Daily Diamond - Quelling the Myths of Gay Adoption

According to new government figures released for last year, the number of children being adopted by same-sex couples in the county of Nottinghamshire is well above the national average.
On a national level, one in 15 children are adopted by a same-sex couple, and in Derbyshire it is only one in......
Read the full story at: Quelling the Myths of Gay Adoption

Daily Diamond - Stephen Hawking's World Cup Winning Formula

Professor Stephen Hawking is considered one of the world’s greatest scientific minds: a world-renowned cosmologist, theoretical physicist and author – and the answer to England’s World Cup chances?
In research commissioned by betting company Paddy Power, the professor has analysed all......
Read the full story at: Stephen Hawking's World Cup Winning Formula

Daily Diamond - Mini Dialysis Machine Developed for Newborns

Every year in the UK, around 20 children are born with severe kidney problems, resulting in the need for dialysis within their first two years of life, some of whom need it from birth. Although doctors usually adapt a standard, adult-sized dialysis machine for babies, these often cannot be......
Read the full story at: Mini Dialysis Machine Developed for Newborns

Daily Diamond - Helping Former Child-Soldiers Learn How to Play

At a very young age children learn that by dropping a toy, it will fall to the ground, and anyone who has interacted with a child of that age will tell you that it becomes a game – hand the child a toy, the child throws the toy on the floor, repeat.
Children use the medium of play to......
Read the full story at: Helping Former Child-Soldiers Learn How to Play

Daily Diamond - M&S Bank Launches Free Current Account

If someone asked you to name a bank, it is unlikely you would even contemplate saying the words “Sainsbury’s”, “Tesco”, or “M&S”, but more and more supermarkets are trying their hand at banking.
Marks & Spencer actually launched two premium current accounts back in......
Read the full story at: M&S Bank Launches Free Current Account

Daily Diamond - Snake Species Lost for 80 Years - Found!

A species of snake that has managed to elude, well, everyone for almost 80 years has been rediscovered in Mexico, according to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC in the US, the findings of which have been published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The nocturnal Clarión Nightsnake was first......
Read the full story at: Snake Species Lost for 80 Years - Found!

Daily Diamond - Text-to-911: Modernising the US Emergency Services

It is perhaps globally known that if you require emergency services in America, you dial 9-1-1. It was first nationally introduced in the late 1960s, although not widely put to use until the 1980s. There hasn’t really been any adaption to the system that was put in place then, and with an......
Read the full story at: Text-to-911: Modernising the US Emergency Services

Daily Diamond - The Scottish NHS Meets 'Masterchef'

The last time the nutritional standards of hospital meals in Scotland were officially assessed was in 2010, and the report found that 20% of the hospitals didn’t meet the national standards required of them for their patients. Since then, the Scottish government has been trying to do more to......
Read the full story at: The Scottish NHS Meets 'Masterchef'

Daily Diamond - World's First Braille Phone Goes on Sale

Mobile phones can often appear quite complicated – a keypad with a whole load of buttons that each do something different, or the touchscreen phones that have been popular for a while now. Now imagine a blind person learning to use one. Obviously, it is not impossible, but it is also not......
Read the full story at: World's First Braille Phone Goes on Sale

Daily Diamond - Anonymous Gesture Gives Paralysed Mum Back Some Independence

When 27-year-old Jessie Bruton was pregnant with her third child, she began to lose the feeling in her legs. Over time, this spread to her stomach and she ended up giving birth to her youngest son, Klay, by emergency Caesarean section while under general anaesthetic. Later, when Jessie woke up,......
Read the full story at: Anonymous Gesture Gives Paralysed Mum Back Some Independence

Daily Diamond - Zero-Hour Workers Could Request Fixed Hours

From the first of July, all employees who have worked for their employer for six months will be able to request more flexible working hours. This is already sorted – it is going to happen. And now, the business secretary, Vince Cable, has said that the government is thinking about giving......
Read the full story at: Zero-Hour Workers Could Request Fixed Hours

Daily Diamond - Why is the Mediterranean Diet So Healthy?

Have you ever wondered what it is about the Mediterranean diet that makes it so healthy? Sure, all the ingredients on their own are pretty healthy, but somehow, when they are combined, they appear to make a sort of super diet. Scientists think they might now have the answer and have published......
Read the full story at: Why is the Mediterranean Diet So Healthy?

