Daily Diamond - Dedicated Teacher Returns 20-Year-Old Letters Students Wrote to Themselves

Most of us have a favourite teacher from school – the one who pushed us, the one who inspired us, the one who believed in us, the one who let us get away with anything… But it would be a rare thing indeed if we were able to say that teacher was still inspiring us 20 years on.
But the......
Read the full story at: Dedicated Teacher Returns 20-Year-Old Letters Students Wrote to Themselves

Daily Diamond - Scheme to Help More Pupils Pursue After-School Activities

Thanks to a new offshoot scheme called Pupil Offer, pupils from poorer backgrounds that attend one of the 40 schools involved will be able to get the help they need to pursue after-school interests.
Pupil Offer is the latest feature of an existing programme called Schools Challenge Cymru that we......
Read the full story at: Scheme to Help More Pupils Pursue After-School Activities

Daily Diamond - Songs of the Operating Theatre

Surgeons from the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff have been looking at which songs make for better listening in the operating theatre. And using this information, they have come up with a list of Dos and Do-Nots for them to work to.
Of course, the song list is only meant to be a bit of......
Read the full story at: Songs of the Operating Theatre

Daily Diamond - Police Officer Buys Eggs for Woman Caught Stealing

Helen Johnson from Alabama in the US hadn’t eaten for two days, and all that was on her mind was scraping together enough money to feed her family – two daughters, a niece and two grandchildren aged one and three.
On Saturday 6 December, armed with all the money she had left ($1.25),......
Read the full story at: Police Officer Buys Eggs for Woman Caught Stealing

Daily Diamond - Vital-Sign "Optical Monitor" to be Tested at Broadmoor

Patients at Broadmoor Hospital could be set to test a camera that remotely monitors a person’s vital signs, such as their heart rate or breathing. But before you go thinking that such cameras would, of course, be a huge invasion of the patients’ privacy, they are simply detection devices and......
Read the full story at: Vital-Sign "Optical Monitor" to be Tested at Broadmoor

Daily Diamond - England and Wales Water Charges to Fall

We don’t get to tell you often enough that your bills are going to fall slightly over the next few years. But according to England and Wales water regulator Ofwat, that is just what is going to happen to your water bills.
Not including inflation, household water bills will be falling by an......
Read the full story at: England and Wales Water Charges to Fall

Daily Diamond - Gecko-Gloves for Climbing Like Spiderman

Most of us would have watched Spiderman scaling the side of a building using just his hands and wondered what it would be like if it were really possible to be able to do such a thing. Well, now it is possible, thanks to scientists from Stanford University in the US.
The team, led by mechanical......
Read the full story at: Gecko-Gloves for Climbing Like Spiderman

Daily Diamond - Reindeer Police to the Rescue in Russia

In the far north of Russia lies the Arctic Tundra, a stark and frozen landscape that is difficult to navigate at the best of times. In northwest Siberia is a region called Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Here, the police struggle to maintain law and order across the difficult terrain –......
Read the full story at: Reindeer Police to the Rescue in Russia

Daily Diamond - Talking Therapies Shown to Reduce Suicide Risk

When it comes to illnesses like depression, many people dismiss the idea of talking therapies as something that simply doesn’t work. But according to a new study coming out of the US, talk-therapy sessions can actually reduce the risk of suicide in people who have previously attempted to take......
Read the full story at: Talking Therapies Shown to Reduce Suicide Risk

Daily Diamond - Wikipedia Page-Views Can Predict Disease Outbreaks

Trying to stay ahead of outbreak trends is not an easy task. It usually involves laboratory tests, collecting data, calls to doctors’ surgeries and trying to keep track of the number of people who visit health facilities. This process might be accurate, but it is also slow and expensive, and......
Read the full story at: Wikipedia Page-Views Can Predict Disease Outbreaks

Daily Diamond - Twins Find Out They're Identical for Liver Transplant

The first ever UK live donor liver transplant involving identical twins took place earlier this year – but the twins didn’t know they were identical until one of them needed surgery.
Annemarie Atha and Geraldine Rowing, both 48 and from Leeds, were always told by their mother that they......
Read the full story at: Twins Find Out They're Identical for Liver Transplant

Daily Diamond - Life-Size Katniss Sponge is Icing on the Cake...

Last year, Lara Clarke from the West Midlands made headlines around the world with her entry in the Cake International bakers’ competition in Birmingham. Swaying rather far from traditional cakes, Lara’s “almost life-sized” cake of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of......
Read the full story at: Life-Size Katniss Sponge is Icing on the Cake...

Daily Diamond - Alibaba Breaks Records with Singles' Day

Within only the first 17 hours of China’s “Singles’ Day” shopping event, online-retail giant Alibaba had already smashed sales records, ultimately improving on last year’s sales figures by a whopping 62%.
Singles’ Day is an annual online shopping event based in China, held on......
Read the full story at: Alibaba Breaks Records with Singles' Day

Daily Diamond - SWAT Superheroes "Save" Children's Hospital

Children who are ill enough to have to spend time in hospital miss out on a lot of fun, especially if they have to stay in for the holidays.
For residing patients at Ohio’s Promedica Toledo Children’s Hospital in the US, it is the same story. Being too ill to go out and trick-or-treat, the......
Read the full story at: SWAT Superheroes "Save" Children's Hospital

Daily Diamond - Clearest Ever Photo of Planet Formation!

The ALMA telescopes have struck again – this time giving us the clearest ever picture of new planets forming around a star. And what make this image even more exciting is that the star is so young that it changes what we know about the formation of solar systems!
As you can see from the......
Read the full story at: Clearest Ever Photo of Planet Formation!

Daily Diamond - Intel Funds Schoolboy Inventor's Braille Printer

The inventor of a low-cost Braille printer has secured funding from tech giant Intel – and he is only 13 years old.
Shubham Banerjee became interested in helping blind people when he came across a fundraising leaflet and started to wonder what being blind is really like. After Googling......
Read the full story at: Intel Funds Schoolboy Inventor's Braille Printer

Daily Diamond - 8-Year-Old Raises Money to Cure Best Friend's Illness

After reading this, you are going to hope you have a friend like Dylan Siegel – and strive to be a friend like him.
At eight years old, Dylan is an author with almost $1 million (£630,000) to his name. Or he would be if every single penny of book sales didn’t go on research for his best......
Read the full story at: 8-Year-Old Raises Money to Cure Best Friend's Illness

Daily Diamond - "Family Test" for All Future Laws and Policies

For the first time, some questions have been introduced to as a sort of “family test” when coming up with new government laws and policies.
The plans were announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in August, and on Friday, ministers published the criteria guidance that should be applied to......
Read the full story at: "Family Test" for All Future Laws and Policies

Daily Diamond - Speed-Dating Plan to Boost Neglected Language

Do you speak Belarusian and wish you could find your Belarusian soul mate? Then you might just be in luck! An independent public culture initiative called Art-Siadziba (or Art Manor) may have just the thing for you – Belarusian Speed Dating!
Belarus is an Eastern European country that used......
Read the full story at: Speed-Dating Plan to Boost Neglected Language

Daily Diamond - Rare Fanged Deer Emerges for First Time in 60 Years

There are seven different species of musk deer that grace the forests and mountainous areas of Asia, most notably the Himalayas. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of a musk deer is its fang-like teeth.
Only the males of the species grow the fangs, which are actually tusks because they are......
Read the full story at: Rare Fanged Deer Emerges for First Time in 60 Years

Daily Diamond - Special Coating to Make Batteries Child-Safe

Engineers from Boston in the US have managed to find a way of making batteries safe if they are accidentally swallowed – potentially saving the lives of thousands of children around the world.
The batteries in question are those small, round button-like ones that you might find in a watch,......
Read the full story at: Special Coating to Make Batteries Child-Safe

Daily Diamond - "Beautiful Buddhist Monks" Fashion Show!

