Report finds that 72 cases of the disease on the vessel, which was housing asylum seekers, were caused by a wastewater leakA major outbreak of typhoid among asylum seekers living on a ship in the Netherlands has been traced to raw sewage which was allowed to mix with tanks of freshwater for drinking and cooking.A total of 72 cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed during the spring 2022 outbreak on the Liberty Ann, an old cruise ship which was being used as emergency accommodation in Haarlem. Continue reading...
Are you moved to tears by the smallest thing? Do emotions overwhelm you? According to a new book, it may be that you are an HSP just like Nicole Kidman, Lorde and Miranda Hart. Rhik Samadder wonders if he qualifies as one, tooDo strangers sit next to you on the bus and share their secrets? Does art make you cry? Do you feel other people’s feelings? On the other hand, are you prone to being overwhelmed by crowds, bright lights or strong perfume? Bad news – or maybe good. You could be an HSP, a Highly Sensitive Person. The emerging category affects between 15 and 30% of the population, which has some researchers calling it “the missing personality type”.When I encountered the concept on an Instagram post, I felt both irritated and seen. The checklist was a mirror. I am paralysed by overthinking! Beset by self-doubt! A feelings magnet! Sometimes absurdly so: I once found a chewed-up corn cob on the street, took it home and drew a smile on it. Corny sat on my desk for years and whenever I looked at his brave little face – the face I had drawn – I was moved to tears. When I broke up with my girlfriend, we both cried buckets over custody. I’m thinking she was one, too. Continue reading...
Project aims to roll out cheap, easy-to-use technology across the globe to spot emergence of any new health threatsBritish researchers are developing a groundbreaking technology to monitor genetic changes in respiratory viruses as they circulate round the world. The system is to be used to pinpoint dangerous new variants as they emerge and act as an early warning system for new diseases and future pandemics.The team, which is based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, intends to make the technology cheap, easy to use and capable of being scaled up to provide global surveillance of a wide range of viruses. Targets would include influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), coronaviruses and previously unknown pathogens. Continue reading...
Smart thinking, across the boardThis edition of Alex’s Monday Puzzle was published on Sunday in error. We regret the error.Today’s puzzles are about pawns on a chessboard, but they require no expertise at chess. All you need to know is that the queen can move in any direction, for any number of squares. Continue reading...
Critics fear conflict of interest as Novo Nordisk helps medics ‘reduce unnecessary barriers’ to treatment for obesityThe pharmaceutical company that makes Wegovy slimming jabs is funding the expansion of weight-loss services across England as it seeks to boost sales of its obesity drugs, the Observer can reveal.Novo Nordisk is paying the salaries of staff on NHS obesity teams and financing the launch and redesign of services, including giving £206,000 to a health partnership to transform its treatment of obesity. The Danish firm also has financial links to the co-chair of an NHS England weight management advisory group, and paid her almost £50,000 in lecture, consulting and other fees in just two years. Continue reading...
Hayley Myers was worried about relocating back to her home city of Coventry after a decade in London, but she hasn’t looked backDuring those seemingly endless days of working from home in the midst of the first lockdown, we decided that enough was enough. My husband and I were squeezed around the dining table, one eye on our laptops and the other on our restless toddler. Pregnant with our second child, I was excited, intensely nauseous and nervous about how we might cope with a newborn under the current strict social restrictions, and later the extortionate costs of having two children in a nursery.By that point, we had lived in London for almost 15 years and owned a tatty but much-loved flat in Lewisham. Our time there had been a blast, mostly – we were happy in our careers, with a great support network of friends – but somewhere between parenthood and the pandemic, the inconveniences we’d always accepted as part and parcel of city living increasingly gnawed at us. The walls of our windowless bathroom were constantly damp, the ceiling mildewy. The concrete rectangle of our balcony seemed bleak compared to the families we saw on social media splashing in paddling pools in their gardens. The grating creaks of the lift right next to our front door disturbed our sleep all night long. Continue reading...
Three-year-old was on beach in Costa Rica when reptile tried to steal her dessert and bit her handIt could almost be a fable from Aesop, or a story from the Brothers Grimm: the toddler, the lizard and the cake. But for one small child, whose baked treat was snatched by an iguana, it was a tale with a twist.Doctors have revealed that the toddler ended up with an unusual infection after being bitten by the reptile as it tried to steal a bite of cake. Continue reading...
