Travel expert’s ‘best hack’ to get £12.95 breakfast buffet at Stansted Airport

Travel

Getting to the airport with enough time to grab some breakfast, and even a celebratory drink, is often a must for many travellers. But as everyone knows, airport prices can be extortionate.Still, many of us see this as the official start of our holidays, and a ritual that needs doing. But one woman has discovered a place at London’s Stansted Airport where you can get a breakfast buffet for just £12.95 before you jet off. According to Jack’s Flight Club, the average price of a full English at Stansted Airport is £14.08 – so not only is this cheaper but you’ll get loads more for your money.Explaining how, Em, who documents her budget travel adventures on TikTok, said she had found the “best hack” for those arriving at the airport in the morning. Instead of heading straight into the terminal to get your breakfast in “one of the overpriced places past security”, Em said to walk out of departures, and turn right.Then you want to “follow the signs around to building to the Hampton [by Hilton] Hotel,” which is only a five minute walk from the terminal building, according to the online content creator. Em continued: “When you get there, you can pay for entry into the buffet. It cost £12.95 per person, which is about the same price as a standard full English breakfast at Wetherspoons.”But you get unlimited food and drinks. There’s loads of choice. They have the usual hot food, cold meat and cheeses, bread, cereal, and a waffle maker with toppings.”Em explained that the breakfast buffet is open from 4am to 10am on weekdays, or 4am to 11am on weekends. “When you’re done make sure you grab a hot drink to go for your five minute walk back to the terminal to check in,” Em recommended.The budget travel expert added that it’s “such good value for money”, and she would be doing it before all her morning flights, as it’s the “perfect start to your holiday”.Fellow travel lovers couldn’t wait to try out the hack themselves, with one person saying: “This is actually the best tip ever!! thank you.” Another wrote: “Am going next week to stansted. Thank you for sharing this. Will be paying a visit we have a 8am flight.” And a third added: “This is a great hack actually.”According to the Hampton by Hilton website, a free breakfast is included if you are staying at the hotel, which costs from £103 per night. Otherwise, it costs £12.95 per person.The hotel is located 200 metres from Stansted Airport’s main terminal, and is within easy walking distance of the bus and train station.

Foreign Office travel advice for Canary Islands including Tenerife, Lanzarote and La Palma

Travel

Those jetting off to the Canary Islands for some long awaited winter sun are advised to check the UK Foreign Office travel advice before you pack your suitcase.British tourists are urged to stay informed through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) website, which provides the latest “safety and security” guidance as the Christmas season fast approaches.It is warning that there is a high threat of terrorist attack globally affecting UK interests and British nationals.The FCDO constantly reviews the threat of international terrorism and where they can offer information and advice about the likelihood of an attack taking place.This includes potential targets, details of groups or individuals that are posing the threat and steps being taken to counter the threat.The FCDO may also provide details of previous terrorist activity.Canary Islands travel advice The FCDO has removed information about severe weather and flooding in their update after an amber weather warning for rain was issued for the island of La Palma last week.At the time, further yellow warnings for rain were issued for El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria. No warnings were issued for Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.Those travelling to the Canary Islands are advised to research you destination before arriving and ensure you have appropriate travel insurance.Insurance should cover your itinerary, planned activities and expenses in an emergency.Demonstrations, political gatherings or marches can take place with little or no warning, particularly in cities.If this happens whilst you are abroad, Brits are advised to gollow the advice of police and local authorities.While most demonstrations are peaceful, there is a risk of unrest or violence. If you’re near areas where demonstrations are taking place, be aware of what is happening around you and move away if there are signs of disorder.The Foreign Office advises people to be alert to the risk of street crime. Thieves, who often work in teams, may use distraction techniques.Make sure your accommodation has adequate security. Keep all doors and windows locked. If you are concerned about the security of your accommodation, speak to your travel operator or the property owner.Do not carry all your valuables in one place and take care of your passports, money and personal belongings.The Foreign Office highlighted that highway pirates target foreign-registered and hire cars, especially those towing caravans. They may flag visitors down, claiming there is something wrong with your car or that you have damaged theirs.Thieves posing as police officers may ask to see your wallet, claiming they need to see it for identification. Genuine police officers will ask to see ID but will not ask for wallets or purses. All police officers, including those in plain clothes, carry official ID.Those travelling to Spain or the Canary Islands through Gibraltar or France are advised to check the travel advice for the relevant countries before setting off.