Daily Diamond - Michael Sam: The First Openly Gay Player in the NFL

Although some sports personalities have made the decision to tell the world that they are gay, they tend to wait until after retiring before making the big reveal, with only a brave handful coming out during their career.
But American-footballer Michael Sam decided he was going to try a......
Read the full story at: Michael Sam: The First Openly Gay Player in the NFL

Daily Diamond - The Dancing Frogs of India

After 12 years of research in the forests of southern India, scientists have confirmed the existence of 14 new species of amphibian, known as “dancing frogs”, and have published the findings in the Ceylon Journal of Science.
The dancers are the male frogs, which partake in unusual breeding......
Read the full story at: The Dancing Frogs of India

Daily Diamond - Biomimicry: Technology of the Future

In recent years, developments in technology have been making leaps and bounds, especially those products that have been based on parts of nature and biology, in what is called biomimicry. There have been deep-sea vessels inspired by the crab, buildings with insect-like aspects, glass inspired by......
Read the full story at: Biomimicry: Technology of the Future

Daily Diamond - Homeless Lottery Winner Gets a Home

You may remember our story about a homeless man who was ‘pranked’ into thinking he had won $1000 (around £600) from a lottery ticket, thanks to American magician and prankster Rahat Hossain, better known by his YouTube username of MagicofRahat.
When we first met the homeless man,......
Read the full story at: Homeless Lottery Winner Gets a Home

Daily Diamond - More A-Level Makeovers with Proposed History Changes

We recently told you about the possible shake-ups in the English Literature and Language A-levels, but it is not the only subject that could be getting a make-over. Starting from the start of 2015′s academic year, a range of new and exciting topics could be introduced for the history......
Read the full story at: More A-Level Makeovers with Proposed History Changes

Daily Diamond - Dixons and Carphone Warehouse to Merge

After announcing in February that they were in talks about a possible merger, Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse have now said that it is actually going to happen in a deal worth around £3.8 billion.
Dixons Retail, which is the owner of electronics companies Currys and PC World, and mobile......
Read the full story at: Dixons and Carphone Warehouse to Merge

Daily Diamond - Royal Archives Exhibition, Including Young Queen Victoria's Diaries

Going on right now is the Treasures from the Royal Archives exhibition at Windsor Castle to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Royal Archives being held at the Round Tower.
Many of the items to go on display will be seen by the public for the very first time, and include some of the......
Read the full story at: Royal Archives Exhibition, Including Young Queen Victoria's Diaries

Daily Diamond - Lonely, Hospitalised Man Gets Much Needed Visitors

After a car accident left him paralysed from the waist down around 18 months ago, 24-year-old Ibrahim ended up bedridden at King Khaled Hospital in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
At the beginning of his stay, Ibrahim’s family visited him often, but the visits became less and less......
Read the full story at: Lonely, Hospitalised Man Gets Much Needed Visitors

Daily Diamond - 'Ununseptium': Independent Confirmation of Element 117

Scientists from Germany have independently confirmed the 2010 research from a US and Russian team who claimed to have discovered a new element – the elusive Element 117 – moving it a step closer to being recognised on the periodic table.
The team from the GSI Helmholtz Centre for......
Read the full story at: 'Ununseptium': Independent Confirmation of Element 117

Daily Diamond - 'Finders, Keepers' Ruling Sees Former Janitor Cleaning Up

What would you do if you came across more than £50,000, just sitting there? In August 2011, Chamindu Amarsinghe was cleaning an office bathroom at a TV network in Melbourne, Australia, where he worked as a janitor at the time, when he came across a large amount of money that had been stashed......
Read the full story at: 'Finders, Keepers' Ruling Sees Former Janitor Cleaning Up

Daily Diamond - Austria Triumphant Over Competition and Adversity at Eurovision

The UK’s odds for winning the Eurovision Song Contest this year were better than they had been for years, with a great and strong song Children of the Universe. The song was being performed by Molly Smitten-Downes and the UK was actually listed as second or third favourite to win.
The UK......
Read the full story at: Austria Triumphant Over Competition and Adversity at Eurovision

Daily Diamond - Forget Walking on Sunshine - How About Driving?

Global warming is a big issue in politics and has been for a little while now. It is thought that the biggest global contributors to greenhouse gases and our changing climate are car emissions, and everything involved in the production and maintenance of roads and highways, but no one quite......
Read the full story at: Forget Walking on Sunshine - How About Driving?

