It’s the most wonderful time of year… for staring down the pile of presents you were so generously given for Christmas and working out which ones you actually want to keep. A little harsh? Perhaps.

James Meek’s latest novel manages to combine the cerebral and the sensitive with great elegance, writes Stuart Kelly ...

Scientists are uncovering new clues that a cosmic explosion may have rocked Earth at the end of the last ice age. At major Clovis-era sites, researchers found shocked quartz—evidence of intense heat ...