According to this article a programme to save a rare species of duck is proving rather successful. The Madagascan Pochard is so rare that it is thought that there are only 20 of them left in the wild. All of the remaining population are thought to live on just a single volcanic lake. Eggs were collected from the wild population and were hatched in captivity. In all twenty four ducklings were hatched successfully. These ducklings will later be released back into the wild and it is hoped that the captive breeding programme will double the number of pochards within the next three years.

A campaign has been launched by The British Beer and Pub Association and the Society of Independent Brewers to cut beer tax in an attempt to save the British pub. Currently around 50 pubs a week are closing as trading conditions become increasingly difficult. The campaign called “I’m backing the pub” calls on the government to cut the tax on beer reversing the increase which was imposed last January and scrapping plans to increase it in the next budget. With 80% of people in a recent survey saying the pub is an important part of their community it seems to me its time to do something to save those pubs that still remain.

According to this article doing puzzles such as Sudoku can help you burn calories. The claim has been made by mental agility experts cannyminds.com who say that doing puzzles and quizzes burns as average of 90 calories an hour. It is based upon the fact that our brains need 0.1 calories every minute to survive. When we do something more challenging such as a quiz we can burn more calories as many as 1.5 a minute. The bad news, however, is that whilst the brain does use up energy it does not use fat to do so so you might burn calories, but are not going to get any thinner.

According to this article many energy saving lighting bulbs have a design flaw which means they start to become dimmer over time. Whilst it is advertised that the bulbs can last as long as five or six years, it appears that many will need replacing long before that. A good quality bulb is likely to lose about 20 per cent of its light over its estimated 8,000 hour lifespan with cheaper alternatives emitting just 60 per cent as much light as a new bulb. The problem is with CFL bulbs which give off light when a current is passed through a gas filled tube. The gas glows with ultraviolet radiation which lights up a coating of white phosphor on the inside of the tube, over time, however, this coating starts to lose its ability to light up. Other low energy bulbs such as halogen lights and LED bulbs are more reliable and more likely to stay bright throughout their life. With conventional bulbs being withdrawn from sale it appears we will soon have little alternative but to purchase the slightly dimmer alternative.

If this article is correct then it might be harder than usual to get your Christmas tree this year. According to the article the poor exchange rate is making is less profitable for foreign producers to export to Britain. This could mean that many popular varieties of trees are likely to unavailable this year and could also mean that the price of other trees will be considerably higher. Denmark would usually export around a million non-drop Nordmann fir trees to the UK but this year are only expected to supply 300,000. It appears it is simply more profitable to sell the trees to other European countries and to the former Soviet Union. Many British farmers will also be exporting their trees to the continent where they can earn 30 per cent than usual. Personally I was going to cut a branch from one of my conifers this year to use as a tree. After a house move we need to save some money and it seems the cheapest option.

This article suggests that some supermarkets are misleading customers with bargains that are not all they seem. The main focus of the article is a half price deal being offered by Tesco on Bernard Matthews turkeys. The turkeys are being offered at £20 which Tesco claims is half price, however, the turkeys have only been on sale for the full price of £40 for a short period of time. Tesco began selling the turkeys on the 3rd of September and made the price cut on the 1st of October allowing the birds to be at half price in the run up to Christmas. The chains rivals, however, say that the product should retail at just £20, the price they are all charging. It seems then, this particular deal is not such a great one. I wonder how many other offers are real reductions.

According to this article drinking a bottle of wine or six beers every day can cut the risk of heart disease in men by half. Researchers have found that the protective effects of a daily drink are not just limited to those who drink a moderate amount but also extend to those who consume higher levels of alcohol. Research was carried out on 15,000 men and 26,000 women aged from 29 to 69 years. They were studied over a period of 10 years. The results showed those who drank a little such as a glass of wine or a bottle of beer a day had a 35% lower risk of a heart attack than those who didn’t drink. Moderate drinkers, those who consumed two or three alcohol drinks a day had a 54% lower risk. Those classed as heavy drinkers, however, had a 50% lower risk of a heart attack making them half as likely to suffer an attack as the teetotallers.

According to this article case of superbugs that are resistant to all antibiotics are increasing across Britain and Europe. Intensive care doctors have reported a rising number of patients with infections that are resistant to all available antibiotics meaning there are no drugs to treat them. It is thought that part of the problem is the overuse of antibiotics for minor diseases. A survey carried out among intensive care doctors found that half of them had treated a patient with an infection that was totally or partially resistant to antibiotics within the last six months so it appears the problem is getting worse.

According to this article a bottle of champagne from Sainsbury’s that costs just £16 has performed better than some brands which cost twice as much. The champagne beat Moet and Chandon and 11 other champagnes to come second in a blind tasting. A total of 14 champagnes were tested, nine from major supermarket chains and three from big champagne houses. The Sainsbury’s Blanc de Noirs champagne was only beaten by Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label which received 90 points whilst the Sainsbury’s champagne received 89. At half the price though you can’t help thinking you might be better off going to Sainsbury's. The cheapest champagne tested was Aldi’s Veuve Monsiny which costs £9.99. It managed 10th place with a score of 84 points.

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