Daily Diamond - The Charity Fridge for the Hungry

What do you do with your leftover food – are you one of those that wastes little, storing leftovers to be used as part of another meal or snack? Maybe you recycle yours, purposefully putting scraps onto a compost heap to be used on the garden, or perhaps you simply throw them in the bin?
A......
Read the full story at: The Charity Fridge for the Hungry

Daily Diamond - Exciting Discovery Could Explain MS Gender Gap

Multiple sclerosis, or MS as it is otherwise known, is a condition that affects the nerves in the brain, that can result in loss of vision, muscle stiffness and uncontrolled muscle movements, balance and coordination difficulties and fatigue.
There are around 100,000 people in the UK suffering......
Read the full story at: Exciting Discovery Could Explain MS Gender Gap

Daily Diamond - Bright Side to the Black Death: A Stronger Population

Many of us would have learned something about the Black Death at school, being that it was one of the most devastating wipe-outs to hit Europe, resulting in the deaths of between 30 and 50% of the population in the mid-1300s.
Although the whole range of symptoms is not exactly known because......
Read the full story at: Bright Side to the Black Death: A Stronger Population

Daily Diamond - Sisters Rescue Children from Blazing School Bus

Some parents in Mississippi in the US are heaving huge sighs of relief after their children were escorted from their school bus minutes before it was engulfed in flames – and all thanks to two sisters, Bettye and Beth Windom.
The students aboard the bus were on their way home after taking......
Read the full story at: Sisters Rescue Children from Blazing School Bus

Daily Diamond - Banksy Art to Save Boys' Club

Last month, a piece of Banksy street art appeared in Bristol and led to an argument over who actually owns the piece, which has now been resolved by the artist himself.
The Mobile Lovers, which depicts an embracing couple, using their mobile phones over the other’s shoulder, was found by......
Read the full story at: Banksy Art to Save Boys' Club

Daily Diamond - Potential Diversification of the English A-Level

Whoever thought that tweets could be incorporated into exams – could this be the jolt that teenagers need to recapture their enthusiasm for the literary arts?
A new course for English Literature and Language A-level students could be hitting the books in September, with a more diverse......
Read the full story at: Potential Diversification of the English A-Level

Daily Diamond - The Federers' (Non-Tennis!) Double Doubles

Roger Federer has done the doubles again – but we’re not talking tennis here!
Almost five years ago, in July 2009, 32-year-old Federer and his wife Mirka, a former professional tennis player herself, announced the birth of their daughters, identical twins Myla Rose and Charlene......
Read the full story at: The Federers' (Non-Tennis!) Double Doubles

Daily Diamond - The Vampire Graves of Europe

The legend of the vampire. It is one that has been recognised for centuries – maybe not actually using the specific term ‘vampire’, but tales of the blood-drinking and/or flesh-eating supernatural beings certainly have.
But is there even such a thing? Many people seem to think so, and......
Read the full story at: The Vampire Graves of Europe

Daily Diamond - Food Revolution Day 2014

On May 16th, it will the third annual Food Revolution Day, but what exactly is it?
Jamie Oliver, world-renowned chef and family man, seems to be single-handedly trying to change the way the world thinks about food. This day of global action is a way to raise the awareness that we all need to......
Read the full story at: Food Revolution Day 2014

Daily Diamond - Could Two of Jupiter's Moons Support Life?

In the neverending search for planetary bodies capable of at least once supporting life in our solar system, NASA scientists have suggested that not only one, but two of Jupiter’s moons may fall into that category.
In a study published  the journal Planetary and Space Science, both Europa and......
Read the full story at: Could Two of Jupiter's Moons Support Life?

Daily Diamond - Lost 3-Year-Old Boy Kept Safe by His Best Friend

Many parents find that there is nothing to make their hearts leap into their throats more than turning their backs for a second, only to find that their child is not happily playing in the same place they had been just a moment before. Thankfully, in most cases, the child has only moved a few......
Read the full story at: Lost 3-Year-Old Boy Kept Safe by His Best Friend

Daily Diamond - Media Giant Viacom Buys UK's Channel 5

Huge US media group Viacom is buying England’s fifth terrestrial television channel, Channel 5, and its associative non-terrestrial channels from Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell group, for a whopping £450 million – £346 million more than it was picked up for four years......
Read the full story at: Media Giant Viacom Buys UK's Channel 5

