Maternity services at the trust are the subject of the largest inquiry of its kind in NHS history.
Under-fire Nottingham maternity services still need to improve
Reply
Study finds wild release can be deadly for rescued slow lorises
A new scientific study suggests that returning rescued wildlife to natural habitats does not always end in success. In some situations, animals released after time in captivity face serious risks, and the wild can become what researchers describe as a “death trap.”
The findings appear in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation. The research was carried out by primatologist Professor Anna Nekaris OBE of Anglia Ruskin University along with collaborators from the conservation group Plumploris e.V. and the University of Western Australia. Their work examined the fate of Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) that were released in Bangladesh.
Slow Lorises and the Illegal Pet Trade
Slow lorises are known for their large eyes and gentle looking faces, features that have unfortunately made them popular in the illegal wildlife trade. Because of this demand, they rank among the most heavily trafficked primates in the world.
All slow loris species are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable. Their threatened status means they are frequently rescued and later released as part of conservation efforts aimed at rebuilding wild populations.
Tracking Bengal Slow Lorises After Release
Despite these good intentions, the new research shows that release programs can sometimes end tragically. Scientists fitted nine Bengal slow lorises with radio collars and followed their movements after releasing them into a national park in northeastern Bangladesh. The park has been used for previous wildlife releases.
The results were stark. Only two of the nine animals survived after returning to the forest. Three died within just 10 days of release, and four more died within six months. Researchers recovered four of the seven bodies, and all showed evidence that they had been killed by other slow lorises.
Territorial Conflicts and Venomous Bites
Slow lorises are extremely territorial animals. They are also the only venomous primates in the world, using specialized teeth to deliver a toxic bite. The animals recovered during the study had obvious bite wounds on the head, face, and digits, indicating that deadly territorial encounters were responsible for their deaths.
The research also revealed that animals kept in captivity for longer periods tended to survive for fewer days after release. In addition, the released lorises moved around more and appeared more alert than wild Bengal slow lorises normally do.
The two animals that survived traveled across larger areas than those that died. This pattern suggests that survival depended on leaving established territories and avoiding confrontations with resident lorises.
Rethinking Wildlife Rescue and Release
Large and charismatic animals such as big cats often receive intensive monitoring after they are released. In contrast, many smaller species are not closely tracked, meaning the outcomes of their releases frequently remain unknown.
The researchers stress that successful wildlife releases require careful planning. Evaluating the suitability of the release site and the condition of each animal is essential. Detailed habitat assessments, long term monitoring, and rehabilitation guidelines tailored to each species can improve the chances of success.
Senior author Anna Nekaris OBE, Professor of Ecology, Conservation and Environment at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, and head of the Little Fireface Project, said: “It’s assumed that returning confiscated or rescued animals to the wild is always a positive conservation story. Our research shows that for highly territorial species like slow lorises, releasing them into areas that are already densely populated can be a death trap.
“Many rescued endangered species are often released because the public expects it, but for animals such as the Bengal slow loris, this is not always the best course of action. Without fully understanding the animal’s behaviour, its time spent in captivity and the density of resident populations at the release site, reintroductions may do more harm than good.”
Lead author Hassan Al-Razi, the team leader of Plumploris e.V. Bangladesh, said: “Rescue and release have become an increasingly common practice in Bangladesh. Many wild animals, including slow lorises, are rescued and subsequently released back into the wild.
“However, in many cases, these releases are conducted inappropriately. For forest-dwelling species, release sites are often selected based on logistical convenience rather than ecological suitability. As a result, certain forests have effectively become dumping grounds for rescued animals and are no longer appropriate release sites.
“Although our research has focused on the Bengal slow loris and demonstrated the consequences of such practices, we believe similar patterns likely affect many other species.”
Trump Mocks Starmer Over UK’s Response To Iran Bombing: ‘He’s Not Winston Churchill’
Donald Trump has mocked Keir Starmer over the UK’s response to the US-Israeli bombing of Iran.
