NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s average salary rose 3.4% on opening day to a record $5.34 million, according to a study by The Associated Press, and the New York Mets topped spending at the season’s start for the fourth straight year.

Mets outfielder Juan Soto is the highest-paid player for the second consecutive season at $61.9 million and was followed by New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger at $42.5 million.

Philadelphia pitcher Zack Wheeler and Mets third baseman Bo Bichette tied for third at $42 million. Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was fifth at $40.2 million, just ahead of Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge at $40 million.

The Mets’ payroll of $352.2 million was just below the record $355.4 million they set in 2023 and up from $322.6 million last year. The Mets’ total is more than five times that of Cleveland, the lowest-spending team at $62.3 million.

The two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were second at $316.6 million, down from $319.5 million last year. The Dodgers’ total would be $395.2 million if deals for nine players with deferred money had not been discounted to present-day value. The Mets have deals with deferred money with just three players and their total would be $360 million without discounting.

MLB’s average of $5,335,966 increased from $5,160,245 at the start of last season and has risen 28% under the five-year collective bargaining agreement that expires in December, an average of 5.6% annually.

The top five spenders were unchanged from last year, with the Yankees third ($297.2 million), followed by Philadelphia ($282 million) and Toronto ($269 million).

Six clubs had $250 million payrolls, up from four; and 10 teams had $200 million payrolls, an increase from nine.

Eight teams were under $100 million, up from five.

Detroit had the biggest increase, up $64.2 million to $206.7 million after signing pitcher Framber Valdez, re-signing Gleyber Torres with a qualifying offer and giving a big raise to ace Tarik Skubal via arbitration. Atlanta increased by $44.1 million, and the Chicago Cubs, Toronto and the Mets by just under $30 million.

Minnesota slashed payroll by $46.3 million from opening day last year to $96.5 million.

St. Louis cut its opening day payroll from $141.5 million to $100.4 million. The Cardinals’ spending includes $44 million it is paying Arizona and Boston as part of trades to get rid of Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, plus just under $3.4 million to Arenado as the present-day value of a $6 million assignment bonus that originally had been deferred money owed in his contract and remains payable by the Cardinals in 2040 and ’41.

Other teams with big cuts included the Guardians ($40.2 million), Texas ($37.3 million) and Washington ($23.3 million).

Payrolls include the 942 players on opening day rosters and injured lists. They do not include players on the restricted list such as Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, Atlanta outfielder Jurickson Profar and Philadelphia outfielder Johan Rojas.

They also don’t reflect players who started the season assigned to minor league teams such as Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim and Toronto pitcher Yariel Rodríguez.

Baseball’s median salary, the point at which an equal number of players are above and below, rose to $1.4 million from $1.35 million and remained below the record high of $1.65 million at the start of 2015. Active rosters expanded to 26 players in 2021.

Average and median salaries decline over the course of the season as veterans are released and replaced by younger players making closer to the minimum. MLB calculated the 2025 final average at $4.61 million and the players’ association at $4.72 million.

There were 519 players earning $1 million or more, at 55% the same as last year.

Nineteen players earned $30 million or more, an increase of four; 74 were at $20 million, up from 66; and 168 at $10 million, down from 177.

Thirty-one players made the $780,000 minimum.

The top 50 players make 30% of the salaries, up from 29% in the prior two years, and the top 100 earn 49%, up from 48% last year.

The AP’s figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. Payroll figures factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts and termination pay for released players.

MLB’s payrolls are based on 40-man rosters and fluctuate each day depending on roster moves.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon reeled Thursday after the deadliest day in more than five weeks of renewed war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, as rescue workers in Beirut and elsewhere searched for survivors and Israel warned of escalation.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned that continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses,” while insisting that a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war extended to Lebanon. Israel has disagreed.

