A climate change study has located what was likely to have been the refuge for one of only three populations of emperor penguins which survived the last ice age.
The Ross Sea in Antarctica is thought to have been a shelter for emperor penguins for thousands of years during the last ice age, about 19,500 to 16,000 years ago, when much of the rest of Antarctica was uninhabitable due to the amount of ice.
The findings, published in the journal Global Change Biology, suggest that, while current climate conditions may be optimal for emperor penguins, conditions in the past were too extreme for large populations to survive.
Warsaw city’s monumental ban
Warsaw city councillors have banned a 1945 monument of Polish-Soviet brotherhood in arms from being returned to its place on a city street.
The move, a reversal of their own previous decision, comes as ties between Warsaw and Moscow are strained over the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The councillors voted 51-2 to keep the massive monument, generally referred to as the “four sleeping men”, in a storeroom. It was temporarily taken there in 2011 to allow for the construction of a subway line in the area.
Victorian sewers to be repainted
An English seaside resort’s Victorian sewers are receiving a fresh lick of paint ahead of one of the biggest arts festivals in the country.
Stuart Slark and his fellow tour guides will spend the next few weeks refreshing the main areas of Brighton’s sewers ready for this year’s tours, which take place during May’s Brighton Festival, owners Southern Water said.
For more than 50 years, the tours have given visitors a glimpse underground at the Victorian infrastructure which is still in use today, a spokesman said. Last year, 1,600 people explored beneath the city’s streets, he said.
UK delicacy winner is Chilean
An award celebrating a centuries-old British delicacy has been won by a Chilean miner who cannot speak English.
Jorge Pereira, who was attending the World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project in Cornwall as part of a two-month visit to the UK, won the open savoury amateur category with an empanada Chilena, a traditional Chilean pasty made with beef, onion, hard-boiled egg, olives and sultanas.
The origins of the pasty are themselves disputed between those from Cornwall and Devon, and date back to the 14th century when miners used to graze on the pastry-based finger food while working underground. A traditional Cornish pasty features chuck steak, potato, turnip and onion and is crimped on the side, while the Devon variety is crimped on the top.
Swans create racecourse handicap
Racegoers trying to pick a winner at Kempton Park racecourse have a new handicap to consider – an invasion of swans, the Daily Mail reports.
One jockey has even been unseated during a race thanks to swans wandering on the track, while on other occasions the birds have flown close to riders travelling at almost 30mph. Now the racecourse owners have sought the Queen’s permission to round up the birds.
At least 27 swans have taken up residence at the track. And although riders and horses have so far escaped serious injury, there have been several close calls.
Night-time tunnel digger charged
New York State Police have charged a Rochester man with using excavating equipment to dig a 40-foot-long, 12-foot-deep hole in a rural road in the middle of the night and not telling anyone about it.
Investigators say 32-year-old Kyle Calabria is charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment for last November’s damage to a road in the town of Prattsburg, 45 miles south of Rochester.
Police said Calabria had been hired to do excavation work on property along the road. For some reason, Calabria used a backhoe to dig up a 15-foot-wide section of the road at night. He abandoned the backhoe after it got stuck in the hole. No motorists were injured.