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"Astronomers have spotted a quasi-moon near Earth," reports CNN, "and the small space rock has likely been hanging out near our planet unseen by telescopes for about 60 years, according to new research." The newly discovered celestial object, named 2025 PN7, is a type of near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun but sticks close to our planet. Like our world, 2025 PN7 takes one year to complete an orbit around the sun... The newly found 2025 PN7 is just one of a handful of known quasi-moons with orbits near our planet, including Kamo'oalewa, which is also thought to be an ancient lunar fragment. Kamo'oalewa is one of the destinations of China's Tianwen-2 mission launched in May, which aims to collect and return samples from the space rock in 2027. The Pan-STARRS observatory located on the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii captured observations of 2025 PN7 on August 29. Archival data revealed that the object has been in an Earth-like orbit for decades. The quasi-moon managed to escape the notice of astronomers for so long because it is small and faint, said Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, a researcher on the faculty of mathematical sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid who recently authored a paper about the space rock. The paper was published on September 2 in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, which is for timely non-peer-reviewed astronomical observations. The space rock swings within 186,000 miles (299,337 kilometers) of us during its closest pass of our planet, de la Fuente Marcos said.... "It can only be detected by currently available telescopes when it gets close to our planet as it did this summer," de la Fuente Marcos explained. "Its visibility windows are few and far between. It is a challenging object...." Astronomers are still trying to figure out 2025 PN7's size. About 98 feet (30 meters) across is a reasonable estimate, de la Fuente Marcos said. It also has the potential to be 62 feet (19 meters) in diameter, according to EarthSky. The space rock is currently the smallest-known quasi-moon to have orbited near Earth, de la Fuente Marcos said.

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The City of London force is considering using community protection warnings to tackle what officials described as 'dangerous, antisocial and nuisance cycling behaviours' in the capital.

A Labour peer has sparked incredulity by appearing to suggest assisted dying could be a handy tool in tackling overpopulation and climate change, writes ANDREW PIERCE.

An increasingly common workplace habit is undermining trust between managers and employees.

Next time your bicycle has a flat tyre, find a coelacanth. These 'living fossils', dating back 400 million years to before the dawn of the dinosaurs, are an essential part of an African puncture repair kit.

Sir Big Ed arrived at his party conference with a marching band, writes QUENTIN LETTS, pretending to be a drummer. Soon he was dressing up to reflect his party conference 'buzz'...

Yet again, Fergie and Andrew land the Royal Family in scandal, writes A.N. WILSON. Yet again, the revolting figure of Jeffrey Epstein casts his sinister shadow over our public life.

There's a new breed of TikTok 'death-fluencers' - young, social media-savvy and very empathetic funeral directors and morticians, determined to lift the velvet curtain of their profession...

It all started with a text I got while waiting in an airport while hungover, writes JULIA POLLON. 'Hope you had a wonderful time,' and a smile emoji. Innocent enough… but already it felt transgressive

You know you're officially middle aged when you find yourself in pursuit of the perfect waterproof, writes SHANE WATSON. But we don't have to succumb to unglamorous outerwear. Here are my top choices...

A Sunday roast is, perhaps, one of the best-known examples of British cuisine. Across the country Brits gladly tuck into plates piled high with turkey, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and vegetables.

On the northern coast of the second largest Canary Island, Fuerteventura, the surreal-looking sands at Playa del Bajo de la Burra have become a tourist spectacle.

Charlie Kirk's widow Erika took the stage at his memorial service to deliver powerful remarks on his life and legacy,

The decision by Kent Police not to prosecute Charlotte Hayes has led to outrage online, including from author JK Rowling and shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: Over at the Communications of the ACM, Bard College CS Prof Valerie Barr explains why she's Feeling Cranky About AI and CS Education. Having seen CS education go through a number of we-have-to-teach-this moments over the decades — introductory programming languages, the Web, Data Science, etc. — Barr turns her attention to the next hand-wringing "what will we do" CS education moment with AI. "We're jumping through hoops without stopping first to question the run-away train," Barr writes... Barr calls for stepping back from "the industry assertion that the ship has sailed, every student needs to use AI early and often, and there is no future application that isn't going to use AI in some way" and instead thoughtfully "articulate what sort of future problem solvers and software developers we want to graduate from our programs, and determine ways in which the incorporation of AI can help us get there." From the article: In much discussion about CS education: a.) There's little interest in interrogating the downsides of generative AI, such as the environmental impact, the data theft impact, the treatment and exploitation of data workers. b.) There's little interest in considering the extent to which, by incorporating generative AI into our teaching, we end up supporting a handful of companies that are burning billions in a vain attempt to each achieve performance that is a scintilla better than everyone else's. c.) There's little interest in thinking about what's going to happen when the LLM companies decide that they have plateaued, that there's no more money to burn/spend, and a bunch of them fold—but we've perturbed education to such an extent that our students can no longer function without their AI helpers.

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Selma Blair has reached another career milestone and made a truly unforgettable entrance while doing it.

The party is also proposing what it calls a 'doomscrolling cap' to limit the time that children can watch TikTok-style videos to two hours a day.

Penny Lancaster gushed that her husband Rod Stewart is 'so youthful he's a machine' as she opened up about their relationship on Monday. 

The author, 54, met the actress, 48, in 2021 when she appeared as a guest on his BBC quiz show House of Games, going on to tie the knot in 2022.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will announce a major overhaul of decision-making to give locals more control of the shops on their high streets.