Euro News

Bordeaux, France just surpassed Paris in a new ranking of the world's most beautiful cities, with Europe dominating nine out of the top 10 spots. The rankings are based on buildings that adhere to the 'golden ratio' for balanced and harmonious structures. Venice takes the lead as the most beautiful city, followed by Rome and Barcelona in second and third place respectively. Despite iconic landmarks, Paris lands at 12th place. In fifth place is the only non-European city to make the top 10: New York City.

9 Out of 10 of the World’s Most Beautiful Cities Are in Europe, Says New Ranking

Scientific American

In Utrecht, a centuries-old lock is getting a little help from modern technology and a whole lot of strangers on the internet. Each spring, migrating fish gather behind the Weerdsluis lock, hoping to reach upstream spawning grounds. The problem: the lock is closed for weeks at a time, and opening it isn’t as easy as flipping a switch.

So the city gave the fish a doorbell.

For the sixth year in a row, the Fish Doorbell — or Visdeurbel — is back online. The project livestreams footage from an underwater camera, inviting people around the world to press a digital button whenever they spot a fish waiting to get through. Operators then decide when to open the gate.

“The project is a good mix of doing something for nature and for people to join and do something,” said Anne Nijs, an ecologist for the city and one of the project’s co-creators.

The idea came from a simple problem. Many fish species in the Netherlands — bleak, catfish, eels, pike — migrate in the spring as the water warms. But ships are scarce early in the season, so locks like the Weerdsluis often remain closed, leaving fish clustered outside with no way forward and no escape from predators. Some miss their chance to spawn altogether.

The lock itself, built in the 1600s, requires operators to manually turn an iron wheel for up to an hour. Before opening it, they needed to be sure fish were actually waiting. So Nijs and fellow ecologist Mark van Heukelum installed the camera and added a digital doorbell.

They expected maybe a handful of curious locals. Instead, the project exploded.

“We put flyers in the streets about the Fish Doorbell because we were afraid that maybe nobody would join, but ... lots of people joined, [and] every year more,” Nijs said.

Last year the website drew more than 2.3 million unique visitors. Together, they rang the doorbell about 200,000 times, helping thousands of fish continue their journeys.

For many, watching the underwater feed brings a moment of calm — and a quick hit of joy when a fish appears. For the fish, the payoff is even bigger. In a country threaded with locks, dams and water-control structures, the doorbell has become a way to balance human needs with those of wildlife.

Other countries facing similar challenges are already asking how they might build their own versions.

Until then, Utrecht’s lock is quietly becoming a piece of global community science — a place where anyone, from anywhere, can help migrating fish get where they need to go, just by pressing a button.

You can watch the livestream and ring the doorbell yourself here.

A Dutch Canal Has a Digital Doorbell for Fish — and the World Is Ringing It

Good News Network

While most of the Super Bowl chatter this year revolved around Bad Bunny’s halftime performance, the NFL was busy pulling off something far less flashy but equally ambitious: shrinking the environmental footprint of one of the biggest commercial events in the country.

Working with ENGIE Impact, a sustainable resource management company, the league coordinated with national and local partners in the Bay Area to ensure this year’s game at Levi’s Stadium was powered by renewable energy, kept waste out of landfills and offset remaining carbon emissions.

ENGIE previously helped manage sustainability efforts at last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, and that work produced striking results. According to a case study, 250 tons of materials were recovered — not just trash, but reusable items as well — representing a fivefold increase over the previous year. The event was also fully carbon-neutral, with the NFL purchasing offsets for about 3,000 additional tons of CO2.

The numbers for this year aren’t finalized yet, but early signs suggest another strong showing. Levi’s Stadium already operates with a three-bin waste system across the entire complex, and ENGIE placed staff throughout the venue to help fans navigate recyclables, compostables and landfill waste.

They also organized a wide-ranging material donation effort that stretched far beyond typical recycling. Ryan Schlar, ENGIE’s Director of Sustainable Mobile Operations, shared with GNN what happened behind the scenes.

