Simonetta Vespucci is probably one of the most painted women of the Italian Renaissance. Sandro Botticelli is widely believed to have used her as his model for Venus, and she appears, transformed and idealised, across several of his most famous works.

She died in 1476, aged just 23. For centuries, historians have assumed tuberculosis was to blame – it was common, it was often fatal, and it fitted the pattern of a young woman fading quickly.

In 2019, my colleagues and I proposed a different explanation. We examined the portraits attributed to Botticelli alongside written descriptions from the period, looking for whether the same woman’s face changed in ways that might reflect an underlying illness.

What we found was a gradual shift in her features across multiple paintings – subtle changes to the jaw, the brow, the soft tissue of the face. These are the kind of changes seen in patients with a pituitary adenoma, a tumour of the small gland at the base of the brain that controls hormone production.

Specifically, we suspected a tumour secreting both growth hormone and prolactin. Excess of these hormones can alter facial contours over time and, in some cases, cause unexpected lactation – and one allegorical figure in Botticelli’s work appears to depict exactly that symptom.

Our 2019 paper was cautious. We were not claiming proof – we were offering a plausible medical reading of the visual evidence, built by combining art history with clinical endocrinology.

Now, in a new paper published in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, my team and I have gone further. We believe Simonetta’s death itself – sudden, rapid, and dramatic according to contemporary accounts – is consistent with a specific medical emergency: pituitary tumour apoplexy.

Apoplexy occurs when a pituitary tumour bleeds or rapidly swells. It typically causes a sudden and severe headache, loss of vision, confusion, and a swift decline as the body’s hormonal regulation collapses.

We argue that this would explain something that tuberculosis alone struggles to account for: how a previously healthy young woman went from apparent wellness to death within a short period. Chronic infections such as tuberculosis usually cause a slower, more visible decline.

Three strands of evidence

Our case rests on three strands of evidence. First, the physical changes visible across the portraits – Botticelli painted her several times, from the 1470s through to the posthumous Birth of Venus (1482–1485) – suggesting a tumour growing over months or years.

Second, the symptoms described in chronicles of her final illness (letters exchanged between Piero Vespucci and Lorenzo de’ Medici, describing her collapse at a ball and the headaches, hallucinations, vomiting and fever that followed), which align closely with the clinical presentation of apoplexy.

Third, two documented events in the months before her death – her collapse during vigorous dancing at a ball, and an alleged violent encounter with Alfonso II of Aragon, Duke of Calabria – that could plausibly have triggered a bleed or sudden tumour expansion.

None of this amounts to certainty. There is no tissue sample from 1476, no scan, no way to examine Simonetta directly – only paintings, letters, and clinical reasoning applied five centuries after the fact.

What we can say is that a tumour capable of slowly reshaping a person’s face is also capable, if it ruptures, of killing them quickly. Put together, the portraits and the historical record tell a more complete story than either can alone.

We hope this encourages both historians and medical professionals to look again at cases like Simonetta’s. Medical knowledge can sometimes answer questions that pure historical record cannot. And, in turn, historical puzzles can push medicine to think differently about how disease unfolds in the body over time.

Simon Akeroyd, a gardening expert who has written many books about how to look after your garden, shared the easy tip in a video.

Many homeowners will see weeds growing through their patio slabs that they struggle to get rid of.

While it is common for many people, including gardeners, to use vinegar or other harsh chemicals on weeds to try and get rid of the problem, Simon simply uses water.

How can I get rid of weeds from my patio?

Patios are an ideal environment for weeds to grow in, with the soil and debris that accumulates between slabs creating a fertile ground for the weeds’ roots to spread.

Patios can also be very good at retaining water and moisture, especially when they are sloped or if there are blockages in the drainage system.

In the video, the captions said: “Do you have trouble with weeds growing in your patio or tiles?

“They’re impossible to dig out!

“Some gardeners suggest using vinegar and other aggressive liquids or chemicals.

“But I’ve a simpler solution (literally).”

Simon then shows himself simply boiling a kettle that you just need to pour over the weeds in your garden.

Using vinegar or other weed killers usually destroys the leaves, but it usually leaves the root that will grow again.

Simon said how “most weeds will be dead within 24 hours” after using this method, but “extreme pernicious weeds” might need to have boiling water poured over them one or two more times.

As an alternative option, he said you can leave the weeds to grow and “enjoy their flowers”.

Will you be trying this simple hack to get rid of weeds from your patio? Let us know in the comments below.

Drunk seagulls are causing traffic jams along England’s south coast, experts have warned.

Ornithologists – scientists who study birds – say the gulls are snacking on flying ants, which have become active during this summer’s successive heatwaves.

But the ants release an acid which makes the birds intoxicated, causing them to stumble around and get in the way of vehicles.

Dr Viola Ross-Smith, from the British Trust for Ornithology, explains that flying ants produce formic acid when under threat to deter predators.

If the gulls eat enough of the ants, they can become unstable on their feet.

‘Ants produce formic acid, and because it’s a mild toxin, the gulls can act a bit woozy and come across as drunk,’ Dr Ross-Smith said.

‘The hypothesis is the formic acid is affecting them as ­ethanol affects us.’

While flying ants typically become more active in mid-July, residents of areas like Suffolk reported seeing the bugs swarming earlier in the year due to this spring’s unusually hot weather.

Dr Ross-Smith added: ‘It is just a hypothesis at the moment. Some say the birds might be so distracted by the food source they’re not paying attention. Or that they are overwhelmed by the food.

