space

Mitt Romney won Florida's winner-take-all primary. Newt Gingrich lost. How? Simple. It came down to two things: big promises and bad rapping. Our special report on Election 2012 gives you the full story in words and videos.

Day and night, all the recent news from the United States has had to do with the fiscal crisis. As the deadline approached for finding a solution, the political statements got stronger and the metaphors more colourful.

What connects the same date, 21 July, 42 years ago and this year? It's an event that greatly moved this man, Arthur Kerndt, of Reno, Nevada. Find out what he has to say in this week's instalment of our photo blog.

Dark skies do more than just inspire us. Having bright days and dark nights is important to keeping our body chemistry (and that of plants and animals) in balance. How bright are the city lights where you live? Scientists would like you to tell them.

Extending north from Newcastle to the Scottish border, Northumberland's landscape is marked by romantic Norman castles, while Hadrian's Wall reminds visitors that this is frontier country. Walk the Cheviot Hills or relax in fishing villages.

The Parkes Observatory in New South Wales inspired a very funny Australian film, The Dish. But until the film was released in 2000, few people, even in Australia, knew that the observatory had played a critical role in the Apollo 11 mission.