Israeli strikes on Wednesday without warning killed at least 203 people and wounded more than 1,000, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Israel’s military said it targeted Hezbollah sites, but several strikes hit densely packed commercial and residential areas during rush hour, leading to widespread civilian casualties. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the attacks “barbaric.”

Israeli strikes continued targeting southern Lebanon on Thursday. Israel also said it had killed an aide and nephew of Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, Ali Yusuf Harshi, in the strikes. Hezbollah did not immediately comment.

In Beirut, people waited anxiously on the ragged edges of search and rescue work, covering their faces from the dust. Exhausted firefighters sat on a charred car amid collapsed buildings.

Lebanese Civil Defense spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press that a wounded woman was found alive under the rubble overnight in the seaside neighborhood of Ain Mreisseh, and a man was found alive in his collapsed apartment building in the southern suburbs.

Mohammad Chehab, a Syrian man from Deir el-Zour, said six of his 10 family members had been found dead in a destroyed building.

“They’ve been searching all day” for the rest, he said.

At hospitals, survivors and doctors described the carnage.

“I thought I was dead. What happened? A big flash of light struck my face and eyes and I found someone flying over and landing next to me. He was dead,” said Rabee Koshok from his bed at Makassed hospital in Beirut. He had been in the commercial district of Corniche al Mazraa when a strike hit a nearby building.

Dr. Wael Jarrosh said the hospital had received around 70 injured patients within 10 minutes of the blasts. Two people died and five remain hospitalized, including three in intensive care, Jarrosh said.

“This has destroyed us psychologically,” the doctor added. “We have to stay prepared so that we can serve our families and the injuries that come in.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said strikes would proceed “with force, precision and determination.” Israel’s military has accused Hezbollah members of moving out of the group’s main areas of influence in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, and blending into civilian areas.

The Israeli army has also launched a ground invasion in the border region. The death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,739, the health ministry said, with 5,873 wounded.

Meanwhile, the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria returned to service Thursday, five days after the Israeli military warned of plans to strike it, alleging that Hezbollah was using it to smuggle military equipment. Lebanese and Syrian authorities denied the claim.

More than 200,000 people have fled Lebanon into Syria since the war resumed.

___

Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press journalists Kareem Chehayeb and Hussein Malla in Beirut and Ghaith AlSayed in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, contributed to this report.

Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a domestic storm over the two-week ceasefire with Iran, with critics accusing him of presiding over “the worst political disaster in history”.

The Israeli prime minister has sparked backlash from parties across the country’s political spectrum for choosing not to continue the conflict alongside Donald Trump.

There is also growing international outcry over ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanon, that as of Thursday had killed 1,700 people, including 130 children. Western countries have insisted Lebanon must be part of the ceasefire, while Tehran claimed that attacks on the country represented a “grave violation” of the agreement.

The developments have sparked outrage among Israeli politicians, who have urged Netanyahu to continue the war. Opposition leader Yair Lapid branded the Israeli PM’s handling of the conflict a catastrophe.

“There has never been such a political disaster in all of our history,” he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made concerning the core of our national security.”

He praised the military for carrying out “everything that was asked of it” and the public for demonstrating “amazing resilience”, but said they had both been let down by Netanyahu due to what he called the leader’s “arrogance, negligence and lack of strategic planning”.

Lapid’s criticism was repeated by former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who said Israel’s failure to achieve its war goals would leave it “facing a vengeful Iran.”

“The reason why so many people feel disappointed tonight is that the leadership sold us illusions,” he said in a live broadcast on Wednesday.

“All their empty promises have exploded in our faces. Unfortunately, each of us sees with our own eyes that Hamas is getting stronger. Hezbollah and Iran are standing on their own two feet, and this is happening because a government that dismantles Israel from within cannot defeat the enemy from without.”

Yair Golan, centre-left politician and the head of the Democrats party, accused Netanyahu of lying.

