Category Archives: natural history

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Monthly Links

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You really didn’t want to have missed these items …

Science, Technology, Natural World

The latest estimates are that Earth is home to around 20 million species of insect – that’s way more than was previously thought. [££££]

It’s interesting how non-native parrots thrive in cities – and largely don’t compete with native species. [LONG READ]

London’s Kew Gardens has digitised its 7 million plant specimens. [££££]

Here are some surprising facts about aquatic flora, including that seaweeds are not plants!

So what is it that makes about 10% of people left-handed?

Venezuela recently suffered a double earthquake, but why did so many buildings collapse?

Trust the Swiss! They’re pioneering putting solar panels between railway tracks as another way to generate electricity without using too much land for solar panels.

Now away from Earth … astronomers have detected “raspberry sugar” in a dust cloud in our Milky Way galaxy.

Health, Medicine

Drug chemist Derek Lowe looks at the very high failure rate of new drug candidates over the last 50-60 years.

I bet you didn’t know that hospitals routinely use antimatter! [LONG READ]

One academic writes about what it is like inside the UK’s top secret chemical weapons laboratory at Porton Down. [LONG READ]

There’s a new catalogue of viruses revealing which pose the greatest threats.

So now for some real, and scary, surgery: Irish surgeons have been able to remove a brain tumour through an eyelid!

Sexuality & Relationships

OK, boys, understand this … your ejaculate is not a waste product

Is it acceptable to state a preference over your partner’s pubic hair?

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Here’s an article on iconic and revolutionary Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki (above).

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have at last managed to decipher 4000-year-old Linear Elamite from ancient Iran.

Back at home in the UK, archaeologists continue to rewrite what we thought we knew about Stonehenge.

An entire Byzantine town has been found in Egypt’s Western Desert

Back at home again, medieval football could end up getting you killed.

And now the story of the 17th-century siege of Basing House. [LONG READ]

London

And at last we journey to London to hear the story of Westminster Cathedral. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Here’ are some thoughts about the human body and why for some naturism feels right.

And then here are some thoughts on sleeping naked. [LONG READ]

And finally I’ll leave you with a look at some of the world’s strangest nude traditions.

arts, books, environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for March

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Herewith my collection of links to items you may have missed, but didn’t want to. Again this month we have quite a few science and medicine articles, and not so much on the arts – well it all depends on what’s published and looks interesting.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Now tell me … would aliens do physics, and do it the way we do? [££££] [LONG READ]

Beyond which, could aliens in another galaxy see dinosaurs on Earth? [££££]

So what is time? Is it just a figment of our imaginations?

A researcher has found Galileo’s handwritten notes in old astronomy text.

The Eye of the Sahara. They think it’s a circle and it shouldn’t be there. [LONG READ]

On the dying art of taxonomy and a love of midges.

In Papua New Guinea scientists have found a tiny possum and a glider which were thought extinct for 6,000 years.

Staying with discoveries, scientists have found three unknown geckos, and a lot else too, in Cambodia’s limestone caves.

And still with new discoveries, some other scientists have found lots of strange new species (example below) deep off the coast of Britain’s Caribbean islands.

Back on dry land apparently hedgehogs can hear very high frequency ultrasound.

Apparently cacti could help explain one of the oddities of evolution.

And finally in this section, an immunologist takes a hard look at the science behind the paraben panic.

Health, Medicine

Which brings us to the messier bits of the scientific arena …

We all have skin mites, but should we worry? Are they a health issue or harmless passengers?

Why do some people (like me) suffer from motion sickness, while others don’t.

What does body odour actually say about you?

Have you ever noticed that you breathe out of one nostril at a time. And have you ever stopped to wonder why?

Researchers have a suspicion that a previously unknown virus, hiding in a bacterium, may be a trigger for colorectal cancer.

And still wth gut bacteria, apparently couples share 30% of their gut bacteria. [I’m surprised it is so little – K]

Sexuality & Relationships

NSFW. So what does science tell us about why breasts send males wild? [LONG READ]

Remaining with female anatomy for a minute, apparently the clitoris has migrated from the inside (in most species) to the outside (in humans).

And so to male anatomy … with a look at the history of male member. [LONG READ]

The myths, misconceptions and realities of how porn shapes sexual health.

NSFW. Against which the evolution of erotic literature looks fairly tame.

