Ramsey David Dwayne

Few people are as familiar with Etna's rarely traversed unmarked slopes as Martis, who has guided skiers up and down Etna for more than a decade. He recommended we head to the Valle del Bove, an immense amphitheatre on Etna's eastern flank hemmed in by 1,000m rock walls whose steep slopes of light, powdery snow are perfect for ski mountaineering. "After traversing the Valle del Bove, you can ascend a slope to Etna's summit. The views of the volcano crater are spectacular," Martis said.

Local skiing enthusiast Salvatore Rizzo joined Cobo, Martis and I for the adventure. We drove a short distance from the B&B to where the snowline in the Valle del Bove started. We then assembled our ski-touring equipment: thin, lightweight skis and synthetic "skins" that attach to the base of the ski and provide grip for skiing uphill. We also carried an avalanche transceiver, although Martis assured us that we wouldn't need to use it.

This theory, however, doesn't explain all the peculiar patterns the researchers observed during their field and lab work. Aside from orbiting, Fabian says they witnessed stalling (where an insect appears to fly straight up around the side of the light, then loses momentum and falls back down as if it were a pendulum), and flying directly over the light while inverted.

That last behaviour is why Fabian and Sondhi consider flood lights to be the worst light pollution offenders – the beams of light that fill a large area cause insects to flip upside down abruptly, leading to a lot of catastrophic crash landings. (Read more about how light pollution affects plants' senses).

By the 8th Century, the region had converted to Islam, and elaborate madrassas and mosques paid for by mercantile wealth began to adorn the cities. Bukhara became known as an important centre for learning, with intellectuals from all across the Muslim world gathering to share ideas.

It is against this backdrop that Uzbekistan’s contemporary cuisine began forming. The cooking was influenced by traders and conquerors from all over the world, resulting in a unique fare. Even today, the influence of Turkic, Kazakh, Uyghur, Mongolian and many other cultures can be seen in Uzbekistan’s “national dishes”.

Regional Indigenous communities likely knew of the paleoburrows' existence before they were scientifically identified, evidenced by the tunnels featured in their oral stories. The Kaingang people, who come from Rio Grande do Sul, tell of a legend that a giant flood forced their ancestral fathers to swim to the hilly peaks where they eventually dug their way through the mountains for shelter. Other tales from the Kaingang suggest they knew the burrows were made by megafauna. A folktale for children involves the story of a family that descended into a hole made by an armadillo to enjoy the abundance of food there, only to have their rope cut by a "white man" (a native name for a non-Indigenous person) who took over the land while they remained underground.

In 2015, the seven-mile entrance to the park was renamed Sir Lancelot Jones Way, thanks in part to the efforts of the outdoor and environmental mentorship programme The Mahogany Youth, which works to connect mainly Black children with nature. The second Monday of October has even been declared Sir Lancelot Jones Day in Florida. Currently there are eco-kayak tours around Jones Lagoon, a scenic shallow-water lagoon likely named after the Jones family, and the park is working on ways to open up what's left of the Jones homesite to visitors.

In 2018, the Maersk Honam, an ultra large container ship 353m (1,158ft) long, caught fire in the Arabian Sea on its way to the Suez Canal. Tragically, five seafarers lost their lives in the incident. But 22 crew members survived – and the ship did too, thanks to the efforts of SMIT Salvage.

"It was a very intense fire in the forward section of the vessel and of course you're assessing, 'How is this fire going to develop over time?'," explains Janssen. Keeping the blaze contained to the front of the ship avoided damage to the engine room and accommodation to the rear. It was the biggest fire SMIT has ever tackled at sea, says Janssen. It burned on board for a month but salvors brought it under control and eventually extinguished it after towing the ship to a port in Dubai.