“This year, we donated fence mesh that lined the stadium to parks and recreation departments; leftover carpets from tailgate parties were given to schools to repurpose as carpet squares in classrooms; and wayfinding signage with blank back sides was given to artists, as it provides a great canvas for new projects,” he said.

Some materials can even stay put. “Sometimes materials that are not branded or unique to the event, like scaffolding, can be left and reused for future events. Some banner holders will stay in place at Levi’s Stadium to support FIFA signage for the World Cup this summer.”

Schlar said similar efforts took place in New Orleans, though donations vary based on what each community needs. “We always try to work with and prioritize organizations that can offer a large communal benefit.”

The environmental impact of the stadium itself also helped. Levi’s Stadium runs almost entirely on solar power, and its diesel generators use biodiesel, which produces lower emissions. “Success looks different every year because we set the bar based on the stadium’s preexisting baseline,” Schlar said.

ENGIE also organized carbon offset purchases to counterbalance any remaining emissions — whether through tree planting or even direct-air-capture technology like the plant operating in Iceland. Because Levi’s Stadium relies so heavily on solar energy, Schlar noted that this year’s game may have ended up as a net-negative emitter.

It’s a side of Super Bowl Sunday most fans never see — but one that’s steadily reshaping what responsible event management looks like on the sport’s biggest stage.

NFL Achieves Net-Zero Super Bowl Through Extensive Recycling Efforts

Fox News

The Dallas Zoo said its first-ever Dog Day, held on Friday, February 27, was a “tail-wagging success,” posting footage of the four-legged patrons exploring the zoo.

According to the Dallas Zoo, nearly 200 dogs – and their human companions – had entered the zoo by noon on Friday, a day of “beautiful, mild weather.”

Footage shows a number of the canine visitors on Friday.

“Dogs showed curious, engaged behavior throughout the experience, especially when observing zoo animals visible behind glass, including penguins, lions, and elephants,” the Dallas Zoo said in a press release. “Many pups paused to watch, sniff, and take in the sights, creating memorable moments for guests and staff alike.”

📸 Dallas Zoo via Storyful

Dogs Delight Crowds At Dallas Zoo's Inaugural Dog Day Event

Talker News

A 102-year-old wartime codebreaker in Scotland has received a message she never expected: a heartfelt letter of gratitude from a teenager nearly 1,000 kilometres away.

Dr. Jean Munro served at Bletchley Park during World War II, working in Hut 6 to decipher German Army and Air Force Enigma messages. Historians believe that work may have shortened the war by two to four years and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. But for decades, almost no one knew what she had done. Like many codebreakers, she couldn’t tell her family until the 1980s.

One person who did learn her story was 16-year-old Jonathan Halvarsson of Zealand, Denmark. After reading about the Nazi occupation of Denmark and stumbling across her name in a Facebook post by the Veterans’ Foundation, he felt compelled to write.

He told her he wanted to show his “deepest respect and appreciation” — and to remind her that “the younger generations have not forgotten your efforts.”

His letter was simple, direct and moving. “I recently read about your service during the war, and I was deeply moved,” he wrote. “Even though we are separated by hundreds of kilometres and several generations, I want you to know that a young person far away holds the deepest respect and appreciation for you.”

Jonathan has been writing to veterans since he was 12. He said learning about Denmark’s five years under German occupation made him want to thank the people who helped in the fight for freedom — even those beyond his country’s borders. “It was important for me to send my letter to Dr. Munro because she directly participated in the resistance and in fighting against the power that held my country occupied for five long years,” he said.

Dr. Munro, now living at Lynemore Care Home in Grantown-on-Spey, was “deeply touched,” according to manager Pamela Cummings. “She is incredibly modest about her wartime service, but we are all very proud of her,” Cummings said. “It’s lovely to see her contribution, and that of her generation, recognised by someone so much younger.”

Jonathan said he was honoured that she appreciated the letter, but insisted the focus should remain on her. “I find it a bit sad that writing a letter to a woman who fought for all of our freedom is seen as something extraordinary,” he said. “This is the least one can do!”