Environment & Ecology

For once some good news: the Large Tortoiseshell butterfly (above) is no longer extinct in UK

It’s definitely counterintuitive, but when the human population fell during the Black Death, plant diversity dropped as well.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

The UK is considering putting native fauna on its banknotes, so some experts have a say.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Here’s an interesting interview with Ruth Scurr who wrote a biography of 17th century antiquarian John Aubrey (below).

Apparently our least favourite word is all about womb wisdom.

NSFW. A look at art and the vulva. [LOMG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

The theory of the population of the Americas has again been turned on its head by an archaeological site in Chile.

King Harold’s movement of troops from the NE to fight the Battle of Hastings … was it (as has been assumed) the most heroic march ever, or did everyone travel by boat?

London

Matt Brown takes a look at some of the interesting and varied historical models of London. [LONG READ]

And I’ll leave you this month with Matt Brown looking at bovine influences on London. [LONG READ]

natural history, personal, ramblings

February Unblogged

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So here we are, another month bites the dust, which means it’s time for a look at some of the things which impinged on me but which I didn’t otherwise write about.

Sunday 1
It’s tedious but sadly it’s necessary.

Tuesday 3
Did it stop raining at any point today? If it did, I certainly didn’t notice.

Wednesday 4
In contrast to yesterday, today was a lovely sunny day. Looking out of the bedroom window this morning, there were two goldfinches in the street tree outside – very nice; although they are usually around. But what is that? Flying steadily some way off, across a clear blue sky, and going south was a single swan: large, white with a long neck; quite unmistakeable. Not something one sees very often.

Sunday 8
There seems to be nothing happening at present. Everything is dull, dreary and wet. Motivation has disappeared today if only because I woke up feeling very depressed. That caused me to cancel my hospital appointment on Tuesday as I just can’t face the hassle – the appointment isn’t urgent anyway, it’s just a quick 15 minute check-up which will waste most of the day.

Monday 9

Image stolen from the internet

Wednesday 11
Sitting over lunch we looked out of the window to see not one, but two red kites gliding over, very low. They really are big birds. No wonder the pigeons scattered!

Friday 13
There are days when you have lots of sugar, and days when you don’t have any. Given my diabetes the latter should be the norm. But today was one of the former; I seem to have spent the day guzzling cake and fizzy pop. Well it would be rude not to! At least once in a while.

Saturday 14
Sunshine! Lots of sunshine! A glorious sunny morning, although cold. And the afternoon was good too, although it did gradually cloud up. Doesn’t it make everything feel so much better.

Sunday 15
Only a day late for our Valentine’s Day dinner. Something simple: sirloin steak with garlic roast potatoes and a tray of roast veg (tomato, fennel, pepper, mushroom, onion). Washed down with the obligatory bottle of Champagne. No starter; no pudding; the main course was enough. Despite all, food remains one of the pleasures of life.
We were remembering our first Valentine’s Day together in 1979. It was bitterly cold and snowy; we were at my parents. We went the 2-3 miles to a restaurant, despite 2 inches of ice on the roads (somehow the buses were still running!). The restaurant were glad to see us as almost everyone else had cancelled due to the freezing weather. Starters, main course and wine plus a Calvados each cost £50 – which was a fortune; probably the equivalent of paying near £500 now. Looking at the menu, which N has kept, a gastro pub starter now costs the same as a main course then. It felt like something we really couldn’t afford at the time, but looking back it was, in many ways, a great investment.”

Monday 16
remains

Tuesday 17
Hang on! This isn’t right. We had another essentially dry day and some sunshine. It’s definitely helping lift my depression.

Thursday 19
What an interesting day. The osteopath mauling my hand and back was the least of it! A trip to the doctors this afternoon produced two “amusements”, Firstly one of the receptionists asks me if the patient group could fund-raise as the nurses want an ECG machine – errrrr, maybe, but do the powers know about this? Then to see the nurse for my RSV jab, when she discovers the supply is out of date – rescued by one of the other nurses finding some OK stock well hidden in the back of the fridge. After witch tidying up the books in the book exchange was a piece of cake!

Friday 20
Felt distinctly mucky all day – and through into Saturday morning – which I put down to yesterday’s RSV jab.