‘You do see blankets of gulls walking in the road and ­staggering around on the pavement, getting in the way of cars.

‘Usually, they’re bold birds who don’t shy away from humans. I would really love for someone to test the theory and see if formic acid is ­making the gulls drunk.’

If you see a gull looking a little dizzy, you should not be concerned. However, it’s important to seek help for a gull if it seems unwell.

She continued: ‘They’re taking the opportunity to gorge on the insect protein. We’re happy to let nature get on with it.’

You can report sick or injured animals to the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

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Football pundit Micah Richards left Gary Lineker aghast as he revealed his surprise link to Spice Girl Mel B during a podcast chat.

Speaking on their The Rest Is Football podcast with co-host Alan Shearer, Micah, 38, completely stunned them with the revelation.

He said: ‘Mel B she used to babysit me when I was younger!’, to which Gary, 65, shouted: ‘She used to what!!’

He clarified: ‘She used to babysit me! Get her on the pod! My sister still does her hair now!’

Gary then asked: ‘That’s unbelievable, is that a known stat?’

To which Micah said: ‘No it’s not, you’ve got to save stuff for the pod, you know what I mean, always have something up my sleeve…’.

Speaking on their The Rest Is Football podcast with co-host Alan Shearer, Micah, 38, completely stunned them with the revelation that she used to babysit him  

Gary then joked: ‘How old were you? 16?!’ as the pair laughed away. 

Micah had previously told The I: ‘We’re all from Leeds, my sister knows her sister and my brother knows her sister Danielle. In the old days people used to just go around each other’s houses, you know?

‘My mum said years ago that Mel used to babysit me, then my sister confirmed it and I thought ‘Ooh!’. She’s a proper icon so I was buzzing.

‘I don’t remember anything about it but I’ve got two sources now saying it happened! I don’t know where it was but I can now confirm it definitely happened. So it is real. But I don’t have her number or anything. I couldn’t ask her for a pint.’

It comes after fans have claimed that Mel B has been blocked by her Spice Girls bandmate Geri Halliwell.

Last week the iconic girlband celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of their debut single Wannabe.

Geri was the first to share an Instagram post to celebrate the milestone and whilst she gushed about her ‘beautiful spice sisters’ and insisted ‘friendship never ends’, fans were quick to notice a clue about the state of her relationship with Mel.

Whilst she tagged bandmates Victoria Beckham, Mel C and Emma Bunton, Mel B was untagged, suggesting Geri has been blocked by her bandmate.

The bandmates no longer appear in each other’s ‘following’ lists.  

He said: ‘Mel B she used to babysit me when I was younger!’, to which Gary, 65, shouted: ‘She used to what!!’

Spice Girls fans soon flooded the post with tags for Mel B and begged the pair to ‘please make up and go on tour.’ 

Mel meanwhile shared her own tribute to mark the anniversary, sharing a band photo, which included Geri with the caption: ‘Zigazig ahhhh Yipppeeee.’

Shortly after, Mel C posted a photo with all of the band tagged, gushing: ’30 years of girl power! Happy Birthday Wannabe I love you. The song that changed our lives forever.’

Calling Mel B and Geri the ‘leaders’ of the band, Mel C reflected on the two’s tense relationship in a new interview this week, telling the Louis Theroux podcast that whilst the pair were ‘really great mates if they had a fallout, it would affect everybody.’

‘I think because they were both so outspoken.’

The root of the feud can be traced back to the Nineties, when the band were at the height of their fame.

Less than two years after Wannabe topped charts in 1996, Geri announced she’d had enough and confirmed her departure from the group in May 1998 in the middle of their world tour.

Her shock decision to leave at the peak of their fame and right before their concerts in the US was never going to go down well, but her move to quit on Mel B’s birthday especially hit a nerve.

Scary Spice didn’t mince her words in a subsequent TV interview, saying: ‘When Geri left the group, it was bad. She left on my birthday and didn’t tell anybody. She didn’t show up. We had the American part of the tour to continue.’

Mel’s ex-husband Jimmy Gulzar later said that Scary Spice was particularly hurt because they were ‘really, really close’.

In 2019 Mel B caused upset by revealing on Piers Morgan‘s Life Stories that she and Geri enjoyed a lesbian fling during the band’s Nineties heyday.

Sources close to Geri said the singer was ‘livid’ following Mel B’s claims and after a week of silence, responded to Mel B’s comments with a statement denying her version of events.

Scary Spice was slammed for using ‘lesbianism as a PR strategy’ ahead of their reunion tour and following Geri’s reaction, attempted to backpedal on her story.

The women have also reportedly squabbled in recent years over Geri’s new ‘la-di-da’ image, which tends to rub Leeds-born Mel up the wrong way.

There was more confidence in his performance too. At previous gigs, Capaldi’s used humour as a crutch but there were no rambling speeches about haemorrhoids or bodily functions on Sunday night. The many parents who’d brought their kids must have been relieved. He still made jokes about England’s recent world cup success (“the less said about that the better, I’m a bitter, bitter man) and how the crowd were “fools” for paying to see him live, but there was a refreshed trust that his music was enough to carry the show. “I just want to say, there was a point where I didn’t think this would ever be possible again but we’re here and I’m having a great time, so thank you. It’s a really special” he told the crowd. “Having said that, this is a song about my death,” he added with a smirk before the absolutely devastating ‘The Day That I Die’. After an uncertain few years, the future is bright for one of the UK’s biggest pop stars.