In Cairo, Egypt a group of refugee women meet regularly, pooling their money together and making financial decisions for the good of others. Out of the 29 women Fatima is by far the oldest at the age of 110. Despite being a centenarian, Fatima looks at least forty years younger, with a passion for life to match. She has been affectionately given the nickname “Umena,” by her group, which means “mother.” It’s a fitting title- not just because of her age. Fatima is a mother of seven. She was also the first person to open a school for girls in her hometown of Maqal in Sudan. Fatima belongs to one ..read more

Linda Ellerton never thought she’d see her cat Whiskas again. However, the pair have been reunited in an emotional reunion, more than 10 years after the beloved feline went missing. Whiskas, who is 16 years old, was found in Chilton Moor, near Durham in the UK, which is close to where she lived before disappearing. A local resident found her taking residence in his shed and took her to a vet in December, where she was found to have an old RSPCA microchip. Whiskas was adopted by Linda in 2007 after being found as a stray kitten by the RSPCA in Scotland. After living with Linda for 6 years, Whis ..read more

In great news for the climate, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest halved in 2023. This is the lowest rate of deforestation in 5 years for the world’s largest rainforest. Data from national space agency Inpe, part of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, showed 5,153 sq km (1,989.6 sq miles) of the Amazon were cleared in 2023, which is down from 10,278 sq km in 2022. The Brazilian government has committed to a stronger stance on environmental matters, promising to phase out deforestation by 2030. In January 2023 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took over as President of the country, with ..read more

The Chaná language, a native language of Argentina and Uruguay, was thought to be extinct for over 200 years. However, it has now been discovered that one man has been keeping it alive. Unbeknown to the world Blas Jaime, an 89 year old Argentinian man, had kept the language from dying out. Thanks to the efforts of linguist Jose Pedro Viegas Barros, Jaime was discovered, and the pair have now authored a book together, dedicated to restoring the language. I am here, I exist Blas learnt the Chaná language from his mother, whose family has passed the language down through the generations. Growing ..read more

In the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik local bus driver and self-confessed “bike nerd” Bjartmar Leósson has become a local hero by helping to return hundreds of stolen bikes. On top of this noble act, he has helped the bike thieves to reform in the process. In 2019, Leósson noticed a stark rise in bike thefts in Reykjavik. Rather than accept that the bike was gone forever, he decided to take matters into his own hands and started to track down the bikes and return them to their rightful owners. The 44-year-old has helped return hundreds of bikes over the past 4 years and developed a reputation ..read more

December 25 It’s Christmas Day! Image of a Victorian Christmas card One of the most celebrated days of the year has finally arrived: December 25. Although Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, the name Christmas (Christ mass) wasn’t recorded until 1038, accord to English Heritage’s Christmas history. During this period, the celebration wasn’t limited to one day, but took place over 12 days; hence the twelve days of Christmas. This celebration peaked on 6th January, when presents were exchanged. It wasn’t until the Victorian era that Christmas became recognisable as the version we c ..read more

It was feared extinct, but in positive news, a species of golden mole not seen in over 80 years has been rediscovered. Researchers have been extensively looking for the De Winton’s golden mole, which was last spotted in 1937, and finally found the adorable little creature in the sand dunes of South Africa. Whilst most moles make their home deep in soil, the golden mole lives exclusively in sand, which it swims through, creating inaccessible burrows in which it resides. The researchers’ search for the golden mole started with them taking more than 100 samples of sand and analysing them for envi ..read more

With the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) scientists have discovered a new antibiotic. The antibiotic is part of a new drug class and will be used to treat the drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which is more commonly known as MRSA. MRSA is a superbug, and is notoriously difficult to treat. Finding a treatment that works is vital- currently over 35,000 people a year die from the infection. Whilst many people harmlessly carry the bacteria on their skin, it becomes dangerous when patients in a hospital contract it through open wounds. Deep learning AI Models Using a deep-learning algorith ..read more

Mining asteroids for important minerals is looking likely to become a reality, and as an added bonus clean up Earth’s mining industry. Whilst the idea of mining asteroids has been thrown around since the 1970s, it hasn’t picked up steam until recent years. However space enterprises including AstroForge, Trans Astronautica Corporation, and Karman+ are now gearing up to test their cutting-edge technology in space, laying the groundwork for future asteroid mining missions. Space agencies in Japan and the US have already launched spacecraft to investigate and bring back samples from asteroids. NAS ..read more

Whilst it’s not unusual for firefighters to rescue a cat from a tree, rescuing an owl is one of the more unusual animal rescues. However, this didn’t stop Russian firefighters in the city of Smolensk coming to the aid of an injured owl that they found outside of their firestation. The firefighters spotted the Ural owl lying motionless being pecked by the crows and immediately jumped into action, chasing away the murder of crows. The owl was then taken into the firestation, where it was kept warm and fed until it was well enough to be taken to the vet. Press officer Natalia Arbuzova described h ..read more