UK News
View All 9Teenager arrested over 'explosion' in Ipswich flats
An 18-year-old has been arrested after reports of an explosion in Ipswich.Suffolk Constabulary responded to reports of a suspected blast at Princes Street just before 8.45pm on Friday.Resident on the street were evacuated from the area as precaution, the police said.The teenager, who remains in custody, was arrested on suspicion of arson/criminal damage with intent to endanger life, the force said. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say He was taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning - where he remains, according to the most recent Suffolk police statement.The investigation is in its early stages, but it is believed an aerosol can exploded after being placed on a heat source, the force said.The building and road were later reopened and residents were allowed to return.There have been no reported injuries, the force added.Suffolk Fire and Rescue and the East of England Ambulance were also in at attendance at the scene.A full probe to establish the circumstances around the incident is underway.Anyone with information is urged to contact Suffolk Police, on 101 quoting 37/45092/26. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
Scorching summer sparks harvest fears as Sussex fruit growers warn crops are 'cooking' on the trees
Weeks of high temperatures and little rain are taking their toll on Sussex's fruit growers, with fears this year's harvest could produce smaller fruit.The effects are already being seen in orchards across the county. Growers say prolonged heat is putting crops under increasing pressure.Richard Stogdon, Local Grower, Laurel Tree Farms, said he cannot remember conditions like this."I don't think there's been another period like this in history," he said, adding that growers are becoming increasingly concerned by the extreme temperatures. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Mr Stogdon recalled a severe heatwave three years ago, when fruit could not be cooled quickly enough after picking. He said the following season produced "a very, very light crop" and fears this year could follow a similar pattern if the hot weather continues.The challenges do not end once the fruit leaves the field.At TG Fruits, keeping produce cool during storage and transport has become increasingly difficult.Tom Griffiths, Director/Owner, TG Fruits, said the heat has affected every stage of the business."It's been very difficult this year," he said. "If you think about the product growing in the field, everything suffers."Mr Griffiths said working conditions have also become much tougher for staff. He added that trade has been affected after some schools closed during the hot weather, leaving the business with excess stock.The impact is not limited to Sussex. Across Europe, fruit growers are facing similar challenges as temperatures continue to climb.Simon Lane, Managing Director, Fruco plc, said extreme weather has become one of the industry's biggest concerns.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSPetrol prices soar to highest level since 2022 as millions of drivers face fuel station miseryMajor UK city to roll out AI road cameras that can see inside cars and detect driversSuffolk wildfire 'stabilising' after hours of battling blaze near nuclear plant"We've seen this for a few years now," he said. "The intense temperatures during the most important part of the year for growing fruit are just far too hot."Mr Lane said growers in Spain and France have experienced temperatures in the mid-40s, making it increasingly difficult to protect crops.He described a conversation with a grower in France who watched fruit "cooking almost on the trees", calling the experience "soul destroying".From local orchards to supermarket shelves, growers say the effects of this summer's heat are being felt throughout the supply chain, with hotter summers posing an increasing challenge for the future of fruit production. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
How Baby Reindeer sparked a trend for one-person confessional Fringe plays
Baby Reindeer and Fleabag both started life at the Fringe
Scottish Labour leadership contender takes swipe at Anas Sarwar joining House of Lords
Monica Lennon, Michael Marra and Joe Fagan have all written for Scotland on Sunday to set out their pitch for leader.
World News
View All 10At least three killed in Moscow restaurant bombing, Russian officials say
At least three people have been killed and 21 injured after a homemade explosive device was detonated at an Italian restaurant in Moscow, Russian officials said. Local authorities have not said anything about who they believe was the target of the attack.
Live : Trump says US to stop new strikes on Iran, calls for 'rapid deal' on Hormuz
Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States and Israel had agreed to hold off on new strikes on Iran -- provided a deal to end the months-long conflict is "rapidly" reached. Iran did not offer any immediate public reaction to Trump's announcement. Follow our live.
