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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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Swiss Author Erich von Daeniken Dies at 90

Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)
Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)
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Swiss Author Erich von Daeniken Dies at 90

Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)
Erich von Daeniken, co-founder and co-owner of Mystery Park, poses in front of the Panorama Tower at Mystery Park in Interlaken, Wednesday, April 23, 2003. (Gaetan Ball)/Keystone via AP, File)

Swiss author Erich von Daeniken, who helped popularize the idea that astronauts from outer space visited Earth ​to help lay the foundations for human civilization, has died aged 90.

Swiss media including national broadcaster SRF reported his death, and a note on his website said it occurred on Saturday, The AP news reported.

Von Daeniken rose to ‌prominence with ‌his 1968 book "Chariots of ‌the ⁠Gods?" ​which posited ‌that structures such as the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, Britain's Stonehenge and Peru's Nazca lines were too advanced for their time, and needed outside help.

"In my opinion, ancient structures were made ⁠by humans, not by the extraterrestrials, but it was ‌the extraterrestrials who guided them, ‍who them, ‍who gave them the knowledge how to ‍do it," von Daeniken says in a video on his YouTube channel.

His theories were controversial with historians, scientists and fellow ​writers. But they were popular, and his books, which included "The Gods were ⁠Astronauts", sold nearly 70 million copies worldwide, appearing in more than 30 languages, SRF said.

Von Daeniken argued that ancient religions, myths and art contained evidence that millennia ago, the ancestors of modern humans had made contact with advanced extraterrestrial beings who appeared godlike to them and enabled them to progress.

One ‌day, von Daeniken said, those beings would return.

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Massive Iconic Iceberg 'on Verge of Complete Disintegration'

Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)
Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)
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Massive Iconic Iceberg 'on Verge of Complete Disintegration'

Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)
Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)

One of the largest and oldest icebergs ever tracked by scientists has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said on Thursday.

A23a, a massive wall of ice that was once twice the size of Rhode Island, is drenched in blue meltwater as it drifts in the South Atlantic off the eastern tip of South America, NASA said in a new release, according to CBS News.

A NASA satellite captured an image of the fading berg the day after Christmas, showing pools of blue meltwater on its surface. A day later, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured a photograph showing a closer view of the iceberg, with an even larger melt pool.

The satellite image suggests that the A23a has also “sprung a leak,” NASA said, as the weight of the water pooling at the top of the berg punched through the ice.

Scientists say all signs indicate the so-called “megaberg” could be just days or weeks from totally disintegrating as it rides currents that are pushing it toward even warmer waters.

Warmer air temperatures during this season could also speed up A23a's demise in an area that ice experts have dubbed a “graveyard” for icebergs.

“I certainly don't expect A-23A to last through the austral summer,” retired University of Maryland, Baltimore County scientist Chris Shuman said in a statement.

Blue and white linear patterns visible on A23a are likely related to striations, which are ridges that were scoured hundreds of years ago when the iceberg was part of the Antarctic bedrock, NASA said.

“The striations formed parallel to the direction of flow, which ultimately created subtle ridges and valleys on the top of the iceberg that now direct the flow of meltwater,” said Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow & Ice Data Center.

The berg detached from Antarctica in 1986. It remained stuck for over 30 years before finally breaking free in 2020.

According to current estimates from the US National Ice Center, in early January 2026, the berg's area is 1,182 square kilometers -- still larger than New York City but a fraction of its initial size.

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Scores of Homes Razed, One Dead in Australian Bushfires

Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS
Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS
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Scores of Homes Razed, One Dead in Australian Bushfires

Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS
Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS

Bushfires have razed hundreds of buildings across southeast Australia, authorities said Sunday, as they confirmed the first death from the disaster.

Temperatures soared past 40C as a heatwave blanketed the state of Victoria, sparking dozens of blazes that ripped through more than 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) combined.

Fire crews tallied the damage as conditions eased on Sunday. A day earlier, authorities had declared a state of disaster.

Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said over 300 buildings had burned to the ground, a figure that includes sheds and other structures on rural properties, AFP reported.

More than 70 houses had been destroyed, he said, alongside huge swathes of farming land and native forest.

"We're starting to see some of our conditions ease," he told reporters.

"And that means firefighters are able to start getting on top of some of the fires that we still have in our landscape."

Police said one person had died in a bushfire near the town of Longwood, about two hours' drive north of state capital Melbourne.

"This really takes all the wind out of our sails," said Chris Hardman from Forest Fire Management Victoria.

"We really feel for the local community there and the family, friends and loved ones of the person that is deceased," he told national broadcaster ABC.

Photos taken this week showed the night sky glowing orange as the fire near Longwood tore through bushland.

"There were embers falling everywhere. It was terrifying," cattle farmer Scott Purcell told ABC.

Another bushfire near the small town of Walwa crackled with lightning as it radiated enough heat to form a localized thunderstorm.

Hundreds of firefighters from across Australia have been called in to help.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was talking with Canada and the United States for possible extra assistance.

Millions have this week sweltered through a heatwave blanketing much of Australia.

High temperatures and dry winds combined to form some of the most dangerous bushfire conditions since the "Black Summer" blazes.

The Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

Australia's climate has warmed by an average of 1.51C since 1910, researchers have found, fueling increasingly frequent extreme weather patterns over both land and sea.

Australia remains one of the world's largest producers and exporters of gas and coal, two key fossil fuels blamed for global heating.