The American president said “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with” after Starmer initially refused to let the US use British bases to launch their attacks amid concerns the strikes broke international law.
The PM eventually changed his mind after Iran began bombing countries across the Middle East, putting British lives at risk.
Advertisement
Trump’s Oval Office comments mark a new low in the so-called “special relationship” between America and the United Kingdom.
Referring to the UK military base at Diego Garcia, he said: “That island… It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land there, it would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised.
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Advertisement
Trump’s comments are just latest criticism he has aimed at Starmer since America and Israel’s attacks on Iran began at the weekend.
In an interview with the Telegraph on Monday, the president said he was “very disappointed” in the PM.
That prompted Starmer to hit back in the Commons, telling MPs: “President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes.
Advertisement
“But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it.”
In another dig at the US president, Starmer said: “This government does not believe in regime change from the skies.”
Trump responded in an interview with The Sun in which he said the PM “has not been helpful”.
“I never thought I’d see that,” he said. “I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”
He added: “It’s not going to matter, but [Starmer] should have helped… he should have.
“I mean, France has been great. They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from others.”
Trump continued: “You’ve seen the secretary general of NATO, the great things he said, Mark Rutte, he’s great.
Advertisement
“No, they’ve all been pretty much great other than…we think Keir’s was just very different.”
The president said the spat over Iran meant “it’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before”.
Man ‘damaged beyond repair’ over mother’s death during Covid
The inquiry, which is in its last week of scheduled public hearings, is examining the pandemic’s ‘Impact on Society’.
Bridgerton’s Season 4 Coming Out Scene Is ‘Hugely Important’, Says Showrunner
The latest season of Bridgerton has received widespread praise for its touching coming out scene, which sees Benedict opening up to Sophie about his sexuality.
Luke Thompson’s character was confirmed to be queer during the show’s third run, where he was seen engaging in trysts with both men and women.
Advertisement
Benedict is Bridgerton’s first openly queer lead character, and his coming out scene took the show’s writers into new territory.
“I am capable of caring for you, just as I have cared for women I have known who are of the Ton,” he told Yerin Ha’s character, Sophie, in season four’s sixth episode, which premiered on Netflix last week.
“Just as I have cared for some men whom I have known intimately,” he added. “And I refuse to be at all ashamed about that.”
Advertisement
Since the episode’s release, showrunner Jess Brownell has explained why it was “hugely important” to her that this scene be included.
“I think any queer person knows that no matter who you end up with, queerness is a part of your identity,” Jess told Business Insider. “It never goes away. And I think one of the messages of this show every season is that the only way to truly be loved is to be your true self.”
After Benedict’s coming out, Sophie assures him: “Love is always a thing to be proud of. The world needs more of it.”
Advertisement
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
But to Jess, there was never any doubt about how the character would react.
“Sophie is someone who’s been through so much and has lived in the downstairs world and been friends with people of all different classes,” she claimed. “And I do think she’s probably encountered people of different sexualities.”
Before the series was released, Jess stressed that it was “really important” to her that Benedict’s queerness remain a key part of his character, including after he began to pursue a romantic relationship with a woman.
Advertisement
“There is a really harmful and untrue stereotype that bisexual men are actually just gay men. More often, we see bisexual men ending up in media in homosexual-presenting relationships,” Jess told Variety last year.
“And it felt fresh and important to see a bisexual man ending up in a heterosexual-presenting relationship and still owning the fact that he is still queer.”
Advertisement
Benedict is not the only queer character in the world of Bridgerton.
Jess has previously said that Hannah Dodd’s Francesca will enter a same-sex relationship in a future season.
At the end of Bridgerton’s third outing, Francesca is introduced to her husband John’s female cousin, Michaeala Stirling.
Fans of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series will know that in the novels, this character is written as a man called Michael, with whom Francesca finds love after John suddenly dies.
Advertisement
However, he has been gender-swapped for the TV adaptation, with Michaela being played by Masali Baduza.
All four seasons of Bridgerton are available to watch on Bridgerton now.