Rare clue at Minneapolis crime scene points to a barefoot killer
It was a grisly scene when police arrived at a Minneapolis apartment complex on June 13, 1993, to investigate the murder of 35-year-old Jeanie Childs. Her body was found partially under her bed, her bedroom was in disarray, and there was blood spatter across the walls and floor. Childs had been stabbed more than 60 times. As investigators tried to piece together what unfolded, they found a rare clue in the bedroom: bloody, bare footprints. "That drew my attention right away … I mean, wow," Bart Epstein, a retired forensic scientist, told "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty in "The Footprint," now streaming on Paramount+. "You don't see this at crime scenes in general, bare feet that have stepped in blood," said Epstein. Jeanie Childs WCCO Investigators knew the footprints had to belong to Childs' killer because she was wearing socks at the time of her death. Those footprints had to have been left there after the perpetrator stepped in her wet blood after the murder. Investigators documented and photographed the footprints. "So the footprints, beyond being something that would tend to show guilt, also was important to show to clear people who might have been under any suspicion," said retired FBI agent Chris Boeckers, who would later join the investigation. According to the case file, investigators compared the footprints left at the crime scene to multiple people, including a man named Arthur Gray, whom Childs lived with at the time of her murder. According to police reports, authorities found hairs stuck to Childs' left hand and one of those hairs matched Gray. But Boeckers says the case against Gray started to fall apart pretty quickly. "He had a really solid alibi that he was out of town that weekend that was corroborated by others." Gray, who enjoyed riding motorcycles, told authorities he was in Milwaukee. Forensic scientists also examined Gray's footprints and determined he did not leave those footprints at the crime scene. Would the bloody bare footprints finally lead to Jeanie Childs' killer? Hennepin County District Court Days turned into years and then decades without finding the individual who left those footprints. In 2015, forensic scientist Andrea Feia, who was asked to do DNA testing on items collected at the crime scene, determined there was an unknown DNA profile that kept repeating itself. It was found on the comforter, a towel, a washcloth, a T-shirt and on the bathroom sink. Investigators then turned to investigative genetic genealogy for answers.
Bloody, bare footprints lead to decadeslong search for woman's killer
This story originally aired on May 17, 2025. Minnesota crime scene investigators captured footage when they got their first look inside a high-rise apartment in Minneapolis. According to police reports, at around p. m. on June 13, 1993, a tenant reported water seeping into their apartment. A building caretaker and a security guard were called to check it out, and discovered the water was coming from apartment 2104. Bart Epstein | Retired forensic scientist: They went into the apartment and they found that the shower was still running and causing all this flooding next door. Jeanie Childs was stabbed more than 60 times in her Minneapolis, Minnesota, high-rise apartment. WCCO After the shower was turned off, they came upon a gruesome scene in the bedroom. The body of 35-year-old Jeanie Childs was discovered partially under the bed. That's when police were called to investigate. Bart Epstein: This was a violent, bloody crime scene … this is … one of the bloodiest that I'd been to. Bloody evidence leads to a pivotal clue Retired forensic scientist Bart Epstein says carefully documenting that scene was crucial. Erin Moriarty: Blood stains and blood spatter tell a story. Bart Epstein: Yes … they sure can … in this case we could establish that Jeanie Childs was hit … in front of the bathroom door. Epstein says Jeanie then moved into the bathroom. She was stabbed and slashed dozens of times. Bart Epstein: She was down on the floor smearing blood along that area. While the shower had been turned off earlier, investigators noticed water was still running from the sink faucet. Along with the bloody footprints, Minneapolis investigators collected unknown DNA from the bedroom and bathroom but found no match. Hennepin County District Court Bart Epstein: There was a lot of activity going on there. … Why was the sink faucet still dripping? Was he trying to clean up? Jeanie apparently made it back to her bedroom where her body was found. Julie Rendelman: The blood wasn't … confined to just the area where she was. … the blood was on the walls, the blood was on the comforter, the blood was on the floor. Julie Rendelman is a defense attorney and a legal consultant for "48 Hours." Julie Rendelman: It leads one to believe … that a struggle happened, that she was fighting to save her own life. The living room appeared untouched. A sitcom was still playing on the TV. There was no evidence of forced entry. If Jeanie knew her killer, what could have prompted so much violence?
Politics
View All 10Don’t pretend jokes can’t lead to political violence
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Houthis push back on report of planned Red Sea shipping fees
Yemen’s Houthi-run maritime authority pushed back on Saturday against reports that the group is considering charging toll fees to commercial vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, saying ships can continue to pass through the waterway without paying. The Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center said in a statement that its safe-passage service is voluntary and does…
Sunday shows preview: Hamas deal, Iran tensions test Trump administration
President Trump’s announcement of a “historic” deal reached with negotiators this week that includes disarming Hamas still faces hurdles, as skeptics wonder if it can move from paper to reality. The agreement is part of Trump’s 20-point plan to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and bring an end to the war between Israel…
Labour holds Greater Manchester mayoralty after counting goes to second round
Bev Craig will succeed Andy Burnham, whose departure for Westminster triggered the special election.
Business
View All 10Italy’s Giorgia Meloni bets big on nuclear power revival
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Foreign bidders woo UK companies with ‘bear hug’ takeover offers
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Katayama to Say Japan, US Are Coordinating to Curb Yen Weakness
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Trump Says US to Cancel Iran Attack Subject to a Rapid Deal
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Technology
View All 10Europeans Are About to Find Out How Entrenched AI Is in Their Daily Lives
New EU rules stipulate that people must be told when they’re interacting with AI or looking at AI-generated or -edited content, leading to fear of “disclosure fatigue.”