K-drama, K-pop fuel tourism boom across South Korea

Travel

In South Korea’s hinterlands lies a perfect replica of 1900s Seoul: Welcome to Sunshine Land, the latest K-drama theme park to cash in on booming K-culture tourism.

Fans of K-pop mega group BTS have long flocked to the South to see sites associated with the boy band, from the dorms where they slept as trainees to recent music video shoot locations.

But as the popularity of South Korean drama has soared overseas – it is the most-viewed non-English content on Netflix, the platform’s data shows – more and more tourists are planning trips around their favorite shows.

The idea that foreign tourists would pay good money and drive hundreds of miles out of the capital Seoul to see a K-drama set seemed “crazy” to tour guide Sophy Yoon – until she saw one of her guests break down in tears at Sunshine Land.

“At that moment, it hit me: For me, it was just a studio, but for them, it was something much more,” she said.

Preserved from the set of the popular 2018 historical series “Mr Sunshine,” the location in Nonsan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) from Seoul, is replete with painstaking replicas of everything from a turn-of-the-century tram to South Korea’s most famous Buddhist bell.

“It’s like when we go to the Spanish steps in Rome where Audrey Hepburn had ice cream,” Yoon said, referring to the 1953 classic movie “Roman Holiday.”

For South Korea’s growing number of K-drama tourists, “every door, every wall has a meaning from a drama that impacted their lives”.

“I get a lot more requests for specific ‘K-drama tours’ now,” she said.

Felt right

The rise of South Korea as a global cultural powerhouse “has contributed to the appeal of Korean tourism,” said Kwak Jae-yeon, the Hallyu content team director at the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).

South Korea welcomed 1.4 million tourists in September, up 33% year-on-year and the highest since the pandemic, with more than a third saying they had decided to come “after being exposed to Korean Wave content”, according to a 2023 KTO poll.

In Seoul’s central Jongno district, tourists like Sookariyapa Kakij are typical. Wearing a hanbok, a traditional Korean dress, the 40-year-old had traveled from Thailand specifically to see where her favorite dramas were filmed.

“I want to find locations where ‘Itaewon Class’ was shot,” she told Agence France-Presse (AFP), referring to the popular 2020 drama, filmed largely on location in its namesake district of Seoul.

Jennifer Zelinski told AFP she had never left the United States before, but after she discovered K-drama – through the 2019 series “Crash Landing on You” – while stuck at home during the pandemic, she decided to visit South Korea.

“I binged the whole show in a week. I barely slept and went through two whole boxes of tissues,” she said.

This “snowballed” into her watching more and more K-drama, Korean variety shows and listening to K-pop, she said, until finally she “felt like I really wanted to see it in person.”

“My family and friends were shocked when I said I was traveling to Korea and on my own,” said Zelinski, but for her “it just felt right.”

Beyond Seoul

The travel industry is racing to catch up: one South Korean tour company on the travel platform Klook said interest in its BTS day tour has “skyrocketed” recently and they were “completely booked until next February.”

“We are planning to add additional tours for other K-pop idol groups, including Seventeen and NCT 127,” they said.

But most of this new type of tourism is concentrated in Seoul, Jeong Ji-youn, a Kyungpook National University professor, told AFP.

Tourism in rural areas has tended to focus on more traditional Korean experiences, which is not interesting to younger travelers eager to explore the land of K-pop and K-drama.

“There is a need to develop more tourism resources related to contemporary culture that allow people to experience hallyu outside of Seoul,” she said.

The port city of Pohang is better known for shipbuilding and steel plants than tourism, but Emma Brown, 30, from Scotland, traveled more than 8,800 kilometers to see it because of “When the Camellia Blooms”.

The 2019 romance series “changed my life,” she told AFP, adding that she felt she “had to feel the drama in person.”

“I just couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit Pohang when I was already in South Korea,” she added.