Dr. Munro’s remarkable life extends well beyond Bletchley Park. Born in 1923, she later became a distinguished historian and author, holding senior roles with heritage organisations including the National Trust for Scotland and serving as President of The Grantown Society. In December, she celebrated her 102nd birthday and was awarded the Freedom of Bletchley Park, one of the site’s highest honours, along with a specially made Veteran’s pin badge.

For a woman who spent decades bound by secrecy, a message from a teenager across the sea became something quietly profound: a reminder that her work still echoes, that people still care, and that even after 80 years, gratitude can find its way through.

Teen Writes 102-Year-Old WWII Hero To Thank Her For Service

Every so often, a fossil turns up that forces scientists to redraw the family tree. This time, it’s a bird-like dinosaur the size of a paperback book. Its nearly complete skeleton has given researchers the clearest picture yet of a puzzling prehistoric lineage.

The animal, Alnashetri cerropoliciensis, was described by a team of North and South American scientists as a “missing link” — not between dinosaurs and birds, but within a strange group of small, wide-ranging creatures known as Alvarezsaurs. The team went even further, calling the find a “paleontological Rosetta Stone.”

Alvarezsaurs are famous for their tiny teeth and short arms tipped with a single oversized claw. For decades, they’ve remained mysterious because their well-preserved fossils mainly came from Asia, while fragments from South America were too broken to make sense of.

That changed in 2014. An international team led by University of Minnesota researcher Dr. Peter Makovicky and Argentine paleontologist Dr. Sebastian Apesteguía uncovered an almost complete specimen in northern Patagonia. It was the first time scientists could trace the group’s anatomy from head to tail with confidence.

“Going from fragmentary skeletons that are hard to interpret, to having a near complete and articulated animal is like finding a paleontological Rosetta Stone,” Makovicky said. “We now have a reference point that allows us to accurately identify more scrappy finds and map out evolutionary transitions in anatomy and body size.”

He said the skeleton sheds light on how these dinosaurs evolved, shrank, and spread across ancient continents. And more clues are already on the way. “We have already found the next chapter of the Alvarezsaurid story there, and it’s in the lab being prepared right now,” Makovicky added.

Microscopic study confirmed the animal was an adult at least four years old. Alvarezsaurs were tiny by dinosaur standards — some species grew to the size of an average human, but many were far smaller. Alnashetri weighed less than one kilogram, making it one of the smallest dinosaurs ever found in South America.

Unlike its later relatives, Alnashetri had longer arms and larger teeth. The published research says this shows that certain Alvarezsaurs became miniature long before they developed the specialized features linked to an ant-eating lifestyle.

Their fossil record stretches across the globe thanks to the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, which scattered their ancestors into different regions.

“After more than 20 years of work, the La Buitrera fossil area has given us a unique insight into small dinosaurs and other vertebrates like no other site in South America,” said Apesteguía, of Universidad Maimónides in Buenos Aires.

For a creature that weighed less than a bag of apples, Alnashetri is now carrying a surprising amount of scientific weight — reshaping what researchers thought they knew about an entire branch of the dinosaur family tree.

Tiny Dinosaur Found in Patagonia Becomes a ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Its Entire Group

BBC News

For a painting that vanished more than sixty years ago, Rembrandt’s Vision of Zacharias in the Temple has returned with the kind of entrance most masterpieces only dream about. After decades off the radar, the 1633 work has now been authenticated by experts at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, confirming it as a genuine piece by the Dutch master.

The painting had been dropped from the official list of Rembrandt’s works in 1960 and disappeared into a private collection the following year. Its trail went cold. Then, out of the blue, the Rijksmuseum received an email from its owners asking for more information.

The museum gets plenty of messages like that, director Taco Dibbits said, but this one stood out. “It came to us via email and one of our curators thought, this is really an interesting image, we've known about the painting for over 100 years but we've never seen it.” Once the museum brought it in and restored it, Dibbits said, “I was immediately struck by the incredible power it has.”

That reaction was soon backed by two years of scientific analysis. Researchers examined the paint, the layers beneath it, and the wooden panel. Everything lined up with Rembrandt’s materials and techniques from that period. The signature is original, and even the way the layers were built matched his early style. As the museum put it, “Materials analysis, stylistic and thematic similarities, alterations made by Rembrandt, and the overall quality of the painting all support the conclusion that this painting is a genuine work.”