Running Kimi K3 on MI355X at Better Performance per Dollar Than B300
Over the past several months, we’ve seen an explosion in the capabilities of open source models. With DeepSeek V4-Pro and GLM5.2 reaching near-Opus levels of intelligence, open source has emerged as a real, cost-efficient alternative to the closed source models we’ve been married to. But we have yet to see one like Kimi K3. Promising Fable/Sol levels of intelligence, Kimi K3 marks the start of a new era for open source. But a smarter model means a bigger model — and these models are expanding in size just as fast as they are in capabilities. GLM5.2 has 753B parameters, DeepSeek V4-Pro 1.6T, and Kimi K3 weighs in at 2.8T (!!) parameters. That’s over 1.5TB of VRAM before allocating a KV cache for 1M tokens of context. Not even a B200 node (8 GPUs) can fit Kimi K3. That leaves you with limited options: serve on a node of B300s, which have 288GB of VRAM per GPU, or commit two B200 nodes (TP16) to serving Kimi. But guess which other non-NVIDIA GPU has 288GB of VRAM? Can you tell we like these chips yet? At around ~2.4× cheaper per GPU on average versus a B300 and ~1.7× cheaper than a B200, the MI355X is a cost-efficient alternative to Blackwells with comparable hardware specs. The only problem with AMD is software support — slower kernels and less day-0 support on inference frameworks make serving frontier models on AMD a real engineering effort. Our claim at Wafer is that agents are improving at kernel and model optimization, closing this gap as we speak. But with AMD shipping day-0 support for Kimi K3, most of the work was already done for us. The results are great: on a 1,024-token input / 400-token output benchmark, the MI355X reaches 952 tok/s/node and 118 tok/s single stream — over 3.8× the aggregate throughput per node and over 1.3× the single-stream decode of our TP16 B200 deployment (whose 498 tok/s is a 16-GPU, 2-node total — ~249/node). B300 nodes still win ~1.65× on aggregate throughput over the MI355X, but at 2.4× the price, the MI355X crushes the B300 on performance per dollar. 8× MI355X (TP8) 2×8 B200 (TP16) B300 (TP8+DCP8) Decode tok/s per stream 118 tok/s 90 tok/s 172 tok/s Peak aggregate 952 tok/s 498 tok/s 1,568 tok/s Peak aggregate per GPU 119 tok/s 31 tok/s 196 tok/s Peak aggregate per $/GPU-hr 48 tok/s/$ 7 tok/s/$ 33 tok/s/$ Perf/dollar at $2.50/GPU-hr for the MI355X, $6.00 for the B300, and $4.25 for the B200.
Go 1.27 Interactive Tour
Your privacy settings or an extension blocked the booking widget. Operating systems expose a wall clock that can leap or slew with NTP and a monotonic clock that never runs backward. In Go, only time. Now (might) carries both readings, while values from time. Parse, time. Date, etc., are wall-clock-only—so naïve equality checks or time. Since on those can mislead when the system clock shifts. Traditional concurrent Go tests can be flaky due to non-deterministic scheduler behavior and timing. Go 1.24’s experimental synctest feature provides deterministic testing ‘bubbles’ where a synthetic clock only advances when all internally managed goroutines are durably blocked. Go applications can implement graceful shutdown (SIGTERM, SIGINT) via os/signal or signal. NotifyContext. Shutdown must complete within a specified timeout (e. g., Kubernetes’ terminationGracePeriodSeconds)… Go’s gRPC implementation uses code generation to create type-safe client and server interfaces. Streaming RPCs allow sending multiple messages over a single connection, perfect for real-time updates and continuous data flows. Interceptors provide middleware-like functionality for authentication, logging, and error handling without modifying your core service logic.
Inside the London hacker house taking a stand against founder burnout
Six twentysomethings in East London have built what they say is the anti-San Francisco hacker house. The goal is a “holistic improvement in life,” rather than “12 weeks, Demo Day is coming,” Rowan Aldean, 26, explained. Intrigued, I spent an afternoon visiting the house, meeting its residents, and doing a vibe check. I arrived after Aldean escorted me through the clean sidewalks of a new East London development to where the six-story building stood facing the water. The house is called the London Island Founder House — or “Lift House” — and Aldean and his wife, Zahraa, 22, an upcoming pharmaceutical research PhD candidate, have lived there since May, just a few months after it officially launched in March. Aldean sold his previous company last year for millions, he said, and now runs an “applied AI” startup that helps companies learn how to deploy agents. Like all hacker houses, Lift House is part startup workspace, part co-living space. The house is named after both its lift — that is, its elevator — and its mission to uplift tech founders, Aldean said. It’s one of the very few co-living hacker houses to exist in London (compared to San Francisco, where dozens — if not hundreds — are scattered around the city at any given time). Lift House is a bet that U. The London ecosystem feels less showy and less startup bro-y than San Francisco, but its founders share similar ambitions: success, wealth, and market domination. London AI startups have raised $12 billion so far in 2026, out of $14.7 billion raised , according to Dealroom. Six companies have raised more than $500 million: Wayve, Superintelligence, ElevenLabs, Recursive, Ineffable Intelligence, and Isomorphic Labs, the latter three of which were founded . The excitement from AI has boosted the morale of the U. K. tech scene, inspiring a new generation of founders, like those in the Lift House, to take big swings. LIFT TourImage Credits: TechCrunch Journaling vs. demo day The timeline for living on Lift House is flexible — some people have stayed for a month; others intend to stay for at least six months. They buy their own groceries, Aldean said, although they often cook together and share ingredients. Cleaning is split among the group. Everyone declined to share information about the rent they pay. The residents of Lift House aim for a balanced approach toward ambition, each one of them tells me — an almost unheard-of idea . On Sundays, the group will journal together, a practice introduced , 28, who runs a brain coaching and training company, helping founders and business leaders understand more about their brain and how it can help optimize business performance.