World’s oldest lizard fossil stuns scientists after being unearthed in BRISTOL with remarkable detail still intact

Science and Health

AN ANCIENT lizard dating back 205million years has been confirmed to be the “world’s oldest” in a fresh study. The fossilised reptile, which was unearthed in a quarry near Bristol, UK, has been preserved in remarkable detail. Named Cryptovaranoides microlanius, the lizard dates back to a time when reptiles dominated the land, and molluscs ruled the seaCredit: SWNSIt’s teeth are still in tact after all that time. Named Cryptovaranoides microlanius, the lizard dates back to a time when reptiles dominated the land, and molluscs ruled the sea.It was the end of the Triassic period, and the beginning of the Jurassic era, also known as the age of dinosaurs.However, the tiny skeleton has been the source of much debate. READ MORE ON ARCHAEOLOGYScientists have gone back and forth over the identity of the specimen since the first study on the fossil was published in 2022. Dr David Whiteside, lead author of the original study that came out in Science Advances, has addressed the criticism in a follow-up published in Royal Society Open Science. He confirmed “that the little Bristol reptile is indeed the world’s oldest modern-type lizard”.The lizard has not only been declared the oldest known lizard, but has pushed back the emergence of these animals by roughly 30million years.Most read in Science“We were therefore surprised, perhaps even shocked, that in 2023 another team of academics suggested that Cryptovaranoides was not a lizard or even a lizard relative, but in fact an archosauromorph, more closely related to crocodilians and dinosaurs,” co-author Professor Michael Benton said in a statement. Watch as incredible new drone vid shows world’s longest dinosaur tracks from long-necked sauropod 150 MILLION years agoThe Bristol team returned to the original specimen, putting the tiny skeleton through another round of X-ray and CT scans. The results revealed that the skull, jaws, teeth, and limb bones showed Cryptovaranoides to be a lizard, not an archosauropmorph. “The result of all this had to be tested by a phylogenetic analysis,” added Whiteside. “This is where we code hundreds of anatomical features in Cryptovaranoides and other modern and fossil lizards, as well as various archosauromorphs. “We ran the analysis time after time, and it gave our original result, that the little Bristol reptile is indeed the world’s oldest modern-type lizard.”The results revealed that the skull, jaws, teeth, and limb bones showed Cryptovaranoides to be a lizard, not an archosauropmorphCredit: David Whiteside

Banbury man helps British scientists develop new treatment for asthma attacks

Science and Health

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565Visit Shots! nowThe first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years has been developed by British scientists – and Banbury man is among those who trialled it.Experts believe the injection is more effective than the current method of steroid tablets – reducing the need for further treatment by 30 per cent, according to a new study.Researchers say their findings, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, could be “game-changing” for millions of people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) around the world.And Geoffrey Pointing, aged 77, from Banbury, was one of the study participants.Geoffrey Pointing, from Banbury, was one of the study participants.He said: “Honestly, when you’re having a flare up, it’s very difficult to tell anybody how you feel – you can hardly breathe.”Anything that takes that away and gives you back a normal life is what you want.”But on the injections, it’s fantastic. I didn’t get any side effects like I used to with the steroid tablets.”I used to never sleep well the first night of taking steroids, but the first day on the study, I could sleep that first night, and I was able to carry on with my life without problems.”Asthma attacks and COPD flare-ups – also known as exacerbations – can be deadly.Results from the clinical trial study, led by scientists from King’s College London and sponsored by the University of Oxford, show a drug already available can be re-purposed in emergency settings to reduce the need for further treatment.The trial, conducted with support from drug firm AstraZeneca UK, was conducted at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.Lead investigator Professor Mona Bafadhel, of King’s College, London, said: “This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD.”The researchers say the jab can be potentially administered safely at home, in the GP practice, or in hospital.Dr Samantha Walker, director of research and Innovation, at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “It’s great news for people with lung conditions that a potential alternative to giving steroid tablets has been found to treat asthma attacks and COPD exacerbations.”Continue Reading

Scientists Develop Faster, More Sustainable Way to Produce Promising New COF Catalysts

Science and Health

Listen with

Speechify

Register for free to listen to this article

Thank you. Listen to this article using the player above. ✖

Want to listen to this article for FREE?

Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.