Saturday 21
Well that’s a nice first for many years … this morning two (and sadly only two) greenfinches sitting in the top of the silver birch. They’ve been devastated in recent years by “trichomoniasis, a parasite-induced disease that prevents the birds from feeding properly”. In consequence I’ve not see them around for many years, so wonderful to have them back, however briefly. Add to that, a couple of days ago we had two redwings; they’re winter visitors and it isn’t unusual to occasionally see the odd one or two, probably in transit. Also this week we now have four squirrels!

Sunday 22
For the last several weeks we’ve been getting some really cheerful daffodils and narcissi from the supermarket – and they’re British grown!king alfredThey’re ridiculously cheap; in fact I’d say too cheap. But they do give a cheering lift to the dining table. And given the recent weather, I’ll take that.narcissus

Tuesday 24
Just after 18:00 I opened the study window. It was pitch dark, but there was still a robin singing its heart out somewhere close by.

Thursday 26
Walking out of the hospital to get my cab early this afternoon after my audiology appointment … the hospital entrance is blocked by at least three police cars, three fire trucks and an ambulance, all with flashing blue lights. Chaos; no-one can get in, but you can get out. Fortunately they all backed off after about 20 minutes so my cab was able to finally get to pick me up. And horrible traffic on the way home meant I finally got lunch at 15:15!

Saturday 28
They clearly know something we don’t! I don’t know what was happening, but somewhere around mid-afternoon I looked out the study window and the tree at the back of us, a couple of houses along, was full of magpies. And I mean full. One or two went away and a couple of others joined the throng. At one point I think I counted 20 birds sitting in the tree, without any that were flying around. Here’s the proof …a bare tree full of magpies

Count them: 19 magpies
[Click the image for a larger view]

environment, natural history, ramblings

Parakeets

These birds are ridiculous! This morning, about 09:15, we had a garden full of ring-neck parakeets (Psittacula krameri from Northern India): 26 of them sitting about the trees and on the almost empty feeders; in the rain. And that’s the ones I could see! And it wasn’t just parakeets, the full count was at least:

  • 26 Ring-neck Parakeets
  • 2 Magpies
  • 2 Woodpigeons
  • at least 1 Squirrel
  • and an uncountable number of various species of tit (blue tit, great tit and maybe some coal tit).

Here’s a quick photo of some of them (taken through a dirty window) to prove the point – I can count 22 in this photo! [Click the image for a larger view.]

lots of green parakeets sitting in a tree

I know many people don’t like these parakeets: they’re an alien invader, prolific, noisy, and supposedly keep the smaller birds off food supplies. However we love having them around. No, they’re not native. Yes, they’re noisy. But they are comically acrobatic. And judging by our garden observations they certainly don’t deter the smaller birds – if anything is guilty of that it’s the squirrels.

There’s lots more on these parakeets on the Natural History Museum website. Let’s celebrate them as a colourful and fun addition to our environment.

history, natural history, science, topographical

Monthly Links for November

Christmas is creeping ever closer, but before then we must have this month’s collection of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

The first test image from the new Vera C Rubin telescope has found a tail on galaxy M61 (above). [££££]

Meanwhile a rather strange planetary system has been spotted with three planets circling a pair of stars.

The planet which crashed into Earth, thus creating the Moon, came from the Inner Solar System. [££££]

Recently a very tiny asteroid buzzed past very close to Earth.

Here’s a tribute to Betty Webster, the much ignored woman who discovered the first black hole.

Coming back to Earth … How did a medieval Oxford friar use light and colour to find the composition of stars and planets?

A recent scientific study has found that there are four key ages in your brain’s development – and they’re not quite when you think they are!

A curiosity … It seems we have an internal lunar clock (as well as the solar one) and it’s getting disrupted by light pollution.

Scientists now calculate that the first kiss dates back some 21 million years – so it wasn’t between humans! (Sculpture below is by Brancusi)

The diversity of our dog breeds can apparently be traced back to the Stone Age.

They seem to have memory, but what do trees remember? [LONG READ]

Environment & Ecology

In the UK, on the Isle of Wight, the “White-knuckled Wolf Spider” has been rediscovered.

Would you believe that London is home to a hairy snail (above), which is now subject to conservation efforts?

Meanwhile, an exceptionally rare pink grasshopper (below) has been found in New Zealand.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have discovered a massive ancient Egyptian fortress in the middle of the desert.