Science
View All 10Move over He-Man, Mattel's Major Matt Mason space toys could still be blasting off for Hollywood
With Mattel ramping up their own film production efforts and toy-to-screen endeavors after enormous success with "The Barbie Movie" and hi-octane plans for Hot Wheels movies rolling into theaters, the toys-to-silver screen craze shows no sign of slowing down. We think there's a perfect choice hiding in the Mattel goldmine that might just become the next big thing. We're of course talking about Major Matt Mason, that Plastisol astronaut action figure and kids' playset product line from the 1960s, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Latest Videos FromSpace View more Watch full video here: Born in the 1960s, during the heat of America's space race with NASA's Apollo program aiming for the lunar landing , Mattel's design mastermind's found inspiration in visionary space concept artists' wild dreams of futuristic moon bases, lunar buggies, and space vehicles. Major Matt Mason was one of the first serious space toys to exist in the marketplace, first hitting the shelves of toy shops and department stores across the country in 1966. Capitalizing on the daily news stories of Gemini missions and Apollo moon-walking dreams, this spacefaring fellow and his astronaut pals let kids everywhere imagine colorful cosmic adventures. The expanded line of Major Matt Mason's vehicles and playsets shown in a 1967 catalog. ()Back in 2019, Variety reported that Tom Hanks was attached to star in a Major Matt Mason live-action film being set up at Paramount Pictures with Akiva Goldsman ("A Beautiful Mind," "The Da Vinci Code") hired to write the screenplay. Hanks is an enthusiastic advocate of NASA history after starring in Apollo 13 and co-executive producing the Emmy Award-winning HBO docuseries "From The Earth To The Moon" alongside "Band of Brothers" super producer Graham Yost. Despite the heavy hitters attached, momentum has since stalled on the sci-fi project and it's sadly been shelved for the immediate future. Matt Mason and his astronaut buddies score their own space station. ()Matt Mason's line-up of bendy 6-inch astronaut action figures was developed as a competitor to Hasbro's 12-inch G. Joe toys that ruled the marketplace in the mid-60s. Along with Matt's fellow rubberized space buddies — available in a variety of color-accented spacesuits — Mattel also offered a complete universe to create your own space outpost and ramped lunar headquarters, alongside accessory vehicles, moon gear, expansive playsets, and Matt's "allies from the stars": A purple-and-pink creature called Scorpio, and a green-skinned friendly Jovian alien called Callisto. Some of Major Matt Mason's retro-cool lunar accessories included a jet propulsion pak and space sled. ()With the Vietnam War raging in Southeast Asia and televised on the nightly news, Major Matt Mason blasted into Sears and JCPenney catalogs when soldier action figures were losing their appeal.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 221 — Starship Can Float?
They also discuss NASA's Roman Space Telescope, now just a month from launch, and an in-progress emergency effort to save the ailing Swift Space Observatory using a servicing spacecraft that is itself now experiencing technical trouble. Finally, they look into Boeing's continued Starliner delays and India's first successful private orbital launch via Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 rocket. Download or this show at: https://twit. tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Artemis II pilot says the lunar equator might be better Astronomers may have discovered the 1st moon outside of our solar system — or is it something weirder? A SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon next week, and scientists aren't sure what to expect An 'almost blood moon' is coming on Aug. 27 and it'll be the best lunar eclipse until NYE 2028 Perseid meteor shower 2026 — When, where and how to see it Model Falcon 9! TOP TELESCOPE PICK: ()Looking for a telescope to see planets and comets? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as the top pick in our best beginner's telescope guide. Finally, did you know you can launch your own SpaceX rocket? Model rocket maker Estes' stunning scale model of a Falcon 9 rocket that you can pick up now. The launchable model is a detailed recreation of the Falcon 9 and retails for $149.99. You can save 10% -COLLECTSPACE at checkout, courtesy of our partners collectSPACE. com. About This Week In Space This Week in Space covers the new space age. Every Friday we take a deep dive into a fascinating topic. What's happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX really send people to Mars? Join Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik from Space. com as they tackle those questions and more each week on Friday afternoons. You can subscribe today on your favorite podcatcher. Host of This Week In Space on TWiT Rod Pyle is an author, journalist, television producer and Editor-in-Chief of Ad Astra magazine. He has written 18 books on space history, exploration, and development, including Space 2.0, Innovation the NASA Way, Interplanetary Robots, Blueprint for a Battlestar, Amazing Stories of the Space Age, First On the Moon, and Destination Mars In a previous life, Rod produced numerous documentaries and short films for The History Channel, Discovery Communications, and Disney. He also worked in visual effects on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the Battlestar Galactica reboot, as well as various sci-fi TV pilots. His most recent TV credit was with the NatGeo documentary on Tom Wolfe's iconic book The Right Stuff.
