Betting on LHC fail
The latest run of the Large Hadron Collider has failed to find any new particles, and that means some physicists are settling old bets. Garrett Lisi, known as the “surfer physicist”, claimed $1000 from Nobel prizewinner Frank Wilczek. Meanwhile, 20 physicists each won a $100 bottle of cognac from 24 others at a meeting in Copenhagen.
A man has died from breathing in mould and fungi that accumulated in his bagpipes. He experienced breathlessness for 7 years before being diagnosed with chronic lung inflammation. Any wind instrument can carry spores, although regular cleaning should reduce the build-up.
Hunting the fishing cat
The search is on to find the world’s rarest feline, the Javan fishing cat. Thought to be critically endangered, it lures fish by slapping the water with its partially webbed paws to mimic insects. Conservation group SPECIES hopes to track down the elusive creature in the first survey since the early 1990s.
The number of Brits dying from heart disease and stroke has fallen from 341,000 in 1979 to 155,000 in 2014, probably because the conditions are more likely to be identified and treated. Between 2013 and 2014, heart disease and strokes accounted for 1.69 million hospital visits – 50,000 more than in 2010 to 2011.
Europe’s oldest tree?
A 1075-year-old tree in northern Greece is said to be Europe’s oldest living thing. The Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) was discovered by researchers from US and Europe, who dated it by counting the rings that are formed each year as the tree grows. It is one of more than a dozen trees of a similar age growing in the area.