My friend and colleague John Jefferson, who has died aged 75 of Parkinson’s disease, was a distinguished scientist and talented amateur musician. Coming from an unremarkable background, and overcoming early disadvantage, he produced several significant papers in theoretical physics.John’s studies were wide-ranging and included high-temperature superconductors and the fundamental physics of quantum computers. He supervised numerous PhD students and postdoctoral fellows at the Defence, Evaluation and Research Agency (Dera), Malvern, and was a visiting professor at King’s College London, and Lancaster and Oxford universities. Continue reading...
Decision raises fears that company founded by Sir Richard Branson may be on verge of collapseVirgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by the billionaire Sir Richard Branson, is cutting 85% of its workforce after failing to secure fresh funding, raising fears that the firm may be on the brink of collapse.The California-based company said in a US filing that about 675 staff would lose their jobs as part of efforts to cut costs, leaving about 100 employees to run what is left of the business. This was because of an “inability to secure meaningful funding”, the filing explained. Continue reading...
by Donna Lu Matilda Boseley Yuji Shimada on (#6ABTQ)
Thirteen-year vegetarian Matlida Boseley and meat eater Donna Lu taste-test lab-grown cultivated pork meat, which has been grown from the cells of a pig's ear. Magic Valley CEO Paul Bevan assures them that the pig from which the cells came is still very much alive and living out 'its happy, normal life'. Continue reading...
Contrary to depiction in movies like Jurassic Park, scientists now believe T rexes were not ‘toothy lipless things’While T rex is often depicted prowling the landscape while sporting a toothy grin, its fearsome teeth may actually have been concealed behind a pair of thin, scaly lips, research suggests.Experts say the perception that theropods were lipless arose because of the huge size of their teeth, and because their closest living toothed relatives – such as crocodiles and alligators – do not have lips. Continue reading...
Plants can produce staccato pops when they do not have enough water or suffer a sudden wound, which nearby creatures may respond to, scientists have discovered. Humans cannot hear the ultrasonic sounds emitted from plants that may even help shape their ecosystems.Scientists recorded sounds produced by tomato and tobacco plants raised in greenhouses. Healthy plants emitted clicks and pops but the sounds came in far more rapid bursts when the plants were deprived of water or had their stems cut Continue reading...
Thirsty or damaged plants produce up to 50 staccato pops in an hour, which nearby creatures may respond to, researchers findThere comes a time in a plant’s life when the head sags, the leaves go pale and the body releases a barrage of sounds that are the ultrasonic equivalent of stamping on bubble wrap.While any gardener is familiar with the wilting and discoloration that comes with drought, a shortage of water or a sudden wound can also prompt plants to produce staccato pops, which nearby creatures may respond to, scientists say. Continue reading...
The Conservatives are cynically using carbon capture and storage as a get-out-of-jail card for the fossil fuel sectorCrossing fingers and hoping for the best is hardly a sensible way to tackle the climate emergency, but it is a strategy that the government seems determined to follow. Today, it launched its revised net zero plan, which turns out to be more a damp squib than a rocket that will ignite a desperately needed green transformation of the energy landscape. Widely dismissed as half-baked and utterly lacking in ambition, it pledges no new money and most of the initiatives flagged are based on government commitments that have already been touted. The truth is that the entire exercise is a smoke-and-mirrors attempt to conceal the fact that business as usual remains the order of the day.At the heart of the strategy is the intention to unleash a new wave of UK oil and gas exploration – an astonishing and, frankly, dangerous path to take at the height of a climate emergency that is set to deepen year on year, in the absence of massive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The government is attempting to justify the unjustifiable by talking up a technology known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), which seeks to apprehend carbon dioxide (CO) before it gets into the atmosphere and store it underground. Nowhere has CCS been tried and tested at the sort of scale that would be required to cancel out the emissions arising from the proposed dash for more gas and oil.Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL and author of Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant’s Guide Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample with Prof Mahesh Anand, ep on (#6AAKG)
More than half a century after humans last walked on the moon, researchers have made a discovery that makes lunar living an increasing possibility. The moon’s surface is littered with tiny glass beads containing water, which could be extracted and used by visiting astronauts. Ian Sample speaks to Professor Mahesh Anand, part of the team that made the discovery, about where these beads come from and what they mean for future moon missionsRead more reporting on this story here Continue reading...