Shingon Buddhists in Japan have taken a rather unconventional approach – for them, anyway – to celebrate their 1,200th anniversary next year…
But first, what is a Buddhist? Well, some describe it as a religion, some, a philosophy, others, simply a better way of life.
Whichever way......
Read the full story at: "Beautiful Buddhist Monks" Fashion Show!

Daily Diamond - Hotel Room Key... There's an App for That!

Regular visitors to hotels might have wondered what it would like to just skip the hassle of checking in. Having to wait in line at reception just to let them know you made it there, and be handed a plastic card that will probably get lost or broken. And then have to juggle your luggage in one......
Read the full story at: Hotel Room Key... There's an App for That!

Daily Diamond - Elected Mayor for Greater Manchester

For the first time, the leaders of Greater Manchester in England have agreed to have an elected mayor. The first election is expected to take place in 2017 and the successful candidate’s role will be to preside over regional policies, such as transport and housing.
Greater Manchester is made......
Read the full story at: Elected Mayor for Greater Manchester

Daily Diamond - UK Rubbish Heating Denmark's Homes

Regarding rubbish in the UK, there is no doubting the landfill problems we often hear about. But did you know that last year alone we exported around 200,000 tonnes of the stuff – to Denmark?
And over the last year or so, that figure has doubled. But what are they doing with it? Well, they......
Read the full story at: UK Rubbish Heating Denmark's Homes

Daily Diamond - PenguinBot Infiltrates Penguin Colony...

One of the most crucial ways of understanding the way certain animals behave is to study them in their natural environment. But even the most passive act of observation can change the way an animal behaves.
Take penguins, for example. In the past, scientists attached transponders to the wings of......
Read the full story at: PenguinBot Infiltrates Penguin Colony...

Daily Diamond - "Orphan Works" to Find New Homes

There are an estimated 91 million “orphan works”, according to the UK government. These are artworks, photographs, diaries and letters and other historically important documents, of which the copyright owners cannot be located. And now, under a new licensing scheme in the UK, some of these......
Read the full story at: "Orphan Works" to Find New Homes

Daily Diamond - A Cancer Sensor from Google?

Google is working on new technology that could potentially diagnose health problems like cancer or heart attacks at a much earlier stage than is currently possible.
As with treatment of many diseases, early diagnosis is key. Unfortunately, many can only be detected when they have already passed......
Read the full story at: A Cancer Sensor from Google?

Daily Diamond - Is this a 17th-Century Witch Bottle?

A beautiful glass-like green bottle has been discovered by archaeologists working near what will be the new National Civil War Centre in Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire.
Experts have dated the bottle back to around 1680, but they don’t think that this is your ordinary old and pretty bottle......
Read the full story at: Is this a 17th-Century Witch Bottle?

Daily Diamond - The "Miraculous Recovery" of the Galapagos Tortoise

The dwindling numbers of the Galapagos tortoises have been something of great concern for conservationists for decades. But now, after 40 years of hard work, the Galapagos Island of Española now has a stable and breeding population of giant tortoises.
In the 1960s, tortoise numbers had fallen......
Read the full story at: The "Miraculous Recovery" of the Galapagos Tortoise

Daily Diamond - Brothers Cycles Across US to Raise Money for Hungry Children

Brothers and amateur cyclists Chris and Jon Gagnon, 24 and 22 respectively, wanted to do something about child hunger in America.
They had always wanted to cycle across the US and knew that if they ever got the chance to do it, they wanted it to count towards something.
The brothers, from......
Read the full story at: Brothers Cycles Across US to Raise Money for Hungry Children

Daily Diamond - Oldest DNA Shares Earliest Modern Humans' Secrets

The thigh bone of an ancient man that was found in Siberia has yielded some answers about the beginning of modern humans, published in Nature.
The man is one of the earliest modern humans to have been discovered in Eurasia (the combined land mass of Europe and Asia), dating back around 45,000......
Read the full story at: Oldest DNA Shares Earliest Modern Humans' Secrets

Daily Diamond - Utah Jazz Basketball Team Signs 5-Year-Old...

Salt Lake City’s professional basketball team, the Utah Jazz, made a new signing at the beginning of the month, who proved his worth with a slam dunk within minutes of being signed.
And he is only five years old.
“We are a young team and we decided that we’d go even a little younger,”......
Read the full story at: Utah Jazz Basketball Team Signs 5-Year-Old...

Daily Diamond - Young Carers' Lives Put into Game to Raise Awareness

Working with some charities, young carers in Wales have come up with a way of raising awareness of the types of lives they have to live every day – in the form of a board game.
The game, funded by a Millennium Trust grant, aims to bring the day-to-day issues that young carers face to the......
Read the full story at: Young Carers' Lives Put into Game to Raise Awareness

Daily Diamond - The Vegetarian Gladiators

The old adage of eating all your greens so you grow up to be big and strong is true, according to analysis on the bones of Roman gladiators.
A study from researchers from Switzerland’s University of Bern and Austria’s Medical University (MediUni) of Vienna, published online in PLOS ONE,......
Read the full story at: The Vegetarian Gladiators

Daily Diamond - How is Nature so Sparkly and Shiny?

Have you ever looked at a shiny fish scale or the metallic flecks of colour in a peacocks majestic tail and wondered how nature could be so reflective?
Researchers from the University of Bristol in England think they have the answer, with what they call a “universal explanation” for all of......
Read the full story at: How is Nature so Sparkly and Shiny?

Daily Diamond - Cow-Less Milk Grown in the Lab

A pair of bioengineers in California are trying to create milk – but without the cow (goat, sheep, buffalo…).
Perumal Gandhi and Ryan Pandya are two vegans from San Francisco who have founded a synthetic-dairy start-up business called Muufri (pronounced “Moo-free”). But the pair has......
Read the full story at: Cow-Less Milk Grown in the Lab

Daily Diamond - BP and GDF Suez Collaborate on New Oil Field Discovery

The discovery of a new oil field in the UK Central North Sea has been announced by oil companies BP and GDF Suez.
As the oil field borders on areas operated by both of the firms – and has been flow-tested to suggest that it could yield around 5,350 a day – they have agreed to......
Read the full story at: BP and GDF Suez Collaborate on New Oil Field Discovery

Daily Diamond - Enid Blyton's 'The Faraway Tree' to Be Adapted for Cinema

For the first time, the books that make up Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree series will be adapted for cinema.
Enid Blyton died in 1968, but that hasn’t stopped her stories from remaining a favourite for generations of children around the world. She remains one of the world’s best-selling......
Read the full story at: Enid Blyton's 'The Faraway Tree' to Be Adapted for Cinema

Daily Diamond - Paralysed Man Helped to Walk Again

A man who was paralysed from the neck down has been able to walk again after pioneering surgery from researchers in Poland and England, publishing their work in Cell Implantation.
In 2010, Darek Fidyak was repeatedly stabbed  in the back with a knife, resulting in his spinal cord being......
Read the full story at: Paralysed Man Helped to Walk Again

Daily Diamond - Huge 4th Century BC Mosaic Uncovered in Greece

While working on an ancient burial site dating back to the 4th century in Amphipolis in Greece, archaeologists came upon a vast mosaic, spanning the whole floor of one of the rooms inside the site.
The mosaic is 3m wide (10ft) and 4.5m long (15ft). It is made up of pebbles in red, yellow, blue,......
Read the full story at: Huge 4th Century BC Mosaic Uncovered in Greece

Daily Diamond - Another Tremendous Step Forward for Diabetes Cure

Back in February, we told you about scientists in California who had managed to convert normal skin cells into insulin-producing pancreatic cells, urging them ever closer to the elusive cure for Type 1 diabetes. Now, another team in the US, from Harvard University, have taken their own huge step......
Read the full story at: Another Tremendous Step Forward for Diabetes Cure

