Latest news with #NMS
Sunday Post
24-06-2025
- Science
- Sunday Post
The museum team getting under the skin of the animal world around us
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up From blue tits to blue whales, the skilled team of preparators at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) have dissected, inspected, stuffed or displayed the lot. While some of their work with the blood and guts of dead animals isn't for the squeamish, they're playing a crucial role in conservation work around the world, as well as creating incredible exhibitions for us to marvel at. The latest display is the much-anticipated return of Monkeys: Our Primate Family, which returns to Edinburgh after a six-country world tour later this month. © Duncan McGlynn All the taxidermied primates featured are part of the NMS collection, which spans from dinosaurs and minerals to insects, birds and mammals. 'While the job definitely has its moments – climbing inside a 20 tonne whale carcass, for example – these are necessary steps to gain a much sought after specimens that can and will be used in our research collections,' explained curatorial preparator Georg Hantke. 'It is often gruesome, but these are valuable opportunities for finding out more.' Whale strandings The NMS collection is vast, with more than 10 million specimens in constant use for cutting edge scientific studies. Georg often gets called out to whale and dolphin strandings along the Scottish coast, when the animal sadly cannot be saved and their carcasses are in need of disposal. This includes an adult female sperm whale, beached on South Uist in 2019. 'Weighing more than 10 tonnes, this specimen was reduced to a skeleton and was taken back to the lab,' he explained. 'It had to lose about 95% of its original weight, and the waste had to be buried to leave the beach clean. 'This was only possible thanks to the team. Even so, the skeleton had to be moved about 800m back to our camp, with its skull alone too big to be moved by truck.' © Duncan McGlynn He also describes responding to an unprecedented mass stranding of almost 100 Cuvier's beaked whales washed up on Scotland's shores in October 2018. 'One whale on Eriskay's stomach contents were still present, giving us the rare opportunity to study its diet and the possible impacts of pollution,' he said. 'Once I'd taken all possible required measurements, I started taking blubber and tissue samples, removed soft parts, disarticulated bones and eventually carried the skeleton back to the van. 'Friendly farmers came with trucks and volunteers tried to help out. 'Was it okay to leave the flesh on the beach to rot, or should the animal remains be taken away? Is it a health hazard or a blessing for local wildlife? 'Luckily, in most cases people were used to seeing stranded whales and regarded them as an opportunity for local wildlife to feast on.' The collection The NMS collection is vast, with more than 10 million specimens in constant use for cutting edge scientific studies. They can come into the collection from a range of different sources, including animals which have died naturally in zoos, wildlife parks or the wild. 'We now collect around 150 whales and dolphins every year,' Georg said. 'For these specimens, volunteers around the country report beaching incidents to us. 'If it will enrich our collections, I'll meet pathologists from the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme and carry out a necropsy (an animal autopsy) on the beach or at a local laboratory or the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh. 'After the necropsy, samples are taken for our Biobank. It houses over 10,000 frozen tissue samples, containing a wealth of information that can be used for fundamental scientific research and supporting conservation management of endangered species.' © Supplied by National Museums Sco Georg first joined the museum as a volunteer and developed a keen interest in preparation, becoming a taxidermy assistant and later a preparator. Georg first joined the museum as a volunteer and developed a keen interest in preparation, becoming a taxidermy assistant and later a preparator. 'You must have respect for any organism and understand why you're about to work on it,' he said. 'We quite often learn more from a dead animal than from a living one. What they've been feeding on, if there are diseases, physiology, parasites, when they give birth, size, variation, ages. Sometimes we even find species new to the UK. 'Our research is varied but has contributed to our understanding of climate change in Scotland and further afield, informs conservation efforts around the world and has helped improve conditions for animals in captivity. 'I love being in the outdoors, collecting, picturing, and studying animals. 'Sometimes I get to travel to zoos or breeding centres in the Netherlands, Sweden, France and many other countries where I have worked on tigers, snow and amur leopards, or primates from every corner of the globe. 'I get to work on killer whales in the UK, fish in Australia, reptiles and amphibians in Mexico and Taiwan. 'You see so many fantastic places, meet incredibly interesting people and, most importantly, you get to work on some of the world's most endangered and rarest species. 'While much of this takes place behind the scenes, visitors will have the chance to see some of this material up close in the new exhibition.' Our Primate Family From huge gorillas to tiny mouse lemurs, Monkeys: Our Primate Family brings together more than 50 species and explores the incredible yet threatened lives of our closest animal relatives and continuing conservation efforts to protect their fragile habitats. First opened at the National Museum of Scotland in 2016 before embarking on an international tour, it returns to Edinburgh for a final time having been seen by over 500,000 visitors. © National Museums Scotland 'It will be good to see some old friends,' said curator Professor Andrew Kitchener. 'Coming up with the storyline for the exhibition, choosing the species and deciding how they should be posed has been an enormous privilege and great fun. 