First study of its kind finds diet can benefit hundreds of millions with obesity, diabetes or other risk factorsA Mediterranean diet can lower the risk of a heart attack, stroke or early death for hundreds of millions of people who have an increased possibility of cardiovascular disease, a global review of evidence suggests.A diet rich in olive oil, nuts, seafood, whole grains and vegetables has previously been linked to a number of benefits, and its effectiveness in helping healthy people to live longer is well known. Continue reading...
Researchers find information about cancer drugs can be lacking and ‘potentially misleading’Cancer drug information leaflets for patients in Europe frequently omit important facts, while some are “potentially misleading” when it comes to treatment benefits and related uncertainties, researchers have found.Cancer is the biggest killer in Europe after heart conditions, with more than 3.7m new cases and 1.9m deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. Continue reading...
Durham University scientists say black hole about 30 billion times the mass of the Sun is first to be found with gravitational lensingAn ultramassive black hole about 30bn times the mass of the Sun has been discovered by astronomers in the UK.Scientists at Durham University said the gargantuan black hole was one of the biggest ever found. The team described their findings, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, as “extremely exciting”. Continue reading...
Astronomers say gamma-ray burst may have been result of star collapsing to form black holeA cosmic explosion that blinded space instruments last year may be the brightest ever seen, according to astronomers.The blast took place 2bn light years from Earth, producing a pulse of intense radiation that swept through the solar system in October last year. Continue reading...
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will briefly appear in a planetary alignment near the crescent moon after sunsetFive planets will align in the night sky for an extraordinary view on Tuesday in a phenomenon dubbed a “planetary parade”.The planets – Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars – will come together on the western horizon, near the crescent moon, for a brief display after sunset. People almost anywhere on Earth with a westerly view and clear skies will be able to catch it. Continue reading...
Bernard Bedford, Dr Andrew Hill and Andrew Scaife respond to an article by Devi Sridhar on the dangers of vaccine scepticism, especially with regard to childrenI wholeheartedly agree with Devi Sridhar’s concern about dwindling childhood protection from infectious diseases (In a sceptical era, understand this: vaccines do work - and our children need them, 27 March). Coming from a small hamlet near Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, I developed measles, mumps, then whooping cough in rapid succession on starting primary school. I spent most of my first four months off school. I was fortunate to join a long queue and receive my first polio vaccine.In 1966, when I was a medical student, my father was appointed to manage the only British Polio Fellowship residential home in the country. I was horrified to find young people there with severe paralysis from the waist down, wholly dependent on carers. There were older residents too, many with grossly swollen ankles. They shared ghastly stories of life in an iron lung during their initial recovery and the anger of their plight now. Continue reading...
Claims that children recover from brain damage faster than adults are misleading, argues David A JohnsonDr Annie Hickox’s letter (Early diagnosis of brain damage is key for recovery, 15 March) confuses the benefits of early diagnosis with the misleading notion that it is better to have your brain damage early in life. This misconception, often referred to mistakenly as the “Kennard principle”, is contrary to established clinical and experimental neuroscience from at least the early 1900s to date.It is beyond doubt that there is an inverse relationship between age and recovery, such that the younger the age, the greater the neurological immaturity and corresponding vulnerability. Development after injury is compromised by the loss of biological capacity, and the presence of aberrant (damaged) brain structure and function. Continue reading...
Toby Green and Thomas Fazi take issue with a critique of their book on the pandemicWe’re grateful that you have brought attention to our book The Covid Consensus through Richard Seymour’s critical commentary (Three years on, there is a new generation of lockdown sceptics – and they’re rewriting history, 23 March), following Larry Elliott’s supportive one last month (The price Britain paid for lockdown was colossal. Was there an alternative?, 12 March). Most readers won’t be shocked that historians do write revisionist histories, or that narratives are more complex than the ones initially cohered around by political elites. When has “history” ever been different?Seymour claims that capitalism was suspended for a while during the Covid response – which would be news to the world’s billionaires, whose wealth increased by over $4tn in 2020 alone. His critique takes no account of our book’s structural critique of neoliberal capitalism. Meanwhile, his claim that we “minimise” Covid ignores our criticism of treatments of the disease – and our concern that, by crowding people together, lockdown policies made the pandemic impacts far worse for poorer people around the world. Continue reading...
