Jellybean the magpie – Courtesy of Sandie Gillard When Sandie Gillard fell from a two-story window, the impact knocked the senior citizen unconscious, a state that may have become permanent if not for the intervention of a very small, very unlikely hero. Lightly tapping on her head, a bird named Jellybean roused its former caregiver…

A Ficus wakefieldii, – credit Mike Rowley CC license Some species of fig trees store calcium carbonate in their trunks—essentially turning themselves (partially) into stone. This ‘auto-petrification’ may offer a strange new way to reduce human carbon emissions, as the mineral created by the trees has a much longer lifespan than organic carbon absorbed and…

Britain’s biggest housebuilders have agreed to pay £100m towards affordable homes to avoid a regulator’s decision on whether they broke competition law. The seven firms have also agreed not to share commercially sensitive information such as how much houses have sold for “except in limited circumstances”. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year began…

The hedgehogs and the tube that rescued them – credit SWNS Using a vacuum and some plastic tubing, rescuers Macgyvered a device to rescue two baby hedgehogs who had tumbled down a storm drain. While the vacuum didn’t work, the tube did, and can perhaps became a standard-issue rescue device for these little critters who…

MPs, however, voted against a proposal from the Liberal Democrats to make at least 10 Premier League games available on free-to-air television each season. The new clause would have also required the League Cup final, and the Championship, League One and League Two play-off finals to be free-to-air. In the UK, the list of ‘crown…

(left) an undated photo of Scott Ruskan (right) flooding in central Texas – credit, US Coast Guard A little-known Coast Guard officer has been hailed as a hero after rescuing 165 people from the Texas hill country floods. Petty Officer and rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan, a native of New Jersey, was on the scene when…

Newcastle United have agreed a £55m fee with Nottingham Forest for winger Anthony Elanga. Newcastle are seeking to strengthen their attacking options as they prepare for their return to the Champions League following a fifth-placed Premier League finish last season. The Sweden forward, 23, scored six goals and produced 11 assists for Nuno Espirito Santo’s…

credit – Randy Robbins Photography, via YouTube A California photographer recently captured three minutes of high quality camera trap footage of the state’s rarest mammal. Randy Robbins, whom this reporter chose to feature in GNN’s roundup of the 2024 Wildlife Photography Awards, has been on a three-year-long quest to photograph the Sierra Nevada red fox.…

Steven McIntosh Entertainment reporter Getty Images Author Raynor Winn has been accused of fabricating or giving misleading information about some elements of her best-selling book The Salt Path. The 2018 book, and recent film adaptation, told the story of a couple who decide to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path after their home is…