ABCNews

In Wang Tong Village, nestled on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island, birds cling to crumbling stucco, rooftops, and moss-covered walls — not in flocks, but in paint.

They’re part of the Flock Project, a growing series of bird murals created to celebrate Hong Kong’s migratory species and inject new life into the island’s abandoned architecture. The effort was started by Dominic Johnson-Hill, a longtime resident of the island, after a conversation with his ornithologist neighbor about the Amur falcon — a bird that travels thousands of kilometers from Manchuria to South Africa, stopping briefly in Lantau along the way.

“I just assumed these birds lived on the island,” Johnson-Hill said. “But they’re not. They’re passing guests.”

That idea — of transience, of migration, of presence and absence — sparked a creative vision. He imagined a red-billed blue magpie painted across the wall of an empty house next to his own. “They just seemed to belong there,” he said.

To make the vision real, Johnson-Hill enlisted British muralist Rob Aspire, also known as “The Birdman,” whose lifelike bird paintings are known for their precision and emotion. The first mural led to another, and then seven more, each hand-picked to match the surroundings or carry an environmental message.

A kingfisher, for example, was painted near a stream where fishing is now banned. A Swinhoe’s white-eye blends into village walls where its distinctive song still echoes through nearby trees. High on Sunset Peak, nearly 900 meters above sea level, a long-tailed shrike perches atop a 90-year-old stone rooftop, overlooking the mountains like it has always been there.

Most of the birds live — or once lived — in Hong Kong. Some still migrate through. All of them were painted on abandoned homes except the shrike, which claims its perch on one of the highest surviving village houses in the region.

The murals have turned Wang Tong into a quiet weekend destination. Visitors from the city’s high-rises hike through village trails and winding alleys to find them, sometimes chalking arrows to help others follow. It’s become part nature walk, part scavenger hunt.

For Johnson-Hill, the impact is about more than aesthetics. “Sometimes noticing beauty is the first step toward wanting to protect it,” he said.

He’s created an online map to help guide visitors and is already planning future installations. What comes next, he says, depends on what opportunities appear — a bird worth painting, a forgotten home worth reviving.

Birds migrate. So do people. Villages empty out, but the walls remain — now with a painted bird, or the memory of one.

In a Quiet Hong Kong Village, Murals of Migratory Birds are Turning Forgotten Walls into Art

NBC News

Elephants were treated to the “ultimate” spa day at a zoo just outside Melbourne, as the area braced for “extreme heatwave conditions” to hit on Saturday, January 24.

Stunning drone video shows a 4,526 kilogram (4.5 ton) elephant named Luk Chai splashing in the mud, while another video shows a three-year-old-calf named Aiyara playing and splashing with her grandmother Mek Kapah.

The elephants are part of a nine-member herd at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

“Ahead of the nearly 40 degree (104 Fahrenheit) day tomorrow, the elephants at Werribee Open Range Zoo are cooling down with the ultimate spa day - mud masks, pool-time and dust bathing,” Zoos Victoria said in a press release.

Elephants Cool Down With a Spa Day as Melbourne Temperatures Set to Soar

BBC News

A Staffordshire pub has pulled off a feat no other has achieved: winning the title of the UK’s best pub for the third time.

The Tamworth Tap has once again been crowned National Pub of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), marking a historic hat trick for the Tudor-era venue. It’s the first time any pub has earned the top prize three times since the competition began in 1988.

For owners George and Louise Greenaway, the third win was "beyond our wildest dreams."

“We don't just pour pints at the Tap,” they said, “we strive to give a true sense of community and give our beloved Tappers a place they like to call home, with the warmest welcome, great atmosphere and beautiful surroundings.”

Located in the heart of Tamworth, the Tap sits beneath the shadow of the town’s Norman castle. The pub is known as much for its character as its cask ales, with a 16th-century shop front and historic courtyard that draws in both locals and visitors. Inside, the stairs have been turned into a staircase of Good Beer Guides, a nod to the pub’s proud place in the UK’s beer scene.

Camra praised the venue for its "huge range of daily events", which include everything from painting nights and craft clubs to faith groups and tasting sessions.

George and Louise opened the Tap in modest fashion: a pop-up in a shop window, with a makeshift counter and just two barrels of beer. It’s now also home to the Tamworth Brewing Co., and offers a broad range of cask beers from across the UK, along with ciders, gins, wines and bottled beers.

“When we won the first time,” said the Greenaways, “we believed we'd reached the pinnacle of our achievements.”