Daily Diamond - 'The Doctor and the Dalek': Coding for Kids

Today marks the launch of the Doctor sharing some of his vast knowledge with six to 12-year-olds through the medium of gaming.
He’ll be doing this through a new game from the BBC, called The Doctor and the Dalek. As part of the BBC’s drive to develop the UK’s coding ability over the next......
Read the full story at: 'The Doctor and the Dalek': Coding for Kids

Daily Diamond - Tech Companies Offer Egg-Freezing "Perks"

It is not uncommon for us to hear of (or be one of those) people who choose to establish their career before they even contemplate starting a family. As a result, more and more people are starting families later in life.
This, of course, is not a bad thing. But something to take into......
Read the full story at: Tech Companies Offer Egg-Freezing "Perks"

Daily Diamond - Application for Video-Game Based Free School

Ian Livingstone, one of the great minds behind such huge franchises as War Hammer and Tomb Raider, has submitted an application to open a free school in which the lessons would be built around video gaming.
The Department for Education (DfE) application has been backed by several trustees for Mr......
Read the full story at: Application for Video-Game Based Free School

Daily Diamond - Snakebot Unveils Sidewinder Secrets

Sidewinder rattlesnakes are unusual in how they quickly travel across deserts and are able to climb steep sand dunes. Observing the creatures in motion, US scientists from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University created a robot snake, designed to mimic the movements.
However, it was found that......
Read the full story at: Snakebot Unveils Sidewinder Secrets

Daily Diamond - Comedy Club Launches Pay-Per-Laugh Tickets

Sometimes it can feel as if we are paying a lot for performance tickets, especially if it turns out we didn’t enjoy the show as much as we were expecting to.
But a comedy club in Spain has come up with a novel way for customers to only pay for what they “use”, thanks to facial......
Read the full story at: Comedy Club Launches Pay-Per-Laugh Tickets

Daily Diamond - First Euro Kidney Transplant Using Keyhole Surgery

The first kidney transplant using keyhole surgery in Europe has been carried out at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, paving the way for better and safer surgery in the future.
Keyhole surgery – or laparoscopy, as it is medically known – has been used to remove kidneys from......
Read the full story at: First Euro Kidney Transplant Using Keyhole Surgery

Daily Diamond - Teens Pull Woman from Path of Oncoming Train

Like something you would see in a television show or movie cliffhanger, a woman feared for her life as she was stuck in the path of an oncoming train. Luckily for her, two teenagers happened to be driving past at just the right time to stop and pull her to safety.
Colton Essary, 16, and Maddie......
Read the full story at: Teens Pull Woman from Path of Oncoming Train

Daily Diamond - Garlic Injections to Save the UK's Trees

Acute oak decline and ash dieback are just two of many diseases killing off trees in woodland areas across the UK.
But there might be a cure for our wooden friends – garlic! Or more specifically, allicin, which is a compound found in garlic that is responsible for its unique and pungent......
Read the full story at: Garlic Injections to Save the UK's Trees

Daily Diamond - New York Opens 100-Year-Old Time Capsule

On May 23, 1914, the Lower Wall Street Business Men’s Association in New York was commemorating several great events in the country’s history, including the “union of the Colonies” – the birth of the USA – exactly 140 years before.
The men decided to fill a great bronze......
Read the full story at: New York Opens 100-Year-Old Time Capsule

Daily Diamond - Mental Health Waiting Time Targets Unveiled

For the first time, waiting time targets have been unveiled for people with mental health conditions. These targets are to be introduced from April next year, in a move that has been greatly welcomed by mental health charities.
Every year, mental health issues are thought to be accountable for......
Read the full story at: Mental Health Waiting Time Targets Unveiled

Daily Diamond - Faithful Feline Tracks Down Owner to Care Home

We have heard some amazing stories of cats travelling miles to their former homes after their families have relocated. But how often do you hear about a kitty who has tracked down their owner to a new home – and one they have never been to before?
That’s exactly what happened with Cleo,......
Read the full story at: Faithful Feline Tracks Down Owner to Care Home

Daily Diamond - RoomAlive: Turning a Whole Room into a Gaming System

You may have heard of the holodeck from Star Trek – an enclosed room in which people and objects are simulated and holographic images are projected. Inside the holodeck, you can be anywhere you want to be and it has been the pipe dream of technology companies for decades to be able to......
Read the full story at: RoomAlive: Turning a Whole Room into a Gaming System

Daily Diamond - Brain "GPS" Discovery Gets Nobel Prize

This year, the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine is being shared between three scientists, Professors Edvard and May-Britt Moser from Trondheim’s University of Science and Technology in Norway and Professor John O’Keefe from University College London. Their combined works have helped to......
Read the full story at: Brain "GPS" Discovery Gets Nobel Prize

Daily Diamond - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

If, like many people, you feel that the mirror is not your friend first thing in the morning and you wish it would just say something nice about how you look, then you might want to go shopping. In an IKEA store in London, there is a mirror up as part of the display that literally compliments......
Read the full story at: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Daily Diamond - The 7-Year-Old Good Samaritan

There is nothing we love more than telling you about cases of genuine generosity and kind-hearted people to help restore your faith in humanity, especially when those people are actually children. And here is another such tale coming out of North Carolina in the US.
Caiden Perez is a......
Read the full story at: The 7-Year-Old Good Samaritan

Daily Diamond - How to Get Children to Eat Fruit & Veg

It is a problem that most parents can relate to: how to get children to eat fruit and vegetables. But a new study from the Universities of Bath, Edinburgh and Essex suggests that all it takes is to appeal to the child’s competitive side.
There were 31 schools across England involved in the......
Read the full story at: How to Get Children to Eat Fruit & Veg

Daily Diamond - Old Phone Boxes to Charge Mobile Phones

London’s red telephone boxes – an iconic reminder of years gone by, before the rise of mobile phones and tablets. Street telephone boxes have become more and more obsolete, though some have been converted into mini libraries or fitted with medical equipment in case of emergency.
But two......
Read the full story at: Old Phone Boxes to Charge Mobile Phones

Daily Diamond - Church Pays Congregation to Do Good Deeds

Church members at the LaSelle Street Church were happily surprised when their pastor announced that all active members would be receiving $500. The money would be coming with no conditions aside from the modest request that it is put towards a good deed.
The site of the small church in Chicago......
Read the full story at: Church Pays Congregation to Do Good Deeds

Daily Diamond - The Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat - It Lives!

A mammal the size of a cat – that has long been thought to be extinct – has actually been found living and well beneath the world-famous Incan archaeological site of Machu Picchu.
The Machu Picchu arboreal chinchilla rat was first discovered in 1912, inside some 400-year-old Incan......
Read the full story at: The Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat - It Lives!

Daily Diamond - Wonga to Wipe More Than 300,000 Debts

The UK’s biggest payday lender, Wonga, has been the subject of much controversy over the past year or so. Now the company is trying to pull back and makes amends for some of its misgivings, by agreeing to write off more than 300,000 debts of customers who are 30 or more days in......
Read the full story at: Wonga to Wipe More Than 300,000 Debts

Daily Diamond - Human and Dog Rabies Could Be Wiped Out

Did you know that rabies is one of the deadliest diseases in the world? It is a serious viral infection that can be carried by most mammals, affecting the brain and nervous system.
When the symptoms have developed, a person might become aggressive, suffering from hallucinations and fever, and......
Read the full story at: Human and Dog Rabies Could Be Wiped Out

Daily Diamond - More Children Passing Y1 Phonics Test

New government figures from the Department for Education (DfE) have shown that more five- and six-year-old children in Year One in England are meeting the expected standard in the phonics test.
The test requires pupils to spell out a combination of real words and “non-words” that allow the......
Read the full story at: More Children Passing Y1 Phonics Test

Daily Diamond - UK Copyright Law Changes: You Can Now Copy CDs!

