Every morning, children in Harford, Cheshire, a quaint village 2 miles southwest of the town of Northwich, would go on a treasure hunt. They look for the mysterious gifts hidden in a zip-lock bag that can appear almost anywhere: in gardens, on doorsteps, tucked into hedgerows like gifts from some benevolent fairy tale. One may…
It’s so hot in Japan that the country invented a word for it, really. Deadly heat waves have transformed a major part of the world into a plot of a sci-fi movie where people are cooping up at homes and fighting for air conditioners at marts. Large parts of East Asia have been gripped in…
Patrick McGee remembers talking to the woman sitting beside him as his Southwest Airlines flight approached Phoenix. His next clear memory was waking up in an ambulance.Somewhere between Omaha, Nebraska, and Phoenix, the 77-year-old grandfather suffered a major cardiac emergency. His heart stopped, and fellow passengers had to perform CPR in the narrow aisle of…
For millions of people in Indonesia, the Citarum River is both a lifeline and an environmental disaster. Stretching for nearly 300 kilometres across West Java, the river supplies water to around 30 million people, irrigates vast agricultural land and supports major industries. Yet in many places, the water is barely visible beneath sprawling blankets of…
The introduction of agriculture, around 11,500 years ago in the Middle East was a milestone for humankind. For decades, the image of the prehistoric hunter-gatherer has been remarkably consistent: hunters skilled in living off mainly meat, with plants as occasional supplements. It’s an image deeply embedded in popular culture, in documentaries and even in modern…
Twitch streamer Austin McBroom has sparked a debate about consent after a woman appeared to grab him during a livestream. McBroom, who was wearing a Spider-Man costume at the time, looked shocked by what happened and repeatedly said, “I just got violated.” He also questioned why people nearby were laughing. The clip quickly spread online,…
File pic of Air Force One at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea The US military dismissed a widely suspected white phosphorus leak at Osan Air Base in South Korea, days after local authorities warned residents to evacuate over concerns about a possible leak.On July 28, the Pyeongtaek city government, which oversees the area…
Jason Arday/Image: St Mary’s University Jason Arday, a sociology professor who became one of the University of Cambridge’s most high-profile academics, has resigned after facing allegations of plagiarism, and the university has announced fresh investigations into his academic qualifications, career history, and ongoing complaints of academic misconduct.Arday announced his immediate resignation on Wednesday, saying the…
Industrial plants release vast amounts of carbon dioxide every day, yet much of the conversation around cutting those emissions has focused on capturing the gas and storing it underground. Turning it into something useful has always been a more attractive idea, but one that has struggled outside laboratory conditions. Factory exhaust is not made up…
On a quiet stretch of farmland in northern Spain, a tiny village with only a handful of permanent residents is preparing for a moment that will last less than two minutes. Avellanosa de Muñó, in the province of Burgos, rarely attracts attention beyond its surrounding countryside. But on 12 August 2026, its position beneath the…