This mainstreaming of the hybrid has been happening for some time, but up to this point no one has been able to make a hybrid as economically accessible or as easy to exploit, mileage-wise, as this new Insight. Three important things separate the Insight from the growing hybrid herd. First, the car pencils out....

There hasn’t been a decent supernova in our part of the universe in living memory but astronomers in the 11th century were a little more fortunate. In 1006 AD, they witnessed what is still thought to be the brightest supernova ever seen on Earth (SN 1006) and just 48 years later saw the birth of the Crab Nebula (SN 1054).

Traditionally, stimulating nerves or brain tissue involves cumbersome wiring and a sharp metal electrode. But a team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University is going "wireless."

Mysterious UFO sightings may go hand in hand with a puzzling natural phenomenon known as sprites — flashes high in the atmosphere triggered by thunderstorms. The dancing lights have appeared above most thunderstorms throughout history, but researchers did not start studying them until one accidentally recorded a sighting on camera in 1989.

When astronomers in the distant future cast their eyes around the cosmos, they will come to the conclusion that our galaxy is alone in the universe.

Europe's system to edge up the cost of emissions and boost green energy has backfired and Julian Glover argues that there isn't much time to rescue it.

Australian and American researchers who were searching the ocean floor of the Tasman Fracture Zone for corals to help them understand climate change, have discovered several deep sea species. Using a remote device at depths of 4,000 meters the researchers spotted a carnivorous sea squirt previously unknown to humans.

Social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users, an eminent scientist has warned.

Niklas Montonen snapped this spectacular photo from his balcony in Borgå, Finland, on 14 August 2007. "Luckily," he says, "the tree didn't catch fire."