Back in June, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) issued guidance on changes that should be made to copyright laws in the UK. Those laws have finally come into full effect and mean that we are now allowed to make personal copies of our music, films and eBooks!
Until now, every time you copied......
Read the full story at: UK Copyright Law Changes: You Can Now Copy CDs!

Daily Diamond - Bidding Namoki the Gorilla a Fond Farewell

The gorillas at Bristol Zoo in England recently threw a party to bid farewell to Namoki, who is leaving the nest to start a family of her own at Belfast Zoo in Northern Ireland.
Namoki, a western lowland gorilla, was born at Bristol Zoo nine years ago and is now old enough to start a family of......
Read the full story at: Bidding Namoki the Gorilla a Fond Farewell

Daily Diamond - Should We Cut Down on TV?

How much television do you watch each day? According to new guidelines from NICE, if you are trying to watch your weight, then it might be too much.
NICE – or the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – have updated their guidance on tackling obesity for the first time in......
Read the full story at: Should We Cut Down on TV?

Daily Diamond - New Molecule Discovery: Milky Way Yields More Secrets

Something wonderful has been discovered 27,000 light-years away in the centre of the Milky Way – iso-propyl cyanide!
Okay, so it doesn’t sound very exciting, but does actually suggest that the life-bearing chemistry and building blocks of life could be widespread throughout our galaxy.......
Read the full story at: New Molecule Discovery: Milky Way Yields More Secrets

Daily Diamond - Nike Enjoys Profit Jump After World Cup

Thanks to the World Cup 2014, the world’s largest sportswear company, Nike, has enjoyed a tremendous profit jump.
In the three months leading up to August,   net profit rose for the company by 23%, to $962 million (£590 million). During the same period, revenue rose to $8 billion (£5......
Read the full story at: Nike Enjoys Profit Jump After World Cup

Daily Diamond - Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady with an Ermine

The Lady with an Ermine… How about just The Lady? A recent discovery from French scientist Pascal Cotte has shown that even some of history’s most famous artists don’t get it right the first time, and can change their minds about their work.
Mr Cotte, co-founder of Paris’ Lumiere......
Read the full story at: Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady with an Ermine

Daily Diamond - Who is More Moral: the Religious or Non-Religious?

It really is one of those controversial questions: is a religious person, in fact, more moral than an atheist?
You may very well already have your opinion on that matter, but new research from Germany, the Netherlands and the US might surprise you…
Religious and non-religious people are just......
Read the full story at: Who is More Moral: the Religious or Non-Religious?

Daily Diamond - California Passes "Yes Means Yes" Bill

We have all heard of the phrase “no means no” in reference to sexual consent, but what does it really stand for? On a basic level, if someone says “no” or makes it clear that they do not want to participate in a physical encounter, they haven’t given their consent. But if the other......
Read the full story at: California Passes "Yes Means Yes" Bill

Daily Diamond - Breath Test for TB Developed!

The search for a quick and simple tuberculosis test has taken a tremendous step forward as scientists in the US develop the world’s first breath test for the disease.
Tuberculosis, or TB as it is otherwise known, affects around 8.6 million people in the world each year, and killing 1.3......
Read the full story at: Breath Test for TB Developed!

Daily Diamond - Creative Industries to Get Skills Boost

The creative sector is worth around £71 billion per year in the UK, but companies have said that they find it hard to recruit employees who are proficient and up to speed with the latest technologies.
To tackle this issue, the Minister for Culture and Digital Economy Ed Vaizey has announced......
Read the full story at: Creative Industries to Get Skills Boost

Daily Diamond - Peacock Tails: Do They Really Affect the Bird's Flight?

Peacock tail feathers are beautiful and iconic, but scientists have long believed that the birds pay a steep price for impressing peahens with their elaborate plumage. Peacocks are not the greatest of flyers, especially when taking off. Their tails are thought to be both too bulky and heavy for......
Read the full story at: Peacock Tails: Do They Really Affect the Bird's Flight?

Daily Diamond - Robot Created with an Artificial Tongue!

A robot with an artificial tongue has been developed that could alter the art of wine tasting as we know it.
The team from Aarhus University’s Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Centre (iNANO) in Denmark has used research from the American Chemical Society (ASC), originally published in ACS Nano in......
Read the full story at: Robot Created with an Artificial Tongue!

Daily Diamond - "Precycling": Shopping Without the Packaging

A recently opened store in Berlin, Germany, is adding to a growing trend of “precycling” shopping, making packaging a thing of the past!
Original Unverpackt (“Originally Unpackaged”) was founded by Milena Glimbovski and Sara Wolf, and opened its doors to the public on 13......
Read the full story at: "Precycling": Shopping Without the Packaging

Daily Diamond - Could Hospital Gowns Be On the Way Out?

How many of us have been to hospital for the smallest thing and had to wear that shapeless hospital gown – wearing nothing underneath – that doesn’t quite meet at the back?
In the past, little thought has gone to how these gowns make the patient feel, in regards to their dignity......
Read the full story at: Could Hospital Gowns Be On the Way Out?

Daily Diamond - Struggling Bartender Tipped $1,000

We never tire of sharing stories of immense and spontaneous generosity of some people, and here is another, coming out of Wake Forest, North Carolina in the US.
Chrisi Kemp has been waiting tables for the best part of 16 years and is currently a bartender for the One Whirled Café. She recently......
Read the full story at: Struggling Bartender Tipped $1,000

Daily Diamond - Great Scots!

In honour of Scotland voting to stay with the UK, we have compiled a list of ten of the greatest Scots of all time, some of whom have dramatically impacted the way we live today!

Sir Alexander Fleming (1881 – 1955)
A biologist who specialised in plants and drugs, he witnessed many......
Read the full story at: Great Scots!

Daily Diamond - Microsoft Buys 'Minecraft' Creator Mojang

Mojang is the ingenious company behind the hugely popular open-world video game Minecraft, and it has just been bought by tech giant Microsoft for a staggering $2.5 billion (£1.5 billion).
The game, described as virtual Lego with extras, allows players to build an entire world using retro......
Read the full story at: Microsoft Buys 'Minecraft' Creator Mojang

Daily Diamond - Harnessing Chewing Power

Mechanical engineers in Canada have developed a chin strap that can harness the energy from chewing and convert it into electricity that could one day power hearing aids, earpieces and other small devices.
Study co-authors Dr Jeremie Voix and Dr Aidin Delnavaz from Montreal’s École de......
Read the full story at: Harnessing Chewing Power

Daily Diamond - Man Reunited with Stolen Car 46 Years Later

Back in 1967, Ivan Schneider was a young lawyer living in New York. After winning a big case, he bought himself a $5,000 present in the form of a brand new Jaguar XKE convertible.
But in the March of 1968, Ivan’s beautiful car went missing from outside his apartment, and despite reporting the......
Read the full story at: Man Reunited with Stolen Car 46 Years Later

Daily Diamond - Goodbye to the Smear Test?

Could we be saying “goodbye” to the cervical smear test? The uncomfortable necessity that women have to go through every three years could become a thing of the past with self-testing urine kits, according to researchers in England and Spain.
Cervical screening is available to women in Wales......
Read the full story at: Goodbye to the Smear Test?

Daily Diamond - Sharks and Manta Rays Get Extra Protection

Finally, some good news for sharks and manta rays! On 14 September, new international laws went into effect to provide extra protection for five species of shark and all species of manta ray.
Sharks and manta rays are hunted for a variety of reasons – food, medicine, trophies – and......
Read the full story at: Sharks and Manta Rays Get Extra Protection

Daily Diamond - New £1 Coin: "Tails" Competition Now Open!

Back in March, we told you about the new pound coin to be introduced by the Royal Mint in 2017, which will include some of the same counterfeit-proof tech found in Britain’s banknotes.
When George Osborne made the announcement in this year’s Budget, he explained that one pound coin in every......
Read the full story at: New £1 Coin: "Tails" Competition Now Open!

