A giant mass of seaweed is heading towards beaches in Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean, bringing with it toxic gases and a smell similar to rotting eggs. Visible from space, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt stretches from the coast of Africa all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the biggest seaweed bloom on the planet, and for more than a decade researchers have watched as it has continued to grow in size. 2023 is predicted to be another record year. Madeleine Finlay speaks to sargassum expert Prof Brian Lapointe about why it’s getting bigger, what happens when it washes up on coastlines, and if anything can be done to deal with itClips: PBS NewsHour, News4JAX The Local Station Continue reading...

Short-term memory illusions can happen when we ‘start filling in based on our expectations’, study suggestsFrom squabbling over who booked a disaster holiday to differing recollections of a glorious wedding, events from deep in the past can end up being misremembered. But now researchers say even recent memories may contain errors.Scientists exploring our ability to recall shapes say people can make mistakes after just a few seconds – a phenomenon the team have called short-term memory illusions. Continue reading...

Brass used for west African artworks was acquired from manilla bracelets, the grim currency of the slave tradeScientists have discovered that some of the Benin bronzes were made with metal mined thousands of miles away in the German Rhineland.The Edo people in the Kingdom of Benin, modern Nigeria, created their extraordinary sculptures with melted down brass manilla bracelets, the grim currency of the transatlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries. Continue reading...

Big cat’s traits are on scale loosely comparable to ‘introverts’ and ‘extroverts’ in humans, experts sayFrom wily Shere Khan to exuberant Tony, tigers have often been depicted as full of character. Now research suggests that’s no fiction, with scientists identifying two aspects of their personality.Experts say that just as five dimensions of personality, including openness and neuroticism, are often used to describe humans – with everyone sitting somewhere on a scale for each trait – Siberian tigers all sit on two scales dubbed “majesty” and “steadiness”. Continue reading...

My friend and former colleague Reg Sell, who has died aged 93, devoted his life to championing worker wellbeing through his 60-year career as an ergonomist and human factors expert. He believed in “fitting the job to the person” – the opposite of the thinking that prevailed when he started his career in the 1950s.Born in Twickenham, south-west London, to George Sell, the editor of BP magazine, and his wife Gladys (nee Francis), Reg attended Latymer school for boys in north London, before studying psychology at UCL, graduating in 1953. He returned to Birkbeck College, London, in 1955 to gain a diploma focusing on occupational psychology before embracing ergonomics and human factors – an approach that focuses on designing jobs and equipment around people. Reg met Peggy Bangay while they were both doing their national service, and they married in 1957. Continue reading...

Company’s own website went down and internet was inaccessible for several hours. Follow all our live coverage of business, economics and financial marketsIt has not been a great day for companies bearing the Virgin brand. Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch company started by Sir Richard Branson, has filed for US bankruptcy protection.Last-ditch efforts to find funding for the struggling space firm fell through, the Guardian’s Kalyeena Makortoff reports.While we have taken great efforts to address our financial position and secure additional financing, we ultimately must do what is best for the business.We believe the cutting-edge launch technology this team has created will have wide appeal to buyers as we continue in the process to sell the company. At this stage, we believe the Chapter 11 process represents the best path forward to identify and finalise an efficient and value-maximising sale. Continue reading...

Called ‘the hat’, the 13-sided shape can be arranged in a tile formation such that it never forms a repeating gridOne of mathematics’ most intriguing visual mysteries has finally been solved – thanks to a hobbyist in England.The conundrum: is there a shape that can be arranged in a tile formation, interlocking with itself ad infinitum, without the resulting pattern repeating over and over again? Continue reading...

Poor sleep patterns may increase genetic susceptibility and chance of developing condition, study showsRegularly enjoying a good night’s sleep could significantly reduce your risk of developing asthma, a decade-long study suggests.Asthma affects about 300 million people worldwide. Scientists do not know why some people develop the condition while others do not. Continue reading...

The UK government recently announced plans to make the possession of laughing gas for recreational use a criminal offence. Nitrous oxide, also known as “nos”, is hugely popular among young people, and doctors have raised concerns about a rise in cases of nerve damage linked to the use of the drug. Ian Sample speaks to science correspondent Nicola Davis about the reasons behind the ban, the risks associated with using nitrous oxide and what experts have made of the government’s decisionClips: BBC News, Channel 4 News Continue reading...

