Below-average temperatures and rain may feel more miserable because heatwaves are now seen as the norm

From the water coolers to the WhatsApp groups, the question remains the same: what has happened to the British weather, and is there any sign of summer hiding in the forecasters’ models?

Halfway through an unseasonably cold June, a shift is already under way. But that doesn’t mean it is time to break out the barbie. Having endured chill winds blowing down from the north, the shift in weather will bring warmer, if not quite warm, temperatures, and with it, sporadic downpours and even thunderstorms.

Japanese scientists find blocking production in killifish of germ cells closes lifespan gap between males and females

The enduring mystery of why women outlive men may come down to the smallest and the largest cells in the body: the sperm and eggs that are central to human reproduction.

Scientists in Japan have shown for the first time in vertebrates that cells that develop into eggs in females and sperm in males drive sex differences in lifespan, and that removing the cells leads to animals with the same life expectancy.

Thin dusting of water ice appears to form overnight in summit craters and evaporate after sunrise, scientists say

Early morning frost has been spotted on some of the largest mountains in the solar system – the colossal Martian volcanoes that rise up to three times the height of Mount Everest near the planet’s equator.

In colder months the fine dusting of ice, thinner than a human hair, appears to form overnight in the volcanoes’ summit craters, or calderas, and on sections of their rims and then to evaporate a few hours after sunrise.