But they didn’t stop there. The Tap took the title in both 2022 and 2023, and beat out thousands of pubs to claim it again for 2025.

Each year, Camra’s top award goes to the pub that best exemplifies what a good local should be. Judges consider everything from atmosphere, décor, and welcome, to inclusivity, service and the quality of cask beer, real cider and perry.

Andrea Briers, who oversees the annual competition for Camra, said: “What can you possibly say about this fantastic pub that hasn't been said already?”

This year’s finalists were no slouches either. The Blackfriars Tavern in Great Yarmouth, a Victorian pub and Camra’s National Cider and Perry Pub of the Year, made the shortlist. So did Gloucester’s Pelican Inn, a Grade-II listed venue that’s been operating since 1679, and Volunteer Arms (Staggs) in Musselburgh, which has been in the same family since 1858 and won Camra’s overall top prize back in 1998.

But it was the Tamworth Tap, once again, that stood above them all.

Historic Pub Celebrates Record Third Win As Uk's Best

Spending Christmas and New Year at sea, adventurer Tom Clowes has completed a gruelling 3,000-mile row across the Atlantic Ocean as part of a four-man team, raising more than £350,000 for charity in the process.

Clowes, from Chichester in West Sussex, and teammates Ollie Phillips, Stuart Kershaw, and Julian Evans set off from the Canary Islands on 14 December and reached Antigua on 21 January, after 39 days at sea.

The journey was part of a transatlantic rowing race, with the team finishing 9th out of 42 boats.

“I can't describe the feeling, it was wonderful actually,” Clowes said after arriving in the Caribbean. “It was very emotional after all that time, because we weren't sure if we were going to finish.”

Each crew member rowed in support of a different cause. Clowes chose Cure Parkinson’s as his charity.

“Whenever I did find it tough I thought of those with Parkinson's and these diseases and I thought: ‘No, it's worth it. This is nothing compared to what some people are going through,’” he said.

The team also raised funds for My Name’5 Doddie, The Matt Hampson Foundation, and The Clocktower Foundation.

Throughout the crossing, the crew maintained a relentless schedule—rowing in two-hour shifts around the clock. At any given time, two were rowing while the others rested or tried to eat one of their vacuum-sealed rations.

They received morale-boosting calls from celebrities including Bear Grylls, James Blunt, and actor Hugh Bonneville.

The physical toll was steep. Clowes lost 7kg (15.4lbs) during the voyage. Phillips, a former England rugby sevens captain, shed around 17kg (37.5lbs).

Despite the exhaustion, the team described the experience as unforgettable—and deeply rewarding.

British Adventurer Rows 3,000 Miles Across the Atlantic, Raises Over £350,000 for Charity

Euro News

As the North Atlantic Ocean heats up and human activity increases, whales are quietly adapting—by changing what they eat, where they eat, and even how they eat.

A new study published in Frontiers in Marine Science has examined how climate change has reshaped the diets and behaviours of three species of rorqual whales—fin, humpback, and minke—living in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, a key seasonal feeding ground. By analysing nearly 30 years of data, scientists uncovered clear evidence that these whales are adjusting their diets in response to environmental shifts—and learning to co-exist by dividing up resources.

In scientific terms, it’s called “resource partitioning.” In simpler language, the whales are getting better at sharing.

Over time, as water temperatures rise and sea ice melts, the availability of traditional prey has changed. Using more than 1,000 skin samples collected between 1992 and 2019, researchers traced how each species shifted its diet to adapt to a warming ocean.

“Highly mobile species like baleen whales can use several strategies to reduce competition, for example by shifting their feeding time or area, or selecting different prey within a feeding area,” said lead author Charlotte Tessier-Larivière.

In the 1990s, fin whales primarily fed on krill. By the 2000s, they had switched to fish like capelin, herring, and mackerel. In the 2010s, they shifted again—this time toward sand lance and Northern krill.

Minke whales, meanwhile, began with a fish-based diet but started consuming krill more often later in the study. Humpback whales largely stuck with capelin, herring, and mackerel throughout.

The shift likely reflects declining Arctic krill populations—possibly a consequence of climate change. But rather than compete for the same limited resources, the whales appear to be adjusting their diets in parallel, allowing them to co-exist more successfully.

Adapting to new prey isn’t the only strategy whales are using.

Another recent study out of the University of St Andrews highlights how a feeding technique known as bubble-net feeding has played a crucial role in the recovery of humpback whale populations in the northeastern Pacific.

