2 January 2026
The 51¶¯Âþ Book Club has just finished our December read, Iain M. Banks's sci-fi novel The Player of Games - and most of us were fans of this big-thinking Culture tale
9 December 2025
51¶¯Âþ writers and contributors have chosen their top science-y books, films, TV shows, music, video games and board games, an eclectic mix which ranges from Dobble to The Creator
28 November 2025
The 51¶¯Âþ Book Club is currently reading Iain M. Banks's classic sci-fi novel The Player of Games. In this extract, we meet protagonist Gurgeh for the first time
26 November 2025
Mapping of the main quarry on Easter Island where giant statues were carved has uncovered evidence that the monuments may not have been created under the direction of a single chief
25 November 2025
Hoverflies, often mistaken for bees and wasps, pollinate three quarters of our crops. Now we’re discovering we can train them to be even more efficient
21 November 2025
Around 1000 markings on a slab of rock that was once a seafloor during the Cretaceous period may have been made by sea turtle flippers and swiftly buried by an earthquake
18 November 2025
Facing its worst drought in decades, Iran is attempting to stimulate rain by spreading seeding agents in clouds, but the technique is likely to have modest benefits at best
12 November 2025
10 November 2025
Thousands of holes arranged in a snake-like pattern on Monte Sierpe in Peru could have been a monumental accounting device for trade and tax
5 November 2025
A planet is about to be destroyed by the collapse of a binary star system in Slow Gods, Claire North’s first venture into classic science fiction. Read it! says Emily H. Wilson