Nobuo Naito

In the 1960s, the BBC set out to investigate local reports of secret, shocking World War Two experiments, dangerous contamination and unexplained animal deaths on a remote island off the coast of Scotland.

"Hereabouts, they call it the island of death, the mystery Island, and for good reason," said windswept BBC reporter Fyfe Robertson as he stood across the sea from the remote and desolate Scottish island of Gruinard in 1962.

"Now, this is not a story of old dark deeds or Highland superstition. No, this story started in 1942. The war had been going on for three years when suddenly a group of scientific boffins from the War Office took over the island and started experiments so secret that even today, 20 years later, very few people know what went on over there. The local people were told nothing."

Robertson was aiming to investigate the stories of dangerous government experiments that were believed to have happened on Gruinard. At the time he was reporting, the UK's Ministry of Defence had already declared the island off-limits and Robertson couldn't persuade fearful locals to sail him around the island to get a closer look at it.

It was an environmental catastrophe. Shockingly, the island remained dangerously contaminated and a no-go area for nearly half a century, until, on this day in 1990, the UK government finally declared Gruinard Island safe.

The truth was that Gruinard Island had been the site of a clandestine attempt by the UK during World War Two to weaponise Anthrax, a deadly bacterial infection. The exact details of what had happened there would only come to light when in 1997 the government declassified a film that the military had shot at the time, which detailed the experiments.

Symptoms of infection can take time to fully appear but when they do they are horrific and can become lethal very quickly
The project, called Operation Vegetarian, had started under Paul Fildes, then head of the biology department at Porton Down, a military facility in Wiltshire, England, that still exists today.

Porton Down had first been established in 1916 as the War Department Experimental Station to study the effects of chemical weapon agents, which were increasingly being used as World War One progressed. In the 1940s, with Britain at war again, Porton Down was charged with developing biological weapons that could be used against N**i Germany to catastrophic effect, minimising actual direct combat between troops.

Getty Images Gruinard is an island off the coast of Scotland with a dark and chilling history (Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images
Gruinard is an island off the coast of Scotland with a dark and chilling history (Credit: Getty Images)
The plan was to infect linseed cakes with Anthrax spores and drop them by plane into cattle pastures around Germany. The cows would eat the cakes and contract Anthrax, as would those who ate the infected meat. Anthrax is a naturally occurring but deadly organism. Symptoms of infection can take time to fully appear but when they do they are horrific and can become lethal very quickly. The proposed plan would have decimated Germany's meat supply, and triggered a nationwide Anthrax contamination, resulting in an enormous death toll.

But to get to grips with how Anthrax would work as a weapon in a realistic setting, researchers needed an outdoor site far away from populated areas to test it. In the summer of 1942, the military bought the remote, uninhabited 522-acre island of Gruinard, and banned locals from landing there.

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A military team, under the supervision of scientists, then began to conduct chilling experiments. Using livestock brought over to the island to serve as test subjects, they started a series of trials releasing Anthrax spores across the island's terrain.

"The aim was to test whether the Anthrax would survive an explosion in the field, they didn't know that, and then would it remain virulent thereafter," Edward Spiers, emeritus professor at the University of Leeds told the BBC documentary The Mystery of Anthrax Island in 2022.

"Eighty-odd sheep were tethered at various stages downwind of the likely explosion. The explosion was done by remote control. It isn't a great bang, a draught of highly potent spores moving down on the wind and causing infection and death wherever it goes."

The results were devastating: within days of exposure the sheep started showing symptoms and rapidly began to die. Their infected bodies were autopsied and then incinerated or buried under tonnes of rubble.

4:58
WATCH: 'I used to watch the smoke coming down on top of the animals'
Some of these experiments were witnessed by local crofters who spotted the drifting clouds of Anthrax over the island. One local, who had sold sheep to the scientific team, recalled that he saw what he described as smoke coming down on top of the animals. "I think it was all kinds of poison gas, Anthrax," he told Robertson in 1962.