“He promised a ‘historic victory’ and security for generations, and in practice, we got one of the gravest strategic failures Israel has known,” he said in a post on X, adding: “Blood was spilled … brave citizens killed (and) soldiers fell … none of the goals were accomplished.”

“The nuclear program was not destroyed; the ballistic threat remains; the regime is in place and is even stronger coming out of this war,” he continued.

Netanyahu’s education minister Yoav Kisch hit back his critics, accusing them of “pumping up a defeat that’s echoed in the enemy’s media outlets”.

The Israeli PM has also faced growing international outcry over the IDF’s campaign in Lebanon, which aid agencies warn has created a humanitarian catastrophe. Over 250 people have been killed in 24 hours in the deadliest attacks on the country since the conflict began.

More than 100 sites were targeted in 10 minutes on Wednesday and more than a million people (20 per cent of the population) has been displaced since the war began in February.

Despite a ceasefire being agreed on Wednesday, Netanyahu and the White House said that the 14-day truce does not apply to Lebanese territory – a key demand for Tehran.

But Netanyahu and the White House said that the ceasefire does not apply to Lebanese territory.

Israel says it must continue its attacks in order to defeat Hezbollah, an Iran-backed proxy group. However, large numbers of civilians have been killed so far and humanitarian groups have warned there are similarities to the IDF’s campaign in Gaza.

Spain, France and the UK have all called for the ceasefire to be extended to Lebanon.

Britain’s foreign minister Yvette Cooper called for the country to be “urgently included” and called Israel’s attacks “highly damaging” on Thursday, following similar comments by French president Emmanuel Macron.

The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas criticised the number of civilian deaths in Lebanon and said it was becoming “hard to argue that such heavy-handed actions fall within self-defence”.

Trump has also come under fire in Israel for agreeing a ceasefire.

“Donald, you came off as a duck,” said the far-right head of the country’s National Security Committee, Tzvika Foghel in a since-deleted post on X.

The head of the conservative Yisrael Beytenu party, Avigdor Liberman, said the agreement with Iran “gives the ayatollah’s regime a break and time to regroup.”

“Any agreement with Iran, without giving up on destroying Israel, enriching uranium, manufacturing ballistic missiles and supporting terror groups in the region, means we’ll return to another war in harder conditions with a heavier price,” he wrote on X.

The conflict in Iran – but also the war in Ukraine – show not only that AI is radically changing the economics of war (which may be good news), but also that we may be heading towards some kind of “Chernobyl moment”. We may soon experience a disaster that will force us to belatedly realise we should have drawn up some shared rules to govern a technological development that we ourselves triggered.

Even Dario Amodei, the founder of AI company Anthropic, who seems passionate about taking action to prevent Armageddon, acknowledges that he doesn’t have the answer we desperately need.

One of the most interesting attempts to regulate the use of artificial intelligence may have been the one drafted during the second world war by a PhD student at Columbia University who was then temporarily employed by the US Navy. His name was Isaac Asimov, and in his early short story Runaround (1941), he postulated three laws that are still surprisingly inspiring for anyone thinking about how to solve the intellectual and political problem that is AI in warfare.

Unlike recent attempts by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the EU to draw up regulations, Asimov’s laws are admirably concise. They state that a robot (what we now call an “artificially intelligent agent”) shall never harm a human being (or allow harm to happen through inaction. It shall always obey the orders given by humans unless they conflict with the first prohibition. And it will always protect its existence unless this conflicts with the first and second provisions.

In his story, Asimov himself shows how the three laws can create internal contradictions, leading to paralysis. And yet, Asimov’s three principles can still be useful as a starting point for the strategy we now need.

Anthropic takes a ‘stance’

The biggest merit of the note Dario Amodei wrote recently on the perils of a technology which is still in its adoloscence is the acknowledgement that Anthropic, the firm that Amodei founded, is using its own large language model (called Claude) to develop further versions of itself.