In the UK, the find of several Bronze and Iron Age log boats is revealing details of Fenland prehistory.
From

There’s a project which is mapping ancient Roman roads, and they’ve recently added 60,000 miles from right across the Roman Empire. [££££]

Here’s Going Medieval on the Dark Ages.

Well who would have thought it? Finds – including 25 shoes (one, below) – from ancient vulture nests are shedding light on 600 years of human history! [££££]

London

As so often our London section is mostly historical …

There’s a new book, The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown. It’s getting lots of great reviews.

Meanwhile Londonist has an article by Matt Brown on the history of the London Plane Tree. [LONG READ]

Ongoing work under the Houses of Parliament has turned up evidence of prehistoric tools and a lost medieval hall.

In another Londonist post Matt Brown (again) continues his work revealing the detail in John Rocque’s 1746 map of London by colouring it in. He’s now got to Wapping, Rotherhithe and Shadwell (snippet below). [LONG READ]

Still with Matt Brown, and following on from the previous item, he appears to have found the lost island of Shadwell.

And coming right up to date, the 20-year old gates of City Road Lock on the Regent’s Canal are being replaced, allowing a quick peek at the workings of a lock.

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

And finally, for your delectation, here’s a history of slang for virginity – and some links to similar articles from the same author.

environment, history, links, medical, natural history, nudism, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

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Herewith my usual collection of links to items you may have missed, but really didn’t want to. As usual we’ll start with the hard science stuff and gradually get easier.

Science, Technology, Natural World

What can be done about the growing problem of academic fraud?

While we are often sceptical, this can be very selective.

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation (left over from the Big Bang) shows an unexpected streak; it’s still there in the latest observations, and scientists don’t understand why, and . [££££]

Galactic centres sometimes blow up, but what we see depends on our point of view. [££££]

Back to Earth (well the watery bit anyway) … There’s a lungfish which has 30 times more DNA that humans – which is a new record for an animal.

What does the world look like to a spider?

Health, Medicine

A lot of men have varicose veins in their scrotum, and it often affects fertility.

We’re still discovering things about the human body … Researchers have now worked out why most of us have innie navels (but not why some have outies). [££££]

Women’s use of cannabis goes back thousands of years.

Recent research is showing how the physical side-effects of antidepressants varies with the type of drug, potentially allowing clinicians to better tailor treatment to the individual.

The medical profession has been dealing with quacks since at least the time of Hippocrates.

Environment & Ecology

Wild honeybees are endangered across much of Europe …

… and it seems that the English garden is endangered with a study finding almost 50% of garden area now paved over.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

An exhibition in Cambridge is showing what archaeologists have found about Ancient Egypt’s workers from things like broken pottery.

You can learn a lot from a merkin.

London

The Boroughs of London is a new map-based book about London’s 32 boroughs which are now 60 years old.

Meanwhile Matt Brown (who wrote the words for The Boroughs of London) has continued his series of colouring thee 1746 map of London, this time with Westminster and Lambeth. [LONG READ]

Food, Drink

Beer is a proof for the existence of God.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Some thoughts on the difference between the freedom of skin and the performative society.

So just why do people wear clothes? Well, it’s complicated!

And finally, I’ll leave you with the results of research where 100 couples slept naked for a month. You might be surprised.

environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Links for August

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Here’s our August collection of links to interesting items you may (or may not) have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Good scientists update their theories and change their minds. What happens when the do? [££££]

Or to look at it another way, there is much weirdness, and the best we can do is to try to understand the underlying rules.

Because, for example, the Universe is static. No, it’s expanding. Or slowing? Or accelerating. Depending on who and when you are. [££££]

Meanwhile they’ve discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus – assuming you can call a piece of rock 10km in diameter a moon. [££££]

And it seems that Betelgeuse may have a small stellar companion.

After which we shouldn’t be surprised that Earth gets bombarded by meteorites from outside our solar system [££££], or that some manage to crash land here.

Continuing to look up, we’re still trying to understand what triggers lightning; and it seems to be all down to exploding stars!

From above our heads to under our feet … Earth’s core is leaking out.

Now lets turn to the animal kingdom … a small ancient whale with razor-sharp teeth an huge eyes has been unearthed in Australia.

Antarctic Leopard Seals sing to attract a mate, and their songs are very similar to nursery rhymes!

There’s a new theory that our primate ancestors evolved in colder regions and not in the tropics.

