David Leeman is an Englishman with half an eye on the Scottish referendum as he has just set himself up as a traditional piper.
The 47-year-old painter and decorator has been learning the pipes for the last seven years and is now playing at weddings, funerals and parties across East Yorkshire.
Mr Leeman, originally from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, said people often assume he is Scottish. “Scottish people come up and shake my hand and always ask me where I’m from,” he said. “When I say I’m from the lowlands of West Yorkshire not the Highlands, they have a laugh and call me a Sassenach.”
Museum staff find new Constable
A previously-unknown work by John Constable has been uncovered by museum staff working on an exhibition dedicated to the painter.
The oil sketch, believed to show a kiln on Hampstead Heath in north London, dates to around 1821 and was concealed beneath the lining on the back of a painting of the nearby Branch Hill Pond.
It will go on show in a specially-designed display case showing off both sides of the work in the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The picture was one of more than 300 sketches, drawings and paintings given to the museum by Constable’s daughter in the 19th century.
‘Shark attack’ to kill bacteria
A “shark attack” may be one way of banishing deadly bacteria from hospitals, research has shown.
Roughing up surfaces with microscopic bumps so they resemble shark skin can prevent them harbouring bugs, according to scientists. In tests, the patented micropattern arrangement, named Sharklet, reduced colonisation by the MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) superbug by 94 per cent.
The bugs were less able to attach to the textured surface than they were to a smooth one. Sharklet also fared better than copper, a leading antimicrobial material.
Mystery fireball may be satellite
A fireball that blazed over the Rockies earlier this month was not a meteor or other celestial body, experts have said.
People from New Mexico to Montana saw the bright object break apart as it moved slowly northwards across the night sky. More than three dozen witnesses filed reports about the unusual sighting, described as three “rocks” with glowing red and orange streaks, which happened at 10.30pm local time on September 2.
But it was probably part of a Russian spy satellite that fell from orbit and burned up over Colorado and Wyoming, experts said.
Shot officer chases suspect
An officer in Washington state who had been shot in the leg by a suspect got back into his patrol car and pursued the fleeing man.
The Duvall police sergeant responded to calls of a man shooting a paintball gun at people from a church car park. When the officer arrived, the suspect backed his vehicle into him and shot him in the thigh. The sergeant gave chase. Authorities say the pursuit reached speeds of 90mph, during which the man shot out of the back window of another vehicle.
The chase ended about 20 miles away after spike strips popped the suspect’s tyres. He was arrested after a three-hour standoff. The officer was taken to hospital with wounds that were not life-threatening.
Talking orange given a makeover
Captain Citrus, the mascot of the Florida Department of Citrus, is getting a makeover.
Captain Citrus was born in 2011 as a big, fat talking orange wearing a green cape. Now he is being transformed into a buff Marvel Comics superhero who will fight evil alongside the likes of Captain America. The idea is to promote the benefits of orange juice.
The department worked with Marvel Comics to redesign the mascot. The new and muscular Captain Citrus will appear with Marvel’s popular Avengers characters in a series of custom comic books.