The secret trials carried on until 1943, when the military deemed them a success, and scientists packed up and returned to Porton Down. As a result five million linseed cakes laced with Anthrax were produced but the plan was ultimately abandoned as the Allies' Normandy invasion progressed, leading the cakes to be destroyed after the war. By 1952, Britain had developed a different weapon of mass destruction and had succeeded in its ambition to become the third nuclear power in the world. Four years later it ended its offensive chemical and biological weapons programmes, and in 1975 ratified the Biological Weapons Convention, which bans all use, production or stockpiling of them.

Awe-inspiring cosmological events can powerfully influence our psychology.

The date is 28 May, 585 BC, in what is now present-day Anatolia in Turkey. The Medes, an ancient people from modern-day Iran, and the Lydians – a kingdom from the south of modern-day Turkey – have been fighting for six years. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the war shows little sign of ending, with neither side making significant progress. It will take a solar eclipse to end the bloodshed.

"Just as the battle was growing warm, day was of sudden changed into night," Herodotus wrote. "The Medes and Lydians, when they observed the change, ceased fighting, and were alike anxious to have terms of peace agreed on."

We may not see such a dramatic reaction to the total eclipse passing across North America on 8 April this year, but recent research suggests it may nevertheless have a powerful impact on our psychology – by evoking the emotion of awe.

There are few events more awe-striking than the series of celestial coincidences that allow us to experience a total solar eclipse. It relies on the Moon being the exact size and distance from Earth, and in the right orbit to pass in front of the Sun and completely block out its light for a few moments. Witnessing such an astonishing event could, according to the research, inspire us all to find greater humility and care for others.

"People may be more affiliative – they may say that they have closer social ties with others – and they feel more connected to their community," says Sean Goldy, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, who has investigated the psychological effects of the 2017 eclipse.

The shock of immensity
Long neglected by scientific study, awe has become an increasingly fashionable area of scientific study in the past two decades. It is defined as a sense of wonder and amazement, triggered by a perception of vastness that leaves us feeling small in comparison.

Getty Images Our tendency to feel overawed by nature isn't confined to astronomical events – even giant trees can evoke appreciation of nature's immensity (Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images
Our tendency to feel overawed by nature isn't confined to astronomical events – even giant trees can evoke appreciation of nature's immensity (Credit: Getty Images)
"It's an emotion you feel when you perceive something that is vast and which challenges your view of the world," says Jennifer Stellar, a psychologist at the University of Toronto. "It is the feeling that you have towards an object or a person that is so extraordinary as to be beyond comprehension."

The result can be life-changing. As Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California of Berkeley, writes in his book Awe, the feeling of wonder can quiet "the nagging, self-critical, overbearing, status-conscious voice of our self, or ego" and it empowers us "to collaborate, to open our minds to wonders, and to see the deep patterns of life".

That's a big claim, but Keltner and his colleagues have accumulated a large body of evidence to support it. In a typical laboratory experiment, psychologists may ask participants to view awe-inspiring videos of natural phenomena before they complete questionnaires and tasks that measure any shift in mindset and behaviour.

Our ego guides our perceptions and decision making, but when you feel a self-transcendent emotion like awe, it diminishes the power that it has over you – Jennifer Stellar
Consider a study from 2018 that examined the effects of awe on humility. The research team asked half of their participants to watch a short video that slowly zoomed out from Earth into the wider Universe. The rest watched a relaxing clip that demonstrated how to build a fence. Afterwards, both groups were asked to spend two minutes writing first about their strengths, and then weaknesses. As hypothesised, the participants who had watched the space video were more likely to experience awe, and in their personal statements, they reported significantly fewer strengths before describing their weaknesses – a sign of humility.

In another study from the same research paper, the researchers asked a third of their participants to recall a time when they'd felt awe. Another third remembered a time when they'd been amused by something funny, while the rest recalled an uneventful trip to buy their groceries. The participants then answered a series of questions assessing how much, on a scale of 0 to 100%, various factors had contributed to their life's accomplishments. These included their own talents or external forces such as luck or God.

The bodies of two people have been recovered from a red pickup truck, which was under water where the Baltimore bridge collapsed.

Eight construction workers were on the bridge when a ship struck it, plunging them into the waters below.

Two of the workers were rescued on the day, but the search continues for the other four - all presumed dead.

Salvage crews are working to address hazardous materials and accident investigators are on the scene.