Research has confirmed that cats develop dementia in a very similar way to humans developing Alzheimer’s.

All hail the Rat King – maybe.

A new study has found that “sex reversal” is surprisingly common in birds.

They keep telling me that wasp numbers in UK have been unusually high this summer after a warm and dry Spring. All I can say is “Not here”; wasps are almost absent.

Now finally in this section, a complete change of subject … a sports scientist has looked at how strip colour impacts performance particularly in Premier League football.

Health, Medicine

Do we visualize dreams in colour or black and white?

While different diseases spread via different methods, there’s a scale of contagion.

Is it actually possible to break your penis? Spoiler: yes, and it needs emergency action.

On which note … why some penises are curved?

Environment & Ecology

Scientists have used existing air pollution monitors to assess environmental DNA (eDNA) to discover what lives nearby.

Natural England is reporting the recovery of 150 struggling species of plants and animals.

Southern Small White butterfly has been seen in the UK for first time.

A study is suggesting that reintroduced lynx could thrive in Northumberland.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

We know that the Mercator projection used for most maps of the world distorts the relative sizes of continents, and now the African Union has joined calls for and end to the projection’s use.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

There’s a Christian principle of “hate the sin but not the sinner” which we seem to have totally lost – artist Eric Gill is, again, a current target – as it’s now a case of “hate the sin, and the sinner, and their works; and airbrush the whole from existence”.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

A previously unknown species of Australopithecus (our ancestors) has been identified from some teeth. [££££]

Still with teeth, an ancient cow’s tooth may help unlock some of the mysteries of Stonehenge.

Slowly coming up to date … a 2,500-year-old Siberian “ice mummy” had intricate tattoos

A new analysis reveals that the Vikings were addicted to silver and just how far they would travel to obtain it.

Archaeologists have happened upon the tomb of an ancient Mayan city’s first ruler.

Meanwhile all classes of ancient Incan used coded strings of hair for record keeping.

DNA analysis of some early medieval English skeletons has revealed some surprising West African ancestry. [££££]

On the return of the equestrian statue of Charles I to Charing Cross.

Still with the Restoration, their women were much more creative than has been perceived.

HMS Northumberland – built 1679 as part of Samuel Pepys’s modernisation of the Navy – sank in the Great Storm of 1703, but is only now revealing its secrets.

London

And finally for this month … Three articles on transport for London …
*  London’s First Bus
*  The colourful history of London’s Traffic Lights
*  An old Underground train breaks a world record.

natural history, photography

Trail Camera

I recently bought a new trail camera. A relatively expensive one (for a trail camera) as I wanted to get better images.

OS WILD 4K DS Solar Wi-Fi Trail Camera
Dual sensor trail camera with stunning night imagery and video;
a built-in solar panel; and high capacity lithium battery

Having set it up, last week was the first full week I had it running. Over the weekend I downloaded almost 2500 captures. And the quality is stunning compared with my old trail camera. Here are the best captures from the week; all have been fairly heavily cropped. For scale, the birdbath in the images is at most 2 meters from the camera and about 40cm in diameter.

[Click the thumbnail for a larger view.]
These images are many times better than the old trail camera produced.

natural history, science

Nature’s Legs

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A few days ago I spotted a mosquito on the bathroom wall. Now we’ve all seen mosquitos before but on this occasion I was fascinated by it’s size and anatomy – especially its incredible legs; thin as the finest silk thread.

Culex mosquito
Culex mosquito

How does Nature make such structures – and make them functional? Scientist though I am, it baffles my brain and I can quite see why some people believe in “intelligent design”.

Surely those legs cannot be anything more than stiff supports. Insects have an exoskeleton in contrast to our endoskeleton. The legs need nerves, muscles and circulation to make then more than fixed supports. Legs can move, allowing their owner to walk, clean itself, and even jump. The muscles have to attach to the inside of the exoskeleton, and there have to be nerves – and a method of supplying energy – to trigger them into action.

Insect circulation doesn’t work the way ours does as they do not have hearts: basically they use haemolymph which can diffuse around their small bodies, or be pumped by, for instance, muscular membranes. Some insects use this as a system of hydraulics, in combination with the muscles, to move legs etc. – apparently muscles to move a joint one way, and hydraulics for the reverse. All of which must be under some form of nerve control – and they don’t have that many nerves running from their tiny brains.