This complex behaviour involves groups of humpbacks blowing columns of bubbles underwater to corral small fish into dense clusters. Once the fish are packed together, the whales lunge upward to scoop them all at once.

“Bubble-net feeding isn't just a foraging trick, it's a form of shared knowledge that strengthens the resilience of the entire population,” said lead author Dr Éadin O’Mahony.

It’s one of the clearest examples of animal culture in whales—learned behaviours passed from one generation to the next that boost survival. Researchers say behaviours like these should be factored into marine conservation planning, especially as human impacts on ocean ecosystems continue to mount.

Between shifting diets and learned teamwork, scientists say whales are proving remarkably resilient. But their adaptability has limits. The more stress marine ecosystems face, the more difficult it will be for whales—and other species—to keep up. For now, the whales of the North Atlantic are finding ways to share the ocean, even as it changes beneath them.

Whales Are Adapting to Climate Change—And Even Learning to Share

Positive.News

Twenty years ago, the land at Knepp in Sussex was described as “depleted, polluted, dysfunctional.” Today, it’s one of the UK’s most remarkable rewilding success stories — and a powerful example of what happens when nature is allowed to recover.

A new ecological review of the 3,500-acre Knepp estate has revealed a 900% increase in breeding birds since rewilding began, including huge gains among some of Britain’s most threatened species. Turtle doves have increased by 600%. Nightingales by more than 500%.

“The trend is strongly positive and still increasing year on year,” said Fleur Dobner, an ecologist at Knepp.

The review also recorded major boosts in insect populations. Butterfly numbers have doubled in some areas, while dragonflies and damselflies have surged by nearly 900%. It marks a dramatic reversal on a site that was once struggling to turn a profit as a traditional farm.

“We have gone from a depleted, polluted, dysfunctional farmland to one of the most significant biodiversity hotspots in the UK,” said Isabella Tree, who runs the project with her husband, Charlie Burrell. Their story was chronicled in Tree’s widely read book Wilding, which documents how the couple stepped back from intensive farming and let natural processes take the lead.

They tore down fences and reintroduced free-roaming animals — English longhorn cattle, Tamworth pigs, Exmoor ponies — which play key ecological roles, echoing the impacts of long-extinct wild species. Over time, those changes created a mosaic of wood pasture, scrubland, and wetland habitat teeming with wildlife.

The success at Knepp is now serving as a blueprint for other landowners and conservationists across the UK. It also highlights how far the country still has to go. Britain remains one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world.

“The UK has pledged to return 30% of land to nature by 2030, and it’s not happening fast enough,” Tree said. “Rewilding is a powerful tool to get nature back. We should be much more ambitious for our nature reserves and rewilding projects.”

For many conservationists, the message is clear: biodiversity can bounce back, and faster than expected — but only if it's given space and time. Knepp's resurgence shows what’s possible. Now the challenge is scaling it.

Rewilding Success: Estate Sees 900% Increase In Breeding Birds Over Two Decades

From camel rides in the desert to lantern-lit nights in China, Herry the teddy bear has racked up more stamps in his passport than most people ever will. Alongside his human travel companion, 81-year-old Bob Hall, the duo has explored over 30 countries — and they’re not done yet.

But Herry isn’t just a globe-trotting teddy. He’s also the beloved mascot of Hertford Vale CofE Primary School in Staxton, a tiny village in North Yorkshire, England. The bear was gifted to Bob by the school in 2019, and since then, the pair’s adventures have become a way to bring global cultures to life for local pupils.

“I’ve been all around the world maybe about five times, and Herry-Bear has been with me the entire time,” Bob says. “He’s my boss, friend and companion.”

On this particular day, Bob and Herry are back in Staxton, standing in front of a sea of eager faces at Hertford Vale Primary. Bob is clicking through a slideshow packed with snapshots of the bear in faraway places — riding camels, sightseeing in Asia, and grinning next to ancient temples.

Each new image prompts a guessing game from the students, with hands shooting up to identify the country in the picture.

Bob isn’t new to travel. His career in the army and civil service took him around the world in his younger years. But he paused those adventures to care for his wife, Mary, who lived with Alzheimer’s for more than ten years before passing away.

After her death, Bob leaned on the support of his community — including Hertford Vale’s headteacher Andrew Barber — to help him move forward. As a long-time resident and neighbor of the school, he wanted to give something back. That’s when the idea took shape: take the school’s mascot with him on his next trip to Australia, and report back with stories the children could connect to.