Scientists have discovered a faster, more sustainable method for making metal-encapsulated covalent organic frameworks (COFs), materials that have the potential to play a crucial role in catalysis, energy storage, and chemical sensing. Their new one-step, room-temperature process, developed through a collaborative effort between Clark Atlanta University and the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab), eliminates the need for toxic solvents and significantly reduces the production time from several days to just one hour.Metal-encapsulated COFs are widely studied for their use as catalysts, materials that speed up chemical reactions without being consumed in the process. COFs are like highly organized, tiny Lego structures arranged in a lattice with an abundance of ordered pores or openings. When metals are anchored within these pores to form metal-encapsulated COFs, the material can accelerate reactions and improve overall efficiency.Want more breaking news?Subscribe to Technology Networks’ daily newsletter, delivering breaking science news straight to your inbox every day.Subscribe for FREEMetal-encapsulated COFs are traditionally made using a multi-step process over several days in which COFs are made first, and the metal species are incorporated afterwards. This method also requires hazardous solvents, high temperatures, and air-free conditions. In contrast, the new method developed by researchers from Clark Atlanta University and the Molecular Foundry is a one-step process that occurs in a single pot – like a weeknight one-pot pasta recipe – in one hour at room temperature without the need for toxic solvents or air-free conditions. Their results were recently published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering.“We were able to expedite the COF synthesis while also making it as sustainable as possible,” explained Normanda Brown, graduate student at Clark Atlanta University and first author of the study. Improving the efficiency and sustainability of this process may enable the broader use of these unique materials.This new, rapid way of making metal-encapsulated COFs is made possible by mechanochemistry, the process by which mechanical force is used to induce chemical reactions to occur. “Mechanochemistry simply initiates a chemical reaction through mechanical force,” explained Brown. “Whether that be grinding, shearing, or milling.” In this particular method, a ball mill – an instrument in which materials are crushed using stainless steel balls – is used to combine the ingredients needed to create metal-encapsulated COFs.To confirm that the correct metal-encapsulated COFs were made and to evaluate their properties, the Clark Atlanta University team worked with Molecular Foundry scientists Jeff Urban and Yi Liu. “The Foundry has developed robust tools and expertise towards structured porous materials to support the characterization needs of our users,” said Liu. Through both on-site visits and remote communication, Molecular Foundry staff worked with the Clark Atlanta researchers to understand the required characterization methods for their metal-encapsulated COFs. The COFs were evaluated to see how porous and crystalline they are and how much metal was added to the structure. Additionally, powerful transmission electron microscopes were used to visualize the COF structure and the distribution of metal throughout.“The Molecular Foundry is like family,” said Xinle Li, assistant professor at Clark Atlanta University and principal investigator of the study. Li applied to the User Program at the Molecular Foundry to overcome the challenges of starting his independent career during the pandemic, gaining access to expert collaborators, and subsequently has been able to take advantage of tools and resources that are not available at a smaller university. “Clark Atlanta University was established by the consolidation of Atlanta University, the nation’s first graduate school for African Americans, and Clark College, the nation’s first four-year liberal arts college to serve a primarily African-American student population,” explained Li. “This past fall, there was an enrollment of more than 4000 students, making the university the largest private institution among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Georgia.”As a proof of concept, the metal-encapsulated COF material developed through the team’s new, one-step approach was successfully used to catalyze the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction, a widely used method in organic chemistry for forming carbon-carbon bonds. Looking to the future, this one-pot mechanochemical synthesis method can be applied to different metals and different COFs for a range of applications across catalysis, energy storage, gas storage, chemical sensing, and adsorption and separation.Reference: Brown N, Zhang Q, Alsudairy Z, et al. Mechanochemical in situ encapsulation of palladium in covalent organic frameworks. ACS Sustainable Chem Eng. 2024;12(36):13535-13543. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c04003This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.

