November sees the centenary of Percival Lowell’s death. 

Scientists at the University of Texas think they know how Lucy, the famous female of prehistoric times, met her death, writes Richard Collins. 

According to a report in Science News, Europe’s oldest living thing is a tree growing in the Pindus Mountains of Northern Greece.

Although extraordinary performances were seen in Rio, human athletic feats are in the halfpenny place compared to those of wild creatures; an Arctic tern has just completed the longest annual journey known to have been made by any living thing, writes Richard Collins

New Zealand has no native land mammals, apart from a few bats. 

In the RTE television series Charlie, the former Taoiseach is seen at dinner with his friend, French president Francois Mitterand. They are tucking into a dish of ortolan buntings.