“With my pictures, they can actually visualise what these countries are like and it’s immediate for them,” Bob explains. “Particularly because Herry-Bear is there.”

Since then, Bob and Herry have traveled to cities and coastlines across the globe. Among the highlights? A safari in South Africa and Botswana.

Other tourists are often intrigued by the sight of a senior man posing for travel photos with a teddy bear.

“They’re very interested, and when I tell them they are absolutely amazed that somebody my age should want to share my life story with Herry-Bear,” Bob says.

After the presentation, the students are buzzing with travel dreams of their own.

Eight-year-old Bodhi says she’s already visited Bulgaria, Cornwall, and Wales, but now she’s set her sights on Korea. “Some of my favourite bands are from there,” she says.

Oliver, 10, hopes to visit Japan one day. “It’s really futuristic and there’s lots of nice food there,” he explains.

Hannah, 6, beams as she describes how “awesome” it was to hear about Herry-Bear’s adventures. She wants to take him on her next holiday.

And five-year-old Chester? He’s got one goal: “I only want to go to America.” Why? “So I can go to the shop where you get the sweeties,” he announces.

Bob doesn’t have a specific bucket list. “I think where I want to go, and when I want to go is how I feel at a particular time,” he says.

Next up for Bob and Herry: a trip to South America, with plans to end their journey at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival — where Herry-Bear will take a starring role. But before that, Bob is heading to Barbados. Alone.

“I’m not taking the bear,” he laughs. “It’s me time.”

Teacher Travels With School's Teddy Bear To Educate Students About The World

Science Alert

As we age, our immune systems slowly lose their edge, making us more vulnerable to infections, cancer, and other illnesses. But a new study from researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard offers a potential way to reverse some of that decline—by using the liver to kickstart immune cell production.

The research centers on the thymus, a small organ in the chest that plays a critical role in creating T cells. These are the body’s immune sentinels, hunting down viruses, bacteria, and abnormal cells. But the thymus starts shrinking and slowing down by early adulthood, meaning fewer T cells are produced over time.

"We wanted to think about how can we maintain this kind of immune protection for a longer period of time," said MIT neuroscientist Mirco Friedrich. "And that's what led us to think about what we can do to boost immunity."

The team’s solution was to use the liver as a kind of thymus stand-in. It’s not a typical immune organ, but it has a unique advantage: it continues producing proteins efficiently even in old age. It’s also accessible, and every bit of blood coming from the stomach and intestines passes through it—making it a prime candidate for targeted treatments.

First, researchers identified three signaling proteins that decline with age in mice—DLL1, FLT3-L, and IL-7. These molecules are key to creating and maintaining healthy T cells. They then designed a package of mRNA, the same type of technology used in some COVID-19 vaccines, to deliver instructions for those proteins directly into the liver.

After four weeks of mRNA injections in older mice, the results were striking: a marked increase in both the number and diversity of T cells. The mice showed stronger responses to vaccines and were better at fighting off cancerous tumors. In short, their immune systems started acting more like those of younger animals.

"Our approach is more of a synthetic approach," said MIT neuroscientist Feng Zhang. "We're engineering the body to mimic thymic factor secretion."

One important detail: the boost in T cell production didn’t last forever. It faded after treatment stopped, which may actually be a good thing. Prolonged overstimulation of the immune system can backfire, increasing the risk of inflammation and autoimmune problems.

Past attempts to rejuvenate the immune system have included pumping signaling proteins into the bloodstream. But that can cause side effects and doesn’t always target the right cells. This liver-based strategy may offer a safer, more controlled alternative.

The findings, published in Nature, are early-stage, and the next steps involve testing the approach in other animals and looking at other immune pathways. But if the strategy holds up in humans, it could be a breakthrough in helping people stay healthier for longer.

"If we can restore something essential like the immune system," said Zhang, "hopefully we can help people stay free of disease for a longer span of their life."

Scientists Find New Way to Reboot the Immune System Using the Liver

A personalised mRNA cancer vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck is showing lasting promise for patients with high-risk melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

New five-year follow-up data from a phase 2 clinical trial suggests that the therapy provides strong, long-term protection against cancer recurrence. Patients who received the combination treatment had a 49 percent lower risk of their cancer returning or dying, compared with those treated with immunotherapy alone.

The experimental therapy pairs Moderna’s personalised mRNA vaccine — called intismeran autogene — with Merck’s established immunotherapy drug, Keytruda. Keytruda is already used widely to treat a range of cancers by blocking a protein called PD-1, which tumours use to hide from the immune system.

