We all love autumn don’t we? It’s that special time of year when the weather begins to get discernibly cooler and the nights noticeably longer. Autumn heralds the transition into the cold, dark and desolate winter months, and the natural world puts on a final flurry of amazing activity before slowing down until the warmer sunshine of spring returns. And the UK is no exception, boasting...

Some stars may travel across the Universe, perhaps with aliens in tow

The stillness of the night sky is deceiving. Because of the sheer vastness of space, stars appear unmoving like celestial fixtures. In actuality, though, they're zipping through the cosmos - some at ridiculously high speeds: thousands, and even tens of thousands of kilometres per second. That's roughly 100,000 times faster than the speediest train and 1,000 times faster than the fastest...

Sam Warburton: Wales have 'fantastic' World Cup chance

Wales are strong enough to bounce back from the loss of Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb and still challenge for the World Cup, says captain Sam Warburton. Full-back Halfpenny and scrum-half Webb, both 26, are out of the tournament with injury, replaced by Eli Walker and Mike Phillips respectively. Warburton says their absences are a blow, but not a fatal one. "We've still got an absolutely...

Tour of Britain: Elia Viviani wins stage three as Petr Vakoc crashes

Team Sky's Elia Viviani won his second stage of the Tour of Britain as Petr Vakoc crashed in stage three to hand the yellow jersey to Juan Jose Lobato. Italian Viviani, 26, won in a sprint finish in Kelso, Scotland, despite having no team-mates to lead him out. Viviani, a stage winner at this year's Giro d'Italia, had already taken the first stage of the one-week race. Czech Vakoc of...

US Open: Marin Cilic beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach semis

Defending US Open champion Marin Cilic withstood a rousing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fightback to win a fifth-set decider and reach the semi-finals in New York. Croatia's Cilic, 26, looked to be on course for a straightforward victory after taking the first two sets. But Frenchman Tsonga was rejuvenated after receiving treatment to his knee and levelled up against the ninth seed. Cilic, himself...

Brad Haddin: Australia wicketkeeper retires from Tests

Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has retired from Test cricket. Haddin, 37, who stopped playing one-day international matches earlier this year, lost his place to Peter Nevill during Australia's 3-2 Ashes defeat by England in July. He will also stop playing for his domestic state team New South Wales, but will continue in the Twenty20 Big Bash League for the Sydney Sixers. "I've enjoyed...

Premier League: Is the loan system being abused by clubs?

League spend during the summer transfer window, another statistic caught the eye from a club that was relatively prudent. Chelsea's net outlay amounted to £38m - the fourth-highest in the Premier League - but Nathaniel Chalobah's move to Napoli took the number of Blues players out on loan to 33. The club are not breaking any rules, and it is a pattern repeated across Europe, with...