Eating one avocado a day may lower heart disease risk
One avocado a day may quietly lower heart disease risk . Date: August 1, 2026 Source: Penn State Summary: A daily avocado may help lower heart disease risk in adults with obesity . After six months, participants who ate an avocado each day experienced a decline associated with an estimated 4% reduction in cardiovascular risk. Share: Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email FULL STORY Eating an avocado every day lowered harmful LDL particle levels in adults with obesity, corresponding to an estimated 4% reduction in heart disease risk. Credit: Shutterstock Eating one avocado each day may modestly reduce heart disease risk in adults with obesity, according to new research led . The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. The researchers found that daily avocado consumption was linked to a lower concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles in the blood. These particles carry cholesterol throughout the body. The researchers noted that this risk is often greater in people with abdominal obesity. LDL cholesterol cannot travel through the bloodstream on its own. A person with more LDL carrying particles may face a greater risk of heart disease, even when their total amount of LDL cholesterol is the same as someone with fewer particles. "Imagine two people with the same high levels of LDL cholesterol," Damani said. "Person A carries their cholesterol in fewer, larger LDL particles, and Person B carries their cholesterol in more, smaller LDL particles. Person B's heart disease risk would be higher because their overall particle count is higher even though a test of their LDL cholesterol would look identical." Smaller LDL particles can more easily enter artery walls and contribute to plaque buildup, Damani explained. Plaque narrows blood vessels and makes them less flexible, increasing the strain on the cardiovascular system. When the heart must work harder because of exercise, heat, stress or another cause, stiffened blood vessels may be less able to accommodate the increased blood flow. Blood pressure can then rise more sharply, potentially contributing to a cardiac event such as a heart attack. Testing One Avocado a Day For the new analysis, the team examined data from 786 participants enrolled in the Habitual Diet and Avocado Trial. The six-month study included adults ages 25 and older. Men qualified for the study if their waist circumference was greater than 40 inches, while women were eligible if their waist circumference exceeded 35 inches. Half of the participants were asked to continue their usual diets and physical activity.
The best new science-fiction novels of August 2026
A galaxy-spanning empire features in Richard Swan’s The Infinite State NASA/CXC/SAO/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb/L. Frattare August is traditionally a quiet month in publishing, and this one is no different. But there are still science-fiction gems to look forward to, including a fascist empire, courtesy of Richard Swan, and some scary Korean sea monsters from Kim Bo-young. I can also recommend M. John Harrison’s The End of Everything, published earlier this year but just longlisted for the Booker prize. It’s rare for sci-fi to make this prestigious literary longlist so that is a tribute to Harrison’s writing – as our sci-fi columnist Emily H. And do join us at the New Scientist Book Club, where we’re reading Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel The Dog Stars, set after a superflu has wiped out most of humanity (and written well before covid-19). A Ridley Scott-directed film adaptation of it is about to be released, so we’re ahead of the crowd. The Infinite State I hear good things about this one from Emily H. Wilson, who has a review forthcoming. It’s set in a fascist and galaxy-spanning empire, where Katherine Fuller’s husband has died, leaving her an immensely wealthy woman. Katherine is given the chance to buy a world, and create a better society – but will the empire let her make a democracy? It’s pitched -Four meets The Man in the High Castle, which is enough to hook me. A Plagued Sea -young, translated I’m also really excited about this one, in which bodyguard Mu-young is heading to an isolated Korean seaside village with her niece when she learns that a huge earthquake has hit the region. She travels there regardless, but the earthquake unleashes an ancient plague, which turns those who catch it into “fishy monsters”. The village is locked down – and Mu-young is trapped. The Jewel and the Comet a “touch of romance” follows graduate student Glenn and his girlfriend Vivy, a spy who has been tasked with stopping a rogue comet but finds herself also trying to find a stolen jewel that can destroy universes. The Two of Us at the End of the World by C. Fletcher I always love a post-apocalyptic story in which a few hardy souls are struggling to survive. As previously noted, we’re reading Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars in the New Scientist Book Club this month, and it’s a prime example of the genre.