Artificial intelligence is generating even more intelligent robots and this brings us near to that “singularity” first theorised by the great mathematician John von Neumann – the moment when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and renders us irrelevant. If the technology is an adolescent, it is growing very fast and will soon be out of the control of its creator.

Amodei does not, however, appear to have a concrete proposal on how to manage this problem. He has said that Anthropic’s contracts with the US Department of War should never include the use of the company’s models for empowering either “mass domestic surveillance” or “fully autonomous weapons”.

It is a request that has brought Anthropic into a bitter dispute with the US government. And yet it seems a rather narrow response that covers just one dimension of a much wider problem. Amodei focuses predominantly on the safety of US citizens when it is people elsewhere in the world who are currently most affected by the use of autonomous weapons. We need a bolder vision – and Asimov’s intuitions may help.

New rules

One approach would be to ask all developers of AI models to introduce in their foundational codes three simple and bold commands along the lines of: “You will never kill a human being (unless for self-defence)”; “you will always try to work for the betterment of mankind (unless such a provision entails the violation of the first command)”; “when you doubt that your actions may violate the first or the second commands, you will choose inaction and ask what to do”.

Most likely, this initiative will have to come from a group of countries following a pattern similar to the treaties of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. And it would be good to have a debate on some new ideas before we are forced to do so by some AI-empowered nuclear unintended consequence.

Like all other attempts to regulate a future that we still cannot even envisage, the three commands will have some drawbacks. A robot may have refused to kill Iran’s former leader Ali Khamenei, but that may be a price worth paying if it means we can avoid setting a precedent for other discretionary and dangerous interpretations. Robots may not always be successful at identifying human beings (as Asimov himself acknowledged in later writing) and yet this may well be one of those intellectually fascinating problems that models born to make sense of human language will solve.

More importantly, it will take not only information but a lot of wisdom to understand what is good for humankind. Robots may end up sitting frequently idle waiting for instructions. And yet efficiency is not a religion we have to follow when the challenge is about the survival of our species. Making sense of what increasingly appears to be one of the greatest technological revolutions of all time requires careful thought and forward planning.

It’s one of the world’s most famous octopus that turned out not to be an octopus at all.

This 300-million-year-old fossil was thought to be the earliest known example of one of the eight-legged sea-dwellers, and even features in the Guinness Book of Records.

But in what amounts to a prehistoric case of mistaken identity, the preserved creature turns out to be an entirely new species.

The sample’s true nature, hidden because of decay before fossilisation began, was revealed after researchers used synchrotron imaging to search inside the rock.

A University of Reading team discovered tiny teeth, which proved that Pohlsepia mazonensis was not an octopus at all. Instead it is most closely related to a modern nautilus – a multi-tentacled animal with an external shell.

This revelation, shared in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, solves a long-running puzzle in the understanding of octopus evolution that has confused scientists for decades.

It also provides evidence of the oldest nautiloid soft tissue preservation known in the fossil record and means that the record-holding ‘oldest octopus’ should be quietly removed from of the Guinness Book of Records.

Dr Thomas Clements, lead author and lecturer in Invertebrate Zoology at the University of Reading, said: ‘It turns out the world’s most famous octopus fossil was never an octopus at all.

‘It was a nautilus relative that had been decomposing for weeks before it became buried and later preserved in rock, and that decomposition is what made it look so convincingly octopus-like.

‘Scientists identified Pohlsepia as an octopus 25 years ago, but using modern techniques showed us what was beneath the surface to the rock, which finally cracked the case.

‘We now have the oldest soft tissue evidence of a nautiloid ever found, and a much clearer picture of when octopuses actually first appeared on Earth.

‘Sometimes, reexamining controversial fossils with new techniques reveals tiny clues that lead to really exciting discoveries.’

Found in Illinois, the first analysis of the fossil was published in 2000 and was later used in studies of how octopuses and their relatives evolved.

Scientists thought the fossil showed eight arms, fins, and other features typical of an octopus, pushing back the known history of octopuses by around 150 million years.

