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Human beings (except Millwall fans and the inhabitants of Glasgow) are this planet's only highly intelligent species. But are there any other highly intelligent species elsewhere in the Universe? In 1950, the great Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, father of atomic power, asked: 'Where the hell...

To us, arsenic is just a deadly poison that is best to stay away from. But, in Victorian Britain, it was everywhere. British soldiers in India mixed it with black pepper to create the Tanjore pill, an anti-venom for snake bites; doctors prescribed it as a cure for conditions including...

Britain is the nation that once fearlessly took on, and defeated, the supposedly mighty Spanish Armada, Old Boney and Hermann Goring's Messerschmitts. But now it seems as though we are running scared of the humble toothpick. Retired deputy headteacher John Freeman had just enjoyed a meal at...

Live pigs are being blown up with explosives at Britain's equivalent of Area 51 to simulate the effects on terrorist attacks on civilian targets. The experiments are taking place at Porton Down in Wiltshire, the British government's secret military research laboratory. After the explosives...

There have been many great rivalries through the ages. Manchester United VS Liverpool; Oasis VS Blur; Blair VS Brown; Celtic VS Rangers; Kasparov VS Karpov; the RAF VS the Luftwaffe; Blondes VS Brunettes; BBC VS Sky. But none is greater than that of Britain VS France, a rivalry which has...

BBC orders auction house to remove "offensive" neo-classical goddess painting The British may still be somewhat prude, but perhaps not quite as prude as the BBC thinks we are. After all, this is not the Victorian era, when gentlemen gasped in shock (or pleasure) when a woman dared to bare her...

The BBC's Only Fools and Horses was the most successful British comedy series of all time. The series ran from 1981 to 2003 and starred David Jason as ambitious market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter (who had several catchphrases including "This time next year we'll be millionaires") who shared...

Prince William's hugely successful tour of Australia has caused the support for Australia to become a republic to drop by a whopping 14%. A minority of Australians - 44% - are in favour of becoming a republic and 27% are opposed to ditching the Queen as Head of State. And Aussies look like...

Britain has seven official languages: English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Scots, Ulster Scots and Cornish. All of them are closely related Celtic languages, except English and Scots, which are Germanic languages closely related to German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic...

Today is the last day of Prince Willam's tour of Down Under. Last week he was in New Zealand. Now he is in another British colony - Australia. If there are republicans in Australia, then they were hardly noticeable. William was treated like a rock star. During a speech at Government House...

Stoke City's Rory Delap may think he's very good at launching the ball far whilst taking a throw-in, but he's a lightweight compared to British PE teacher Danny Brooks. Danny can throw a ball 163.32 feet, the equivalent of five double-decker buses. But he uses an unusual technique to throw...

Residents of a northern English village have been left terrorised by a mysterious creature which has been blamed for mauling several deer to death and even leaving a resident's Alsatian dogs - hardly the type of mutts to get easily scared - quivering with fear. Residents of Buckshaw, which is...

Nigel Farage, the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), a political party whose main aim is to withdraw Britain from the EU, has called for Britain to ban the burka. Lord Pearson has now taken over as UKIP's leader, but Farage still heads UKIP's 13 MPs which the...

For any teams who are playing Bristol City this season, I think it's wise to not celebrate a goal anywhere near their manager. Bristol City were up against Cardiff City in the FA Cup, 3rd Round, on Tuesday night at Bristol City's Ashton Gate stadium. After Michael Chopra put Cardiff City 1-0...

Prince William today completed his first day of his tour of New Zealand. Today was the future king's first day of a five-day trip to the British colony (it gained independence from Britain in 1907, but we still know that Britain's in the saddle). The prince - who is still training to be a...

A sign bearing the name of Britain's most famous address is expected to fetch thousands when it goes under the hammer. The 19th century cast iron Downing Street sign was previewed today at Bonhams auctioneers in central London ahead of its sale next Wednesday. It is estimated to fetch...

Probably the most famous castaway of all time was Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721), the Scotsman who was marooned on an uninhabited desert island for four years in the early 18th Century. In 1704, Selkirk was navigating an English galley (Scotland would not join the Union until 1707), the Cinque...

Scientists have been left puzzled after a mystery object today whizzed past our planet. It made its closest pass at 1.46pm British time today, passing just 76,000 miles away, just a third of the distance to the Moon. Italian scientists said it may have been a piece of space junk - there are...

Never mind an overweight, middle-aged Scottish woman. Meet Darren the goat. In most cases Darren is a normal goat - except that he can wave. Unlike Susan Boyle, Darren doesn't need to go on Britain's GOAT Talent to find fame, as he's a YouTube star already, with tens of thousands watching him...

Some people are so stupid that they either need to be locked up for their, or other people's, safety or be given a lethal injection to remove them from the gene pool. Two men, along with their dog (who is blameless in the affair), decided it would be fun to drive for half a mile along a frozen...