NASA astronomers struck it lucky after the Hubble Space Telescope observed a comet in the act of disintegrating completely by chance.

The event was one that scientists believed they were unlikely to witness in real time.

And it was even more extraordinary as researchers had intended to observe a different comet, but were forced to change plans due to technical constraints.

The findings were published on Wednesday in the journal Icarus.

‘Sometimes the best science happens by accident,’ John Noonan, a research professor in the Department of Physics at Auburn University in Alabama, said.

‘This comet got observed because our original comet was not viewable due to some new technical constraints after we won our proposal. We had to find a new target – and right when we observed it, it happened to break apart, which is the slimmest of slim chances.”

The object, known as Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), can be seen progressively breaking apart in a sequence of images taken between November 8 and 10 last year.

Initially appearing as four bright objects, the largest fragment then splits further, with pieces drifting away from one another.

Noonan, a co-investigator on the study, said he did not realise the significance immediately.

‘While I was taking an initial look at the data, I saw that there were four comets in those images when we only proposed to look at one,’ he said. ‘So we knew this was something really, really special.’

Scientists have long attempted to capture such an event using Hubble, but the unpredictability of comet break-ups has made this difficult.

‘The irony is now we’re just studying a regular comet and it crumbles in front of our eyes,’ said principal investigator Dennis Bodewits, also of Auburn University.

‘Comets are leftovers of the era of solar system formation, so they’re made of “old stuff”—the primordial materials that made our solar system.

‘But they are not pristine – they’ve been heated; they’ve been irradiated by the Sun and by cosmic rays.

‘So, when looking at a comet’s composition, the question we always have is, “Is this a primitive property or is this due to evolution?’”

‘By cracking open a comet, you can see the ancient material that has not been processed.’

Hubble observed the comet splitting into at least four pieces, each surrounded by a glowing cloud of gas and dust known as a coma. While ground-based telescopes saw only faint bright patches, Hubble’s high resolution allowed scientists to distinguish individual fragments clearly.

The observations were made shortly after the comet passed its closest point to the Sun – known as perihelion – when heating and stress are at their greatest. Scientists believe the comet began breaking up about eight days before Hubble captured the images.

However, the team has identified a puzzling delay between the break-up and the brightening detected from Earth.

One theory is that a layer of dust must first form over newly exposed ice before being blown away. Another possibility is that heat builds up beneath the surface before ejecting material into space.

‘Never before has Hubble caught a fragmenting comet this close to when it actually fell apart. Most of the time, it’s a few weeks to a month later. And in this case, we were able to see it just days after,’ said Noonan.

‘This is telling us something very important about the physics of what’s happening at the comet’s surface. We may be seeing the timescale it takes to form a substantial dust layer that can then be ejected by the gas.’

Early observations suggest the comet is chemically unusual, with significantly lower levels of carbon than typically seen. Further analysis using Hubble’s instruments is expected to reveal more about its composition and, potentially, the origins of the solar system.

Now reduced to a cluster of fragments about 250 million miles from Earth, the comet is travelling through the constellation Pisces and is expected to leave the solar system permanently.

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EXCLUSIVE: Beyond Paradise returns to BBC One on March 27 with Kris Marshall discussing major changes, including one character’s departure

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Kris Marshall, star of Beyond Paradise, has shared insights into his co-star’s departure from the BBC series. The spin-off from Death in Paradise is set to return on 27 March, with Humphrey and his team tackling a series of crimes in Shipton Abbott. However, one character will be conspicuously absent from the fourth series.

Detective Humphrey Goodman will face a distressing choice in the forthcoming series after being told he must release a member of his police station team. Additionally, Humphrey finds himself under new management after learning that his former superior, CS Charlie Woods (portrayed by Jade Harrison), has transferred to a different division.

Discussing his co-star’s departure and the necessity to dismiss a team member, Kris exclusively revealed to Reach PLC, “I mean, there always has to be some kind of challenge for Humphrey in terms of, because, like I said, you know, otherwise he just wanders around.

“I mean, it’s that paradox, isn’t it, about TV detectives, they’re sort of fish out of water, they don’t really like rules, and yet they exist in one of the most sort of institutional, authoritarian, hierarchies, the police force.

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“He hates any kind of authority, he hates rules, he hates being told what he has to do, and so it’s thrust upon him, and it literally comes knocking on his door as it does. You know, he really detests that, really dislikes it, and he doesn’t like the pressure,” reports the Express.