Daily Diamond - Cash Incentive for Maths and Physics PhD Graduates to Teach

Over the past year or so there has been talk of a lack of teachers in state schools, for both maths and physics. In a new bid to tackle this issue, a new scheme is going to be launched in September – at the start of the new academic year – in which university graduates with a PhD in......
Read the full story at: Cash Incentive for Maths and Physics PhD Graduates to Teach

Daily Diamond - Police Body-Camera Trials in London

As part of the largest trial of its kind in the world, officers from the Metropolitan Police Service are going to start wearing cameras attached to their uniform. It is hoped that not only will the cameras be used as a tool to collect evidence from an incident, but also help boost the conviction......
Read the full story at: Police Body-Camera Trials in London

Daily Diamond - Surprise Happy Reunion for Family and Beloved Dog

A family in New Jersey in the US were devastated when their dog went missing during Hurricane Sandy back in October 2012 and thought the worst.
Reckless, a white and brown terrier-pit bull cross, escaped through a hole in the fence caused by the storm in the James’ back garden. The dog had......
Read the full story at: Surprise Happy Reunion for Family and Beloved Dog

Daily Diamond - New Muscle Regrowth Treatment After Injury

An experimental treatment from the University of Pittsburgh in the US and published in the journal Science Translational Medicine could provide hope for people who suffer injuries resulting in the loss of muscle.
The study was a small one – five men, of whom two had obtained their......
Read the full story at: New Muscle Regrowth Treatment After Injury

Daily Diamond - Mendelssohn Song Recovered After 140 Years

172 years ago, German composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote a privately commissioned piece of music for theatre manager Johann Valentin Teichmann of the Court Theatre in Berlin, but asked that it was never published or circulated via a letter attached to the music.
Thirty years later, after being......
Read the full story at: Mendelssohn Song Recovered After 140 Years

Daily Diamond - Children To Learn How Classes Relate to Careers

Primary school children in England are going to start getting visits from professionals from a wide range of careers – everything from businessmen to archaeologists to zoologists – to help teach them about the different kinds of jobs and how their lessons can help lead to those......
Read the full story at: Children To Learn How Classes Relate to Careers

Daily Diamond - Tesco's First Smartphone and Second Tablet

Tesco may have seen a drop in profits this year, but that doesn’t stop its ambitions; the supermarket chain’s latest announcements revealing that not only will a follow-up to last year’s tablet be on the shelves in September, but also Tesco’s very first smartphone.
Last September saw the......
Read the full story at: Tesco's First Smartphone and Second Tablet

Daily Diamond - More Fibre a Day Keeps the Heart Attack Away?

Fibre is a necessary part of our diets, an important part of making sure our digestive systems function properly. Now, accord to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in the US, heart attack survivors can live longer if they make sure they consume plenty of fibre –......
Read the full story at: More Fibre a Day Keeps the Heart Attack Away?

Daily Diamond - Brother Helps Sister Fulfill Marathon Dream

When she was just 17, Jessie Russell from Massachusetts in the US was diagnosed with lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease, meaning Jessie’s immune system attacks healthy cells in her body, causing her to be tired and achy, and sensitive to sunlight.
Now 26, Jessie was hoping to fulfil her......
Read the full story at: Brother Helps Sister Fulfill Marathon Dream

Daily Diamond - Cheap and Green Housing - 3D-Printed Style

It usually takes at least a couple of months to build a house, but what if 10 houses could be constructed in less than a day? And what if those 10 houses could cost around half as much money each to build than a regular house, and built of recycled materials, no less, making its construction......
Read the full story at: Cheap and Green Housing - 3D-Printed Style

Daily Diamond - US Graduation Rates Hit All-Time High

High schools in the US have cause for celebration after hitting a historic milestone – the highest ever graduation rates.
The most recent year for which information from the National Center for Education Statistics was available is the academic year 2011-2012, of which the average......
Read the full story at: US Graduation Rates Hit All-Time High

Daily Diamond - The Long-Awaited 'Star Wars: Episode VII' Cast Has Been Announced...

It is something Star Wars geeks everywhere have been waiting with bated breath for nearly a decade – Episode VII. It’s finally going to happen and the cast has now been announced.
Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), who, for those......
Read the full story at: The Long-Awaited 'Star Wars: Episode VII' Cast Has Been Announced...