The mRNA vaccine is custom-designed for each patient to train their immune system to identify tumour-specific markers. By flagging these unique mutations, the vaccine helps the immune system recognize and target cancer cells. When used alongside Keytruda, which removes the tumour’s defenses, the treatment appears to enable the body’s T-cells to launch a more powerful, sustained attack.

“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA's potential in cancer care,” said Kyle Holen, Moderna’s senior vice president.

Moderna and Merck are now awaiting the results of phase 3 trials — the final and largest stage of testing — to determine whether the benefits hold up across a broader group of patients.

High-risk melanoma refers to stage 3 and 4 cases where the cancer has spread beyond the original site or is likely to return even after surgery. These cases account for about 15 percent of all melanoma diagnoses, or around 15,700 patients each year in the European Union alone.

Melanoma itself has become more common in recent decades. In 2022, more than 330,000 people worldwide were diagnosed with the disease, which stems from the uncontrolled growth of melanin-producing cells in the skin.

The encouraging data from Moderna and Merck comes as other pharmaceutical companies race to develop similar treatments. BioNTech and Roche are both working on their own mRNA-based cancer vaccines targeting high-risk melanoma, but those therapies remain in earlier trial phases.

Moderna and Merck are also expanding their mRNA approach to other cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, and renal cell carcinoma, the most common form of kidney cancer.

If confirmed in larger trials, the findings could mark a turning point in the use of mRNA technology — first widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic — to treat cancer.

An mRNA Vaccine is Showing Long-Term Benefits for Skin Cancer Patients

ABC News

A new exhibition at Britain’s National Archives is putting love on paper — literally. Opening just in time for Valentine’s Day, Love Letters features handwritten confessions, pleas, and partings that span five centuries and every shade of affection.

The exhibition explores passion in its many forms — from doomed affairs and family bonds to longing and sacrifice — through documents from both the famous and the forgotten.

“There is a lot of connection in these items even though on the surface they seem very different,” said curator Victoria Iglikowski-Broad. “In common they have just this human feeling of love … that the sacrifice is actually worth it for love.”

Among the most striking items on display is a letter from Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, to Queen Elizabeth I — his final words to the monarch he had long courted. Written in 1588, just days before his death, the letter was found by her bedside nearly 15 years later when Elizabeth herself died. On the outside, Dudley had scribbled, “his last lettar.”

The exhibition doesn’t limit itself to traditional romance. Jane Austen’s will, written in 1817, leaves nearly everything to her sister Cassandra. A 1956 letter from the father of London’s notorious Kray twins begs a court for leniency, arguing that “all their concern in life is to do good to everybody.”

In a petition from 1851, Daniel Rush, a 71-year-old weaver, pleads with authorities not to send him and his wife to separate workhouses. The note sits beside one of British history’s most famous romantic gestures: the 1936 abdication letter of King Edward VIII, who gave up the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. Together, they speak to love's power — whether in poverty or palaces.

Not all letters end in happy endings. A newly displayed 1944 letter from John Cairncross, later revealed to be a Soviet spy, reflects on a relationship that couldn’t survive wartime distance. “Would we have broken off, I wondered, if we had known what was coming?” he wrote to his former girlfriend Gloria Barraclough.

Another document, penned in 1890 by Lord Alfred Douglas, pleads for a royal pardon for Oscar Wilde, then imprisoned for “gross indecency” after their relationship was exposed by Douglas’ own father. The plea was unsuccessful. Wilde served two years in prison and died in exile.

Some letters are more tragic still. A 1541 note from Catherine Howard to her lover Thomas Culpeper reveals the panic of a queen under surveillance. She signs off “yours as long as life endures.” Weeks later, both were executed for treason.

The show also includes a rare glimpse into royal intimacy. A letter from Queen Henrietta Maria to her husband King Charles I, whom she calls “my dear heart,” was found among the king’s belongings after a battlefield defeat in the English Civil War. Charles was later executed in 1649, and the letter ended up in Parliament’s archives before its recent transfer to the National Archives.

According to historian Neil Johnston, letters like this between monarchs are exceedingly rare. “This is a little gem within the disaster of the English Civil War,” he said.

Other entries include same-sex personals from the early 20th century and soldiers’ love letters from the front lines. There’s even a medieval heartbreak song.

“We’re trying to open up the potential of what a love letter can be,” Iglikowski-Broad said. “Expressions of love can be found in all sorts of places, and surprising places.”

Love Letters opens Saturday and runs through April 12. Admission is free.

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