Discussing his character’s new superior, portrayed by Vincent Franklin, the Humphrey Goodman star continued, “And it’s held by the fact that, in terms of the storyline, you know, Vincent Franklin, who is just an absolute genius actor playing his sort of nemesis in this.

“It just adds to that sort of, and he does it with such beautiful greasiness. It’s sort of wonderful. It sort of adds to the pressure for Humphrey, and so it’s a real stress for Humphrey moving forward because he is a kind of, like, bury your head in the sand kind of guy, when it comes to things like that.

“Solving puzzles or crimes or, you know, he’s like a dog with a bone. But, you know, when it comes to sort of real life, he’s like, well, surely if I put my head over here, that will just go away.”

Sally Bretton, who portrays Martha Lloyd, Kris’s on-screen spouse, also revealed insights into Martha and Humphrey’s relationship, and where the current series begins. The actress explained that residing on a boat was never part of Martha and Humphrey’s original vision.

She revealed, “Martha starts reflecting on, ‘Was this a bit of an unexpected twist anyway? Going to live on the boat as it wasn’t really the plan originally’.

“And maybe now that they’re married and they want to focus a lot on settling a little bit more, and maybe it’s time to start having a look at a house, and I think they want to focus on each other and have all of the fun and everything that they always have done, but they’ve been knocked off center a lot.”

Beyond Paradise is set to return on 27 March at 8pm on BBC One.

When brewery and pub chain BrewDog invited customers to become shareholders through its “Equity for Punks” scheme, it appeared to represent a new model of capitalism. It invited beer enthusiasts to invest in the company and become small shareholders. This allowed the Scottish firm to present itself as a community built around rebellion, identity and participation.

For a time, the BrewDog model looked remarkably successful – the company was once valued at £2 billion. But after its sale to American cannabis and alcohol firm Tilray for just £33 million, it is clear that there is more to the story.

The real story here is not about one craft brewer. It is about a broader shift in modern capitalism, where companies increasingly use narratives to mobilise communities and raise capital. But at the same time, the institutional rules of finance still determine who gets what and when.

BrewDog raised substantial capital (said to be £75 million) from thousands of small investors who were already loyal to the brand. Instead of relying exclusively on banks, venture capital or institutional investors, the company mobilised its own community to fund growth. Customers became shareholders, while the firm strengthened its reputation as a disrupter within the industry.

Then came the bar closures, job losses and BrewDog’s sale to Tilray. These developments suggest that small investors from the Equity for Punks programme will see little financial return.

In general, supporters tend to see themselves as partners in an entrepreneurial journey. Yet legally they remain minority investors. And minority investors occupy a very specific position within the institutional architecture of capitalism.

The BrewDog story is a reminder that markets run on stories as well as money. The effect of this has been to blur the boundary between customer and investor.

We believe that people rarely invest only because of spreadsheets. Our research on entrepreneurship shows that economic behaviour is shaped by trust, narratives and shared identity as much as by financial indicators. And the American sociologist Mark Granovetter argued that markets are “embedded” in social networks, meaning that people invest in people – and in their stories.

This resonates with our broader research on how economic exchanges, including investments and purchases, are also often sustained through these factors. BrewDog’s Equity for Punks model captured this dynamic perfectly.

But there’s also a question around what it really means to be part of a community when the balance sheet starts to matter.

Cold beer, cold reality

Community narratives may mobilise people to invest their money, but a body of strict rules and regulations shapes the outcome. Three points here are particularly important.

First, while the equity-public model undoubtedly has appeal, it’s also true that companies operate within legal frameworks that determine ownership rights and the order in which creditors are repaid if the company is liquidated or sold.

Second, lenders and structured investors typically enjoy protections that small retail investors, like BrewDog’s punks, do not.

Third, corporate finance works through a hierarchy, so it should be recognised that this places creditors ahead of shareholders when companies face financial stress. Shareholders are last in line to recoup their money from a company – after lenders, tax authorities, employees and suppliers.

When customers invest in companies they admire, they often interpret their role differently from conventional shareholders. Under BrewDog’s Equity for Punks programme, thousands of customers bought small stakes in the company not just for potential financial returns.

This point resonates with our research on how businesses and communities interact. It shows that economic behaviour is often shaped by the rules, expectations and relationships that surround markets. In practice, this means that people do not make decisions based only on prices or profits.