Analysis: Rachel Reeves Was In Punchy Form – But War In The Middle East Could Ruin Her Economic Plans
Rachel Reeves looked as though she was enjoying herself as she took aim at Labour’s political opponents while delivering her Spring Statement.
With no new policies to announce, the chancellor decided to use a decent chunk of her time at the despatch box attacking Reform UK, the Conservatives and the Green Party.
Advertisement
“The Tories left our country, our people and our allies exposed: They had no plan and no intention to fund their pledge to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence,” she said.
“Reform would go one step further by ditching our allies and siding with Russia, while the Green Party wants to take us out of Nato and jeopardise our alliances.
“So let me be clear: It is Labour and only Labour that can provide social justice, national security and fiscal responsibility.”
Advertisement
In another section, she dismissed Reform as “a Tory tribute act” following the defections of the likes of Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman.
“They may have changed the colour of their rosettes, but the British people won’t forget that they are the exact same people that wrecked our public services and wrecked our public finances in the last Tory government,” she said.
“The same people, the same policies and the same disastrous outcomes for working people.”
But behind the political knockabout, the chancellor must know that the fate of the UK economy – and perhaps even the Labour government – depends on the outcome of the latest war in the Middle East.
Advertisement
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) may have forecast that inflation will come down, but that was before the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran sparked an energy crisis which has seen gas prices soar in the past 48 hours.
If that ends up feeding through into people’s bills, Labour will pay a huge political price.
The same goes for the OBR’s forecasts on economic growth, as well as government borrowing and national debt.
A prolonged conflict in the Middle East, and the accompanying economic turmoil which would ensue, would blow another huge hole in the already-stretched public finances.
Advertisement
With unemployment set to be higher than expected this year and the tax burden set to hit another post-war high, yet more economic uncertainty is the last thing the chancellor needs.
“This government has the right economic plan for our country,” Reeves insisted.
“A plan that is even more important in a world that in the last few days has become yet more uncertain.
“With the unfolding conflict in Iran and the Middle East, it is incumbent on me and on this government to chart a course through that uncertainty, to secure our economy against shocks and protect families from the turbulence that we see beyond our borders.”
Advertisement
She may have talked a good game, but the chancellor knows that events thousands of miles away have the potential to destroy her economic plans and plunge the government into political crisis they may not recover from.
Intelligence emerges when the whole brain works as one
Modern neuroscience often describes the brain as a collection of specialized systems. Functions such as attention, perception, memory, language, and reasoning have each been linked to specific brain networks, and scientists have typically studied these systems separately.
This approach has produced major breakthroughs. However, it has not fully explained a central feature of human thinking: how all these separate systems come together to form a single, unified mind.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame set out to address that question. Using advanced neuroimaging, they examined how the brain is organized overall and how that organization gives rise to intelligence.
“Neuroscience has been very successful at explaining what particular networks do, but much less successful at explaining how a single, coherent mind emerges from their interaction,” said Aron Barbey, the Andrew J. McKenna Family Professor of Psychology in Notre Dame’s Department of Psychology.
General Intelligence and Connected Cognitive Abilities
Psychologists have long observed that skills like attention, memory, perception, and language tend to be linked. People who perform well in one area often perform well in others. This pattern is known as “general intelligence.” It influences how effectively individuals learn, solve problems, and adapt across academic, professional, social, and health settings.
For more than a century, this pattern has suggested that human cognition is unified at a deep level. What scientists have lacked is a clear explanation for why that unity exists.
“The problem of intelligence is not one of functional localization,” said Barbey, who also directs the Notre Dame Human Neuroimaging Center and the Decision Neuroscience Laboratory. “Contemporary research often asks where general intelligence originates in the brain — focusing primarily on a specific network of regions within the frontal and parietal cortex. But the more fundamental question is how intelligence emerges from the principles that govern global brain function — how distributed networks communicate and collectively process information.”