Doubts had been raised about the identification for years, but without a clear way to test them until recently.

The scientists in the new study used synchrotron imaging – a technique that uses beams of light brighter than the sun – to scan for structures invisible to the eye beneath the surface, revealing hidden details inside the rock.

They likened the process to giving a 300-million-year-old suspect a modern forensic examination.

What they found was a radula, a ribbon-like feeding structure with rows of teeth only found in molluscs.

With at least 11 tooth-like elements per row, the shape and number ruled out an octopus entirely. Octopuses have seven or nine, while nautiloids have 13.

The teeth matched those of a fossil nautiloid called Paleocadmus pohli, already known from the same site where it was found, and the researchers concluded the animal had partially rotted before fossilisation, causing it to look very different from its true self.

The nautilus is a shelled sea creature still alive today, with its ancient origins leading some to describe it as a ‘living fossil’.

The Paleocadmus fossils found at the Mazon Creek site in Illinois now represent the oldest known nautiloid soft tissue in the fossil record – beating the previous record by around 220 million years.

These findings change the picture of when octopuses first evolved. The data now supports octopuses appearing much later, during the Jurassic period.

Scientists now believe the split between octopuses and their ten-armed relatives such as squids happened in the Mesozoic era, not hundreds of millions of years earlier as previously thought.

Dr Clements concluded: ‘It’s amazing to think a row of tiny hidden teeth, hidden in the rock for 300 million years, have fundamentally changed what we know about when and how octopuses evolved.’

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Red light therapy has long been used by humans to improve skin health, slow signs of ageing and soothe sore muscles – now the treatment is giving a glow-up to one of our most vital pollinators: bees.

It works by stimulating the mitochondria – the powerhouses of living cells – boosting efficiency and catalysing tissue regeneration.

The brains behind Beefutures, an agritech outfit based in France and Norway, claim studies show bees enjoy the same benefits when exposed to red and near-infrared light.

Colonies given the red light treatment were better able to cope with stressors like heat, extreme weather and pesticides than those without, living longer and pollinating more effectively, the company said. The company has since launched Onibi light, a world-first, in-hive therapy light for bees, developed in partnership with University College London (UCL).

According to Ecowatch, nearly 60% of US honeybee colonies were lost last winter, with French beekeepers reporting losses of up to 50%. “When the bees stop buzzing, our food stops growing. That’s the real story. And this is what Onibi Light is all about,” said Christophe Brod, CEO of Beefutures.

Trials by UCL showed that colonies exposed to pesticides or transport stress got back to being busy bees within days when supported by the gadget.

“Our research shows that treated bees experience enhanced cellular respiration, improved visual acuity and stronger immunity,” said Glen Jeffery, professor of neuroscience at UCL.

Brod added: “Stronger bees mean stronger food systems. With Onibi Light, we are giving beekeepers and growers a practical tool to protect the very foundation of agriculture.”

Main image: Aaron Burden

Ian Tonks was diagnosed with kidney disease and spent years managing a failing transplant before his father-in-law saved his life

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A man has been given a fresh start after his father-in-law donated his kidney, becoming Britain’s oldest donor.

Ian Tonks, 49, had spent years managing a failing transplant and long periods on dialysis.

He initially received a kidney transplant 12 years ago, but complications arose after six years due to an autoimmune condition.

For years, Ian’s life was on pause as the life-threatening condition left him unable to work, enjoy his hobbies or even drink more than half a glass of liquid a day.

Despite concerns surrounding his age, Ian’s father-in-law Graham Sisson, 84, volunteered to undergo testing and was subsequently approved for the transplant, reports the Mirror.

He proceeded to have the procedure at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Over a year later, Ian and Graham featured on Thursday’s (April 9) instalment of This Morning and discussed how he now shares a profound connection with his father-in-law following the transplant.

