Taiwan's tallest tree, a 1,000-year-old Taiwania cryptomerioides named 'Heaven Sword of the Da’an River', has been measured at 84.1 meters. Researchers highlight the importance of such ancient trees for biodiversity and climate change mitigation, while also noting their vulnerability to wildfires and global heating.
Alexander Nikitenkov, the director of the "Bryansk Forest" reserve who died from a Ukrainian Armed Forces strike, was involved in a project to create a reserve population of the endangered spotted ground squirrel. His main responsibility was ensuring the safety of staff and tourists and the functioning of all reserve services, especially given its proximity to the state border. The reserve reported that animals, including bison and bears, are thriving under protection.
Utah's severe drought has created tinderbox conditions, leading to two separate brush fires started by a squirrel and children playing with a lighter within hours. Officials warn of a severe fire season due to dry vegetation.
Scientists discovered genetic traces of mammoths, horses, and predators in 700,000-year-old Arctic ground squirrel droppings preserved in permafrost. This breakthrough in paleogenomics uses ancient environmental DNA from coprolites to reconstruct ancient food webs and challenges assumptions about Arctic species continuity.
Utah's severe drought has created tinderbox conditions, leading to separate brush fires started by a squirrel and children playing with matches within hours. Officials warn of a severe fire season due to dry vegetation and high temperatures.
The Nantou Forest District Office and the Hushan Reservoir Ecological Conservation Association have created artificial nests from discarded domestic cedar wood. These nests have been placed in mountainous areas of Yunlin and Chiayi, successfully attracting large flying squirrels and owls for breeding.
Derrick Downey Jr., a content creator known for his million-follower squirrel videos on Instagram and TikTok, built DualShot Recorder — an app that captures vertical and horizontal video simultaneously using the full iPhone sensor. With no prior coding experience, he used AI tools including ChatGPT and Claude to develop the app over 3-4 months. The app launched at $6.99 and reached the #1 paid app spot on the App Store within 12 hours, remaining there for eight days. It now costs $9.99 with no subscription or data collection.
The UK government has launched a £50m retail investment campaign featuring an animated CGI squirrel named Savvy to encourage the nation's cautious savers to move cash into financial markets. Backed by 20 City firms including Barclays, Aviva and Robinhood UK, the 3-5 year campaign targets seven million adults holding over £10,000 in cash savings, who the Investment Association say are losing out as cash erodes in real terms.
The UK government has launched a £50m retail investment campaign featuring an animated red squirrel named 'Savvy' to encourage the nation's cautious savers to move money from cash into stock market investments. The three-to-five-year campaign, backed by 20 City firms including Barclays, Aviva and Schroders, aims to target the seven million UK adults holding over £10,000 in cash savings, amid concerns that risk-averse behaviour is stymying UK economic growth.
Ambition behind investing campaign is laudable, yet cutting stamp duty on share purchases, for example, would be much more savvyCity firms bank on ‘savvy’ ad campaign to push Brits towards investingRed squirrel characters have a history in the public information game. Older UK readers may recall Tufty, who taught children about road safety in the 1970s. His chum, Willy Weasel, regularly got knocked down by passing cars but clever Tufty always remembered to look both ways.Now comes Savvy Squirrel, who, with backing from the chancellor and a multi-year lump of advertising spend from the financial services industry, will try “to drive a step-change in how investing is understood, discussed and adopted”, as the blurb puts it. In translation: don’t squirrel everything away in a boring cash Isa but try taking an investment risk or two if you value your long-term financial health. Continue reading...
The UK government has launched a £50m advertising campaign featuring an animated CGI squirrel named 'Savvy' to encourage the nation's cautious savers to move their money from cash into financial markets. Backed by 20 major City firms including Barclays, Aviva and Schroders, the three-to-five-year campaign targets the seven million UK adults holding over £10,000 in cash savings, who campaigners say are losing out due to inflation. The Investment Association warns that £10,000 in a cash ISA a decade ago would be worth £8,400 today versus £19,700 in a global equity fund.
Birdfy announces the Feeder Metal 2 (4K), a $269.99 smart bird feeder with 4K wide-angle camera, solar power, and IP66 weatherproof rating. The upgraded model features AI-powered Birdfy OrniSense system that recognizes over 6,000 bird species and generates custom summaries. An optional subscription or $30 lifetime access unlocks AI features.
Birdfy announces the Birdfy Feeder Metal 2 (4K), an updated version of its squirrel-proof bird feeder with a 4K wide-angle camera, built-in solar cell, and AI-powered Birdfy OrniSense system capable of recognizing over 6,000 bird species. The $269.99 feeder launches today with optional subscription or $299.99 lifetime access option.