For Dibbits, the quality alone made the case. “It's very high quality. Sometimes with Rembrandt's portraits you feel that he's producing in quantity, but with this painting you really feel that he dedicated his soul to it.”

Rembrandt was just 27 when he created the scene, which depicts the biblical moment when high priest Zacharias is told he and his wife will have a son, John the Baptist. But Rembrandt didn’t handle it the usual way. Instead of showing the Archangel Gabriel outright, he hinted at the presence instead. The museum said this twist broke with visual tradition, choosing the moment just before Gabriel reveals who he is.

It’s also one of the few history paintings from that phase of Rembrandt’s career. At the time, he was mainly focused on portraits, which paid the bills far better. This piece shows just how much ambition he carried even while working in a lucrative sideline.

Starting Wednesday, the painting will finally go on public display. After decades in hiding, it’s stepping back into the light with a story almost as dramatic as the one it depicts.

A Lost Rembrandt Has Just Turned Up, And Experts Say It’s the Real Deal

The Guardian

For years, aspiring filmmakers with physical disabilities faced a painful contradiction at the National Film and Television School: world-class training, but nowhere accessible to live. Some commuted long distances only to find hundreds of areas on campus they couldn’t reach. In an industry where just 12% of television employees are disabled, something had to give.

Now, the NFTS is preparing a major shift. Beginning in 2027, the school will offer nine fully accessible on-campus rooms for the first time, with every living cost covered through a new bursary scheme. For physically disabled students who previously had to choose between their dream school and their basic mobility, it’s a reshaping of the playing field.

Hamish Thompson, the school’s disability advocate, put it plainly: the change will be “massively transformative” for students who’ve been shut out. “Often disabled people are having to choose between studying at a world class institution like this or not studying at all,” he said. “That talent then gets wasted.”

The announcement follows a sweeping accessibility audit that revealed 200 inaccessible areas across the historic Beaconsfield site, the former home of Beaconsfield Film Studios. By the time the new accommodation opens, the school says that number will fall to zero.

Thompson noted that most discussions about disability in film and television focus on performers, not the behind-the-camera roles the NFTS trains for. “Making disabled art is important as well,” he said, arguing that the industry has too often treated accessibility as a cost rather than a foundation.

Changes across the sector helped pave the way. Targeted efforts like the BBC Extend, the rise of access coordinators, and the TV Access Project’s goal of full inclusion by 2030 have shown what progress looks like when it’s resourced. That momentum began accelerating after screenwriter Jack Thorne used his 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival lecture to call disability the “forgotten diversity” and chastise the industry for failing disabled people.

Thorne told the Guardian he’s seen “vast” improvement since his speech, praising broadcasters and pointing to rising representation through Diamond diversity data. He highlighted disabled writers like Kyla Harris and Billy Mager whose work is now reaching wider audiences. But, he added, “We still are nowhere near representative. Spaces need to change everywhere – and attitudes too.”

He called the NFTS “leading the way for what inclusion should look like,” suggesting real industry change depends on schools like this producing more disabled talent. “It’s a numbers game,” he said. “The more the NFTS brings through, the more likely the industry can get close to parity.”

The school’s own numbers tell a story. Since 2021, the percentage of MA students with disabilities has risen from 15% to 26%. Among diploma students, the figure has climbed from 18% to 28%.

The accessible accommodation will sit inside the school’s new Cubby Broccoli Building, named for the legendary James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli. It will increase the campus footprint by a quarter when it opens in January 2027. The building, bursaries, and a new apprenticeship scheme for students from low-income backgrounds are backed by £10 million in government funding matched by private investment.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the government support reflects a simple reality: “Talent is everywhere in this country, opportunity is not.” She argued the UK can only “remain a creative powerhouse” by making sure training institutions are accessible to everyone.

NFTS director Jon Wardle said the school already “outstrips the industry” on inclusion, with 33% of graduates from underrepresented backgrounds. He hopes to expand further into Scotland and Leeds. “There’s a definite commitment,” he said, though he acknowledged that priorities can shift when budgets tighten.