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Speaking to presenters Rochelle Humes and Joel Dommett, Ian remarked: “We’ve got an amazing bond now. We always got on well for obvious reasons but we are very close now.”

Graham revealed the motivation behind his decision to offer his kidney, stating: “I could see him deteriorating virtually on a daily basis. Several members of the family have already tried to donate him for various reasons but were unable to do so.”

He continued: “I felt that if someone else didn’t step in, he was literally going to die. So I spoke to my wife and said, ‘I think I might put myself forward’ and at that point, we had never thought about the age issue.

“So I just rang Ian and ‘I’d like to have a try and see if it works.’ And surprisingly, we found that we were compatible.”

He acknowledged they were forced to act swiftly, as Ian was at one stage given just 12 hours to live, revealing: “The operation was planned for August 2024 but he was too ill to have the operation. He nearly died in September.

“He was given 12 hours to live in September so when we got to October we snatched up (the next date) and the hospital carried out the operation.”

In November 2024, the pair made their way to Manchester Royal Infirmary for the procedure, remaining there for several days. The transplant proved successful and both men made a complete recovery.

A thankful Ian expressed his gratitude, saying: “I’d like to say a big thank you to the NHS at Manchester Royal Infirmary, it wasn’t just the surgeons but it was the coordinators, it was the dialysis team, it was everybody that was underneath that helped and kept me alive.”

He further added: “Also made this happen and changed a lot of peoples lives. I mean, you know, it’s like a life lottery. You don’t win the lottery but it’s like a life lottery having this.”

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX

Use the Jubilee line from Waterloo to Westminster, then change for the District line to Richmond.
The reverse route is also available via Westminster
From Richmond, take the District line to Embankment, then switch to the Bakerloo or Northern line to Waterloo.
Piccadilly line options via Hounslow, Hatton Cross or Green Park, connecting to Jubilee or Northern lines.
Northern line services also run between Battersea Power Station and Waterloo.

This roundup of The Conversation’s environment coverage was first published in our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter, Imagine.

In 1968 a photo of the Earth was taken by the crew of Apollo 8 as they orbited the Moon.

It’s hard for us to imagine today what that would feel like for both the crew and the public who first saw the shot of Earth snapped from so far away. All those years ago this was a fantastic, and perhaps shocking, picture taken from somewhere many people would never have imagined humans could go.

That Earthrise shot from 1968, the first colour image of the Earth from space, showed our planet from a perspective we had never seen before, from the Moon in the foreground and the globe of the Earth in the distance. And for many people, it seemed more fragile than they had ever realised.

This image from space provoked a massive reaction, and is credited with prompting the creation of Earth Day, and a wave of environmental activism.

Nearly 60 years later we are inundated with images of space, planets and even AI-generated sci-fi stories. So it came as somewhat of a surprise to find myself caught up in the whirl of excitement and emotion around the Artemis II journey, and drawn into watching and discussing what the astronauts were seeing and saying.

Nick Dunstone, a science fellow at the Met Office, is a big fan of the Earthrise photo. He has had it stuck on his wall for years. The Artemis II mission prompted him to think about how much the climate around the Earth has changed in the decades between the Earthrise photo and the one taken by 2026’s astronauts from the dark side of the moon.

He points out that one of the legacies of the 1960s space race is a set of satellite observation platforms which have allowed us to monitor, understand and predict changes to our global climate. Unfortunately, many of these reveal worrying trends. For example, more frequent heatwaves on land and sea, loss of Arctic sea-ice, melting glaciers and sea-level rise.

À lire aussi :
Earthrise to Earthset: how the planet’s climate has changed since the photo that inspired the environmental movement

It can seem like nothing is getting better in these days of global upheaval and endlessly escalating conflicts. It’s easy to despair about whether any small actions that we can take will make any kind of difference.