Readers express their hopes, and fears, about recent developments in artificial intelligence chatbotsEvgeny Morozov’s piece is correct insofar as it states that AI is a long way from the general sentient intelligence of human beings (The problem with artificial intelligence? It’s neither artificial nor intelligent, 30 March). But that rather misses the point of the thinking behind the open letter of which I and many others are signatories. ChatGPT is only the second AI chatbot to pass the Turing test, which was proposed by the mathematician Alan Turing in 1950 to test the ability of an AI model to convincingly mimic a conversation well enough to be judged human by the other participant. To that extent, current chatbots represent a significant milestone.The issue, as Evgeny points out, is that a chatbot’s abilities are based on a probabilistic prediction model and vast sets of training data fed to the model by humans. To that extent, the output of the model can be guided by its human creators to meet whatever ends they desire, with the danger being that its omnipresence (via search engines) and its human-like abilities have the power to create a convincing reality and trust where none does and should exist. As with other significant technologies that have had an impact on human civilisation, their development and deployment often proceeds at a rate far faster than our ability to understand all their effects – leading to sometimes undesirable and unintended consequences. Continue reading...

Artemis II mission is part of programme aiming to return to moon’s surface and establish a sustainable outpostNasa has named the first woman and the first African American ever assigned as astronauts to a lunar mission, introducing them as part of the four-member team chosen to fly as early as next year on what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon in more than 50 years.Christina Koch, an engineer who already holds the record for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman, was named as a mission specialist, along with Victor Glover, a US Navy aviator, who was selected as the Artemis II pilot. Continue reading...

Perfect paths for pasting pawnsToday’s puzzles are about pawns on a chessboard. They require no expertise at chess. All you need to know is that the queen can move in any direction, for any number of squares. (Usually the Monday puzzle is published on a Monday but these puzzles went live yesterday by mistake.)Here they are again with the solutions. Continue reading...

US researchers also find that starting HRT around the time of diagnosis may reduce riskWomen who enter the menopause early may be more likely to develop dementia, according to US researchers, who found that starting hormone replacement therapy around the time of diagnosis appeared to remove the risk.The findings are tentative, and need to be confirmed by larger studies, but suggest that starting hormone therapy soon after the first symptoms occur may be better for brain health as well as reducing heart disease and other medical issues linked to the menopause. Continue reading...

A meteor shower is the central mystery of a documentary set in the Moroccan desert that feels like a cinematic sleeping pillHere is an arthouse documentary from Morocco that moves at geological speed, demanding every single last shred of your attention. It’s a cinematic essay about the origins of human life, but for me many of the scenes felt too opaque and ponderous to really dig into the ideas.It begins in the bleak emptiness of the Moroccan desert, where a nomad shepherd called Mohamed describes watching a meteor shower: blue fire lighting up the sky followed by a noise so loud people thought it was an earthquake; the ground beneath him trembled. Mohamed lives in a tent with his family, but his way of life is disappearing. The land is so dry (presumably as a result of climate change) that there is not enough grass for sheep to graze. So Mohamed joins men looking for the debris from the meteorite shower. Director Adnane Baraka uses a contrived technique of having Mohamed and his family speak their innermost thoughts and feelings to each other in a whispery voiceover, like a Terrence Malick movie. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts say delays of more than a year risk children not getting relevant treatments or supportFamilies of children with rare genetic disorders are being made to wait more than a year for genome sequencing results under a flagship NHS programme, the Guardian has learned.Senior doctors said worsening backlogs in the Genomics Medicines Service risked children not accessing treatments or support designed to give them the best outcomes. In other cases, parents wishing to know if their child has an inherited genetic condition in order to plan future pregnancies are being left in limbo for unacceptable time periods, experts said. Continue reading...

Enjoy the contrasting colours of these two celestial objects during the night of 9-10 AprilThis is advance warning for a beautiful sight taking place next weekend during the night of 9-10 April.The silvery moon will move into a close conjunction with the bright red star of Antares. The contrasting colours of these two celestial objects, one near and the other far, is a true pleasure for the eye. Continue reading...

