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Darwin Family Microscope to Be Sold at Auction

James Hyslop, Head of Scientific Instruments, Globes and Natural History at Christie's, demonstrates the Darwin Family Microscope, owned and used by the English naturalist and founder of the concept of evolution, Charles Darwin, which will be offered at auction as part of Christie's Classic Week, London, Britain, October 14, 2021. Picture taken October 14. (Reuters)
James Hyslop, Head of Scientific Instruments, Globes and Natural History at Christie's, demonstrates the Darwin Family Microscope, owned and used by the English naturalist and founder of the concept of evolution, Charles Darwin, which will be offered at auction as part of Christie's Classic Week, London, Britain, October 14, 2021. Picture taken October 14. (Reuters)
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Darwin Family Microscope to Be Sold at Auction

James Hyslop, Head of Scientific Instruments, Globes and Natural History at Christie's, demonstrates the Darwin Family Microscope, owned and used by the English naturalist and founder of the concept of evolution, Charles Darwin, which will be offered at auction as part of Christie's Classic Week, London, Britain, October 14, 2021. Picture taken October 14. (Reuters)
James Hyslop, Head of Scientific Instruments, Globes and Natural History at Christie's, demonstrates the Darwin Family Microscope, owned and used by the English naturalist and founder of the concept of evolution, Charles Darwin, which will be offered at auction as part of Christie's Classic Week, London, Britain, October 14, 2021. Picture taken October 14. (Reuters)

A microscope Charles Darwin gave his son Leonard and which has remained in the family for nearly 200 years is headed for auction in December, and is expected to fetch up to $480,000.

The instrument was designed by Charles Gould for the firm Cary around 1825 and is one of six surviving microscopes associated with the British naturalist, according to auction house Christie's.

The date of its manufacture coincides with the time when Darwin was studying zoophytes, organisms such as coral and sea anemone.

"It is just incredibly spine tingling to look through this and see the microscopic world that Darwin would have seen in the 1820s and 30s," James Hyslop, Head of Department, Scientific Instruments, Globes & Natural History, at Christie’s, told Reuters.

"Later in his life in 1858, there's a wonderful letter that he writes to his eldest son saying young Lenny was dissecting at his microscope and he said 'Oh Papa, I should be so glad of this for my whole life'. It's wonderful to have that family connexion of Charles Darwin just before he becomes internationally famous."

Darwin published his groundbreaking work "On the Origin of Species" in 1859.

The microscope will be offered at Christie's Valuable Books & Manuscripts auction on Dec. 15, and has a price estimate of 250,000 - 350,000 pounds ($343,050 - $480,270).

"Charles Darwin is one of the biggest names in the history of science, and collectors for Darwiniana (relating to Darwin) are truly international in breadth," Hyslop said.

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Bear Spray Goes Off in Japan Post Office, Five Hospitalized

(FILES) A staff member sorts bells next to an advertisement for bear spray at a store in Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture on October 24, 2025. (Photo by Caroline GARDIN / AFP)
(FILES) A staff member sorts bells next to an advertisement for bear spray at a store in Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture on October 24, 2025. (Photo by Caroline GARDIN / AFP)
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Bear Spray Goes Off in Japan Post Office, Five Hospitalized

(FILES) A staff member sorts bells next to an advertisement for bear spray at a store in Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture on October 24, 2025. (Photo by Caroline GARDIN / AFP)
(FILES) A staff member sorts bells next to an advertisement for bear spray at a store in Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture on October 24, 2025. (Photo by Caroline GARDIN / AFP)

Five people needed hospital treatment in Japan after a man accidentally set off an anti-bear spray in a city-center post office, reports and officials said, as the country grapples with a sharp rise in maulings.

A 22-year-old Vietnamese national apologized and told police that he discharged the repellant unintentionally in the incident on Wednesday in the central city of Nagoya, the reports said.

The man, named as Huynh Nhat Duy, was nonetheless arrested on Thursday on suspicion of obstruction of business, police spokesman Kenji Goto told AFP.

"Eight people felt sick, and of those, five were sent to hospital. But there was no report of serious injuries or illness," fire department official Ryohei Asano told AFP.

At least five people have been killed by bears in Japan since April 1 after a record 13 deaths last fiscal year.

This week, authorities said they were investigating a sixth possible fatality after a man's body with bite marks was found in a mountainous area in the north.

Environment ministry data dating back to the year to March 2018 shows that this year is the first to see more than two deaths in the period from April to June.

Scientists attribute the sharp rise in incidents to an increase in the bears' population, a declining number of people in rural areas and other factors including variations in the availability of bears' usual food.

