Bog beetles finally reveal their remarkable age
BBC
28th January, 2021 12:05:53
It s amazing what treasures are tucked away in the collections of London s Natural History Museum - some not fully recognised yet even by the curators.
Take the example of two beetles wedged in the grooves of a piece of oak that was dug from a peat bog in the 1970s.
The insects were donated to the London institution by a farmer concerned they might be an invasive species. They weren t, and so were put in a drawer.
Only now have they been examined and shown to be nearly 4,000 years old.
Down Memory Lane: Dam-builder extraordinaire helped defend Suez Canal by Bill McAllister By Contributor Published: 07:30, 24 January 2021
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Pictured from the International Space Station, the Aswan Dam in Egypt separates Lake Nasser from the Nile River. Picture: NASA/Wikimedia Commons
This year marks the centenary of Invernessâs civil engineering icon Sir Murdoch MacDonald ending his 23-year connection with the Egyptian government as an expert on major dams and irrigation projects.
He would go on to be MP for Inverness â and to persuade the secretary of state for Scotland to issue an order to protect the Loch Ness Monster!
Bassist and vocalist
Marko Hietala has announced he is leaving the successful symphonic metal band Nightwish.
In an announcement issued on Tuesday the 54-year-old Hietala cited his own issues with depression as well as disappointment in the music industry s corporate demands and dwindling profits. Dear people. I am leaving Nightwish and my public life. For quite a few years now I haven t been able to feel validated by this life, he wrote.
Story continues after tweet. This past year forced me to stay home and think. And I found myself very disillusioned about these and a lot of things. I found out that I am in need of that validation. For me to write, sing and play, I need to find some new reasons and inspirations. My Walden so to speak. And it s even in my book that I m a chronic depressive, the musician wrote on the band s official website.