Locate International, founded by a retired detective, has one ultimate goal: to investigate every cold case in the UK

Report finds that 72 cases of the disease on the vessel, which was housing asylum seekers, were caused by a wastewater leakA major outbreak of typhoid among asylum seekers living on a ship in the Netherlands has been traced to raw sewage which was allowed to mix with tanks of freshwater for drinking and cooking.A total of 72 cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed during the spring 2022 outbreak on the Liberty Ann, an old cruise ship which was being used as emergency accommodation in Haarlem. Continue reading...

Are you moved to tears by the smallest thing? Do emotions overwhelm you? According to a new book, it may be that you are an HSP just like Nicole Kidman, Lorde and Miranda Hart. Rhik Samadder wonders if he qualifies as one, tooDo strangers sit next to you on the bus and share their secrets? Does art make you cry? Do you feel other people’s feelings? On the other hand, are you prone to being overwhelmed by crowds, bright lights or strong perfume? Bad news – or maybe good. You could be an HSP, a Highly Sensitive Person. The emerging category affects between 15 and 30% of the population, which has some researchers calling it “the missing personality type”.When I encountered the concept on an Instagram post, I felt both irritated and seen. The checklist was a mirror. I am paralysed by overthinking! Beset by self-doubt! A feelings magnet! Sometimes absurdly so: I once found a chewed-up corn cob on the street, took it home and drew a smile on it. Corny sat on my desk for years and whenever I looked at his brave little face – the face I had drawn – I was moved to tears. When I broke up with my girlfriend, we both cried buckets over custody. I’m thinking she was one, too. Continue reading...

Project aims to roll out cheap, easy-to-use technology across the globe to spot emergence of any new health threatsBritish researchers are developing a groundbreaking technology to monitor genetic changes in respiratory viruses as they circulate round the world. The system is to be used to pinpoint dangerous new variants as they emerge and act as an early warning system for new diseases and future pandemics.The team, which is based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, intends to make the technology cheap, easy to use and capable of being scaled up to provide global surveillance of a wide range of viruses. Targets would include influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), coronaviruses and previously unknown pathogens. Continue reading...

Smart thinking, across the boardThis edition of Alex’s Monday Puzzle was published on Sunday in error. We regret the error.Today’s puzzles are about pawns on a chessboard, but they require no expertise at chess. All you need to know is that the queen can move in any direction, for any number of squares. Continue reading...

Critics fear conflict of interest as Novo Nordisk helps medics ‘reduce unnecessary barriers’ to treatment for obesityThe pharmaceutical company that makes Wegovy slimming jabs is funding the expansion of weight-loss services across England as it seeks to boost sales of its obesity drugs, the Observer can reveal.Novo Nordisk is paying the salaries of staff on NHS obesity teams and financing the launch and redesign of services, including giving £206,000 to a health partnership to transform its treatment of obesity. The Danish firm also has financial links to the co-chair of an NHS England weight management advisory group, and paid her almost £50,000 in lecture, consulting and other fees in just two years. Continue reading...

Hayley Myers was worried about relocating back to her home city of Coventry after a decade in London, but she hasn’t looked backDuring those seemingly endless days of working from home in the midst of the first lockdown, we decided that enough was enough. My husband and I were squeezed around the dining table, one eye on our laptops and the other on our restless toddler. Pregnant with our second child, I was excited, intensely nauseous and nervous about how we might cope with a newborn under the current strict social restrictions, and later the extortionate costs of having two children in a nursery.By that point, we had lived in London for almost 15 years and owned a tatty but much-loved flat in Lewisham. Our time there had been a blast, mostly – we were happy in our careers, with a great support network of friends – but somewhere between parenthood and the pandemic, the inconveniences we’d always accepted as part and parcel of city living increasingly gnawed at us. The walls of our windowless bathroom were constantly damp, the ceiling mildewy. The concrete rectangle of our balcony seemed bleak compared to the families we saw on social media splashing in paddling pools in their gardens. The grating creaks of the lift right next to our front door disturbed our sleep all night long. Continue reading...

