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Fast-moving Norte Fire burns homes and forces 16,000 to flee in Orange County
A wind-driven wildfire that ignited near San Clemente, California, on Friday has destroyed at least six homes, forced around 16,000 residents to evacuate and grown to 570 acres, with containment reaching 25% by Saturday evening.
New Dinosaur Species Identified from Century-Old Isle of Wight Fossil
A fossil skull fragment found on the Isle of Wight in 1924 and overlooked in a museum drawer for nearly a century has been identified as a new dinosaur species — Europe's first megaraptoran.
Minister Urges England to Save Water as Severe Drought Hits Southern Counties
The government has urged people across England to save water after severe drought was declared across parts of southern England following months of exceptionally low rainfall and the hottest summer on record.
97% of northern Barrier Reef coral has died following bleaching event
Scientists using high-tech drone footage found at least 97% of corals dead on North Point Reef near Lizard Island within three months — one of the worst bleaching events the Great Barrier Reef has ever suffered.
Green sea turtle migrates huge distance in Indian Ocean
A green sea turtle fitted with a satellite tag swam 3,979 km from the Chagos Islands to the coast of Somalia — believed to be the furthest migration ever recorded for the species — and exposed the limits of marine protected areas.
The Vikings who reached the Americas 500 years before Columbus
Around the year 1000 — nearly five centuries before Columbus sailed — Norse seafarers crossed the North Atlantic and set foot in North America, leaving a camp at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, that archaeologists uncovered in 1960.
Northern Lights illuminate skies across the UK after powerful solar eruptions
The aurora borealis lit up skies across the UK over the weekend of 9–10 October after a burst of solar activity, with sightings reported as far south as Devon, Hampshire and Kent — and the Met Office says more displays could follow until Tuesday.
The US Homes Built From Rice Husks
Rice husks, one of the world's most stubborn agricultural waste products, are being repurposed as a durable construction material — from panel boards in Utah ski condos to decking, paint and experimental low-carbon cement.
Forever Chemicals at Former Oxfordshire Fuel Depot ‘Have Been Removed’
Barrels of 1988 firefighting foam have been removed from the former Islip fuel depot in Oxfordshire, but campaigners and the site's developer disagree sharply on the scale of PFAS ‘forever chemical’ contamination.
The Radical Idea That Temperature Sets When We Sleep
Forget everything you thought you knew about the bedtime signal: emerging research suggests your body's thermostat — not just light — helps decide when you sleep, with warm hands and feet acting as a crucial sleep switch.
'Foreign Imports Are Hurting Our Strawberries,' Says Leading British Grower
Bal Padda, who runs the 150-acre Vicarage Nurseries in Worcestershire, says supermarkets are choosing imported fruit over British-grown strawberries — even though a climate-extended growing season means UK farms can pick for weeks longer than they used to.
UK Bluefin Tuna Comeback Shows Nature Can Recover, Says WWF
Bluefin tuna have returned to UK waters in huge numbers after being largely wiped out by the 1960s — one of several recoveries highlighted in WWF's Living Planet Report 2026, which warns global wildlife populations have fallen 73% since 1970.
Chemistry Nobel Awarded for Solving Mystery of Life's Asymmetry
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has gone to France's Henri B. Kagan and Japan's Kenso Soai for solving how chemical reactions can favour a single mirror-image molecule — a breakthrough underpinning modern drug design.
