The secret nuclear bunker built as the UK’s last hope
William Park Dug for an underground ‘shadow factory’ for aircraft during World War Two, the Drakelow tunnels were re-purposed as a nuclear bunker to be used by the UK government. We went inside. Deep beneath a hill in the Worcestershire countryside, about 20 miles west of Birmingham, lie a series of hidden tunnels. Once home […]
How can we protect its youngest users?
Getty Images Children searching for content relating to depression and self-harm can be exposed to more of it by the recommendation engines built in to social networks. Sophie Parkinson was just 13 when she took her own life. She had depression and suicidal thoughts. Her mother, Ruth Moss, believes Sophie eventually took her own life […]
How to cope with the end of the world
iStock (Credit: iStock) Are you prepared for the collapse of society? Here’s the knowledge you’d need to reboot civilisation. Let’s imagine a thought experiment. An aggressive viral plague has struck humanity. Spreading astonishingly quickly through our modern world of dense cities and international airliners, we’d already lost the fight in a matter of weeks. Civilisation […]
Staff shortages hitting supermarket shelves in Wales
BBC Butcher Chris George says young people “don’t want to do it” A shortage of UK workers is hitting supermarket shelves in Wales. Avara Foods, which employs 350 at its turkey processing plant in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, said a combination of Covid and Brexit meant many of its EU national workers had returned home. The UK […]
‘Bragging without the selfie’ – the rise of Spotify Wrapped and copycats
Getty Images Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” was Spotify’s most streamed song in 2024 Throughout December, Instagram feeds are flooded with pictures of Christmas trees, snaps from festive work parties – and screenshots of people’s most-listened-to songs of the year. That’s because at the end of every year, since 2016, Spotify releases Wrapped. The campaign pulls together […]
The worms that cost $20,000 a kilo
Getty Images How much would you pay to eat a delicate fungus growing out of a dead caterpillar’s head? Considerably less than many Chinese aficionados, probably… At a stall near the entrance of a grocery store in southern China, the shopper is greeted with delicate arrangements of dried objects. Lean in a little closer, and […]
Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at Farnborough Airshow
In May, the firm knocked out a number of UAVs at the US Navy test range on San Nicolas Island off the coast of California. Although Raytheon would not give details of the height, speed and range of the UAVs, saying that data “sensitive”, it did say that the Navy wanted tests to be as […]
The everyday foods that could become luxuries
Meat is likely to become a luxury food in the next few decades as more people adopt a plant-based diet to reduce their carbon footprint. Everyday foods such as coffee, meat and spices could become luxury items due to global climate impacts and changing tastes. Ordering lobster in a restaurant or serving it at a […]
UK Athletics innovation centre announced for Birmingham
BBC A partnership had been agreed with the city council for the facility to be on the Alexander Stadium campus, UK Athletics said Birmingham’s redeveloped Alexander Stadium campus will have a new UK Athletics (UKA) performance innovation centre from next summer. It would involve enhanced technology and analytics “not currently available to athletes in the […]
The worldview-changing drugs poised to go mainstream
Getty Images The experiences are at the edge of scientific understanding (Credit: Getty Images) It was 1971 when Rick Doblin first took LSD. A Saturday afternoon in Florida, a few weeks into his freshman year. Four years had passed since the Summer of Love – when millions of young people descended on San Francisco, London […]