Even more weirdly, some insects (eg. jumping spiders, plant hoppers) have a system of gears which work their legs. Crazy or what?

two rice brown plant hoppers
Rice brown planthopper

Just how can these structures be created? You would think they’re so tiny they cannot be even one cell thick – but they have to be many, many cells thick. Which just goes to show how tiny our cells are.

I know evolution has had billions of years to achieve its designs, but I still struggle with how any living thing works or has evolved. Yes, I know the theories, and I can understand it as abstract pieces of mechanics and chemistry. However I really struggle coming to terms with how it all evolved, how it all works – together – and the sheer complexity of living organisms. When you think about it, it really shouldn’t be possible.

current affairs, environment, history, links, medical, natural history, nudism, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

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Welcome to the first “Monthly Links” of 2025, where we give you links to things you may have missed the first time around. And do we have a bumper crop this month!

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with a celebration … This month the Universe is 100! [LONG READ]

We do live in a special part of the Universe, don’t we? [££££]

It took Galileo’s new-fangled telescope to find these four objects which you can now see easily with binoculars.

And scientists continue to push the boundaries of the telescope … Hubble Space Telescope wasn’t supposed to ever look at the sun, but they did it anyway. [££££]

Twenty years ago there was a cosmic explosion which rocked Earth. [££££]

Slightly less dramatically, Pluto and Charon may have formed as the as the result of a kiss.

Meanwhile astronomers are hoping for a brief, but spectacular, star which appears only every 80 years. [LONG READ]

Also celebrating its centenary is the Pauli Exclusion Principle which underpins our understanding of subatomic particles.

Let’s get our feet back firmly where we can understand what’s going on … or not so firmly, as here’s a look at the strange fish which has historically struck fear into the hearts of mariners.

Still on oddities, a pair of birders in Michigan have been visited by an extremely rare yellow cardinal bird.

Why in 1926 in the USA was there a plague of mice? [LONG READ]

Going down another level in size, some caterpillars make deadly venoms which can even kill a human.

Even further down is size to our DNA, why are we all riddled with genetic errors? [LONG READ]

Health, Medicine

The series looking at modelling a pandemic has reached Part 4: Asymptomatic Transmission. [LONG READ]

OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter takes a look at fibroids, one of the scourges if the female reproductive system. [LONG READ]

At the other end of the body, it seems the pupil of the eye can open a surprising window on the mind.

And here’s a real oddity … an 84 year old man in Hong Kong has turned grey due to silver poisoning.

Sexuality

Kate Lister says she spent a year telling men where they were going wrong in bed. [££££]

A sex expert suggests eight questions everyone should ask for better sex. [££££]

Environment

The expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport, indeed all airport expansion and air travel in general, will negate the UK’s attempts to reach net zero.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Breaking with my normal position on politics … In what may be my only comment on the state of the USA, Ian Dunt at The I Paper looks at that Elon Musk Nazi salute and what it means for the future of the US. [££££] [These people have to be stopped, but how?]

How can we fix democracy? Ancient Greek philosopher Plato could suggest the answer.

Zoom calls and how to survive them in 2025.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

A quarry in Oxfordshire has yielded the UK’s (and maybe Europe’s) biggest set of dinosaur tracks. (Aerial view above.)

Archaeologists have discovered that they can extract ancient DNA from dirt, so areas like cave floors are revealing yet more information about, for instance, Stone Age humans. [££££]

Meanwhile investigations are ongoing into how built Europe’s first cities.

In Egypt archaeologists have found the 4,000-year-old tomb of an overachieving magician.

An Iron Age site in Dorset is demonstrating that women were at the centre of some tribal communities, and exploding the earlier misogynistic narratives.

Excavations at Pompeii continue to reveal astonishing details of life there, including unexpected luxury.

Here’s a look at what five gold rings from Norfolk can tell us about the past.

Porch House in Stow-on-the-Wold claims to be Britain’s oldest pub dating from around 947. But is it really?

Leonardo Da Vinci always maintained that there were secret tunnels in Italy’s Sforza Castle. It now turns out he was right.

Excessively pointed shoes were the height of fashion in medieval London

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Meet a sea captain who’s obsessed with icebreaking.

We’re losing the ability to write in cursive, and therefore also read it – and it’s all the fault of computers.

And finally … What do you need to start meditating? Nothing except your own mind.