Every April, the Lyrid meteor shower fills the sky with shooting stars. Here's how to see them.

A startup is recycling tons of discarded fishing nets throughout Chile. Is this a template for tackling the global plastic waste problem?

If you think asphalt is what hot tar roads are made of, you'd be wrong. Asphalt is only one ingredient in the recipe that makes up our roads. And it has a very long, very interesting history.

From a kidult superhero movie to a spooky period melodrama, these films will provide entertainment for all the family

Kidult superhero movies are nothing new, but this 2018 animated splinter off the Sony-Spidey combine does something really smart with the money-spinning multiverse concept. In Rodney Rothman, Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey’s version, Spider-Man is reborn across the dimensions – as Gwen, as a private eye, as a pig – and the result is a fruitfully mind-bending recalibration of the entire mythos.

As authors from Chaucer to Hollinghurst have shown, sex reveals our emotions, instincts and morals. The question is not why write about sex, claims author Garth Greenwell, it’s why write about anything else?

There is a widely held belief, among English-language writers, that sex is impossible to write about well – or at least much harder to write about well than anything else. I once heard a wonderful writer, addressing students at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, say that her ideal of a sex scene would be the sentence: “They sat down on the sofa …” followed by white space. This is a prejudice I can’t understand. One of the glories of being a writer in English is that two of our earliest geniuses, Chaucer and Shakespeare, wrote of the sexual body so exuberantly, claiming it for literature and bringing its vocabulary – including all those wonderful four-letter words – into the texture of our literary language. This is a gift not all languages have received; a translator once complained to me that in her language there was only the diction of the doctor’s office or of pornography, neither of which felt native to poetry.

More than this, surely it is absurd to claim that a central activity of human life, a territory of feeling and drama, is off-limits to art. Sex is a uniquely useful tool for a writer, a powerful means not just of revealing character or exploring relationships, but of asking the largest questions about human beings.

NSW Health assessment the cruise ship was ‘low risk’ introduced ‘an unfortunate element’ into his decision-making

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A New South Wales harbour master has told an inquiry he “did not understand” an email that told him to treat the Ruby Princess “as if it has a positive Covid-19 result” when it came into Sydney Harbour on 18 and 19 March.

Cameron Butchart, who was the duty harbour master on 18 March, said NSW Health’s assessment that the ship was “low risk” introduced “an unfortunate element” into his decision-making.

A 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was forced to remove his shorts and squat during a search, but disciplinary action has not been recommended

A New South Wales police watchdog investigation into seven strip searches including one in which a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was physically forced to remove his shorts and squat has found that all of them were unlawful.

But the watchdog has been criticised for “not going far enough” in its findings, with Sarah Crellin, a principal solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service, saying she was “deeply disappointed that there have been no recommendations for disciplinary action” against individual officers.

In this extract from her Griffith Review essay the author wrestles with ageing and the deep need to keep writing

Why did they ask me for an essay about stopping writing? And why did I say yes? Did I tell someone I’d stopped? Have I stopped? I could, if I wanted to, couldn’t I? I’m 77 and I’m pretty tired. And lately I think I’ve copped what the French call “un coup de vieux”: a blow of old. I’ve got arthritis in my left wrist, my right knee gives twinges, and my left foot sometimes aches and stabs all day. Other days, nothing hurts at all. I don’t know what this means.

I am an old woman.

With more Australian artists being asked to play for free in the lockdown, many are asking if it might do more harm than good

If live music died in mid March, it’s sure been noisy at the funeral. On platforms old and new, live gigs performed at home have streamed from trickle to tidal wave, breaking over the mobile devices of captive audiences. Global gig guide aggregator Bands In Town has added a livestream dropdown, and a new Australian state has been ceded by Eventfinda and tucked alphabetically between Victoria and Western Australia: the state of “Virtual”.

For fans it’s been fun. We’re loving seeing musicians’ pets and plants and enormous fingers fumbling for the flip screen button and, unless we’ve bought a URL ticket, there’s scandalously little to lose by dropping into, and out of, a show.

Deep recessions have long shadows and already there is a gaping hole opening up in our pandemic response

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The great recession was followed by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of authoritarianism particularly in Europe.

Big economic events have big political consequences.

Washington state has another bug to worry about in addition to Asian giant hornets -- gypsy moths, which the state's governor says could become an "infestation."

Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has announced he and partner Georgia Groome are expecting their first child together.

Rochelle Humes has revealed that she is expecting her third child with husband Marvin in an Easter themed Instagram post.

Coronavirus: the symptoms

The choir leader told Twitter followers how a runner failed to maintain a two metre distance and "fell" on his young son

Hussain made his debut on Wednesday's show

The Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood star has praised teenage activists

The Quiz star says she still feels like she constantly has to prove herself as an actor

Oscar-nominated actress Shirley Knight has died aged 83.

The former model entered rehab to receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder earlier this year

The long-awaited television adaptation of Sally Rooney's millennial love story has arrived

The couple met while the judge was on the Strictly tour

Paul Mescal stars in the BBC's adaptation of Sally Rooney's acclaimed novel

The musician discovered the song while searching through unmarked CDs at his home

Coronavirus: The symptoms

The actor made the confession on Red Table Talk

Amanda Holden has released her debut single, a cover of Over The Rainbow, in honour of NHS heroes she said saved her life.

Stuck With U will be released later this month

The singer also suggested women aren't encouraged to get into music production from an early age

The resemblance is uncanny

As sheltering in place stretches into weeks for many, anxiety, isolation, stress and cabin fever are common. There's free mental health help online.

Facebook oversight board members will decide what Facebook and Instagram users can and cannot post on the platforms.

It's okay, you really don't have to make that sourdough

Due to popular demand, M&S has created Percy Pig-flavoured ice cream

Searches for tracksuit bottoms are up 2000 per cent on last month, and fashion's high priestess has given her seal of approval

Want to watch Netflix with your friends or have a virtual date? Kast is here to help

Jane Goodland, corporate affairs director at investment and wealth manager Quilter, on how to best approach loan payments during Covid-19

A new era of travel is here

Emma Glass's book set in an isolation ward is both terrific and timely. She talks to Katie Law

Take a walk on the wild side

The winner will be announced 'late summer', organisers say

Always consult your midwife and get kitted out online — resident expert Karen Dacre has a guide to growing a human in lockdown

The natural germ buster is giving a helping hand

Launer has re-designed them in new hues of blue

There's nothing like a good birthday. Luckily for HRH, she's got two of them to look forward to this year

The service will facilitate streaming of established radio stations as well as the new Sonos Sound System station

Some self-care pampering for while WFH

This year will be the first Digital Earth Day

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day

Covid protection, but make it fashion