Four of the six victims of the bridge collapse have been named so far.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Maryland State Police identified Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, as the two workers recovered by divers from inside the truck. Mr Fuentes is originally from Mexico and Mr Cabrera is from Guatemala.

But divers are no longer able to navigate the waters safely because of concrete and debris found in the river, police said. They are now using sonar scans and believe that vehicles that may contain other bodies are "encased in superstructure and concrete" that came down from the bridge, an official said.

Two other missing victims, who are presumed dead, have also been named: Miguel Luna, originally from El Salvador, and Maynor Suazo Sandoval, a Honduran citizen.

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Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that two of its citizens were presumed dead - one of whom is now identified as Mr Fuentes - while another was rescued from the water.

One person who was in hospital after being pulled out of the water was released, officials said late Wednesday.

First responders spent hours on Tuesday searching the waters of the Patapsco River for the six construction workers, who were working on potholes on the bridge at about 01:30 (05:30 GMT) when the ship crashed into the bridge. The US Coast Guard called off the search around sunset, saying cold water temperatures and hours gone by meant the workers were presumed dead.

0:57
Watch: A look at past US bridge collapses after a vessel collision
Officials have pledged to find the bodies of the men for their relatives.

"We've got to give these families closure," Wes Moore, governor of Maryland, told reporters on Wednesday, adding that air, land and water resources had been devoted to the search of the victims.

"My promise to them is this: I will devote every single resource to make sure that you receive closure," he said.

But the operation has been challenging, Coast Guard Vice-Adm Peter Gautier said on Wednesday.

Divers have been swimming in chilly waters with metal debris from the bridge that fell in the river.

The cargo vessel itself is stable but has more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel oil and l**e oil on board, Mr Gautier said.

Roughly 4,700 cargo containers were also on board, including 56 that contained hazardous materials.

"The Coast Guard has moved aggressively to board the vessel and we have teams on board," Mr Gautier said.

He assured that "there is no threat to the public from the hazardous materials on board".

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said some containers with hazardous materials had been "breached".

A total of 764 tonnes of mostly corrosive and flammable materials were identified, she said.

There was some sheen on the waterway around the collapse, Ms Homendy added.

The US Navy plans to use barges with heavy lift cranes - some can carry as much as 1,000 tonnes - to remove parts of the bridge that fell in the water.

The age of one of Earth's largest and most complex types of sand dune has been calculated for the first time.

Star dunes - or pyramid dunes - are named after their distinctive shapes and reach hundreds of metres in height.

They are found in Africa, Asia and North America, as well as on Mars - but experts had never before been able to put a date on when they were formed.

Now scientists have discovered that a dune called Lala Lallia in Morocco formed 13,000 years ago.

Star dunes are created by opposing winds that change direction. Understanding their age helps scientists understands those winds and unpick the climate of that era, says Prof Geoff Duller at the University of Aberystwyth, who published the research with Prof Charles Bristow at Birkbeck University.

Lala Lallia (an indigenous Amazigh name meaning highest sacred point) is located in the Erg Chebbi sand sea in south-east Morocco. It is 100m high and 700m wide with radiating arms.

After its initial formation, it stopped growing for about 8,000 years and then quickly expanded in the past several thousand years.

Normally deserts can be identified in Earth's geological history, but star dunes were absent until now.

Prof Duller says this may be because they are so large that experts did not realise they were looking at one distinct dune.

"These findings will probably surprise a lot of people as we can see how quickly this enormous dune formed, and that it is moving across the desert at about 50cm a year," he adds.

The scientists used a technique called luminescence dating to work out the age of the star dune.

The star dunes' radiating arms give them their name
IMAGE SOURCE,C BRISTOW
Image caption,
The star dunes' radiating arms give them their name
The method calculates when the grains of sand were last exposed to daylight.

Samples of sand were taken in the dark from Morocco and analysed in a lab in dim red light conditions similar to an old-fashioned photography workshop.

Prof Duller describes the mineral grains in the sand as "little rechargeable batteries". They store energy within the crystals that comes from radioactivity in the natural environment.

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The longer the sand is buried under ground, the more radioactivity it is exposed to and the more energy it builds up.

When the grains are exposed in the lab, they release the energy in light form and scientists can calculate their age.

