61 years ago today, the iconic black comedy film Dr. Strangelove, premiered in American cinemas. Directed by the genius Stanley Kubrick, the film was terrifying in a new way, because of its seemingly accurate depiction of America’s hair-trigger nuclear war defense plans, which were later revealed by whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and others. In fact, Ellsberg recounts…

A senior aide to Prince Andrew privately admitted to an alleged Chinese spy that the duke’s BBC Newsnight interview had been “ill advised”, court documents show. Files disclosed to the BBC and other media outlets reveal how the prince’s aide Dominic Hampshire thanked Yang Tengbo for standing by the embattled duke in the months after…

Credit: Professor Daraio Chiara / Caltech From the depths of the engineering department at California Technical Institute comes a big one: a new class of matter. Though scientists are trained not to be, maybe laboratory director Chiara Daraio was being hyperbolic when she described the new material as such, but she and the team that…

Sam Francis Political reporter BBC To meet environmental targets 9% of England’s farmland will need to be converted into forests and animal habitats, according to new proposals released by the government. The benchmark was set out in a consultation launched on Friday by Environment Secretary Steve Reed on managing England’s land to prioritise food production,…

Xenon gas is a common general anesthesia – credit, CC 2.0. ISAF Photo by US Air Force Senior Airman Rylan K. Albright) A general anesthetic has been found to have the potentially added benefit of stimulating a neuroprotective effect against Alzheimer’s disease. Xenon is a colorless, odorless noble gas used for many purposes in science,…

Graham Fraser Technology reporter Getty Images Barclays bank has confirmed it is experiencing IT problems which it says is affecting its app, online banking and payments in and out of accounts. The bank says it is also unable to provide help via telephone or its “Message us” service. Cards and cash machines can be used…

Michigan Central Station before its transformation – credit: Bartosz Brzezinski, CC 2.0. via Flickr. Across major American cities, old unused rail depots and train stations are seeing second lives as hotels. Along with preserving relics of America’s past, these structures are often made of stone or brick and were built with the intention of welcoming…

Rwanda is illegally occupying the Democratic Republic of Congo and attempting to orchestrate regime change, the country’s foreign minister has told the BBC. Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said this followed decades of impunity and failure to hold Rwandan President Paul Kagame accountable for violating international law. Her comments come after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels captured the eastern…

An Air China Airbus A330 – credit: Can Pac Swire, CC 2.0. Flickr There are few things as important for global human flourishing as keeping the two most populous nations, which happen to be two of the 5 largest national manufacturers, at peace. That’s exactly what foreign ministry delegations from India and China have worked…

The man tipped to be Germany’s next leader could rely on support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for the second time in a week, a move that has been widely condemned. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the conservative CDU party, may need AfD votes to pass legislation toughening immigration laws. Former chancellor…