Three-year-old was on beach in Costa Rica when reptile tried to steal her dessert and bit her handIt could almost be a fable from Aesop, or a story from the Brothers Grimm: the toddler, the lizard and the cake. But for one small child, whose baked treat was snatched by an iguana, it was a tale with a twist.Doctors have revealed that the toddler ended up with an unusual infection after being bitten by the reptile as it tried to steal a bite of cake. Continue reading...

My friend and colleague John Jefferson, who has died aged 75 of Parkinson’s disease, was a distinguished scientist and talented amateur musician. Coming from an unremarkable background, and overcoming early disadvantage, he produced several significant papers in theoretical physics.John’s studies were wide-ranging and included high-temperature superconductors and the fundamental physics of quantum computers. He supervised numerous PhD students and postdoctoral fellows at the Defence, Evaluation and Research Agency (Dera), Malvern, and was a visiting professor at King’s College London, and Lancaster and Oxford universities. Continue reading...

Decision raises fears that company founded by Sir Richard Branson may be on verge of collapseVirgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by the billionaire Sir Richard Branson, is cutting 85% of its workforce after failing to secure fresh funding, raising fears that the firm may be on the brink of collapse.The California-based company said in a US filing that about 675 staff would lose their jobs as part of efforts to cut costs, leaving about 100 employees to run what is left of the business. This was because of an “inability to secure meaningful funding”, the filing explained. Continue reading...

Thirteen-year vegetarian Matlida Boseley and meat eater Donna Lu taste-test lab-grown cultivated pork meat, which has been grown from the cells of a pig's ear. Magic Valley CEO Paul Bevan assures them that the pig from which the cells came is still very much alive and living out 'its happy, normal life'. Continue reading...

Contrary to depiction in movies like Jurassic Park, scientists now believe T rexes were not ‘toothy lipless things’While T rex is often depicted prowling the landscape while sporting a toothy grin, its fearsome teeth may actually have been concealed behind a pair of thin, scaly lips, research suggests.Experts say the perception that theropods were lipless arose because of the huge size of their teeth, and because their closest living toothed relatives – such as crocodiles and alligators – do not have lips. Continue reading...

Plants can produce staccato pops when they do not have enough water or suffer a sudden wound, which nearby creatures may respond to, scientists have discovered. Humans cannot hear the ultrasonic sounds emitted from plants that may even help shape their ecosystems.Scientists recorded sounds produced by tomato and tobacco plants raised in greenhouses. Healthy plants emitted clicks and pops but the sounds came in far more rapid bursts when the plants were deprived of water or had their stems cut Continue reading...

Thirsty or damaged plants produce up to 50 staccato pops in an hour, which nearby creatures may respond to, researchers findThere comes a time in a plant’s life when the head sags, the leaves go pale and the body releases a barrage of sounds that are the ultrasonic equivalent of stamping on bubble wrap.While any gardener is familiar with the wilting and discoloration that comes with drought, a shortage of water or a sudden wound can also prompt plants to produce staccato pops, which nearby creatures may respond to, scientists say. Continue reading...

The Conservatives are cynically using carbon capture and storage as a get-out-of-jail card for the fossil fuel sectorCrossing fingers and hoping for the best is hardly a sensible way to tackle the climate emergency, but it is a strategy that the government seems determined to follow. Today, it launched its revised net zero plan, which turns out to be more a damp squib than a rocket that will ignite a desperately needed green transformation of the energy landscape. Widely dismissed as half-baked and utterly lacking in ambition, it pledges no new money and most of the initiatives flagged are based on government commitments that have already been touted. The truth is that the entire exercise is a smoke-and-mirrors attempt to conceal the fact that business as usual remains the order of the day.At the heart of the strategy is the intention to unleash a new wave of UK oil and gas exploration – an astonishing and, frankly, dangerous path to take at the height of a climate emergency that is set to deepen year on year, in the absence of massive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The government is attempting to justify the unjustifiable by talking up a technology known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), which seeks to apprehend carbon dioxide (CO) before it gets into the atmosphere and store it underground. Nowhere has CCS been tried and tested at the sort of scale that would be required to cancel out the emissions arising from the proposed dash for more gas and oil.Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL and author of Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant’s Guide Continue reading...