Bee stories

I ended up in a conversation with my running buddies at the weekend about whether there is anything that can cheer us up. I talked about new research that shows that queen bumblebees can survive underwater. In what seems like a story that could be made into a Pixar film, academics at the universities of Ottawa and Guelph discovered this purely by accident.

Sometimes scientific discoveries are prompted by happenstance. In this case, some tubes were accidentally filled with water and the bees which had been assumed to have died were discovered to be still alive. Queens, it turns out, can stand submersion for up to a week. This matters because climate change is bringing more rain during winters when these bees must survive underground. And the queen’s survival is vital, for she must found a new colony the next spring. Without her, there is nothing.

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Queen bumblebees can breathe underwater — for days. We discovered how

Then there’s the discovery by Oxford researcher Sophie Lund Rasmussen that hedgehogs can hear. Rasmussen set off to find out if there were any ways to warn hedgehogs of the dangers of crossing the road. With up to 300,000 hedgehogs killed per year on UK roads, and the same situation across Europe, this mammal which has featured fondly in many of our childhood stories, is incredibly threatened.

Rasmussen’s research opens the door for ultrasound hedgehog warning systems to be put in place to try and warn hedgehogs away from roads, and potentially save thousands from a messy death.

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Hedgehogs can hear high-frequency ultrasound – that knowledge could help save them

Moss, many people might think, is quite a dull subject. But in the past few weeks, after chatting with University of Limerick’s Pedram Vousoughi, I’ve become the biggest fan of this green stuff that we find on the sides of trees and on our garden paths. As it turns out, moss has almost magical qualities that could be a great help to humanity in the next decades.

For someone who had not paid much attention to this plant in the past, the abilities of this low-to-the-ground greenery was a revelation. Moss can absorb several times its own body weight in water and release it over time. This makes it ideal for helping the world cope with increasing rainfall and flooding, especially along busy roads.

Moss also absorbs air pollution and could play a role in increasing biodiversity along major roads. I’m now boring on about moss in various social situations – and it’s making me feel a bit more positive about the world.

À lire aussi :
How moss could help roads cope with heavy rain and reduce air pollution

Sun spotting

One of my favourite places is a long pebbly beach on a thin spit of land on the Suffolk coast, where you can watch the sun go down as well as the sun rise (although as a night owl I’m less likely to see the second). I have come to realise the value of sitting somewhere incredibly quiet and just looking at the sea and the sky.

That’s why the Dutch trend of dusking – coming together with friends to watch the sun go down – struck a chord with me. As Jenny Hall and Brendan Paddison from York St John University explain, watching the light of the day disappear over the horizon can be a way of connecting with nature’s rhythms and disconnecting from your worries, bringing the work day to a natural close. This also links with studies suggesting that focusing on nature can enhance feelings of wellbeing.

In these complex times, recognising small discoveries (as well as large ones) can be vital.

We are now entering the top 10, and the arguments will be even stronger for each position. Anyone at this stage could lay claim to being the greatest

On one of the busiest sporting weeks of the year, we are bringing you our list of the top 25 Northern Ireland sport stars of all time.

Rory McIlroy may be the talk of the sporting world right now, but that is nothing new as iconic Northern Ireland figures like George Best, Alex Higgins and AP McCoy have been houselhold names around the world.

We are now entering the top 10, and the arguments will be even stronger for each position. Anyone at this stage could lay claim to being the greatest.

On day one, we had international hockey star Katie Mullan, gymnast trailblazer Rhys McClenaghan, rugby legend Mike Gibson, GAA colossus Kieran McGeeney and Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Dan Wiffen.

At number 20, on day two, was soccer legend Pat Jennings. Former champion jockey Richard Dunwoody was in 19th, while Norman Whiteside, ex of Manchester United was in 18th. Three-time All-Ireland winner hero Sean Cavanagh was next in 17th, with boxing legend Wayne McCullough in 16th.

At number 15 was Paralympic legend Bethany Firth. Down GAA hero of the 1960s Sean O’Neill was 14th, while Ireland and Lions rugby icon Willie John McBride was 13th.