Daily Diamond - Where is the Happiest Place on Earth?

Where do you think is the happiest place on Earth? Maybe you think UK folks are the cheeriest, or that the US is the most merry. Well, what if we told you that neither of these places even made it into the top ten?
The Gallup-Healthways Global Well-Being Index compiled data from 135 countries......
Read the full story at: Where is the Happiest Place on Earth?

Daily Diamond - First Ever 3D-Printed Vertebra Saves Boy with Cancer

Minghao, a 12-year-old boy from China, was playing football with his friends when he went to head the ball and injured his neck.
But when Minghao went to the doctors, they found that it wasn’t a simple sprain they were dealing with, but a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma that......
Read the full story at: First Ever 3D-Printed Vertebra Saves Boy with Cancer

Daily Diamond - M&S Launches Online Business Course

Retailer Marks and Spencer is entering into the realm of online education, joining up with the University of Leeds to launch a free course on business innovation.
The Mooc (massive open online course) will look at some of the innovative business ideas that have been relevant to M&S over the......
Read the full story at: M&S Launches Online Business Course

Daily Diamond - Patrick Stewart Surprises Make-a-Wish Trekkie at DragonCon

There is no denying it: Sir Patrick Stewart is a legend. In fact, he is one of the greatest and well-loved legends of our time. And he appears to age at a much slower rate than the rest of us – he looks just as he did when he first graced our screens as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star......
Read the full story at: Patrick Stewart Surprises Make-a-Wish Trekkie at DragonCon

Daily Diamond - Learning in Our Sleep...

We know our brains get up to something when we’re sleeping – after all, we have dreams, we react when someone says our name or we hear our alarm go off – but just how capable is it of learning when we’re getting some shut-eye?
Researchers from Cambridge and Paris decided to check......
Read the full story at: Learning in Our Sleep...

Daily Diamond - The World's First Player-Powered Football Pitch

Have you ever watched a game of football and thought about all of the potential energy that was being wasted? Maybe not, but a start-up company from London has!
Pavegen has created tiles that convert the kinetic energy of a footstep into electrical power, with some already in use in Heathrow......
Read the full story at: The World's First Player-Powered Football Pitch

Daily Diamond - Tenants to get "Revenge Eviction" Protection

Are you one of the nine million people in the UK that privately rent your home? If so, you could be getting some extra protection from being evicted after making completely justifiable complaints.
Sadly, this occurrence is more common than you might think. Some rogue landlords kick tenants from......
Read the full story at: Tenants to get "Revenge Eviction" Protection

Daily Diamond - Intel Reveals World's Smallest Commercial Processor

Showcasing their latest wares at the recent IFA Tech Conference in Berlin, computing giants Intel have revealed the first in their Broadwell series of next-generation processors – with the world’s smallest transistors to ever have been used in a commercial product.
The company managed to......
Read the full story at: Intel Reveals World's Smallest Commercial Processor

Daily Diamond - The Travelling Teacher

A geography teacher and deputy head at North Cestrian Grammar School in Cheshire is showing everyone how it is done by turning his spare time into material for his lessons.
Matthew Bell has a passion for travelling that he has put to good use in the classroom and is also inspiring his students......
Read the full story at: The Travelling Teacher

Daily Diamond - Recovery of the Ozone Layer!

The ozone layer, the Earth’s protective shield that absorbs most of the Sun’s cancer-causing UV radiation, has been diminishing for decades. We can all remember the horror stories about how it will only be so long before it dissipates completely.
But a new report from the WMO and UNEP......
Read the full story at: Recovery of the Ozone Layer!

Daily Diamond - The Great Sock-Eater and Other Tales

In honour of this week’s #FurryFriday, we bring you the tale of the Great Sock-Eater. It sounds like something to come out of the magical mind of Roald Dahl, but is actually incredibly real.
Owners of a three-year-old Great Dane – all of whom wish to remain anonymous – brought......
Read the full story at: The Great Sock-Eater and Other Tales

Daily Diamond - James Corden to Be New Face of The Late Late Show

It has been confirmed that the American late-night television talk show The Late Late Show will be getting a new host at the beginning of next year in the form of English funnyman James Corden.
The Late Late Show was launched in 1995 with then-host Tom Snyder, but since 2005 has been hosted by......
Read the full story at: James Corden to Be New Face of The Late Late Show

Daily Diamond - New York Fashion Week: 'Role Models, Not Runway Models'

Once again, Carrie Hammer has been pushing the boundaries of New York Fashion Week, showing that beauty comes in all forms.
When a person is lacking in self-confidence, there is nothing more confidence-boosting than being invited to walk down a New York Fashion Week runway, reminding that person......
Read the full story at: New York Fashion Week: 'Role Models, Not Runway Models'

Daily Diamond - Smartphone Could Diagnose and Monitor Parkinson's Disease

Despite being one of the most common neurodegenerative conditions – affecting almost 130,000 people in the UK alone – Parkinson’s disease symptoms are difficult to measure objectively, outside the doctor’s clinic.
But now smartphone technology has been developed at Aston......
Read the full story at: Smartphone Could Diagnose and Monitor Parkinson's Disease

Daily Diamond - Same-Sex Couple Marries After 70 Years Together

We all like a good story of true love now and again, and that certainly is the case of Alice “Nonie” Dubes and her new wife Vivian Boyack. But what is different with these two ladies?
Vivian is 91 and Nonie is 90, and the couple has been together for more than 70 years, saying that it is......
Read the full story at: Same-Sex Couple Marries After 70 Years Together

Daily Diamond - We Can Finally Delete Those Accidentally-Sent Texts!

Have you ever sent a text to the wrong person, or pressed ‘send’ and immediately regretted it? We’ve all been there! Before, we would have had to nervously await the reply, banging our heads against the wall and asking ourselves how we could have been so stupid.
But now there is an app......
Read the full story at: We Can Finally Delete Those Accidentally-Sent Texts!

Daily Diamond - New Classes to Teach Kids About Money Management

Over the next couple of months, young people in secondary schools will start learning about financial management as part of the national curriculum, in a bid to teach them how to work towards a financially secure future.
The changes to the curriculum come after a campaign led by Martin Lewis,......
Read the full story at: New Classes to Teach Kids About Money Management

Daily Diamond - The Clangers are Back (With a Wonderful New Narrator)!

Raise your hand if you fondly remember watching The Clangers as a child… Originally airing in the late 60s, the little knitted and puppet-like critters captured the childish hearts of so many generations, and we can joyously report that they will be gracing our screens once more!
The Clangers......
Read the full story at: The Clangers are Back (With a Wonderful New Narrator)!

Daily Diamond - Which Diet is the Best? Whichever One is Easiest!

It’s Monday and lots of people will be thinking that this is the day to start the new diet. In fact, some people seem to spend all of their time dieting, trying this one (“I’m going to start that Atkins diet on Monday”) or that one (“You know what really worked for me? Weight Watchers,......
Read the full story at: Which Diet is the Best? Whichever One is Easiest!

Daily Diamond - When Life Gives You Lemons: From Cancelled Wedding to Fundraiser

You’re going to get married and everything is all bought and paid for. But at the last minute, something happens and the wedding is off. What do you do?
Had everything gone to plan, then Phil LaBoon, a 32-year-old internet marketing CEO from Pennsylvania in the US, would be a married man now.......
Read the full story at: When Life Gives You Lemons: From Cancelled Wedding to Fundraiser

Daily Diamond - Scientists Change Memory Emotions from Bad to Good

We all have some things we associate with bad memories – a scent, a place, a song – but what if we could turn the negativity we feel for those things around, so that positivity is ignited instead?
Scientists from the Riken-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics (CNCG) in......
Read the full story at: Scientists Change Memory Emotions from Bad to Good

Daily Diamond - Uni Rejection Letters Don't Come Much Better Than This...