Still, Wardle remains confident that investing in disabled filmmakers isn’t charity – it’s strategy. “The industry funds us to find people and de-risk them,” he said. “The truth about film and TV is it’s incredibly expensive to make.”

What the NFTS is building now, leaders say, is a pipeline that doesn’t leak talent before it reaches the door.

For future students, the change is less about industry statistics and more about something simple: being able to live where they learn. For the first time, disabled filmmakers will arrive on campus knowing the space was designed with them in mind — not as an afterthought, but as a starting point.

A UK Film School is Opening Its Doors With a Fully Accessible Housing Option for Disabled Students

The drive home from Dorset should’ve been a victory cruise. Instead, 16-year-old Ellis Gates spent it wedged between the pieces of a brand-new drum kit — his prize for winning the Zildjian Young Drummer of the Year title.

“They were packed in like boulders crushing me. It was a painful journey!” he joked. Painful or not, it was a small price for a very big moment.

Ellis, from Morden in south London, won the competition on 15 February at the Lighthouse in Poole, outplaying finalists in a contest judged by a heavyweight panel that included Ash Soan. The kit he performed on went home with him — sparkling, adult-sized, and already set up in the garden studio his family converted for him.

A fresh plaque now hangs on the wall: Young Drummer of the Year 2026.

The contest unfolded in three parts. First, a two-minute solo. Then, a month-practiced backing track. And finally, the toughest: accompanying a bassist and guitarist to a piece he had heard only three times that day. Ellis believes his jazz instincts — timing, improvisation, feel — helped him stand out.

“Over the years my main focus has been jazz,” he said. “Bringing that style and rhythm up to the stage, they found really interesting.”

It was a redemption arc, too. Ellis entered the competition last year and didn’t win. That pushed him harder — and so did the growing hole in the bass drum of his junior kit, which he had been holding together with tape.

Music runs deep in the Gates household. Both parents are musicians. His dad, Ben, introduced him to jazz. His mum, Grace, believes music shapes character. “You learn courage, you learn discipline, resilience,” she said.

Those traits were already emerging when Ellis was tiny. His nan bought him a toy drum kit at age two, but Grace spotted the signs even earlier. “When he was a baby he used to shake his whole body to drum beats,” she said. “He’s got to be a drummer.” He also used to beatbox along to Fleetwood Mac, which was a clue.

His first formal lesson was meant to last fifteen minutes. He kept going for an hour.

“Music is literally the most important thing for me ever since I was little,” Ellis said. “When you’re playing the drums, you enter a flow state. I’m not thinking about external things. There’s no need for overthinking — or thinking at all.”

Ellis attends the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy and Trinity School, and dreams of studying in New York to immerse himself in its jazz scene.

Grace, meanwhile, dreams of soundproofing the garden studio. The new kit is louder — significantly louder. But that didn’t stop her from screaming with joy when her son’s name was called. “And can I confess,” she said, “there was a little bit of a tear there!”

From baby beatboxer to Britain’s top young drummer, Ellis’s rhythm has always carried him forward. Now it’s carrying him into a future that seems, well, pretty snare-tight and cymbal-shiny.

Teen Drumming Prodigy Wins Prestigious Contest And Takes Home Coveted Drum Kit

What started as a way for a seven-year-old to earn a bit of pocket money has blossomed — literally — into a family business with its own shop.

Ezra, from Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, first helped his dad, Nathan, make biodegradable flower confetti for their 2024 wedding. When they had extra petals, the family listed them online. Ezra made his first £10 and was hooked.

“He was like, ‘oh, this is amazing,’” Nathan told the BBC.

So the family kept going. Ezra and his five-year-old sister Ivy peeled petals, dried them, packed orders, and watched as demand grew. Before long, the children’s hobby became Ezra’s Confetti, and now the family is preparing to open its first shop in Heanor, Derbyshire.

“It’s fun to peel the petals and besides, if we’re here a whole entire day, we get yummy food like pizza,” Ezra said. Ivy summed up her excitement differently: “It’s great, amazing, brilliant.”