"In our dark laboratory, we see light from these sand grains. The brighter the light then the older the sediment grains and the longer it is since they've been buried," says Prof Duller.

Other examples of these huge dunes include Star Dune in Colorado, North America, which is the joint-highest dune in the US, measuring 225m from base to top.

Climbing these dunes is hard work, Prof Duller explains. "As you climb, you go up two and slide back one. But it's worth it - they're absolutely beautiful from the top," he says.

With a record-breaking seven nominations at this year's Brit Awards, Raye has put a full stop on one of pop's greatest comeback stories.

The pop star, whose real name is Rachel Keen, has been barrelling about the record industry since she was a teenager. To a casual onlooker, it seemed like things were going well.

She wrote for big names like Beyoncé, Little Mix and Charli XCX. She produced records for Rihanna and John Legend. She collaborated with Stormzy and David Guetta. Songs like You Don't Know Me and Secrets sold enough to buy her a house.

But, as a solo artist, her music was constantly questioned and rejected.

In 2021, five years after she signed a four-album deal with Polydor Records, the label was still refusing to release her debut.

Not knowing what else to do, Raye posted a video message to social media, tearfully explaining her frustration.

Dozens of potential hits were "sat in folders collecting dust", she said, while others were being given away to bigger stars "because I am still awaiting confirmation that I am good enough".

"I've done everything [Polydor] asked me, I switched genres, I worked seven days a week," she said. "They either listen to me now or we part ways and they can save themselves this headache.

"Because I'm about to make it a headache."

The decision to post that video "wasn't at all planned", she later told the BBC. "It was more of a desperate cry to be free."

Raye
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
The singer recently announced her first-ever headline show at the O2 Arena
Polydor's public response was sympathetic. A spokeswoman said the company was "saddened" and had contacted Raye's manager (actually her dad, Paul) to "offer our full support".

Behind closed doors, they told Raye to stop giving interviews.

Eventually, however, they came to an agreement. Raye was freed from her contract, and allowed to keep the songs she'd written. Among them was Escapism, a dark and torrid song, written in the depths of her despair as she self-medicated with drugs and meaningless s*x.

Polydor had never liked it. When Raye played it to other labels, they agreed.

"People were like, 'Yeah, this is cool [but] it's just something Raye needs to get out of her system'," she told me last year.

Raye disagreed and released it independently. The song immediately went viral on TikTok and, tens of millions of streams later, it went to number one.

The singer followed it up with her long-awaited album, My 21st Century Blues. Gritty, triumphant and catchy, it showcased her ability to genre-hop between jazz, soul, hip-hop, dance and gospel without losing her sense of identity.

By the end of the year, it had sold more than 60,000 copies and been nominated for a Mercury Prize. Ahead of the Brits, she's already been honoured with the ceremony's coveted songwriter of the year award.

"It's just brilliant when you get to prove people wrong," she has said of her success.

"It's not been the simplest story - but it just shows that you should back yourself, no matter what people tell you."

The Kansas City Chiefs fought back to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime and win their third Super Bowl in five years.

The 49ers came into the first Super Bowl held in Las Vegas as the slight favourites and were twice on the brink of victory at Allegiant Stadium.

A last-gasp field goal by the Chiefs made it 19-19 to send the game into overtime, and although the 49ers edged back in front, Patrick Mahomes' touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman meant defending champions Kansas City cemented their status as the first NFL dynasty since the New England Patriots.

The Chiefs have reached four of the past five Super Bowls and became the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Patriots in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

At just 28, Mahomes has become the sixth quarterback in NFL history to win three or more Super Bowls, while Andy Reid has become the fifth coach to win three or more.

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While Kansas City's win over the Philadelphia Eagles last season was a high-scoring epic, this will be seen as a classic by anyone who likes to see defences get on top, with San Francisco leading 10-3 at half-time.

But Mahomes still proved the difference, steering the Chiefs within range to make their game-tying field goal before keeping alive the nail-biting drive which resulted in Hardman's touchdown.

That condemned the 49ers and their coach Kyle Shanahan to another painful defeat. The Chiefs began their Super Bowl streak with a fourth-quarter fightback against San Francisco in 2020 and their latest win came in the second Super Bowl to go to overtime - the first saw the Patriots produce a record comeback in 2016 before beating the Atlanta Falcons, whose offensive coordinator was Shanahan.