More than half a century after humans last walked on the moon, researchers have made a discovery that makes lunar living an increasing possibility. The moon’s surface is littered with tiny glass beads containing water, which could be extracted and used by visiting astronauts. Ian Sample speaks to Professor Mahesh Anand, part of the team that made the discovery, about where these beads come from and what they mean for future moon missionsRead more reporting on this story here Continue reading...

First study of its kind finds diet can benefit hundreds of millions with obesity, diabetes or other risk factorsA Mediterranean diet can lower the risk of a heart attack, stroke or early death for hundreds of millions of people who have an increased possibility of cardiovascular disease, a global review of evidence suggests.A diet rich in olive oil, nuts, seafood, whole grains and vegetables has previously been linked to a number of benefits, and its effectiveness in helping healthy people to live longer is well known. Continue reading...

Researchers find information about cancer drugs can be lacking and ‘potentially misleading’Cancer drug information leaflets for patients in Europe frequently omit important facts, while some are “potentially misleading” when it comes to treatment benefits and related uncertainties, researchers have found.Cancer is the biggest killer in Europe after heart conditions, with more than 3.7m new cases and 1.9m deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. Continue reading...

Durham University scientists say black hole about 30 billion times the mass of the Sun is first to be found with gravitational lensingAn ultramassive black hole about 30bn times the mass of the Sun has been discovered by astronomers in the UK.Scientists at Durham University said the gargantuan black hole was one of the biggest ever found. The team described their findings, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, as “extremely exciting”. Continue reading...

Astronomers say gamma-ray burst may have been result of star collapsing to form black holeA cosmic explosion that blinded space instruments last year may be the brightest ever seen, according to astronomers.The blast took place 2bn light years from Earth, producing a pulse of intense radiation that swept through the solar system in October last year. Continue reading...

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will briefly appear in a planetary alignment near the crescent moon after sunsetFive planets will align in the night sky for an extraordinary view on Tuesday in a phenomenon dubbed a “planetary parade”.The planets – Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars – will come together on the western horizon, near the crescent moon, for a brief display after sunset. People almost anywhere on Earth with a westerly view and clear skies will be able to catch it. Continue reading...

Bernard Bedford, Dr Andrew Hill and Andrew Scaife respond to an article by Devi Sridhar on the dangers of vaccine scepticism, especially with regard to childrenI wholeheartedly agree with Devi Sridhar’s concern about dwindling childhood protection from infectious diseases (In a sceptical era, understand this: vaccines do work - and our children need them, 27 March). Coming from a small hamlet near Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, I developed measles, mumps, then whooping cough in rapid succession on starting primary school. I spent most of my first four months off school. I was fortunate to join a long queue and receive my first polio vaccine.In 1966, when I was a medical student, my father was appointed to manage the only British Polio Fellowship residential home in the country. I was horrified to find young people there with severe paralysis from the waist down, wholly dependent on carers. There were older residents too, many with grossly swollen ankles. They shared ghastly stories of life in an iron lung during their initial recovery and the anger of their plight now. Continue reading...

Claims that children recover from brain damage faster than adults are misleading, argues David A JohnsonDr Annie Hickox’s letter (Early diagnosis of brain damage is key for recovery, 15 March) confuses the benefits of early diagnosis with the misleading notion that it is better to have your brain damage early in life. This misconception, often referred to mistakenly as the “Kennard principle”, is contrary to established clinical and experimental neuroscience from at least the early 1900s to date.It is beyond doubt that there is an inverse relationship between age and recovery, such that the younger the age, the greater the neurological immaturity and corresponding vulnerability. Development after injury is compromised by the loss of biological capacity, and the presence of aberrant (damaged) brain structure and function. Continue reading...

Toby Green and Thomas Fazi take issue with a critique of their book on the pandemicWe’re grateful that you have brought attention to our book The Covid Consensus through Richard Seymour’s critical commentary (Three years on, there is a new generation of lockdown sceptics – and they’re rewriting history, 23 March), following Larry Elliott’s supportive one last month (The price Britain paid for lockdown was colossal. Was there an alternative?, 12 March). Most readers won’t be shocked that historians do write revisionist histories, or that narratives are more complex than the ones initially cohered around by political elites. When has “history” ever been different?Seymour claims that capitalism was suspended for a while during the Covid response – which would be news to the world’s billionaires, whose wealth increased by over $4tn in 2020 alone. His critique takes no account of our book’s structural critique of neoliberal capitalism. Meanwhile, his claim that we “minimise” Covid ignores our criticism of treatments of the disease – and our concern that, by crowding people together, lockdown policies made the pandemic impacts far worse for poorer people around the world. Continue reading...