Researchers believe egg was used by likes of Botticelli and Da Vinci for fine-tuning of oil paint propertiesIt pays to go to work on an egg when painting with oils, researchers have found, as the addition of yolk can prevent wrinkling, yellowing and problems with humidity.The use of egg as a binding medium for pigments, a form of paint known as egg tempera, has a long history, turning up in works including the mural paintings of the Palace of Nestor in Pylos, dating to 1200BC. Continue reading...
Nasa grants last-minute reprieve to invaluable climate and biodiversity scanner on International Space Station, due to be incinerated in Earth’s atmosphereNasa has extended the life of a key climate and biodiversity sensor for scanning the world’s forests which was set to be destroyed in Earth’s atmosphere.The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (Gedi) mission – pronounced like Jedi in Star Wars – was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2018, and has provided the first 3D map of the world’s forests. Continue reading...
by Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington on (#6A85G)
Recent auroras have been so intense they have been visible as far north as AucklandThe lure of unusually vibrant views of the southern lights in New Zealand has prompted aurora-hunters to drive for hours through the night to capture the “elusive” sight on camera, with social media groups devoted to swapping tips growing in size.The aurora australis is always more visible in New Zealand and Australian skies during autumn and winter – beginning in March in the southern hemisphere – but this month, the southern lights have been more visible than usual, analysts say. Auroras – beautiful light shows in the night sky – are seen when sunspots erupt, causing solar storms which send material from the sun towards Earth. Continue reading...
Dr Peter Attia is an expert on longevity and preventative medicine. He explains how sleep, weight training and other incremental changes can make us much more resilientTwenty years ago, Peter Attia was working as a trainee surgeon at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, where he saved countless people facing what he calls “fast death”. “I trained in a very, very violent city,” he tells me. “We were probably averaging 15 or 16 people a day getting shot or stabbed. And, you know, that’s when surgeons can save your life. We’re really good at that.”What got to him, he says, were the people he treated who were in the midst of dying much more slowly. “All the people with cardiovascular disease, all the people with cancer: we were far less effective at saving those people. We could delay death a little bit, but we weren’t bending the arc of their lives.” Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Linda Geddes, p on (#6A843)
Madeleine Finlay hears from science correspondent Linda Geddes about her experience becoming a faecal transplant donor, how getting a dose of someone else’s gut bacteria could treat illnesses like arthritis, diabetes and cancer, and asks whether a pill made from poo is an idea we are ready to swallow Continue reading...
by Presented by Michael Safi with Ian Sample and Flor on (#6A81Y)
Three years after much of the world was forced into Covid lockdowns, the precise origins of the virus are still hazy, and the hunt is bringing scientists into confrontation with political forces that many are not prepared for
Finding from lunar soil samples is important breakthrough for hopes of building bases on the moonTiny glass beads strewn across the moon’s surface contain potentially billions of tonnes of water that could be extracted and used by astronauts on future lunar missions, researchers say.The discovery is thought to be one of the most important breakthroughs yet for space agencies that have set their sights on building bases on the moon, as it means there could be a highly accessible source of not only water but also hydrogen and oxygen. Continue reading...
In the northern hemisphere, our natural satellite and the red planet will be high in the sky and unmistakableAfter the moon’s appearance with Jupiter and Venus last week, it is the turn of Mars to receive a visit from our nearest celestial neighbour. It is a week since new moon and Earth’s natural satellite will be 47%-illuminated on 28 March, and 2.3 degrees – or roughly five lunar diameters – away from the red planet, as seen in the skies from Earth.The chart shows the view looking southwest from London at 8pm BST on 28 March. Both the moon and Mars will be high in the sky, and unmistakable. If you saw the conjunction a few weeks ago between the moon and Antares, remember how that star shines with a ruby-red appearance, and contrast it with the baleful glow of Mars. Somehow, the planet feels altogether more forbidding. Continue reading...