None of this suggests bad faith on the part of companies like BrewDog. It simply reflects the fact that markets operate through institutions.

Episodes like the BrewDog one serve as a reminder of a basic feature of modern capitalism. That is, when financial pressure appears, institutional rules take over.

All that being said, community-driven investment models will probably become more common. Digital platforms make it easier than ever for firms to mobilise supporters around shared narratives and identities. But at the same time, the institutional rules that govern corporate finance have not evolved at the same pace as these new forms of participatory capitalism.

If modern capitalism increasingly invites people to invest not only their money but also their faith, the gap between narrative and institutional reality will become harder to ignore. Communities may power the stories that fuel entrepreneurship. But when the balance sheet tightens, it is still institutional rules that decide who gets paid.

BrewDog did not respond to a request to respond to the claims made in this article.

The Trump administration pulled the rug out from underneath US federal climate policy in February, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overturned the landmark 2009 “endangerment finding”. Now, the official policy of the US government holds that greenhouse gases do not pose a risk to human health.

The move has opened a new frontier for Donald Trump to govern without being constrained by evidence or in a manner that represents the majority of Americans, who support pro-climate policies. It also follows a year in which the US president and his allies have hollowed out American climate leadership.

Since taking office, Trump and his allies have rolled back clean air standards for almost anything with a tailpipe or smokestack. In January 2026, they even instructed the EPA to stop estimating the value of lives saved in the agency’s cost-benefit analyses for new pollution rules. This could lead to looser controls on pollutants from industrial sites across the country.

As US climate leadership recedes into the rearview mirror, one question remains: will any nation – and China in particular – rush in to fill the gap? I wish there were a simple answer. But enthusiasm for climate leadership is backsliding, and not just from the US government.

Even as renewable energy installation continues worldwide, there are some signs of retreat. Across the world, companies are quietly shedding their net-zero targets. US car manufacturers Ford and General Motors also recently wrote off more than US$25 billion (£18.5 billion) of investment in electric vehicles because consumer demand has failed to match their forecasts.

It is no coincidence that this breakdown in the global climate consensus comes at a time when tensions are rising worldwide. The global order is reeling over Trump’s war in Iran and sabre-rattling over Greenland. Meanwhile, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has dragged into its fifth year without any clear prospect of peace.

Climate collaboration requires a belief that everyone is pitching in. When global institutions and norms look weak, national leaders worry about being the last honest participant in a deal that everyone else has abandoned. This is as true for countries as for human beings: nobody wants to feel like they’ve been duped.

However, there are some signs of hope. Demand for clean energy isn’t going away overnight. Renewable energy is often cheaper than fossil power, even without subsidies. A July 2025 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency found that nine in ten new renewable projects are on track to generate cheaper power than fossil fuel alternatives.

Just as important is the fact that citizens around the world continue to suffer from the effects of breathing polluted air, which the World Health Organization estimates causes 7 million deaths worldwide each year.

Even as climate concern falters, some of the world’s most populous cities, such as New Delhi in India, are under growing pressure to protect their residents’ health. They are likely to continue reducing their use of fossil fuels to heat homes, generate electricity and move people around.

Meanwhile, China is on a glide path to fill part of the void opened by America’s climate retreat. It already dominates certain clean energy technologies, holding a near-monopoly on battery, solar panel and fuel cell production. Chinese companies now manufacture more electric vehicles than every other nation combined.

Cementing its position as the new global climate leader would also earn China diplomatic “soft power,” especially among developing nations where Beijing can offer clean energy infrastructure plus the loans to finance it.

But, at the same time, China has shown a steady unwillingness to back strong political leadership on climate action. China’s leaders are bullish on renewable energy when it serves their economic interests. However, they are broadly resistant to the sort of strong international pressures that could stabilise global temperature rise.

It wasn’t until 2025 that China promised to actually reduce its emissions. And its recent commitments, which include a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 10% below peak levels by 2035, fall well short of what analysts say will be necessary to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

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With US credibility rapidly eroding, the 21st century seems poised to slide deeper into a style of governance that is characterised less by rigorous analysis than by the whims of its leaders.

The silver lining is that demagoguery has a shelf life. Trump’s approval rating has fallen to second-term lows, with polls showing him at -17 points. The demand for clean air, cheap energy and competent governance doesn’t go away because one administration decides to ignore it.