To explore this broader perspective, Barbey and his team, including lead author and Notre Dame graduate student Ramsey Wilcox, tested a framework known as the Network Neuroscience Theory. Their findings were published in Nature Communications.
The Network Neuroscience Theory Explained
According to the researchers, general intelligence is not a specific ability or mental strategy. Instead, it reflects a pattern in which many cognitive skills are positively related. They propose that this pattern stems from how efficiently the brain’s networks are structured and how well they work together.
To evaluate this idea, the team analyzed brain imaging and cognitive performance data from 831 adults in the Human Connectome Project. They also examined an independent group of 145 adults in the INSIGHT Study, funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s SHARP program. By combining measures of brain structure and brain function, the researchers created a detailed picture of large-scale brain organization.
Rather than tying intelligence to a single brain region or function, the Network Neuroscience Theory views it as a property of the brain as a whole. Intelligence, in this framework, depends on how effectively networks coordinate and reorganize themselves to handle different challenges.
Barbey and Wilcox describe this as a major shift in perspective.
“We found evidence for system-wide coordination in the brain that is both robust and adaptable,” Wilcox said. “This coordination does not carry out cognition itself, but determines the range of cognitive operations the system can support.”
“Within this framework, the brain is modeled as a network whose behavior is constrained by global properties such as efficiency, flexibility and integration,” Wilcox said. “These properties are not tied to individual tasks or brain networks, but are characteristics of the system as a whole, shaping every cognitive operation without being reducible to any one of them.”
“Once the question shifts from where intelligence is to how the system is organized,” Wilcox noted, “the empirical targets change.”
Intelligence as Whole Brain Coordination
The findings supported four main predictions of the Network Neuroscience Theory.
First, intelligence does not reside in a single network. It arises from processing distributed across many networks. The brain must divide tasks among specialized systems and combine their outputs when necessary.
Second, successful coordination requires strong integration and long-distance communication. Barbey described “a large and complex system of connections that serve as ‘shortcuts’ linking distant brain regions and integrating information across the networks.” These connections allow far apart areas of the brain to exchange information efficiently, supporting unified processing.
Third, integration depends on regulatory regions that guide how information flows. These hubs help orchestrate activity across networks, selecting the right systems for the job. Whether someone is interpreting subtle clues, learning a new skill, or deciding between careful analysis and quick intuition, these regulatory areas help manage the process.
Finally, general intelligence depends on balancing local specialization with global integration. The brain performs best when tightly connected local clusters operate efficiently while still maintaining short communication paths to distant regions. This balance supports flexible and effective problem solving.
Across both groups studied, differences in general intelligence consistently matched these large-scale organizational features. No single brain area or traditional “intelligence network” explained the results.
“General intelligence becomes visible when cognition is coordinated,” Barbey noted, “when many processes must work together under system-level constraints.”
Implications for Artificial Intelligence and Brain Development
The implications extend beyond understanding human intelligence. By focusing on large-scale brain organization, the findings offer insight into why the mind functions as a unified system in the first place.
This perspective may also explain why intelligence tends to increase during childhood, decline with aging, and be especially vulnerable to widespread brain injury. In each situation, what changes most is large-scale coordination rather than isolated functions.
The results also contribute to debates about artificial intelligence. If human intelligence depends on system-level organization rather than a single general-purpose mechanism, then building artificial general intelligence may require more than simply scaling up specialized tools.
“This research can push us into thinking about how to use design characteristics of the human brain to motivate advances in human-centered, biologically inspired artificial intelligence,” Barbey said.
“Many AI systems can perform specific tasks very well, but they still struggle to apply what they know across different situations.” Barbey said. “Human intelligence is defined by this flexibility — and it reflects the unique organization of the human brain.”
The research was conducted with co-authors Babak Hemmatian and Lav Varshney of Stony Brook University.
Blasted off Mars and still alive
Science News
from research organizations
A super-tough microbe survived Mars-level impact forces, hinting that life might leap from planet to planet.
