- A 75-year-old man said he spent 13 years crafting a boring hedge into a giant dragon. The mystical dragon is nearly fifty metres long and three metres high, attracting lots of visitors and local walkers who admire the fairytale creation. John Brooker spends up to three days every two to three weeks trimming, to keep it looking fiery and realistic. He said: “I was standing at my kitchen sink one day and thought the hedge was boring so decided to do something with it.”
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- Birds, bats and flying snakes are some of the animals inspiring scientists creating the next generation of drones. A drone is an aircraft with no pilot on board and is operated remotely. They’re often by used by the military. In the past drones haven’t been able to fly around built-up cities or avoid obstacles such as wind turbines, like insects and birds can. But scientists hope the new designs – with bird-like claws and mechanical bat wings – won’t have that problem. One of the scientists – Dr Mirko Kovac from Imperial College London – says the new drones could help human’s sense pollution, protect wildlife and improve search and rescue missions.
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- A group of African children whose bodies are naturally immune to malaria is helping scientists search for a vaccine against the disease. American researchers found that the kids, from Tanzania, produce in their body a special disease-fighting substance – an antibody – that fights the malaria parasite. To see if it worked on others, scientists injected a form of the antibody into some mice. They found the mice became much better protected from the disease than other mice. The antibody attacks the malaria parasite at an important stage in its growth, trapping it and stopping it spreading through the body. Scientists now want to carry out these tests in other animals and humans to see whether the discovery could lead to a vaccine for malaria being made.
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- Dramatic photos show the London Shard – the tallest building in Western Europe – being struck by lightning during heavy storms. Standing at a massive 310m (1,016ft), the 87 storey building took several lightning bolts during the short storm. Tall buildings often attract lightning but have safety features built into them, meaning the electricity is diverted harmlessly straight into the Earth.
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- SETI astronomers have told the US Congress that the search for extraterrestrial life is “plausible and warrants scientific inquiry”. Dan Werthimer and Seth Shostak of the SETI Research Center at the University of California showed evidence to the House Committee and revealed that the evidence has steadily mounted over the last fifty years that the components and conditions we believe necessary for life are common and perhaps ubiquitous in our galaxy.