One day Trump will eventually fade from the political landscape. Climate change will not.

One of the world’s largest rodents could be running around your feet as you read this.

Capybara Samba and Tango were moved to Marwell Zoo in Hampshire from Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park on Monday.

But just a day later, the pair escaped their temporary home – despite having a pond ‘made for capybara life’ in their future enclosure.

While her escape partner, fellow capybara Tango, was found rummaging around nearby bushes, Samba remains on the lam.

The furry fugitive was spotted on Wednesday night in Owlslebury, a village two miles north of the zoo.

A missing capybara poster shared by the zoo says Samba is ‘not dangerous but could be stressed’.

Marwell Wildlife, which runs the zoo, has asked people to call if they spot the escaped capybara and to send her location.

Police are aware of Samba’s grand escape, it added.

The charity said on Facebook: ‘As always, animal welfare is our highest priority, and our team are working hard to bring Samba back as quickly and safely as possible.

‘Capybaras are intelligent, gentle animals, with a taste for adventure. They do not pose a risk to the public, we strongly advise against approaching Samba or disturbing any area she may be hiding, to prevent causing her stress.

South Tyneside Council has placed the units at South Shields seafront as part of its ongoing programme to improve EV infrastructure.

The chargers are part of a wider programme with Connected Kerb and the North East Mayor Kim McGuinness.

Councillor Tracey Dixon, leader of South Tyneside Council, said: “We are committed to making it easier for people to choose cleaner and greener ways to travel.

“Through our work with Connected Kerb and the Combined Authority, we are bringing more modern, reliable charging options to communities right across South Tyneside.

“This investment is part of a wider regional programme to expand the network and ensure residents and visitors have access to the right infrastructure as demand continues to grow.”

Five of the new rapid chargers are being installed at South Shields seafront, with two more at Jarrow Focus.

The new chargers are currently awaiting grid connection and are expected to be operational in the coming weeks.

Once live, they will offer a rapid charge of around 30 minutes.

The installation is part of Mayor McGuinness’ plan to deliver 92 new charging points across the North East to support the transition to electric vehicles, including in rural areas.

South Tyneside currently has 68 public charging points.

Councillor Ernest Gibson, lead member for neighbourhoods and climate change, said: “These chargers will make a real difference to people who rely on electric vehicles for day-to-day travel or who are visiting the foreshore.

“Quick and convenient charging helps give people confidence that they can make the switch to cleaner transport.

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“We will keep working with partners to bring more charging points online and make sure the network is reliable and easy to use.”

The council is also working with Connected Kerb on a long-term partnership to deliver up to 2,000 additional charging points over the next 20 years.

More information about electric vehicle charging in South Tyneside can be found on South Tyneside Council’s website.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The war in Iran is exposing the world’s reliance on fragile fossil fuel routes, lending urgency to calls for hastening the shift to renewable energy.

Fighting has all but halted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The disruption has jolted energy markets, pushing up prices and straining import-dependent economies.

Asia, where most of the oil was headed, has been hit hardest, but the disruptions also are a strain for Europe, where policymakers are looking for ways to cut energy demand, and for Africa, which is bracing for rising fuel costs and inflation.

Unlike during previous oil shocks, renewable power is now competitive with fossil fuels in many places. More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Oil is used in many industries beyond generating electricity, such as fertilizer and plastics production. So most countries are feeling the impact, while those with more renewable power are more insulated since renewables rely on domestic resources like sun and wind, not imported fuels.

“These crises regularly occur,” said James Bowen of the Australia-based consultancy, ReMap Research. “They are a feature, not a bug, of a fossil fuel-based energy system.”

China and India built renewable buffers, but China’s is larger

China and India, the world’s two most populous countries, face the same challenge of generating enough electricity to power growth for over a billion people. Both have expanded renewable energy, but China did so on a far larger scale despite its continued reliance on coal-fired power.

Today China leads the world in renewables. About one in 10 cars in China are electric, found the International Energy Agency. It’s still the world’s largest importer of crude oil and the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. But electrifying parts of its economy with renewables has reduced its reliance on imports.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India prioritized energy security by buying discounted Russian oil and boosting coal production. It also ramped up solar and wind, helping to cushion supply disruptions but not avoid them entirely, said Duttatreya Das of the think tank Ember.

“Everyone cannot be China,” Das said.