Go on, admit it! You’ve secretly hoped a letter would arrive in the post (or by owl) with that tell-tale inky scrawl across the front, finally informing you of your acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We’ve all been there, don’t worry.
But it seems that one......
Read the full story at: Uni Rejection Letters Don't Come Much Better Than This...

Daily Diamond - The Star Trek Tricorder Becomes Real in Sci-Fi Inspired Competition

If you’ve seen Star Trek, then you may remember an awesome handheld device called a tricorder, the medical version of which could wirelessly collect bodily information of a patient and detect a range of diseases.
Obviously, it would be a medical dream come true if such technology became fact,......
Read the full story at: The Star Trek Tricorder Becomes Real in Sci-Fi Inspired Competition

Daily Diamond - Hospital Food in England to Get Revamp

Apart from the obvious medical worries, one of things that people don’t like about an overnight stay at hospital is the prospect of having to eat hospital food.
But as of later this year, not only will hospitals in England be enforced to raise the standards of the food they serve to their......
Read the full story at: Hospital Food in England to Get Revamp

Daily Diamond - Fashion Inspired by Technology

Advances in technology have seen rising numbers of collaborations between tech companies and fashion designers, and some just in time for London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015 (SS15), which will be held on September 12.
More and more designers are extending their reach with accessories that are......
Read the full story at: Fashion Inspired by Technology

Daily Diamond - The Secrets Beneath Stonehenge

Believed to have been built at some point between 3000BC and 2000BC (making it more than 4,000 years old!), Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in the world. And yet, such mystery surrounds not only how it got there, but also why it was built there.
And now that mystery has deepened even......
Read the full story at: The Secrets Beneath Stonehenge

Daily Diamond - Human-Like Skin that Feels - For Planes?!

What if we told you that a defence contractor in the UK has developed technology that could give aeroplanes human-like skin that could ‘feel’?
Sadly (or not), this doesn’t mean great flesh-coloured aircraft scattering across our skies, but a plane covered with thousands upon thousands of......
Read the full story at: Human-Like Skin that Feels - For Planes?!

Daily Diamond - Football Legend at Centre of Twitter Craze

If you need a chuckle this Monday afternoon, then we might have just the thing for you – Steve Bruce at Weddings!
Mr Bruce has been involved in football for the last 37 years, ranging from his youth career at Gillingham to currently managing Hull City.
But what does he like to do in his......
Read the full story at: Football Legend at Centre of Twitter Craze

Daily Diamond - Amazon Partners Up with Shanghai FTZ

Amazon seems to have had its fingers in all the pies over the last couple of months, boosting revenue with its click-and-collect Doddle plans, 3D Printed Products Store, and the latest shock takeover of video-streaming site Twitch. The company is also focusing its efforts on improving its......
Read the full story at: Amazon Partners Up with Shanghai FTZ

Daily Diamond - "Guardians" Proposed for Missing People

It is hard enough when someone you love goes missing without having to worry about what is happening to the life you hope they will return to.
Sadly, when a person disappears it is too often the case that their bills go left unpaid and their mortgage payments slide. This is because the person......
Read the full story at: "Guardians" Proposed for Missing People

Daily Diamond - A Student's Life-Saving Heart Research

A student from Hampshire has made a scientific breakthrough that could save the lives of people – specifically athletes – with an undiagnosed heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
HCM is an inherited condition in which the heart’s muscle wall becomes thickened......
Read the full story at: A Student's Life-Saving Heart Research

Daily Diamond - Adorable White Lion Cubs Born

Four adorable lion cubs have been born at Circus Krone in Germany. But what makes these lion cubs newsworthy (apart from being ridiculously cute)? They are very rare white lion cubs.
The litter is made up of three males and a female, and all are healthy and eating well, but have yet to have been......
Read the full story at: Adorable White Lion Cubs Born

Daily Diamond - Wireless Tech for Epilepsy Sufferers

Epilepsy affects one out of every 100 people, with more than 500,000 people in the UK and around 50 million in the world suffering from the condition. But epilepsy is notoriously difficult to diagnose and a sufferer needs to have had more than one seizure for it to be considered because many......
Read the full story at: Wireless Tech for Epilepsy Sufferers

Daily Diamond - River Turtles Found to Communicate Vocally

Over the last year, we have told you about the polite conversation of marmoset monkeys and the translated gestures of chimpanzees. And while animals are evidently capable of communicating with each other in their own way, few appear to do so vocally.
Now, scientists from the WCS (Wildlife......
Read the full story at: River Turtles Found to Communicate Vocally

Daily Diamond - Police Stop-and-Search Changes

A new government code of conduct has been introduced which will see more than half of all police forces in England and Wales changing the way they handle stop-and-searches on members of the public, spreading to all 43 forces by November this year.
The changes were proposed earlier this year by......
Read the full story at: Police Stop-and-Search Changes

Daily Diamond - University Places Rise for A-Level Students on Results Day

A couple of weeks ago, students from across the UK received their long-awaited A-level results, nervously opening an envelope that could hold their future inside. For the first time in thirty years, the overall pass rate of A-levels has fallen slightly, as well as the number of A and A* grades.......
Read the full story at: University Places Rise for A-Level Students on Results Day

Daily Diamond - Twice-a-Day Pill Could Cure Alopecia Hair Loss

Around one or two out of a thousand people in the UK suffered from alopecia areata, a kind of hair loss that results in patches of baldness and is very difficult to treat, according to the NHS.
Usually a person develops the disease when they are between the ages of 15 and 29, with 60% of these......
Read the full story at: Twice-a-Day Pill Could Cure Alopecia Hair Loss

Daily Diamond - Batteries Powered By Sweat...?

Scientists from the University of California have developed a biobattery, similar to a temporary-tattoo, that produces power from sweat. Detailed in the journal Angewandte Chemie and presented at the National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the tiny device is the......
Read the full story at: Batteries Powered By Sweat...?

Daily Diamond - The Ice Bucket Challenge

The Ice Bucket Challenge which has been sweeping the web – you may have seen videos of some of your friends or even your favourite celebrities stepping up to the plate and pouring a bucket filled with ice or ice water over their heads.
But what exactly is it all about? Within 24 hours of......
Read the full story at: The Ice Bucket Challenge

Daily Diamond - First Female "Mathematician's Nobel Prize" Winner

Professor Maryam Mirzakhani has become the first person from Stanford University in the US to have won the Fields Medal since 1966. But more than that she has made history by becoming the first female recipient of the coveted award.
Otherwise known as the International Medal for Outstanding......
Read the full story at: First Female "Mathematician's Nobel Prize" Winner

Daily Diamond - Duke the Dog Elected as Town Mayor

The title of this article is in no way misleading – a small town called Cormorant in Minnesota, in the US, has indeed elected a dog as its mayor, and in a landslide vote no less.
Well, landslide by this town’s standards anyway, with seven-year-old Duke receiving at least nine votes in......
Read the full story at: Duke the Dog Elected as Town Mayor

Daily Diamond - The Purple Heart Mission

Vermont National Guard Captain Zachariah Fike has made it his mission to return Purple Heart medals to their rightful owners.
The Purple Heart is a medal awarded to military in the US who have been wounded or killed while serving in the army. Because of this, a lot of Purple Hearts belong to......
Read the full story at: The Purple Heart Mission

Daily Diamond - Shelley Kerr Makes History as First Woman in Scottish Men's Football

Former Arsenal Ladies manager Shelley Kerr is making history as she becomes the first female manager in Scottish senior football.
After 16 months at Arsenal Ladies, during which time she led them to win the FA Cup (twice!) and the Continental Cup, she is now going to take charge of Stirling......
Read the full story at: Shelley Kerr Makes History as First Woman in Scottish Men's Football

Daily Diamond - Self-Building Origami Robots...

