This December, 150 years ago, an American-registered brigantine called  Mary Celeste  was found adrift and eerily deserted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The unexplained disappearance of the crew of this ghost ship has become one of the most intriguing and famous sea mysteries of all time.

Birth rates are declining in high-income countries such as the US and the UK. It is an alarming trend which has several causes, some positive such as the emancipation of women, and some negative such as social, economic and environmental insecurity.

Every year, UNESCO selects several places of outstanding cultural and natural importance from around the world and includes them in a prestigious World Heritage List. This year a new, unusual British site was selected, one that highlights the importance of Britain as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution that transformed the world.

The Ig Nobel Prize, a spoof on the name of the more famous Nobel, is given annually to scientists and researchers who investigate the most unusual issues in various fields. It’s both a light-hearted and a serious prize, as it aims to reward research that “first makes people laugh and then makes them think.”