Researchers believe egg was used by likes of Botticelli and Da Vinci for fine-tuning of oil paint propertiesIt pays to go to work on an egg when painting with oils, researchers have found, as the addition of yolk can prevent wrinkling, yellowing and problems with humidity.The use of egg as a binding medium for pigments, a form of paint known as egg tempera, has a long history, turning up in works including the mural paintings of the Palace of Nestor in Pylos, dating to 1200BC. Continue reading...

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will be in alignment near the moon and visible using binoculars from Tuesday evening

Nasa grants last-minute reprieve to invaluable climate and biodiversity scanner on International Space Station, due to be incinerated in Earth’s atmosphereNasa has extended the life of a key climate and biodiversity sensor for scanning the world’s forests which was set to be destroyed in Earth’s atmosphere.The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (Gedi) mission – pronounced like Jedi in Star Wars – was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2018, and has provided the first 3D map of the world’s forests. Continue reading...

Recent auroras have been so intense they have been visible as far north as AucklandThe lure of unusually vibrant views of the southern lights in New Zealand has prompted aurora-hunters to drive for hours through the night to capture the “elusive” sight on camera, with social media groups devoted to swapping tips growing in size.The aurora australis is always more visible in New Zealand and Australian skies during autumn and winter – beginning in March in the southern hemisphere – but this month, the southern lights have been more visible than usual, analysts say. Auroras – beautiful light shows in the night sky – are seen when sunspots erupt, causing solar storms which send material from the sun towards Earth. Continue reading...

Dr Peter Attia is an expert on longevity and preventative medicine. He explains how sleep, weight training and other incremental changes can make us much more resilientTwenty years ago, Peter Attia was working as a trainee surgeon at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, where he saved countless people facing what he calls “fast death”. “I trained in a very, very violent city,” he tells me. “We were probably averaging 15 or 16 people a day getting shot or stabbed. And, you know, that’s when surgeons can save your life. We’re really good at that.”What got to him, he says, were the people he treated who were in the midst of dying much more slowly. “All the people with cardiovascular disease, all the people with cancer: we were far less effective at saving those people. We could delay death a little bit, but we weren’t bending the arc of their lives.” Continue reading...

Madeleine Finlay hears from science correspondent Linda Geddes about her experience becoming a faecal transplant donor, how getting a dose of someone else’s gut bacteria could treat illnesses like arthritis, diabetes and cancer, and asks whether a pill made from poo is an idea we are ready to swallow Continue reading...

Three years after much of the world was forced into Covid lockdowns, the precise origins of the virus are still hazy, and the hunt is bringing scientists into confrontation with political forces that many are not prepared for

Florence Débarre’s discovery of genetic data online showed for first time that animals susceptible to coronavirus were present at market

Finding from lunar soil samples is important breakthrough for hopes of building bases on the moonTiny glass beads strewn across the moon’s surface contain potentially billions of tonnes of water that could be extracted and used by astronauts on future lunar missions, researchers say.The discovery is thought to be one of the most important breakthroughs yet for space agencies that have set their sights on building bases on the moon, as it means there could be a highly accessible source of not only water but also hydrogen and oxygen. Continue reading...

In the northern hemisphere, our natural satellite and the red planet will be high in the sky and unmistakableAfter the moon’s appearance with Jupiter and Venus last week, it is the turn of Mars to receive a visit from our nearest celestial neighbour. It is a week since new moon and Earth’s natural satellite will be 47%-illuminated on 28 March, and 2.3 degrees – or roughly five lunar diameters – away from the red planet, as seen in the skies from Earth.The chart shows the view looking southwest from London at 8pm BST on 28 March. Both the moon and Mars will be high in the sky, and unmistakable. If you saw the conjunction a few weeks ago between the moon and Antares, remember how that star shines with a ruby-red appearance, and contrast it with the baleful glow of Mars. Somehow, the planet feels altogether more forbidding. Continue reading...