As the world waits to see what the North Korean dictatorship does next, the judges of the Pulitzer prizes yesterday honoured a novel acclaimed for its depiction of the secretive state, naming Adam Johnson’s “The Orphan Master’s Son” as the winner of the fiction award after withholding the prize last year.

Finding could lead to new biodegradable devices based on living cells that are capable of detecting changes in the environment

Scientists have solved the mystery of cosmic rays, a stream of highly-energetic sub-atomic particles that pervades the Universe and is responsible for much of the extra radiation dose received by airline passengers.

I co-ordinated the UN Panel of Experts charged with improving implementation of the Security Council sanctions for a year and am often asked how effective they are. Clearly they have not halted the North Korean nuclear programme but they have almost certainly slowed it down and, judging by the constant shrill complaints, they are certainly inflicting pain. Perhaps not least, the North Koreans regard them as a humiliation – they bitterly resent being treated as a pariah and crave respectability.

The man behind the world's weirdest running shoes is back with a new hi-tech trainer. Simon Usborne laces up

As mysteries go, the one involving the Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and his "dead" girlfriend takes some beating. Yesterday, like the next chapter in a detective novel, it unveiled another twist which will only serve to ratchet up the interest in this bizarre story.

Aaron Swartz was a campaigner for internet freedom and a software developer who made an enormous impact during his 26 short years on the planet. His campaigning work and direct action for freedom of information had led him into frequent conflict with the authorities, with the result that, at the time of his death, he faced 13 felony charges for which he was due to stand trial within the coming months.

On sabbatical in California, Steve Hilton reveals ‘horror’ at how No 10 really works

If you have sex in public, but no one is watching, is it still obscene? Plus bones of ancient giant discovered and that regrettable Romney face tattoo

The ability to recognize faces is so important in humans that the brain appears to have an area solely devoted to the task: the fusiform gyrus.

I just spent a week without one of the most important things in my life. It's something that I never go anywhere without, that I talk to when I'm lonely, that I stare at for hours upon end, day after day. It's there for me when my friends are not. It never argues with me or makes me feel bad about myself. I love it dearly and I can make it tell me that it loves me, too: My iPhone.

A jaw-dropping moment really can make time appear to stand still - or at least slow down, new research suggests.

A man like Stephen Hawking, renowned for his complex thinking, might be happy to have scientists read his brainwaves. The Cambridge professor, who suffers from motor neurone disease and is losing his ability to communicate via computer, is working with scientists hoping to read his brain.

Tests on a device that could restore sight to patients suffering from a common cause of blindness have produced "encouraging" results.