Sshhh review segment 1 and 2: Anthology film on lust is only lackluster

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Sshhh plotThe first two segments – Kamathupaal and Reload – explore the topic of sex being a taboo and lust being looked down upon as a shame, respectively. Kamathupaal is about a science teacher who is asked to take a sex education class for her teenage students. Embarrassed by this, she has to overcome her fear, given how her students lack knowledge in the area. Reload is about two former lovers, who reconnect and in a moment of passion, share a kiss. As they talk about their respective sex lives that don’t seem to satisfy them, the night is all they have in their hands.Sshhh reviewSimilar to Lust Stories in Hindi, the Tamil version, Sshh adopts an anthology format to talk about the forbidden fruit. But just like how the title attempts to highlight the silencing nature of the topic, Sshhh too becomes a mere scratch on the surface, with an underwhelming portrayal of lust and desire.
Kamathupaal is about Tarangani, a science teacher who comes from an orthodox background, and in a sudden decision by the management is asked to teach sex education to her class. The segment still rides on the concept of the teenagers believing that a kiss can make someone pregnant, which renders the narrative obsolete, at a time when the age group has enough means to be exposed in today’s social media culture and much more. The segment feels extremely forced, and caricature-like and expects the audience to buy its rudimentary explanation of the importance of sex education, when the world has already accepted the fact that knowledge is important for teenagers. Instead of highlighting how the accepted fact is still not brought to the fore completely, a repeated storytelling that capitalises on done-to-death narratives. The makers sculpting Aishwarya Dutta’s Tarangani as a stereotypical woman from a conservative background, hesitant to talk about the tabooed three-lettered-word adds no interest.Reload is about Meera (Ineya) and Arjun (Srikanth), two former lovers who meet one evening, which rekindles their passion for each other. Adding to this, as they rue about the disinteresting sex lives each of them have with their respective partners, the ex-lovers only tend to get attracted to each other more. Again, the segment attempts to be sensualising, but the attempt remains to be a mere attempt and we never buy their chemistry. While the duo keeps spitting hard pills about their respective partners who are unable to feed into their lust and desire, the audiences are forced to root for these lovers to get back together for one night. The setting, the way the characters are asked to enact, and the possible twist that comes at the end are all predictable and sub-par. Srikanth and Ineya too seem to missing a chemistry to go along with the lines of passion they are made to read out.
Sshhh verdictWith more episodes to go, and giving the benefit of doubt, one can expect the second set of films to be more engrossing. Having said that, both Reload and Kamathupaal come at a time when the understanding on sex not being a taboo is at least orally accepted, which is yet to be taken to a practical step. Without delving into nuances, and having flatlined character arcs and concepts, the first half of Sshhh wants to be as hush about the taboo topic as the title.

AD FEATURE: Let the Science and Industry Museum brighten up your winter with its festive science calendar

Science and Health

This winter the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester is transforming into a hub of discovery, entertainment and education, offering a range of activities perfect for families and anyone with a curiosity for science and technology. From free interactive exhibitions to ticketed gaming sessions and a fascinating lecture by Dr. Chris van Tulleken, there is…

Long Covid Appears To Be Driven By ‘Long Infection’. Here’s What Science Says

Science and Health

Researchers have proposedseveral biological mechanismstoexplainlong COVID. Around 5–10% of people with COVID infections go on to experience long COVID, with symptoms lasting three months or more. Researchers have proposed several biological mechanisms to explain long COVID. However, in a perspective article published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia, we argue that much, if not all, long COVID appears to be driven by…

Snow and Rain Disrupt Holiday Travel as Storm Moves Across the Northeast

Travel

More than a foot of snow could accumulate in northern New England, hampering drivers in a record-breaking year for Thanksgiving travel.A snowstorm in the Northeast dumped more than six inches of snow in some areas by Thursday afternoon, while several feet of lake-effect snow were expected in areas along the Great Lakes over the weekend, making Thanksgiving travel dangerous for drivers.The storm was moving north from northeastern Pennsylvania, where some areas north of Interstate 80 had gotten up to four inches of snow by Thursday afternoon.Snow was also falling in northern New England, and over a foot could pile up in inland Maine and northern New Hampshire, according to the National Weather Service.“The storm is moving along at a fairly progressive pace,” said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist at the service’s Storm Prediction Center. “That’s one of the positives, at least to limit some of the snowfall over portions of northern New England.”Up to six inches of snow were expected across the Mid-Atlantic region.How Much Snow To Expect