Origami robots! Yes, that is what you think it says: Origami robots! Now, while these creations may not actually be made from colourful pieces of paper, they are certainly inspired by the ancient Japanese art of paper-folding.
The team from Harvard and MIT in the US wanted to demonstrate the......
Read the full story at: Self-Building Origami Robots...

Daily Diamond - Child's Play: Great for Boosting Development!

A new report commissioned by the Children’s Play Policy Forum and published to coincide with 6 August’s national day of play, Playday, has reviewed a wide range of research into the importance of child’s play. It has confirmed that playing helps boost a child’s language development,......
Read the full story at: Child's Play: Great for Boosting Development!

Daily Diamond - The Circus Group Vs The Bank

At the end of July, a circus group from Bristol was denied a business account because the bank claimed that some of the troupe’s acts posed a “moral problem” that the bank couldn’t be associated with. But in true Daily Diamond style, there is a silver lining to this story!
Joshua Morris......
Read the full story at: The Circus Group Vs The Bank

Daily Diamond - Words from the Late, Great Robin Williams

We at Daily Diamond wanted to pay our respects to the legend that is Robin Williams, who recently passed away.
While the circumstances of his death have saddened the world, here are ten of the wonderful actor’s greatest quotes and words of wisdom to try and do what he did best: put a smile on......
Read the full story at: Words from the Late, Great Robin Williams

Daily Diamond - Eggshells: Natural Sunblock for Baby Birds

Examining around 75 species of birds’ eggs from the UK in the Natural History Museum collection, scientists have found that eggshells act as a form of UV protection for the embryos developing inside and have published their research in Functional Ecology.
Researchers found variations in......
Read the full story at: Eggshells: Natural Sunblock for Baby Birds

Daily Diamond - After 55 Years of Waiting, Civil Rights Activist Finally Graduates

More than half a century ago, Alva Earley was fighting the fight for equality, and because he decided to take a stand against segregation, he was denied his high-school graduation and diploma. But now, with a little help from his friends, he has finally been given what he should have gotten all......
Read the full story at: After 55 Years of Waiting, Civil Rights Activist Finally Graduates

Daily Diamond - 11-Year-Old Invents the IV Pediatric Backpack 4 Kids with Cancer

Kylie Simonds from Connecticut in the US is only eleven years old and has already overcome cancer and become an inventor to help other children just like her.
Around three years ago, Kylie had a kind of cancer of the connective tissue called rhabdomyosarcoma. She spent 46 weeks having......
Read the full story at: 11-Year-Old Invents the IV Pediatric Backpack 4 Kids with Cancer

Daily Diamond - Music Lessons Boost Children's Learning

We already know that learning music as a child can help prevent cognitive decline as a person gets older, but now new research from Northwestern University working the Harmony Project in the US has found that children from disadvantaged areas are able to boost their reading and language skills......
Read the full story at: Music Lessons Boost Children's Learning

Daily Diamond - Gold Rush: New Species of Bat Discovered!

Scientists think they have discovered a new species of bat in Bolivia – and it’s gold!
The golden bat is of the genus Myotis (mouse-eared bat) and has short woolly fur in a colour that is unique among mouse-eared bats in the western hemisphere. The bat’s full name is Myotis......
Read the full story at: Gold Rush: New Species of Bat Discovered!

Daily Diamond - Shaun the Sheep to Take to the Streets

In 2011, gorillas were scattered around Bristol as part of a huge art event called Wow! Gorillas to celebrate Bristol Zoo’s 175th birthday. Not only could residents and tourists alike wander around the city trying to spot the uniquely decorated sculptures, but after their 10-week showcase they......
Read the full story at: Shaun the Sheep to Take to the Streets

Daily Diamond - An Aspirin a Day Could Keep the Cancer Away?

A report published in the Annals of Oncology by the Queen Mary University of London has reviewed all available studies about aspirin to determine what the harms and benefits are of taking the drug on a regular basis. It was found that aspirin, one of the most cheap and common drugs on the......
Read the full story at: An Aspirin a Day Could Keep the Cancer Away?

Daily Diamond - Zambia To Get Free Internet Services Through Facebook App

Even though only a third of the people in the world are connected to the internet, some of the remaining people might not live in as remote places as you might expect. In fact, some 85% of the world is within coverage distance.
So, in a bid to extend Internet usage to underdeveloped countries,......
Read the full story at: Zambia To Get Free Internet Services Through Facebook App

Daily Diamond - Canada's New ATMs: Automated *Thanking* Machines

What has your bank done to thank you for your custom lately? If you are lucky enough to be with the TD Canada Trust then even just being asked this question will bring a smile to your face!
The company wanted to go a little further than the usual small free gift, or the “here is a hot drink......
Read the full story at: Canada's New ATMs: Automated *Thanking* Machines

Daily Diamond - The Happiness Equation

In March, we told you about a study that showed that people who are happier tend to work harder. Scientists have now developed a mathematical equation that can predict momentary happiness, published in PNAS.
In this latest study, 26 participants played a money game in which they were asked to......
Read the full story at: The Happiness Equation

Daily Diamond - Schoolboys Find 4,000-Year-Old Gold

Four boys from Cumbria, North West England, have found a rare head ornament made of gold during an archaeological dig in Northumberland.
Aiden Bell and Sebastian Alderson, both 10, Luca Alderson, eight, and seven-year-old Joseph Bell had learnt about archaeology at Alston Primary School, as part......
Read the full story at: Schoolboys Find 4,000-Year-Old Gold

Daily Diamond - Small Doses of Video Gaming are Good for Kids

We often worry about the impact playing computer games has on the development of children, but now new research suggests that gaming might not be as bad for them as we thought. In fact, not only was it found that young people who play video games for between one and three hours a day experience......
Read the full story at: Small Doses of Video Gaming are Good for Kids

Daily Diamond - Teenage Musician Loaned £1 Million Violin

An 18-year-old violinist has been loaned a rare instrument worth £1 million by a professional musician who is not only awed by the boy’s musical ability but has also been touched by the similarities in both of their lives and music careers.

John Ludlow’s Stradivarius violin dates back to......
Read the full story at: Teenage Musician Loaned £1 Million Violin

Daily Diamond - From Facial Expressions to First Impressions

It is thought that it only takes seconds for someone to form their first impression of you, with that impression able to affect future behaviour around you, and it can be difficult to change that opinion. And while we know not to judge someone purely on how they look – “don’t judge a......
Read the full story at: From Facial Expressions to First Impressions

Daily Diamond - Autonomous Automobiles Could Be Hitting Our Roads Next Year!

According to Business Secretary Vince Cable, cars could be driving their own way around the UK’s streets from as early as January next year.
Mr Cable said that computer-controlled cars would be trialled in three cities around the UK, with government funding of £10 million being made available......
Read the full story at: Autonomous Automobiles Could Be Hitting Our Roads Next Year!

Daily Diamond - Display Screens Could Help People with Vision Problems

In the UK, around one in three people suffer from shortsightedness, also known as myopia, in which they have difficulty seeing objects that are not near them. (Farsightedness, or hyperopia, is the opposite and affects a person’s ability to see objects that are close to them.) Myopia affects......
Read the full story at: Display Screens Could Help People with Vision Problems

Daily Diamond - Garden Cities Construction to Curb Housing Shortage

In a bid to combat the housing shortage in England, it was confirmed in April that three new “garden cities” were going to be built by 2020.
Garden cities are new towns built specifically to incorporate a large number of new homes with as much open and green space as possible. The idea is......
Read the full story at: Garden Cities Construction to Curb Housing Shortage

Daily Diamond - One-Shot Breast Cancer Therapy Given Go-Ahead on NHS

Breast cancer is the most common form of the disease in the UK, affecting around 48,000 women and one in every 100,000 men. Treatment tends to involve surgery and many trips to the hospital for the patient to have radiotherapy, which can be both inconvenient and draining.
But those trips could......
Read the full story at: One-Shot Breast Cancer Therapy Given Go-Ahead on NHS

Daily Diamond - Amazon's 3D Printed Products Store: Create Your Own Bobblehead!

