly between Christmas gifts begging to be addressed and the books from 2023 you thought you had time to read but didn’t. But — of course — reading shouldn’t be a chore, an endless game of catch-up or a slog powered by a sense that you’re missing out on the best of the year’s crop.

In the wonderful phrase of a friend, perhaps it’s time to set an anti-resolution instead — to settle into a slow classic, and give yourself the gift of unrushed reading. Spending time in the pages of just one book for months, sometimes years, is a rarity in our hurried age.

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Ministers have been told they will be “punished” by voters after analysis revealed the decline of vital flood defences across England.

The proportion of critical assets in disrepair has almost trebled in the West Midlands and the east of England since 2018, leaving thousands of homes and businesses more vulnerable to storms.

An electric vehicle owner has used her car’s emergency power system to run her 11-year-old son’s lifesaving dialysis machine and another has ridden to the rescue of his neighbours after devastating storms cut power in south-east Queensland.

When the power went down following storms and flash flooding on Christmas Day, many residents immediately felt the consequences: electric gates did not work, septic tanks began to fill, air conditioners could not run and fridges began to warm as a heatwave followed.

But some electric vehicle drivers whose cars are equipped with “vehicle to load” systems – a back-up power system that allows the car to act as an emergency generator or supply for devices such as lights, laptops, TVs and refrigerators – stepped in to help out and, in some cases, save lives.

The biggest animals ever to have walked on Earth were the long-necked, long-tailed dinosaurs known as sauropods, and the most famous of these giants was likely Brontosaurus, the "thunder lizard." For more than a century, scientists stopped using the genus name Brontosaurus, but in 2015, researchers suggested it was time to "resurrect" it. So why was Brontosaurus brought back from the dead, so to speak?

As cars and lorries snail interminably along the A30 in Cornwall – the county’s notorious trunk road – the words of the furious driver in John Betjeman’s poem, Meditation On The A30, seem befitting: “I can’t go on crawling like this!”

Such frustrations are especially acute in summertime when tourists compete with hauliers, tractors and local residents for space on the asphalt, many of them en route to the coastal hotspots of Perranporth and St Ives. But those days could soon be gone.

A £330m roadworks scheme is nearing completion, with National Highways creating an 8.7-mile stretch of dual carriageway between Carland Cross and Chiverton, parallel to the existing A30, bringing the promise of prosperity for the local economy, as well as fears for the environment at a time of global heating.

Experts say prolonged delay in replacing chair signals that government does not take net zero policy seriously enough and is harming investment

Rishi Sunak has come under fierce attack from UK climate experts for his government’s failure over the past 18 months to appoint a new chair of the independent committee that advises ministers on emissions targets.

In a letter to the prime minister leaked to the Observer, the UK’s leading organisation working on the economic effects of global warming condemned the “excessive delay” in finding a replacement to previous chair Lord Deben.

A clear majority of the British public now believes Brexit has been bad for the UK economy, has driven up prices in shops, and has hampered government attempts to control immigration, according to a landmark poll by Opinium to mark the third anniversary of the UK fully leaving the EU single market and customs unions.

The survey of more than 2,000 UK voters also finds strikingly low numbers of people who believe that Brexit has been of benefit to them or the country.