Another catch-up on items you may have missed.
Before delve into the depths of science-y things, let’s start with a mystery … A couple of scientists have come up with a possible way of interpreting the mysterious Voynich manuscript — and it is all based on the illustrations.
Well what a surprise! January was England’s wettest winter month in almost 250 years. December wasn’t far behind and it is looking as if February will follow suit!
So how should you cover your mouth when we sneeze? Hand? Hankie? Or Elbow?
More strangeness of animal genetics. Cells in females shut down one of their two X chromosomes at random.
Synesthesia is a very strange affliction. Here one young lady talks about what it is like.
Confused by all the different ‘flu viruses that appear in the media? Scientific American tries to unmuddle you.
What’s the relationship between what we eat and how well/ill we are? Basically scientists think they know, but actually nobody does.
Why do so many of our best spices come from very low down on the evolutionary tree of plants?
Well who would have guessed? Clearly not scientists. Birds can smell!
Hands up: Who knows what a thylacine is? Who thinks it’s extinct? Who would like to find out?
Just like we trust our doctors, we trust our vets to know what medicines work on our pets. But maybe they often don’t know.
Ever wondered what your cat thinks about you? Maybe you don’t want to know!
Here’s the story of how we get ever more clever at defining the the length of the standard metre.
At long last! Let’s leave all this geeky science stuff behind …
A London cabbie looks at the history and development of Waterloo Station.
English has always borrowed words from other languages. How good is your knowledge of English’s borrowings?
The discovery of a secret Viking message … sealed with a kiss?
Going even further back in time, some 850,000 year old footprints have been uncovered in Norfolk.

So time to relax with a few interesting facts about tea.
And finally as a prelude to Valentine’s Day … Many people no longer expect passion to last a lifetime. And yet some couples stay in love to the last. What’s their secret?