Environment
View All 10How wildfire smoke is reshaping childhood
This story was originally published and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For generations, summer in Montana has meant long days outdoors. Children spent afternoons riding bicycles through quiet neighborhoods, swimming in lakes and rivers, hiking forest trails, and playing baseball past sunset. Families planned camping trips months in advance, double-checking that they had all the fishing, paddling, and tenting gear they needed to sleep in cool mountain air under clear skies. Today, many parents instead check the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index before deciding whether their children can play outside at all. As wildfire season becomes longer and more severe across the American West, smoky skies have become an increasingly familiar part of summer. In Montana, where wildfire has always been part of the landscape, summer now includes days or even weeks when children are advised to stay indoors because the air outside is unhealthy. Scientists have documented the growing health risks of wildfire smoke, particularly for children whose lungs are still developing. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How But pediatricians and researchers say the consequences extend beyond children’s lungs. A 2024 UNICEF report found that wildfire smoke affects not only children’s respiratory health but also their learning, mental well-being, and opportunities for play, warning that repeated smoke exposure can shape childhood in lasting ways. Wildfire smoke blankets homes in Missoula, Montana, on July 26. Mosabber Hossain/Inside Climate News Repeated smoke events are changing children’s daily routines, limiting opportunities for outdoor play and social interaction and reshaping how many families experience summer. Schools are investing in better air-filtration systems as communities rethink how school buildings should function in a changing climate. “I remember being stuck inside because of the smoke,” said Melody Irvine, who grew up in western Montana with asthma. During smoky summers, outdoor activities that many children took for granted often disappeared for Irvine. Today, as a student at the University of Montana studying environmental science and social work, Irvine sees those childhood memories differently. Grist thanks its sponsors. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How “When I was younger, it felt like something unusual,” she said. “Now it seems like smoky summers are becoming expected.” A threat to physical, mental, and emotional development Smoke’s shift from an occasional disruption to a recurring part of childhood is increasingly drawing the attention of public health experts. “Kids typically spend more time outdoors, and they’re usually running around, increasing their breathing rate and their exposure to wildfire smoke,” said Kerri Mueller, an air quality specialist with the Missoula City-County Health Department.
Free diver, 21, wants to 'give back' to the ocean that has helped him
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Free diver, 21, wants to 'give back' to the ocean that has helped himClose A 21-year-old free diver has described the "otherworldly" experiences that he has when he dives down to the seabed. Iestyn Morgan, from Pembrokeshire, said he can be there for four to five hours at a time, calling it a great benefit for his mental health. He said Welsh waters were under severe pressure and he is trying to "give back" to the sea that brings him so much joy. "If I can keep showing people what's out there I'll be very happy to do that," he added. Filmed and edited a collection on the News homepage. Wildlife conservationFollow Wildlife conservation close panel You are now following Wildlife conservation Updates from your News topics will appear in My News and in a collection on the News homepage. Marine lifeFollow Marine life close panel You are now following Marine life Updates from your News topics will appear in My News and in a collection on the News homepage.
Lost income, energy fears and a woolly mammoth: what Europe’s dried-up rivers have yielded
The dried-up Danube in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Anadolu/ Heat and drought have affected shipping, power plants and tourism across eastern Europe – as well as unearthing some surprises , hitting shipping, energy production and tourism hard. View image in fullscreen Extreme conditions aggravated ’s waterways from the Netherlands to the Black Sea parched, triggering compounding crises. For the first time in their history, Hungary and Romania had to shut down atomic reactors normally cooled . The largest nuclear power plant in Hungary, the 44-year-old Paks which supplies nearly half of the country’s electricity, has been cutting output since Monday. View image in fullscreen View image in fullscreen The Paks power plant’s cold-water intake channel from the Danube. The prime minister, Péter Magyar, said the Paks plant was operating at less than 50% capacity and was expected to be completely powered down next week. The shutdown could extend for weeks as Danube water levels are expected to remain too low to restart it. “An energy crisis situation could arise beginning Monday,” he posted on X. “Coordinated steps and restraint will be needed to avoid more severe consequences. We are counting on everyone!” Map of the Danube running across eastern Europe with two nuclear power plants detailedA malfunction at Hungary’s largest gas-fired power plant in Százhalombatta was worsening the grid shortage, he said. Hungarian authorities have asked citizens to reduce energy use in the peak evening hours, including refraining from charging EVs and switching off air conditioners, while carmakers and battery manufacturers have been ordered to cut power and water consumption. In Romania, authorities shut down a reactor unit at the Cernavodǎ power plant earlier in the week for safety reasons and announced a second would be switched off soon after. The prime minister, Ilie Bolojan, said the shutdowns could last for one to two weeks and also urged Romanians to reduce power consumption in the evenings. View image in fullscreen People swimming near a sunken German warship in Prahovo, Serbia. The Danube, which flows through 10 countries, has receded to unprecedented lows in some areas, exposing rocks, old shipwrecks, a second world war bomb and even the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth. A resident of Ryahovo village in northern Bulgaria discovered the bones of the giant ice age beast on the riverbed and specialists at the Regional History Museum in the nearby town of Ruse arrived to investigate the rare find.