The work is surprisingly hands-on for kids their age. “We’ve got flowers here, we peel them, put them in the dehydrators and then turn them into orders,” Ezra explained proudly. Many of the flowers are donated, and the biodegradable confetti meets the environmental rules now required at many wedding venues.

“Both of the little ones love nature. They love caring for the planet. So it fitted in with all of that as well,” Nathan said.

But beyond sustainability, the family says the project has been a lesson in focus and responsibility. “They know that they've got to work hard because they're making confetti for people's weddings,” Nathan said. “You can't do it half-heartedly. You can't make mistakes. It needs to be perfect.”

Ezra and Ivy say they can’t wait to welcome friends and customers once the renovation is done. They thanked their parents — and their parents’ friends — for helping the business grow.

But when it comes to who’s in charge? Ezra was very clear: “It’s called Ezra’s Confetti and it has my name in it.”

Nathan and stepmum Catherine gently disagreed. The real boss, they said, might actually be Ivy. The five-year-old, they added, is “the most bossy” member of the team.

However, the chain of command shakes out, the message is the same: a small idea, a few petals, and two enthusiastic kids can turn into something pretty special.

This Seven-Year-Old Entrepreneur's Confetti Business is Blooming Into a Family Shop

When 29-year-old Dean Perryman walked into pubs across Essex and London wearing a bright orange sweatshirt, he wasn’t trying to stand out. He was trying to make space — literally — for someone who needed a chat.

What began as a personal act of grief after losing his best friend Rob has now become a worldwide movement against loneliness. In December, Perryman spent every day reserving tables in local pubs and posting his whereabouts online, inviting anyone who wanted company to join him. He called the idea Empty Chairs.

He didn’t expect more than a handful of conversations. Instead, people around the world picked up the idea.

Since launching his website, 400 people have signed up to host meet-ups in Belgium, Canada, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States.

“It’s honestly still so surreal to me,” Perryman said. “I just wanted to do something positive with the grief and the guilt that I was feeling from having lost Rob. To see that it’s resonated with other people has just been incredible.”

The bright orange he wore became the unofficial uniform of the project — a silent signal that a stranger is welcome at the table. In Norway, 48-year-old Thale Kalbakk pulled on an orange jumper for her own event. Their winters, she said, can be cold, dark, and isolating. But the experience moved her.

“The people were so nice. I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I hope I made a difference, because the women I met made a difference for me.”

In Brussels, 32-year-old Belén Luna Sanz has already hosted three gatherings. “I realised that people were feeling quite lonely, even though we had so much social contact,” she said. “It wasn’t enough to talk to people, it was about the connections that we were creating.”

In Switzerland, marketing professional Federico Lamanna, 25, is running groups in Geneva — and setting up more in Bern and Zurich. For him, the cause is deeply personal. Moving between cities left him feeling isolated. “I sort of wish that Empty Chairs existed back then,” he said.

At his first meet-up, no one came. He shrugged it off. “That’s not really the point of Empty Chairs,” he said. The next week, someone did show up — and the two shared what he called “a wonderful, wonderful time.”

In Canada, 55-year-old Jill McFarland turned her table into Andrew’s Empty Chair, a tribute to her husband, who died by suicide in 2020. She wanted a way to honour him, and found Perryman’s story through social media.

“Loneliness is an epidemic in our society for people from all ages and walks of life,” she said. “So if I can go and create space for even one person… maybe they will feel encouraged to talk again.”

One of her attendees was 79 years old — a woman who rarely leaves her house. “She was so glad she did,” McFarland said. “That made my night.”

For Perryman, the movement remains tied to Rob. On what would have been his friend’s 30th birthday, he posted a video reflecting on the project, saying Rob’s parents have been his “biggest supporters.”

“It’s incredible to make a legacy for Rob,” he said, one that brings connection to people facing their own quiet battles with loneliness.

From a few empty chairs in Essex to gatherings across six countries, Perryman’s simple gesture is becoming something much larger: proof that a single saved seat can open the door to a conversation someone desperately needs.

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