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Once you understand the sun's arc it is possible to use it to find direction. For example, in the UK the sun rises in the northeast in midsummer, in the east in spring and autumn and in the southeast in midwinter. For everyone north of the Tropic of Cancer, including all of Europe and the US, the sun is always due south when highest in the sky, when is true midday. With practice it is possible to work out what it is doing at any time during the day and from anywhere in the world. Mid-mor ...

Songbirds in the US are getting smaller, and climate change is suspected as the cause. A study of almost half a million birds, belonging to over 100 species, shows that many are gradually becoming lighter and growing shorter wings. This shrinkage has occurred within just half a century, with the birds thought to be evolving into a smaller size in response to warmer temperatures. However, there is little evidence that the change is harmful to the birds. Details of the discovery are publishe ...

When the 2nd Battalion of the Rifles finished its tour in Sangin in the late summer of 2009, soldiers spoke about their six-month stint as an epic of hard fighting. It had certainly been a difficult time, with 22 soldiers killed and dozens seriously wounded. And while the attention has been on central Helmand and Operation Moshtarak, the losses incurred by the 3 Rifles Battlegroup, the battalion that took over in Sangin last October, have climbed to 27 killed, with around one month of their  ...

By Sanchia Berg Today programme Summer 1937. What could be more fitting in the cool afternoon of an English country lane than a group of cycling tourists steadily pedalling their way from one historic site to another, stopping to camp overnight in fields along the way. P ...

"Thank you mum and dad for turning me on to such a groovy profession," said a delighted Bridges, 60. "This is honouring them as much as it is me." An emotional Bullock picked up the coveted best actress award, just a day after winning the Razzie for worst actress, for her role in All About Steve. "Did I really earn this, or did I wear you all down?" she joked. The 45-year-old praised her fellow nominees - including British newcomer Carey Mulligan, Dame Helen M ...

Overall spending reductions over the next 3-5 years. Figures are in real terms and exclude school spending Council Reductions (%) Barking & Dagenham London Borough Council 25-30% Barnet London Borough Council 15-20% Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council 10-15% Bath and North East Somerset Council No data Bedford Borough Council 5-10% Bexley London Borough Council 10-15% Birmingham  ...

Desert ants in Tunisia smell in stereo, sensing odours from two different directions at the same time. By sniffing the air with each antenna, the ants form a mental 'odour map' of their surroundings. They then use this map to find their way home, say scientists who report the discovery in the journal Animal Behaviour. Pigeons, rats and even people may also smell in stereo, but ants are the first animal known to use it for navigation.  ...

Dan McDougall spent four months delving into Cape Town's violent gang culture. He witnessed young men - gangsters and drug addicts - turn to football to try to keep their heads above water. But ultimately, he explains, his journey left him despairing of a broken society, a place where those growing up in the streets and townships of the rainbow nation are prisoners not of apartheid's legacy and race, but of the true blights of modern South Africa - gangs, murder and drugs. Martin Afrika sits be ...

12 year-old, Henri, which is not his real name, points at a large fresh looking scar on his midriff. "People accused me of sorcery and my mother believed them," he says. "Look, here on my stomach. She tried to kill me with a knife. It really hurt and I cannot understand why my mother did it." Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. bbc.fmtj.av.emp.load( function() {  ...

By Matt Walker Editor, Earth News The recent attack by a captive orca on its trainer at a SeaWorld facility in Orlando, Florida has again raised questions about our relationship with these top marine predators. No-one knows what triggered the latest incident, and experts agree that is almost imp ...