Authorities recommend people avoid going alone into the mountains -- which make up some 80 percent of Japan -- to attach a bell to their bags, and to carry bear sprays.

These aerosols, sold in outdoor activity stores, contain capsaicin -- the chemical component in spicy chili peppers -- and cause a burning and irritating sensation.

Bears are also encroaching increasingly into towns and cities in Japan.

In June, dozens of police, hunters and city officials needed four days to trap a bear roaming Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, forcing mass school closures.

Before that another bear described as "extremely intelligent" -- it opened a window and turned on a tap -- attacked four people at two factories in Fukushima and remained at large for days.

Last week authorities in Hachioji on the Tokyo outskirts announced plans to buy 700 anti-bear sprays for schools and community organizations, as well as movable electric fences and devices that make high-pitched sounds.

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UK: Sapling Stolen from Famous Tree Months After Planting

The Sycamore Gap tree that was found felled next to the Hadrian's Wall UNESCO World Heritage site in northeast England in September 2023 (AFP)
The Sycamore Gap tree that was found felled next to the Hadrian's Wall UNESCO World Heritage site in northeast England in September 2023 (AFP)
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UK: Sapling Stolen from Famous Tree Months After Planting

The Sycamore Gap tree that was found felled next to the Hadrian's Wall UNESCO World Heritage site in northeast England in September 2023 (AFP)
The Sycamore Gap tree that was found felled next to the Hadrian's Wall UNESCO World Heritage site in northeast England in September 2023 (AFP)

A sapling taken from the Sycamore Gap tree has been stolen from the grounds of a castle just months after it was planted, according to The Guardian.

The Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, was one of the UK’s best-known and most loved trees. It was criminally felled for no apparent reason on a stormy night in September 2023.

Last July Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were found guilty over the illegal felling of the tree and sentenced to more than four years in prison.

The National Trust collected seeds from the tree, which was at least 100 years old, and 49 saplings were successfully salvaged, to be planted across the country as “signs of hope.”

Gardens and historic sites across the country clamored for the saplings, with one receiving at least 500 applications. But now, one has been stolen from the picturesque grounds of Wray parkland and castle in Cumbria where it was planted in April this year.

The castle’s staff believe it was taken deliberately. Jez Westgarth, the National Trust’s assistant director for Cumbria and Lancashire, said it must have been taken to plant elsewhere.

“It hasn’t just been pulled up recklessly – somebody’s thought about what they’re doing,” he told the BBC.

The trust said staff were “saddened” by the theft and appealed to the public to come forward with information.

Laura Lee, the National Trust’s general manager for the Lake District, said: “We are shocked and saddened that a sapling from the Sycamore Gap tree that was gifted to the Lake District national park and planted at Wray in April 2026 has been stolen.”

She added: “Grown from seeds gathered from the much-loved tree at Hadrian’s Wall, which was illegally felled in 2023, it was one of 15 saplings planted across the UK’s national parks as a symbol of hope and resilience among our most protected landscapes.”

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Spain Records More Than 1,000 Heat-Related June Deaths

A person drinks from a fountain rest during a spring heatwave in Madrid, Spain, May 27, 2026. (Reuters)
A person drinks from a fountain rest during a spring heatwave in Madrid, Spain, May 27, 2026. (Reuters)
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Spain Records More Than 1,000 Heat-Related June Deaths

A person drinks from a fountain rest during a spring heatwave in Madrid, Spain, May 27, 2026. (Reuters)
A person drinks from a fountain rest during a spring heatwave in Madrid, Spain, May 27, 2026. (Reuters)

More than 1,000 deaths in Spain were attributed to the recent heatwave that roasted Europe, as the country posted the hottest first six months ever recorded, officials said on Wednesday.

At least 1,028 people died of heat-related issues during the heatwave, the public Carlos III Health Institute said.

The figure was more than double the 407 deaths that were attributed to heat in June 2025, Spain's hottest June since records started being kept, according to the national weather agency Aemet.

The first six months of 2026 were the hottest in Spain since the start of records, with temperatures 1.6C above normal levels on average, Aemet said in a post on X on Wednesday.

"The seven warmest first semesters... have occurred over the past 10 years", the Aemet agency said in a post on X.

June 2026 came in as the second-hottest June, "with temperatures on average 3.2C above the norm," Aemet said.

The heatwave that scorched Europe from late June was the most severe ever recorded in Europe, and would have been "virtually impossible" in June without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.

All-time temperature records have been broken in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as for the month of June in the UK and in Switzerland.

France faced record breaking average temperatures, with the country experiencing its highest-ever nighttime temperatures.