India is now facing a shortage of cooking gas. That’s driving a rush to buy induction cooktops and raising fears of restaurant shutdowns. Fertilizers and ceramics industries may also be hit.

Europe’s excess spending on fossil fuels since the Russia-Ukraine War amounted to about 40% of the investment needed to transition its power system to clean energy, according to a 2023 study.

“In Europe, we learned the wrong lesson,” Heinrichs said.

The Iran war led the agenda during Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s meeting this week with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump, who has long urged Japan to buy more American LNG, recently called on allied nations like Japan to “step up” in assisting secure The Strait of Hormuz.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said the crisis could be “a good opportunity” to shift faster to renewable energy.

Poor countries are the most exposed

Poorer nations in Asia and Africa are competing with wealthy European and Asian countries and big buyers like India and China for limited gas supplies, pushing up prices.

Import-dependent economies — such as Benin and Zambia in Africa and Bangladesh and Thailand in Asia — could face some of the biggest shocks. Costly fuel makes transport and food more expensive, and many countries have limited foreign-exchange reserves, restricting their ability to pay for imports if prices stay high.

Africa may be especially exposed because many countries rely on imported oil to run their transport and supply chains.

It makes strategic sense for African countries to build their long-term energy security by investing in cleaner energy, said Kennedy Mbeva, a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge.

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But not all are opting for renewables: South Africa is considering building an LNG import terminal and new gas-fired power plants.

Others, like Ethiopia which banned gasoline and diesel fueled cars in 2024 to promote electric vehicles, are doubling down on renewables.

The real challenge is not just to withstand the next shock, but to ensure it doesn’t “derail the country’s development trajectory,” said Hanan Hassen, an analyst at Ethiopia’s government-linked think tank, the Institute of Foreign Affairs.

Renewables provide a cushion for some

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The family of a sixth form student killed by the Kent menB outbreak have spoken about her last moments trying to fight the infection.

Juliette Kenny, 18, was the second victim of the outbreak which began to spread in Kent last week after a University of Kent student died of the infection linked to the same strain of meningococcal  B.

Juliette, a Year 13 student at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham, died on Saturday, March 14, just one day after her first symptoms appeared.

Her dad, Michael Kenny, said she was ‘fit, healthy and strong’ before her death.

She had even completed a practical assessment for her PE A-level on Thursday, March 12.

Mr Kenny said: ‘In the morning on Friday, she was taken, by us, to our local emergency drop-in as a discolouration appeared on her cheeks.’

The teen was not showing any symptoms at the time, but she was given antibiotics and taken to an A&E in an ambulance.

But her condition worsened quickly, which is typical for meningitis as it can progress from mild to life-threatening within hours.

‘Juliette fought bravely for hours, but despite the fantastic NHS hospital staff fighting alongside her, meningitis took her from us less than 12 hours later,’ her dad said.

‘We were with her at the end, and the last sounds that she heard were the voices of those who loved her telling her how very much loved and cherished she is.’

He said the ‘devastation’ of her death is ‘immeasurable’ and something ‘no family should experience.’

‘Sharing stories of the empathy, warmth and fun that she created is helping her family and friends through at this time. Her energy continues to make the people who love her find a way.

‘The illness took her from us so quickly.’

Mr Kenny said his daughter had ‘beautifully positive energy,’ and he wanted her legacy to be ‘lasting change.’

Juliette’s grandmother, Linda Kenny, told the Daily Mail said she struggles to talk about the tragedy or ‘otherwise I will cry.’

‘We are all on antibiotics because we were with Juliette in hospital when she passed away,’ she added.

Vaccination sites and pharmacies have reported dwindling supply, with some places in Kent having to close lines early after medicines ran out yesterday.

In Kent alone, more than 8,500 antibiotics and 1,600 jabs have been given out to eligible people.

Juliette’s family have joined the Meningitis Research Foundation in calling for the government to improve access to menB vaccinations for teens and young people.

The majority of young people born before 2015 are not protected against menB infection unless they have had the vaccination privately. A private vaccination can cost up to £240 for the full two doses.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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“Higher oil and gas prices would lift North Sea revenues, and stronger inflation could boost receipts from VAT and frozen tax allowances, but those gains would likely be outweighed by the damage to tax revenues from weaker growth and higher public spending on welfare, debt interest costs, and pressure for fiscal support for households and energy-intensive businesses.”