Daily Diamond - Kids Stepping Up to Fight Hunger

From Raleigh, North Carolina in the US, come two inspirational stories about young people choosing to spend their time fighting hunger rather than playing and messing around like other kids of their age.
The first is that of Austin Sealey and Cooper Meyer, both 16, who decided to create a......
Read the full story at: Kids Stepping Up to Fight Hunger

Daily Diamond - E-Cigs: Users Triple & Non-Smokers Are Still Not Encouraged to Start

There has been much speculation and propaganda bandied about recently about e-cigarettes, and whether their use is making smoking the norm again and encouraging non-smoker to partake in vaping when they wouldn’t otherwise smoke.
However, two studies have recently revealed that not only are......
Read the full story at: E-Cigs: Users Triple & Non-Smokers Are Still Not Encouraged to Start

Daily Diamond - Fairer Police 'Stop-and-Search' Powers Proposed

In an attempt to make police stop-and-searches fair for everyone, and only used when absolutely necessary, Home Secretary Theresa May has proposed a revision of the current code of conduct.
A consultation recently highlighted that stop-and-searches as being too widely used, and unfairly......
Read the full story at: Fairer Police 'Stop-and-Search' Powers Proposed

Daily Diamond - Solar-Powered Learning for Ugandan School Children

For many people, life without the Internet is something of a struggle to remember; even if you are not lucky enough to dabble online at home, there is always school and work. And living without electricity is completely inconceivable.
But most rural schools in Uganda and other parts of......
Read the full story at: Solar-Powered Learning for Ugandan School Children

Daily Diamond - Selby Beats the Rocket for First World Snooker Title

Ronnie “The Rocket” O’Sullivan had not lost a snooker match at the Crucible since 2011, and never in a final. It looked as though the five-time winner of the World Snooker Championships was set for his sixth, meaning he would equal Steve Davis’ amount of world titles, and only one short......
Read the full story at: Selby Beats the Rocket for First World Snooker Title

Daily Diamond - 'Monster Marketing' - Cashing in on Loch Ness

The Loch Ness Monster has been luring people to the Scottish Highlands for almost 90 years, bringing around a million visitors and an economy for the locals worth tens of millions of pounds every year. Nessie has even made it to number three on Wanderlust’s top 18 Mysteries to Solve in......
Read the full story at: 'Monster Marketing' - Cashing in on Loch Ness

Daily Diamond - New Facebook App to Raise Awareness for Dementia

Having a friend or relative with Alzheimer’s disease can be scary and unsettling, especially as there isn’t anything you can really do to help them. But what it is like for them? A new Facebook app has been created by the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK that tries to give users a......
Read the full story at: New Facebook App to Raise Awareness for Dementia

Daily Diamond - Lottery Funding for Child Domestic Violence Protection Programme

A project in Wales has just been awarded £2 million Lottery funding from the Big Lottery Fund to go towards helping more young people and children involved in domestic violence and abuse.
Calan DVS, a charity that provides a range of support options for people experiencing domestic abuse and......
Read the full story at: Lottery Funding for Child Domestic Violence Protection Programme

Daily Diamond - 19th Century Sunken Ship Rediscovered

On the morning of 22 August 1888, a steamship called the City of Chester was carrying her passengers along the Californian coast in a shroud of dense fog. As the 202-foot-long ship (around 62 metres) neared the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay, around 10 o’clock in the morning, disaster......
Read the full story at: 19th Century Sunken Ship Rediscovered

Daily Diamond - Human Skin Grown in Lab: End of Animal Testing?

Although testing cosmetics and other products on animals is illegal in the UK, as is the selling or importing of products with animal-tested ingredients within the EU, there are still some countries in the world where it is the norm. But that could all now come to an end!
Scientists have managed......
Read the full story at: Human Skin Grown in Lab: End of Animal Testing?

Daily Diamond - Spielberg to Tackle Live-Action BFG

Award-winning director and household name Steven Spielberg has confirmed that he is going to direct a live-action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The BFG.
Spielberg has some hefty titles under his belt: Jaws, ET, Gremlins 1 and 2, the Men in Black and Indiana Jones franchises, Oscar-winning......
Read the full story at: Spielberg to Tackle Live-Action BFG

Daily Diamond - Violent Crime Rates Fall in England and Wales

According to a study conducted by a team at Cardiff University, violent crime has fallen dramatically in England and Wales over the past 13 years, and it might have something to do with fewer people binge drinking.
Examining data collected from almost 120 A&Es, NHS walk-in centres and minor......
Read the full story at: Violent Crime Rates Fall in England and Wales