Scientist's lifelong obsession with mystery of elusive 'pink zebra' seaweed
ByHarriet Bradshaw The Great Barrier Reef might be the world's most famous underwater ecosystem, but hidden in UK waters lies an ancient marine world you may not have heard of. Known as maerl beds, these carpets of coral-like seaweed create some of the richest habitats in the sea. And 40 years ago, while studying one such bed for her PhD, Prof Christine Maggs found a fragment of pink-striped seaweed living on maerl she had never seen before. The discovery would become a lifelong obsession and a decades-long scientific puzzle. Image source, Francis Bunker Image caption, New ceramium is an entirely new species unknown to science Maerl beds may closely resemble corals but they are in fact thousands of pieces of free-living calcified seaweed that can interlock to create a carpet brimming with life. Hours of trawling through the literature seemed to confirm that no-one else had known what this little seaweed that lived on maerl was either. Prof Maggs suspected it was a new species to science. But she needed a larger piece for a formal identification. She continued the hunt after her PhD, and the tiny seaweed would accompany her throughout her career, with fleeting glimpses including once on an underwater animal called a sea squirt, although never enough material to pin its identity down. Image caption, The Natural History Museum collection of seaweed pressings the new species has joined But then two years ago, researchers surveying maerl beds in Cornwall found a sample, which they thought might be Prof Maggs' elusive seaweed. Prof Maggs bought a wine fridge in anticipation - the perfect dark, cool environment to store it while tests were carried out to prove it was, indeed, a new species. "I just kept hoping that I would find out, it's been over four decades," she said. She has now shared the discovery exclusively with the BBC, and a sample of the species has joined the Natural History Museum's official collection. Image source, Angie Gall Image caption, Maerl bed in the Fal estuary The scientific divers who found the sample were mapping and analysing seaweeds to check on the health of Cornish maerl beds, a project organised . This type of diving is specialised and expensive, involving difficult logistics and a large amount of equipment. But for the researchers involved, the experience is extremely rewarding. "It's such a privilege to go diving somewhere like this and you never get long enough.
Weather
View All 7Today: Sunny Intervals, Minimum Temperature: 15°C (59°F) Maximum Temperature: 24°C (76°F)
This video can not be played Today will start dry with spells of sunshine. It will turn cloudier through the afternoon but stays largely dry, with just a chance of the odd light shower locally. Tonight will start cloudy with the odd spot of light rain locally, but most places will be dry. Clear spells will develop for many in the early hours. Tomorrow will start dry with sunshine. It will turn cloudier in the afternoon with the chance of a few showers later in the day. Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday Tuesday will have a cloudy start with patchy rain pushing eastwards. Rain clearing in the afternoon to leave sunny spells and a few scattered showers. Wednesday will be a cloudy and breezy day with showers, but there will be some drier periods too. Thursday will start cloudy with light rain, but it will turn drier in the afternoon with sunshine. Average wind speed 3 Miles per hour, South Easterly3Average wind speed 5 Kilometres per hour, South Easterly5 Humidity: Humidity: 82%,82% Visibility: Visibility, not available,-- Pressure: Pressure: 1020 millibars, Steady,1020mb, Steady Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° North, 2.283° West)Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° N, 2.283° W) Our favourite Weather Watchers photos nearby Report for Reddish, Stockport sunset_twilightReported by sunset_twilight Report for Whitefield, Borough of Bury Georgie Reported , Rochdale jol1yReported by jol1y Report for Standish, Wigan Northern Rambler Reported
Monday: Sunny Intervals, Minimum Temperature: 16°C (61°F) Maximum Temperature: 27°C (80°F)
This video can not be played Today will start dry with spells of sunshine. It will turn cloudier through the afternoon but stays largely dry, with just a chance of the odd light shower locally. Tonight will start cloudy with the odd spot of light rain locally, but most places will be dry. Clear spells will develop for many in the early hours. Tomorrow will start dry with sunshine. It will turn cloudier in the afternoon with the chance of a few showers later in the day. Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday Tuesday will have a cloudy start with patchy rain pushing eastwards. Rain clearing in the afternoon to leave sunny spells and a few scattered showers. Wednesday will be a cloudy and breezy day with showers, but there will be some drier periods too. Thursday will start cloudy with light rain, but it will turn drier in the afternoon with sunshine. Average wind speed 3 Miles per hour, South Easterly3Average wind speed 5 Kilometres per hour, South Easterly5 Humidity: Humidity: 82%,82% Visibility: Visibility, not available,-- Pressure: Pressure: 1020 millibars, Steady,1020mb, Steady Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° North, 2.283° West)Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° N, 2.283° W) Our favourite Weather Watchers photos nearby Report for Reddish, Stockport sunset_twilightReported by sunset_twilight Report for Whitefield, Borough of Bury Georgie Reported , Rochdale jol1yReported by jol1y Report for Standish, Wigan Northern Rambler Reported