The row over whether the pandemic started with a lab leak is growing. But the most important question is what we do nowWe may never know for certain how a disease that brought the world to a standstill and has killed almost 7 million people emerged. While many experts believe that Covid-19 arose through human contact with infected animals, most likely via a wet market in Wuhan, China, a significant number believe it probably escaped from the city’s Institute of Virology. Others retain an open mind. But politics has turbocharged a scientific question. Donald Trump hyped the lab leak theory without evidence; yet some scientists fear that, in the haste to challenge xenophobic buck-passing that was fuelling anti-Asian hate crime, others may have been too quick to dismiss entirely a genuine possibility.The simmering, rancorous debate began heating up again late last month when it emerged that the US Department of Energy had concluded, though with “low confidence”, that a lab escape was probably to blame. The FBI agrees, while four other US agencies blame natural spillover and two – including the CIA – remain undecided. Then, a new analysis of gene sequences taken from swabs from the market showed that some Covid-positive samples were rich in DNA from raccoon dogs, bolstering the case that it began through infected animals sold at the site. As the row gathers pace, Joe Biden has ordered the release of intelligence on the pandemic’s origins.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Earth’s gravity makes it harder to cultivate the proteins needed to study diseases and pathogens. And although the cost of space travel is high, private enterprise is stepping inIn a small lab, squeezed into the corner of a skyscraper in downtown Tel Aviv, Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Yamin is proudly holding what he calls “a little James Bond-style suitcase factory, powered by the sun”.As with many of 007’s finest contraptions, initial impressions are inauspicious. But in the past four years, these little metal boxes, coated in solar panels, have repeatedly blasted into orbit on the back of a SpaceX rocket, bringing groundbreaking new insights back to Earth for things ranging from the behaviour of leukaemia cells to the best ways of generating lab-grown steak. Continue reading...
Two married therapists reveal 10 ways to improve the many highs and lows of your love lifeWhen couples get together, there is often the unspoken expectation that you will remain the same as you were on those first dates. An assumption that your level of curiosity, generosity, adaptability and interest will endure, or even increase, throughout your relationship. Even though we all know fairytales are dangerous, there’s a pervading myth that we can find our “one” or “soul mate” and have a problem-free happy-ever-after. This belief can create an underlying disappointment where expectations are unmet. In reality, relationships are intrinsically challenging.We have been together for 25 years and the ups and downs of our journey have taught us not only that these low points are typical, but that the repair process can build trust and deepen intimacy. Through the difficulties we faced, we sought help in therapy, and now we both work as relationship therapists. Here is some of the tried and tested advice we use, as a couple and in our work, to get through hard times. Continue reading...
Expert urges greater monitoring of side-effect of drug used to treat depression, psychosis and schizophreniaPatients who are prescribed a common antipsychotic used to treat depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia need to be told there is a risk they could develop a gambling addiction, an expert has warned.The National Problem Gambling Clinic has observed growing numbers of patients who have developed a gambling addiction after starting to take aripiprazole. Some patients have lost huge sums of money as a result and seen their relationships fall apart. Continue reading...
Prof Nita Farahany argues in her new book, The Battle for Your Brain, that intrusions into the mind are so close that lawmakers should enact protectionsPrivate thoughts may not be private for much longer, heralding a nightmarish world where political views, thoughts, stray obsessions and feelings could be interrogated and punished all thanks to advances in neurotechnology.Or at least that is what one of the world’s leading legal ethicists of neuroscience believes. Continue reading...
Businesses want to trawl for nickel, manganese and cobalt to build electric cars and windfarmsAn investigation by conservationists has found evidence that deep-seabed mining of rare minerals could cause “extensive and irreversible” damage to the planet.The report, to be published on Monday by the international wildlife charity Fauna & Flora, adds to the growing controversy that surrounds proposals to sweep the ocean floor of rare minerals that include cobalt, manganese and nickel. Mining companies want to exploit these deposits – which are crucial to the alternative energy sector – because land supplies are running low, they say. Continue reading...