- Date:
- March 3, 2026
- Source:
- PNAS Nexus
- Summary:
- A famously resilient bacterium may be tough enough to survive one of the most violent events imaginable on Mars. In laboratory experiments designed to mimic the crushing shock of a massive asteroid impact, researchers squeezed Deinococcus radiodurans between steel plates and blasted it with pressures reaching 3 GPa (30,000 times atmospheric pressure). Even under these extreme conditions, a significant portion of the microbes survived.
- Share:
FULL STORY
The extremophile bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans can survive the pressures developed during ejection from Mars as a result of massive asteroid impact. Craters on the Moon and Mars show how frequently bodies in our solar system are hit by incoming material, and impacts are an important process in planetary history. Lily Zhao, K. T. Ramesh, and colleagues simulated the conditions under which a microbe might be hurled into space by the force of an impact, subjecting Deinococcus radiodurans to pressures of up to 3 GPa (30,000 times atmospheric pressure) by putting the cells between two steel plates and then hitting that steel sandwich with a third plate. Previous work has shown that the hardy microbe can withstand radiation and desiccation, making it a candidate for interplanetary survival. The authors were able to detect biological stress in the bacteria by reading out which genes were expressed at varying pressures. Samples exposed to 2.4 GPa began to show ruptured membranes, but the structure of the bacterium’s cell envelope help explain the survival of 60% of microbes. Transcription profiles suggest that the bacteria prioritized the repair of cellular damage in the aftermath of the impact. According to the authors, microorganisms can survive more extreme conditions than previously thought, including launch across space after major impacts, and life may be able to move between planets.
Story Source:
Materials provided by PNAS Nexus. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Cite This Page:
PNAS Nexus. “Blasted off Mars and still alive.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 March 2026. <www.sciencedaily.com
PNAS Nexus. (2026, March 3). Blasted off Mars and still alive. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2026 from www.sciencedaily.com
PNAS Nexus. “Blasted off Mars and still alive.” ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com
Explore More
from ScienceDaily
RELATED STORIES
James Webb spots a galaxy with tentacles in deep space
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have identified the farthest jellyfish galaxy ever observed. The discovery was made using deep space observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Jellyfish galaxies get their name from the long, flowing streams of gas that stretch out behind them, resembling tentacles. These galaxies race through crowded galaxy clusters filled with extremely hot gas. As they move, that surrounding gas pushes against them like a powerful headwind, sweeping their own gas backward into trailing strands. Astronomers call this process ram-pressure stripping.
This newly identified galaxy sits at z = 1.156, which means its light has traveled for 8.5 billion years to reach us. In other words, we are seeing it as it appeared when the universe was much younger.
The observation offers an unusual glimpse into how galaxies were reshaped long ago and raises new questions about what conditions were really like 8.5 billion years in the past.
A Clear View Into the Distant Universe
The team uncovered the galaxy while studying the COSMOS field — Cosmic Evolution Survey Deep field — a region of the sky that has been examined extensively by multiple telescopes. Astronomers selected this area because it lies far from the crowded plane of the Milky Way, reducing interference from nearby stars and dust. It is also positioned so that telescopes in both hemispheres can observe it, and it lacks bright foreground objects that might block the view. This makes it an ideal window into the distant universe.
“We were looking through a large amount of data from this well-studied region in the sky with the hopes of spotting jellyfish galaxies that haven’t been studied before,” said Dr. Ian Roberts, Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics in the Faculty of Science. “Early on in our search of the JWST data, we spotted a distant, undocumented jellyfish galaxy that sparked immediate interest.”
Bright Blue Star Formation in Stripped Gas
The galaxy itself has a fairly typical disk shape. What makes it stand out are the bright blue clumps scattered along its trailing streams. These glowing knots are extremely young stars. Their ages indicate they likely formed outside the main body of the galaxy, within the gas that was pushed away. That type of star formation is consistent with what astronomers expect in jellyfish galaxies experiencing ram-pressure stripping.