England’s heat-associated death estimate reaches 2 877 after May and June episodes
Credit: Sveta K/Pexels UKHSA estimated that 753 deaths were associated with the May heat episode between May 24 and 27, with a 95% confidence interval of 529 to 977. A further 2 124 deaths were associated with the June heatwave between June 21 and 28, with a confidence interval of 1 758 to 2 491. The combined estimate of 2 877 has a 95% confidence interval of 2 476 to 3 278. UKHSA classified the figures as interim because the calculation uses early death-registration data and remains subject to revision as further registrations become available. The May episode averaged approximately 188 heat-associated deaths per day over four days. The eight-day June episode averaged approximately 266 per day. Mortality during both episodes reached its highest level on the hottest day of the respective period. UKHSA calculates heat-associated mortality -heat periods. The estimate represents excess all-cause mortality statistically associated with hot weather and is not a count of individual death certificates identifying heat as the underlying cause. The May and June estimate is approximately 91% higher than the 1 504 heat-associated deaths recorded during the full summer of 2025. UKHSA reported 1 311 heat-associated deaths in 2024, 2 295 in 2023 and a record 2 985 during five heat episodes in 2022. A prolonged heat episode between July 5 and 17 is not included in the interim assessment. UKHSA said the final 2026 seasonal total is likely to be substantially higher once the July episode and any later periods of hot weather are assessed. Finalized figures are scheduled for publication in UKHSA’s annual heat-mortality report in early 2027. The final assessment will use more complete death-registration data and may revise the estimates reported for May and June. The May episode coincided with a new UK temperature record for the month. The Met Office verified a maximum of 35.1°C (95.2°F) at Kew Gardens, London, on May 26, surpassing the previous May record of 32.8°C (91°F), set in 1922 and equaled in 1944. A provisional maximum of 37.7°C (99.9°F) was recorded at Lingwood, Strumpshaw Hill, Norfolk, on June 26. The temperature surpassed England’s previous June record of 35.6°C (96.1°F), recorded at Southampton in June 1976. The June heatwave triggered a red Heat-Health Alert across six regions of England. It was only the second red alert issued under the current system, following the July 2022 heat emergency. Red Heat-Health Alerts are reserved for conditions expected to pose a risk to life across the population, including healthy people. The effects can extend beyond health and social care to transport, water, energy supplies, food systems and businesses. The June alert initially took effect at LT on June 24. UKHSA later extended the highest-level alert until LT on June 26 before conditions were downgraded.
Falling Danube shuts two reactor units at Paks nuclear plant, output falls to 25%, Hungary
Credit: PROIAEA Imagebank OAH confirmed that Unit 3 entered shutdown at LT on July 29 after operators reduced its output by 237 MW on July 28 and by a further 243 MW the following day. Unit 1 entered shutdown at LT on August 1 after its output had first been reduced by 254 MW on July 27, followed by a further 50% power reduction. The regulator also confirmed a 50% power reduction on Unit 2 from LT on July 30 and an identical reduction on Unit 4 from LT on July 31. Hungary’s official water-monitoring network measured the Danube at minus 131 cm (minus 51.6 inches) at Paks at LT on August 1. Discharge stood at 745.9 m³/s (26 342 ft³/s), while water temperature near the riverbed reached 27.9°C (82.2°F). A negative gauge value indicates that the river surface is below the station’s local reference level and does not represent the river’s total depth. A river forecast issued at LT on August 1 placed the Danube at minus 134 cm (minus 52.8 inches), with an uncertainty of plus or minus 4 cm (1.6 inches), at LT on August 2 and at minus 135 cm (minus 53.1 inches), with an uncertainty of plus or minus 5 cm (2.0 inches), at LT on August 3, indicating that water levels were expected to remain exceptionally low. Paks draws cooling water from the Danube. Reuters attributed the staged production cuts to the continued fall in river levels following prolonged dry weather, which reduced the amount of water available at the plant’s intake system. Reuters also reported that combined generation had fallen to about 25% of the station’s 2 000 MW capacity. Prime Minister Péter Magyar said a complete shutdown could become necessary if the river continued to fall. According to AP, the plant would have to shut down completely if the gauge reached minus 134 cm (minus 52.8 inches). The same report said the previous minimum at Paks was minus 98 cm (minus 38.6 inches), recorded in 2018, although that historical comparison could not be independently verified from an official gauge archive reviewed for this article. Paks normally supplies nearly half of Hungary’s electricity. Reuters reported that large industrial consumers had already committed about 240 MW of voluntary demand reductions, while the government authorized grid operator MAVIR to order mandatory industrial cuts if domestic production and imports proved insufficient. The report also said the possible return of approximately 400 MW from the Százhalombatta gas-fired power plant could help offset part of the lost nuclear generation. OAH said the production changes were implemented in accordance with operating requirements that do not concern nuclear safety.
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