The 49ers remain five-time Super Bowl winners but have now lost in the big game three times since their last NFL title in 1995.

High-profile romance continues with Super Bowl win
Travis Kelce with Taylor Swift after winning Super Bowl 58
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
Super Bowl 58 was the 13th Chiefs game that Taylor Swift has attended this season

This year's Super Bowl attracted arguably more interest than ever before, with the US television audience expected to eclipse the record 115 million for Kansas City's win over the Eagles last year.

This was the first Super Bowl to be held in the entertainment capital of the world, Prince Harry made a surprise appearance at the end-of-season awards ceremony in Vegas on Thursday and then there's Taylor Swift.

The music superstar's relationship with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce has brought a wealth of new fans to the Chiefs and the NFL in general, and there have even been conspiracy theories about the team's play-off run being rigged to maintain that new interest and help get US President Joe Biden re-elected.

This week NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called those claims "nonsense", while many media outlets speculated whether she would be able to attend the Super Bowl as she was performing in Tokyo on Saturday.

She made it, joining dozens of stars in the crowd at Allegiant Stadium, although it seemed she and Kelce would be disappointed at half-time. He took just one catch for one yard in the first half and showed his frustration by bumping into coach Reid and shouting in the 65-year-old's face.

But Kelce, 34, ended the game with 93 receiving yards, with Mahomes passing for 333 yards and two touchdowns.

Mahomes also rushed for 66 yards, including a scramble on fourth down in overtime when failure to make a first down would have handed victory to the 49ers.

That ensured Mahomes was named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player for a third time and he is the first to win the award back-to-back since Terry Bradshaw (1979 and 1980).

Kelce already targeting 'three-peat' - What they said
Patrick Mahomes is presenting with the Super Bowl trophy in 2024
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,
Patrick Mahomes has also been named the NFL's season MVP on two occasions, most recently last season

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes: "The whole game was just a microcosm of our entire season. The defence kept us in there, with the offence making plays when it counted. I'm just so proud of the guys.

"I know we're going to celebrate tonight, but we're not done. We've got a young team and we're going to keep this thing going."

On Andy Reid: "I believe he's the best coach of all time. I know he doesn't have the trophies yet, but the way he's able to navigate every single team he has, continue to have success no matter where he's at - I don't think I'd be the quarterback that I am if I didn't have coach Reid as my head coach."

Chiefs coach Andy Reid: "Our defence played out of their mind. Our offence just kept persevering - kept pushing and pushing. I am so proud of the whole crew."

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce: "We've been fighting for this all year. The goal has always been to get three [in a row] but you can't do it without getting two and we've had a target on our back all year.

"We get a chance to do it all again next year. I'll see you there. Viva Las Vegas!"

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Jauan Jennings celebrates scoring a touchdown in Super Bowl 58
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,
Jauan Jennings was set to be an unlikely hero for the 49ers having scored just one touchdown in the regular season

While many hoped the two teams' offensive stars would put on a show in the bright light city, defences dominated, which contributed to an error-strewn contest featuring four turnovers.

The first came on just the game's fifth play after San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey coughed up just his third fumble of the season, although the 49ers still opened the scoring with a field goal at the start of the second quarter.

With Mahomes and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy struggling to get their offence going, San Francisco dialled up a trick play and wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who last threw a competitive pass in high school, found McCaffrey for a touchdown.

The Chiefs got on the board with a field goal right before half-time and they edged in front through a field goal and a Marquez Valdes-Scantling touchdown late in the third quarter.

The 49ers hit straight back and it looked as though Shanahan would banish the demons of his two previous Super Bowls after deciding to go for it on fourth down, with Purdy converting.

Two plays later he found Jennings, making him just the second player to both throw a touchdown pass and catch one in the same Super Bowl - after Nick Foles in the Eagles' win over the Patriots in 2017.

But Jake Moody's kick for the extra point was blocked, which proved crucial as it left the score at 16-13. The Chiefs could then tie it up with a field goal, as they did on the next drive and again with Harrison Butker's fourth field goal that sent the game to overtime after Moody's third had made it 19-16 with two minutes of regulation time remaining.

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