Researchers identify ‘microbe signature’ found to be in infants who went on to develop disease in childhood or adolescenceBacteria in the gut of one-year-old infants could be used to predict their chances of developing type 1 diabetes in later life, scientists have announced. The disease most often occurs in children and adolescents and is triggered by the body’s immune system when it attacks and destroys insulin-making cells in the pancreas.“Our findings indicate that the gut of infants who go on to develop type 1 diabetes is notably different from healthy babies, and that several microbial biomarkers associated with future disease may be present as early as one year,” said the co-lead author of the study, Dr Malin Bélteky of the Crown Princess Victoria’s Children’s Hospital, Linköping, Sweden. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Surgeons raise concerns that people using jabs are unaware of risks of redundant skinFrom unbearable side-effects to cravings curbed: readers on weight-loss jabsA surge in the number of people using slimming jabs to lose weight could lead to a rise in patients travelling abroad for tummy tucks or other surgery to remove excess skin, surgeons have said.Drugs such as liraglutide and semaglutide, which could help people reduce their weight by more than 10%, have been approved for use on the NHS for certain groups of people with obesity, although supplies of the latter under the brand name Wegovy have yet to arrive in the UK. Continue reading...
Chief scientist told former incumbent Sir David King the similarity would lead to mixed messagingThe government’s chief scientist warned a former incumbent not to confuse the public during the Covid pandemic by naming an independent expert panel after the group convened to advise ministers on the crisis.Sir Patrick Vallance revealed the clash in an interview at the Institute for Government on Friday, where he also said he would have told the former prime minister Boris Johnson that the Covid rules were meant to be followed by all. Continue reading...
Act opens door to technology being used to create cats and dogs with extreme features, says charityPets could be subjected to gene editing under a new government act, the RSPCA has warned.The animal charity has said that the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act applies to all vertebrate animals, not only farmed animals, and that it could lead to cats and dogs being gene-edited to include extreme features. Continue reading...
Scientists test device that can monitor and stimulate burns, diabetic ulcers and non-healing surgical woundsA smart bandage that can monitor chronic wounds and help them to heal has been developed by scientists who say the device could aid people with diabetic ulcers, burns and non-healing surgical wounds.According to figures from 2018, there are 2.2 million people in the UK with chronic wounds, costing the NHS £5.3bn a year. Continue reading...
Travel, meditation, training and exposure to culture have a greater effect on artistic outputFrom Hunter S Thompson’s infamous daily pre-writing routine of cocaine, Chivas Regal and acid to Vincent Van Gogh’s love for absinthe and Andy Warhol’s prescription drugs habit, the idea that drugs and alcohol produce great art is deeply culturally ingrained.Yet researchers have found this is likely to be myth – many drugs, including alcohol, amphetamines and psilocybin (magic mushrooms), do not inspire creativity. Instead, they say travel, exposure to culture, meditation and training programmes are more effective. Continue reading...
Plus, a fresh perspective on the origin of time, Lord Pannick cracks, and happiness is a life lived in FinlandJon Snow must have exceptional reserves of stamina. In an interview with Saga, the 75-year-old news presenter has been talking about becoming a father again two years ago. He feels completely at ease with a toddler around the house, he says. Almost as if the whole experience is stress free and there has been no discernible disruption to his routine. Continue reading...
Innovation in agricultural sector is needed if cities are to solve air pollution problems, say scientistsA study reveals that farming is responsible for more than a quarter of the particle pollution in UK cities.UK agriculture created 38% of the particle pollution in Leicester, 32% in Birmingham and 25% in London in 2019, according to the study. In each case the contribution from rural agriculture was greater than all of the sources within the cities themselves. Continue reading...
Langstone, Hampshire: The pond is almost devoid of life, apart from several of these greenish-grey segmented worms burrowed into the silt at the bottomMy wildlife pond has been leaking and, after several unsuccessful attempts at patching it up, the race was on to replace the liner before the smooth newts return to breed. Twenty-five years ago, I planted a single yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) in the shallows. While it is a British native, it’s an invasive species and has taken over my modest two-metre-diameter pond, sprawling out of its planting basket, self-seeding into the silt. The thick mat of fleshy rhizomes – some as thick as my wrist – has smothered the more delicate plants such as miniature bulrushes, water mint and water forget-me-not, and displaced much of the water, leaving the pond almost devoid of life.After hacking through the irises and baling out the water, I hadn’t found a single dragonfly or damselfly larvae, pond snail or water beetle. The only remaining residents were horse leeches (Haemopis sanguisuga), and plenty of them. Several of these greenish-grey segmented worms had burrowed into the silt at the bottom, while others were hidden in the folds of the liner. While the majority of leeches inhabit fresh water, horse leeches are only semi-aquatic, and more were lurking beneath the pebbles on the pondside beach. Continue reading...
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