Rethinking Galaxy Clusters in the Early Universe
Studying this object has challenged previous assumptions about the early universe. Many scientists believed that galaxy clusters at that time were still assembling and that ram-pressure stripping was relatively rare. The new findings suggest otherwise.
“The first is that cluster environments were already harsh enough to strip galaxies, and the second is that galaxy clusters may strongly alter galaxy properties earlier than expected,” Roberts said. “Another is that all the challenges listed might have played a part in building the large population of dead galaxies we see in galaxy clusters today. This data provides us with rare insight into how galaxies were transformed in the early universe.”
If confirmed by further research, these results could reshape understanding of how dense cosmic environments influenced galaxy evolution billions of years ago.
To investigate further, Roberts and his colleagues have applied for additional observing time with JWST to explore this galaxy in greater detail.
The study, “JWST Reveals a Candidate Jellyfish Galaxy at z=1.156,” was published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Tourette’s Charity Says ‘Unacceptable’ Saturday Night Live Sketch ‘Deepened Hurt’ Faced By Community Since Baftas
Saturday Night Live is facing criticism over a recently-shared sketch making light of an incident which took place at the 2026 Baftas.
Over the weekend, SNL’s cast and guest host Connor Storrie took part in a skit referencing the moment in which Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson experienced an involuntary tic during this year’s Baftas and, as a result, shouted a racist slur while Sinners actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting on stage.
Advertisement
The sketch in question – which was cut for time, and didn’t air in the main SNL show, but was subsequently uploaded to the show’s YouTube channel – saw depictions of controversial figures including JK Rowling, Mel Gibson, Armie Hammer and Bill Cosby blaming their own past actions on having Tourette’s syndrome.
As footage of the skit became more widely-shared, it was met with immediate backalsh, including from Emma McNally, the chief executive officer of the UK charity Tourette’s Action.
Advertisement
In a statement provided to HuffPost UK, she said: “Over recent weeks, our community has faced an unprecedented wave of online trolling, misinformation, and targeted mockery.
“Following the extremely difficult events surrounding the Baftas, many people with Tourette’s have been struggling with fear, shame, isolation and a huge need to defend a condition they cannot control.
“We had hoped this would be a new week and we could move on but the release of further content online that has been designed to ridicule Tourette’s and reduce our community to a punchline has only deepened that hurt.”
Advertisement
“I want to be completely clear here this is not acceptable,” she continued. “Mocking a disability is never acceptable. It would not be tolerated for any other condition, and it should not be tolerated by people with Tourette’s.
“Tourette’s is a complex neurological condition, of which there is no cure. It is not a joke. It is not a personality trait. It is not a source of entertainment. It is a condition that can be extremely debilitating, causing pain isolation and huge amounts of discrimination.
“Videos and posts that deliberately misrepresent or sensationalise tics set us back years. A single video can undo the progress our community has spent years building toward greater awareness.
Advertisement
“I hope those creating these videos understand that they create real consequences for people in our community: fear, isolation, bullying, abuse, and a feeling among many that they must hide away to stay safe.”
The statement added: “The trolling and harassment members of our community have endured in the past few days has been horrific. People have been targeted with threats and humiliation simply for having a condition they did not choose. No one should ever be treated that way.
“These recent events have been painful for multiple communities, and I am not for one minute dismissing that hurt, but directing anger and ridicule to people with Tourette’s does nothing to heal that pain and does not move us forward.
Advertisement
“What we need right now is people to be kind. We need compassion, accurate information and above all, we need education.”
Read the full statement on Tourette’s Action’s socials below:
John Davidson recently posted his own statement about the Baftas on Facebook, writing: “Whilst I will never [apologise] for having Tourette syndrome, I will apologise for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create.
Advertisement
“This past week has been tough, and has reminded me that what I do, raising awareness for such a misunderstood condition, there is still a long way to go and I will keep on keeping on until this is achieved.”
Meanwhile, after Delroy Lindo voiced his disappointment at how Bafta handled the situation, the organisation issued a public apology to the two Sinners actors for how things transpired, accepting “full responsibility”.
