Cover Preview: Outdoor Photography – April 2022

Previews: The Economist Magazine – March 26, 2022

Walks: Torquay In Devon, Southwest England (4K)

Torquay is a seaside resort town on the English Channel in Devon, south west England. Known for beaches such as Babbacombe and cliffside Oddicombe, its coastline is nicknamed the English Riviera. Torquay Harbour near the town centre offers shops, cafes and a marina. Torre Abbey, a monastery founded in 1196, has art galleries and extensive gardens featuring plants from local writer Agatha Christie’s novels. 

Research: How Africa Keeps The Amazon Green

Jet streams sprinkle North African dust over the Amazon, providing the rain forest with much needed nutrients. Changing wind patterns and increasing smoke may shift the system.

Science: Subgiant Stars Age, Yellowstone’s Hot Water, Birds & The Moon

Precisely ageing subgiant stars gives new insight into the Milky Way’s formation, and uncovering Yellowstone’s hydrothermal plumbing system.

In this episode:

00:45 Accurately ageing stars reveals the Milky Way’s history

To understand when, and how, the Milky Way formed, researchers need to know when its stars were born. This week, a team of astronomers have precisely aged nearly a quarter of a million stars, revealing more about the sequence of events that took place as our galaxy formed.

Research article: Xiang and Rix

News and Views: A stellar clock reveals the assembly history of the Milky Way

09:53 Research Highlights

Archaeologists reveal an ancient lake was actually a ritual pool, and how the Moon’s phase affects some birds’ altitude.

Research Highlight: Ancient ‘harbour’ revealed to be part of fertility god’s lavish shrine

Research Highlight: These birds fly high when the full Moon hangs in the sky

12:34 Uncovering Yellowstone’s hot water plumbing

Yellowstone National Park’s iconic geothermal geysers and volcanic landmarks are well studied, but very little was known about the ‘plumbing system’ that feeds these features. Now a team of researchers have mapped the underground hydrothermal system, showing the specific faults and pathways that supply the park.

Research article: Finn et al.

19:27 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, 0why an Australian university has been suspended from winning a research foundation’s fellowships, and the ongoing debate about the cause of ‘COVID toes’.

Nature: Funder bars university from grant programme over white-male award line-up

Rainy Day Views: Place du Tertre, Montmartre, Paris

Situated in the very heart of Montmartre, one of the most famous squares of all of Paris is that of Place du Tertre, which is world-famous for its painters, cafés, and ambiance. 

The area known as Montmartre is located in  the 18th arrondissement or district of Paris, due north of the Louvre. It can be easily reached by metro, stations  Abbesses (line 12), Pigalle (lines 2 and 12) or Anvers (line 2).  The classic way to get up to the top of the hill of Montmartre, known in French as La Butte Montmartre,  is from the Anvers metro station. From here walk up the Rue Steinkerque until you reach the gardens at the end. From here you can either take the funicular railway up to the top, or walk up more than 250 steps to the basilica at the top. The exact number of steps depends on the path you take.

Michelin Guide: Slovenia’s ‘Restaurant Mahorčič’

The MICHELIN Guide takes you on a trip to Slovenia to discover the treasures of this country, its chefs, its products and its producers. Following the launch of the MICHELIN Guide Slovenia in september 2021, we take a closer look at Mahorčič, run by chef Ksenija Mahorčič.

Chef Ksenija’s cuisine is a real homage to these brave women farmers, influenced by the traditional ways to preserve and ferment fresh produce. Her plates are strictly local and seasonal. Thanks to her new MICHELIN Green Star, she hopes to convince more and more food industry professionals, including hygiene inspectors, that there are alternatives to plastic and aluminum in a restaurant’s kitchen.

Morning News: NATO Allies Gather, Eastern Europe, Belgrade-Budapest By Rail

We’ll have the latest as Biden and European allies gather in Brussels for a high-stakes Nato summit. Plus, Estonia calls for Nato to build up a permanent force in Eastern Europe, a flick through today’s papers, and Monocle’s Balkans correspondent, Guy De Launey, boards the Belgrade-Budapest railway.