Macabre sculptures, animal skulls and a kitchen inspired by a hospital morgue await the housemates in the last series of Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother. Producers have opted for a gothic, hellish decor, based on Dante's Inferno and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's notion that “Hell is other people”. “Hopefully we've made it more moody and atmospheric,” said C4's David Williams ahead [...]

High standards, a short temper and a taste for whisky – Margaret Thatcher's personality is laid bare in secret files released in Britain Wednesday which cover the first few months of her premiership. The files, covering the first few months of her premiership, reveal she refused a guard of 20 “karate ladies'' when she visited Japan soon after becoming prime [...]

The glittery ball in New York's Times Square drops every New Year's Eve. But this year it will be joined a second glowing orb in the sky: The last night of 2009 will boast December's second full moon, otherwise known as a blue moon.A blue moon, according to folklore, is the appearance of a second full moon in a given [...]

An ‘appalled and disappointed’ Gordon Brown led condemnation of the Chinese execution of British drug smuggler Akmal Shaikh. The Chinese authorities killed the 53-year-old father of five by lethal injection early yesterday, ignoring last minute pleas from his family and the British Government. There was cross-party anger at the execution of Mr Shaikh, who had mental problems. Foreign Office Minister [...]

A German computer scientist has published details of the secret code used to protect the conversations of more than 4bn mobile phone users. Karsten Nohl, working with other experts, has spent the past five months cracking the algorithm used to encrypt calls using GSM technology. GSM is the most popular standard for mobile networks around the world. The work could [...]

After 29 years of space shuttle flights, NASA plans to wrap up the program with five missions to complete construction of the International Space Station and retire the fleet before the end of 2010. “It's a big growth year … the last major growth spurt for the International Space Station,” said Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy manager for the station program. [...]

Experts are studying the first Mayan hieroglyphic script dealing with the life of a high priest, his blood sacrifices and acts of penance, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said. The text consists of 260 glyphs carved into a series of seashell earrings and manta ray stingers found inside a burial urn. The urn, which also contained the [...]

There's been a lot of chatter over the last few days about a YouTube video (below) demonstrating an HP web camera that can detect the face of a white woman but fails to see the face of a black man. Following the video, which now has more than a million views, HP released a statement saying, “The technology we use [...]

It seemed too real to be mere coincidence – and it brought joy to Kaden Delaney's family. Kaden's parents Greg and Shelley spent two years finding David Waters, whose life was saved when he received their son's heart after he died in a car crash. But in an exchange of emails they learned Mr Waters amazingly had developed a taste [...]

The paranormal is often intimidating, confusing, terrifying. But strange knocks, dark entities and growls in the night aren’t always bad. The following are two stories of welcomed bumps in the night. A mother’s touch Jo Ann Miller, Texas, visited her family in Independence, Mo., in fall 2009. She went to the cemetery where her parents are buried, and drove by [...]