Jo Caird is a freelance writer and editor, covering topics including culture, travel, lifestyle, science, parenting and beer. She writes for national newspapers, magazines and leading industry titles
Not impressed: meet 10 of the grumpiest animals on Earth
There are many species around the world that could have made it onto this highly subjective list: animals, birds and invertebrates with expressions that scream, 'Not today, pal’, and encourage you to walk in the other direction.
Sometimes – as with a species like the thorny devil – this grumpy look is a useful indicator of the danger an animal could do you, but more often than not it’s entirely unrepresentative of a creature’s behaviour: you can’t really blame a blobfish for looking disgruntl...
Has plastic pollution reached its tipping point?
It’s all over our homes, in the clothes on our backs, and is vital to the operation of global trade, including the food system. Yet plastic – once hailed as a miracle material – is now causing enormous damage to the environment, not only through the carbon required to produce it, but also via the pollution i...
Ultimate red panda guide: Uncover the secrets of the world’s cutest, most elusive animal – and why they're at risk of disappearing
These tree-dwelling cuties are the original panda, having been described by scientists nearly 50 years before their black and white namesakes.
They’re not actually even close relatives of the giant panda, belonging to their own unique family (Ailuridae) and sharing traits with racoons, weasels and skunks.
How big are red pandas?
Brilliantly adapted against the cold and for life in the trees, red pandas grow to the size of a house cat, but with all the charisma of rusty red teddy bear.
They're...
Leading voices: Beccy Speight
This year’s UN biodiversity summit, COP16, which is currently taking place in Colombia this October, could be a key moment for the UK to show global leadership, says Beccy Speight, the chief executive of the RSPB.
Beccy Speight began her career in local government in Scotland before moving into management consultancy. She has worked in the environmental sector since 2000, including as director for East Midlands and Midlands regions of the National Trust, and became CEO of the Woodland Trust i...
Sechseläuten
Miguel Burger-Calderon, Class of
2006 (2003-06), revels in the winter celebrations – music, horses, carriages and a three-and-a-half-metre snowman.
Canton: Park im Grüene
Popular with children and adults alike, the
oasis of green space offers a welcome respite
from the hustle and bustle of Zurich life.
The future of... Sustainable water use
Water is key to solving the energy challenge, and we all need to step up says Julie Lindley, current parent and Vice President at Ecolab / Nalco Water
GREAT BRITISH THEATRE 2024
The 2024 edition of the annual Great British Theatre magazine, a guide to musicals and plays in London and on tour around the UK
The art of healing: how creativity is changing NHS mental health wards
This article has been created by Positive News and supported by Winsor & Newton
A unique charity is bringing art to England’s mental health wards, transforming sterile spaces into hubs of creativity
It was nearly 10 years ago that Tim A Shaw and his partner, Niamh White, found themselves visiting a close friend who had been admitted as an inpatient to a mental health unit.
“It was a really inhumane, cold, clinical space,” he recalls. “Very bare. Quite claustrophobic. Entirely the opposite of ...
Planting English trees to protect the Peruvian rainforest
When a group of Positive News readers in Herefordshire found themselves despairing at the destruction of the rainforest, they decided to do something about it
On the surface, the ancestral rainforest territory of the Wampis people of north-eastern Peru bears little resemblance to the English county of Herefordshire. Yet the areas are inextricably linked, thanks to the grit of a small group of Herefordshire residents who raised £110,000 to protect a patch of the Amazon that is at least the siz...
Life lessons: Omid Djalili on what life so far has taught him
Life lessons: Omid Djalili on what life so far has taught him
The stand-up comedian and actor on being a bridge between east and west, improving his listening skills and harnessing anger for good
Omid Djalili is an award-winning Iranian-British stand-up comedian and actor, who has performed all over the world, as well as appearing in Hollywood movies such as Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Sex and the City 2. Recent acting roles include Bridget Christie’s husband in the acclaimed Channel 4 se...
Joro spider guide: what are they, do they bite and are they poisonous? Here's everything you need to know
The Joro spider has hit the headlines recently thanks to research that predicts its continued spread up the US east coast. Here’s everything you need to know about the species.
What are Joro spiders?
The Joro spider (Trichonephila clavate) is a large-bodied orbweaver native to east Asia. Females usually have a bright yellow abdomen and yellow-banded legs, while males are a non-descript brown colour.
How big are Joro spiders?
The body of a female Joro spider female measures 2.8cm long, with le...
Invasive Joro spiders are spreading up the US east coast. Experts reveal what to expect
It’s bad news for American arachnophobes, as a giant east Asian spider is predicted to significantly expand its range on the US east coast over the coming months and years.
The Joro spider (Trichonephila clavate), a large-bodied orbweaver that measures 2.8cm long, with yellow-banded legs, has been in the US since around 2010. It is thought to have arrived in a shipping container, a common route for invasive insect species.
World's most venomous spiders
Since being initially spotted in Georgia...
Cicadas are coming: scientists to bring singing bug back to Britain
Cicadas aren’t the easiest insects to study in the wild. For a start, they’re so well camouflaged as to be almost impossible to spot – locatable solely via their mating calls, some of which are inaudible to adult humans. The fact that cicada nymphs spend years (17 in one species!) living underground makes things even trickier. Reintroducing the UK’s only native cicada, as conservationists plan to do this summer, will therefore be quite the challenge.
The New Forest cicada, Cicadetta montana, ...
Life lessons: Joseph Coelho on what life so far has taught him
The current UK children’s laureate was born and raised in London and wrote his first poem – about a performing bear – while in year 8 at secondary school. Writing led to performance poetry and running creative workshops in schools. His debut poetry collection was published in 2014, followed by many critically acclaimed picture books, poetry anthologies and novel...