Who hasn’t wished they could create their own bobblehead – maybe even a little army of them? And now you can!
 Amazon launched its very own 3D Printed Products online store on Monday, which gives customers a chance to design a whole range of products, from their own games and......
Read the full story at: Amazon's 3D Printed Products Store: Create Your Own Bobblehead!

Daily Diamond - Adoption Register Opened Up for Approved Adopters

The Adoption Register is an online secure database in the UK containing the details of all of the 6,000-plus children awaiting adoption. Internal software matches up potential adopters and children, cross-referencing information, before social workers consider the match in more detail.
But with......
Read the full story at: Adoption Register Opened Up for Approved Adopters

Daily Diamond - Bungling Burglar Caught Escaping WWE Wrestlers' Home

It is pretty unlucky for a burglar to get caught in the act when fleeing the scene of a crime, but maybe even more so when the home they are leaving happens to belong to not one, but two professional wrestlers with the WWE.
Bryan and Brianna Danielson, better known by their stage names of Daniel......
Read the full story at: Bungling Burglar Caught Escaping WWE Wrestlers' Home

Daily Diamond - Medical Students Replace Cadavers with 3D-Printed Body Parts

A grim but necessary part of learning about the human anatomy as a medical student is dissecting cadavers. You might be surprised to find out then that there is, unfortunately, a shortage of this vital training tool all over the world, be it for religious or monetary reasons, or people......
Read the full story at: Medical Students Replace Cadavers with 3D-Printed Body Parts

Daily Diamond - Amazing Video Showing What Lifeguards Actually Do

We might have an idea of the work that lifeguards do, but do any of us actually know? They might be trained, but every time they go out there to save someone’s life, they are risking their own – and many of them are volunteering their services so aren’t even getting paid for doing......
Read the full story at: Amazing Video Showing What Lifeguards Actually Do

Daily Diamond - Restaurant Owner Pays Staff Out of His Own Pocket After Fire Closes Shop for 6 Months

In November last year, Bruce Kroll’s restaurant in Wisconsin in the US burnt down, leaving his 40 employees temporarily out of a job while the building was rebuilt, and wondering how they were going to get by in that time.
He had owned Culver’s Restaurant in Platteville for 19 years and......
Read the full story at: Restaurant Owner Pays Staff Out of His Own Pocket After Fire Closes Shop for 6 Months

Daily Diamond - UK Progression Towards Three-Person IVF

In a controversial step forward, a technique to create babies from the sperm and eggs of three people – which could lead to the prevention of some of the major childhood diseases – has progressed in the UK.
According to the Department of Health, the three-person IVF (invitro......
Read the full story at: UK Progression Towards Three-Person IVF

Daily Diamond - Cancer Drug Brings HIV Out of Hiding to Help Treat, Maybe Cure

At the beginning of the year, we told you that this could be the year for a cure for HIV, and there have certainly been some promising stories about the progress being made in that department. And here comes another from the University of Aarhaus in Denmark.
One of the many problems with......
Read the full story at: Cancer Drug Brings HIV Out of Hiding to Help Treat, Maybe Cure

Daily Diamond - Will We Soon Be Communicating with Our Household Appliances?

According to a computer sciences expert from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, household appliances that are able to communicate with us may only be a few years away.
Dr Kevin Curran said that in only five years, your fridge could be texting you that you are running low on milk, or......
Read the full story at: Will We Soon Be Communicating with Our Household Appliances?

Daily Diamond - Long-Awaited 'Fight Club' Sequel Set to Hit Shelves Next Year

Chuck Palahniuk, author of Choke, Survivor and Invisible Monsters, to name but a few, has confirmed his long-awaited sequel to award-winning novel Fight Club will be published by this time next year.
It has been a long 18 years since Fight Club was originally published, but unlike the original,......
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Daily Diamond - Music Education Funding Boost: Double Victory for Campaigners

Campaigners for music education can claim a double victory this week. Not only has the government backed out of its recommendation that music hubs be solely responsible for funding music ed, but the subject is also going to get a huge boost in funding.
The Department for Education (DfE) made the......
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Daily Diamond - Free Guidance Given in Pension Reforms: "It's Not My Money, It's Your Money"

Recent plans to revolutionise pensions have been revised, with the government saying that savers will be able to receive free, independent and impartial advice when given unrestricted access to their pensions from April 2015, meaning they will be able to use their own pension in the manner they......
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Daily Diamond - The Heart's Possible "Grow-Your-Own" Pacemaker

After groundbreaking experiments, US scientists have been able to encourage the heart to grow its own pacemaker by converting cells inside of it, and the treatment could be hitting human trials within three years. The findings have been published in Science Translational Medicine.
Pacemakers......
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Daily Diamond - Mysterious Stranger May Have Just Saved This Woman's Life

Stephanie Headley, 48, has been struggling with systemic scleroderma for more than a decade. It is an autoimmune disease that causes the body to produce too much collagen, which then hardens the skin, blood vessels and vital organs, eventually leading to the heart to fail.
Stephanie, a single......
Read the full story at: Mysterious Stranger May Have Just Saved This Woman's Life

Daily Diamond - Future Increased Investment for Cyclists on the Road?

Ask any driver what their biggest peeve about being on the road is and many will simply say, “cyclists.” Similarly, cyclists complain of aggressive driving from those in cars, speed limits not being enforced properly and junctions that haven’t been brought up-to-date with modern times. In......
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Daily Diamond - Name that Tune: New Software Can Identify Bird from its Birdsong

Ever listened to a song you didn’t know and wanted to know who the artist was, or what the song was called? Well, there’s an app for that. Much along those same lines, software has now been developed that can differentiate between the birdsongs of different birds, and has been published in......
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Daily Diamond - The Footballing Stars Donating to Help Others

We always seem to be hearing about how footballers make too much money, and that it never seems to go to a worthwhile cause. Well, here are just a few examples of soccer stars giving away some of their fortune to help those in greater need.
We’ll start off with someone you might be surprised......
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Daily Diamond - Bowie's Triumphant Return? That's a Promise...

The music legend that is Mr David Bowie has hinted at his second album in as many years – after a ten-year break it seems the Rebel Rebel is back in business.
Releasing an album last year, The Next Day, showed that the 67-year-old rocker hasn’t lost ‘it’, giving him the coveted......
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Daily Diamond - English National Parks to Get Better Mobile Phone Coverage

England’s National Parks are places of great peace and beauty, but for the modern person there is nothing more frustrating than the lack of mobile phone signal bound to be experienced in these places. And while mobile broadband has become the norm for urban folk, the people who live and work......
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Daily Diamond - Remote-Controlled Birth Control: The Future of Contraception?

Contraception: a necessity in most people’s lives at one point or another. But often, finding the right birth control for you can be a tricky and arduous task, and if you decide that you want to try for a baby, many of the contraceptives currently on offer require you to make an appointment......
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Daily Diamond - Sotheby's and eBay Deal for Online Art Auctions

International art auction house meets international online auction website: Sotheby’s and eBay are coming together to create a new way of allowing people from all over the world to buy and bid on Sotheby’s art.
EBay has almost 150 million users, 40% of which access the site through mobile......
Read the full story at: Sotheby's and eBay Deal for Online Art Auctions

Daily Diamond - Rising Above Hate: Girl Poses with Graffiti about Herself

Carleigh O’Connell, from New Jersey in the US, is only 14 years old, but she has done something that many women twice her age would never have the confidence to do – risen above hate and posed for a photograph with a graffiti scrawl that someone had written about her.
When speaking to......
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