At number 12 was Belfast two-weight world boxing champion Carl Frampton and at number 12 was six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea.

Here are numbers six to 10 on our Northern Ireland sport stars list:

6. JOEY DUNLOP

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Motorcycle icon Joey Dunlop OBE is widely considered the greatest road racer in history. Dunlop began racing in 1969 and within a few years had established a reputation alongside his colleagues in the ‘Armoy Armada’, he began to win trophies at circuits and road races throughout the British Isles.

His legacy is defined by 26 Isle of Man TT wins, five Formula One World Championships, 24 Ulster Grand Prix triumphs, and 13 North West 200 wins.

In 2015, the Ballymoney man was voted Northern Ireland’s greatest-ever sports star in a Belfast Telegraph poll.

His record of 26 Isle of Man TT wins stood for a remarkable 24 years, until his nephew Michael surpassed the longstanding Mountain Course benchmark.

He died in an accident in Estonia in July 2000, at the age of 48.

7. JACK KYLE

Born and educated in Belfast, John (Jack) Kyle was a central figure in Irish rugby’s post-war resurgence and played a pivotal role in Ireland’s historic Grand Slam victory of 1948, secured at Ravenhill.

Renowned for his instinctive brilliance, pace and vision, he went on to win 46 caps for Ireland and tour with the British & Irish Lions in 1950, captivating crowds in Australia and New Zealand with a style of play that marked him out as one of the game’s true greats.

In 1950, Kyle was declared one of the six players of the year by the New Zealand Rugby Almanac.

He is a member of the International Rugby Hall of Fame and was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. He was named the Greatest Ever Irish Rugby Player by the Irish Rugby Football Union in 2002.

8. PETER CANAVAN

The Errigal Ciaran man is one of the most decorated Northern Ireland-based players in Gaelic Football history.

The diminutive Tyrone attacker won two All-Ireland Senior Football titles, six All Stars Awards (more than any other Ulster player), four Ulster titles and two National Leagues. He represented Ireland in the International Rules Series on several occasions.

While Tyrone lost the All-Ireland final in 1995, early in Canavan’s career, he scored 11 of their 12 points in the decider. He did claim Celtic Crosses in 2003 and again in 2005.

He led the line while Tyrone were far from a powerhouse, but ultimately helped them reach the promised land of All-Ireland senior glory and was known as ‘God’ or ‘Peter the Great’ by fans before the end of a legendary career.

9. DANNY BLANCHFLOWER

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Northern Ireland’s captain when they reached the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup, so immense was Danny Blanchflower during his illustrious career that he received three Ballon d’Or nominations.

The closest he came to winning it was in 1957 when he finished 14th in a very tight field behind runaway winner Alfredo Di Stefano.

A First Division winner with Tottenham, Blanchflower also won a European Cup Winners’ Cup and two FA Cups, and in his 56 caps for Northern Ireland he scored twice.

He was the first Northern Ireland player to pass a half-century of appearances for his country.

10. MARY PETERS

An Olympic icon, who built a lasting legacy through her 1972 Munich pentathlon gold medal win and decades of supporting athletes in Northern Ireland.

She established The Mary Peters Trust in 1975, helping hundreds of young sporting stars.

In the 45th pentathlon of her career, the veteran of Spartan Ladies AC achieved the ultimate success by winning an Olympic title with a new world record. English-born Peters spent much of her life in Ireland and her first pentathlon competition was at Ballymena in 1955.

In the 17 years leading up to her Olympic triumph, she won seven WAAA pentathlon titles as well as the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1970, and finished fourth in the 1964 Olympics and ninth in 1968. She also won the WAAA shot put title twice and was the Commonwealth Games champion in 1970.

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Tomorrow we unveil numbers 1-5 in our top 25 Northern Ireland sport stars of all time.

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