'It's a really interesting job having the privilege of being able to see these animals up close. 'It took a few years, but we were collecting the primates a lot longer than that. Some of them were living in the freezer, as it were, for many years until we were ready to do the exhibition. 'Acquiring the specimens in the first place to some extent is down to luck. 'The beautiful proboscis monkey we have in the exhibition was one of the last individuals in a European zoo that unfortunately died. We were able to bring it back to Edinburgh and show it in this magnificent roaring display.' © National Museums Scotland The exhibition captures primates acting as they would in the wild, showcasing how they've evolved and adapted, their unique methods of movement, and the tools they have developed to obtain food. It also reveals the fascinating ways they communicate and their complex social systems. 'There'll be very familiar species, like gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and baboons, but also some more unusual ones,' Andrew said. 'There's an aye-aye, for example, a very peculiar lemur. When first discovered, it was thought to be a giant squirrel because of its rodent-like teeth. 'It uses its big ears to listen for beetle larvae within rotting trees. Then it can bite a little hole to get to the burrow and use its long finger to hook it out. It's an amazing piece of evolution and adaptation to that particular lifestyle.' Species under threat The final section of the exhibition looks at conservation as well as some of the threats humans pose to primates today, including the climate emergency, conflict, and the bush meat trade. © Phil Wilkinson 'Unfortunately, most primate species are now threatened with extinction,' Andrew said. 'There are some where there's literally just a few tens of individuals left. 'I think people feel empathy with primates because they recognise themselves within them, to some extent, because we're all very similar structurally. 'Even if some of our wrappers are different colours and shapes, a lot of basic behaviours are very alike. 'The exhibition has been very successful in engaging people about what they can do to change things in their lives to make that little bit of difference. If thousands or millions do a that, it adds up to a huge amount.' Monkeys: Our Primate Family is at the National Museum of Scotland from June 28. Kids go free thanks to support from the People's Postcode Lottery and discounts are available for those receiving Universal Credit and other benefits.
The Hindu
22-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Draft regulations on renewable energy: Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission to hold online hearings in July
The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) will hold public hearings in July in online mode on the Draft KSERC (Renewable Energy and Related Matters), 2025. The virtual hearings will be held on four days from July 8 to July 11. The commission headed by T.K. Jose said the draft published on its website on May 30 had already drawn comments from stakeholders. A majority of the respondents wanted the Net Metering System (NMS) to be continued for existing prosumers. The commission observed that the draft regulations contained a provision that existing prosumers billed under the NMS would continue to be billed under it. While the decision to go online with the hearings has drawn criticism from a section, the commission justified it saying that the online mode would guarantee greater stakeholder participation from across the State. Register online The commission has asked stakeholders who wish to attend the hearings to register online on The window for registration will be open till 5 p.m. on July 4. The details are available on the commission's website The new regulations are meant to replace the KSERC (Renewable Energy and Net Metering) Regulations, 2020, whose term expired in 2024-25. The draft, according to the commission, seeks to incorporate emerging trends in renewable energy, 'aligning with the broader objectives of fostering renewable energy development, ensuring grid stability, and promoting sustainable energy practices.' It places emphasis on energy storage systems, and seeks to classify prosumers under different methods of billing and settlement. The draft also introduces concepts such as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) integration in Kerala's rapidly growing renewable energy sector.
The Herald Scotland
20-06-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Crustal jar from the Galloway Hoard to go on show for first time
The Galloway Hoard, which was made up of more than 5kg of gold, silver and other materials, was discovered by a metal detectorist in Balmaghie, near Kirkcudbright, in 2014. Among the artefacts, the rock-crystal jar stood out as it was wrapped in linen, and placed in a leather pouch later revealed to be lined with silk. The pouch was then packed within a larger lidded vessel with two dozen other treasures. After painstaking conservation, the jar was found to bear a Latin inscription, also written in gold which translates as, 'Bishop Hyguald had me made.' The jar is thought to have belonged to a bishop (Image: NMS) When first seen, the object was hidden within its wrappings, but 3D X-ray imaging produced in partnership with the British Museum allowed the object to be observed without damaging it. This produced the first glimpse of the inscription on the base, enabling it to be read and translated. Over a number of months, the object was carefully separated from the textile wrapping, a rare medieval survival itself - which includes Scotland's earliest example of silk. Dr Martin Goldberg from National Museums Scotland said: 'The rock crystal jar is one of the highlight objects from the Galloway Hoard. 'From the beautiful rock crystal itself, originally carved in the form of a classical Corinthian column two thousand years ago, to the incredibly intricate gold decoration added hundreds of years later and including a clear inscription identifying its owner, this one object exemplifies the complex, connected and historic nature of the Galloway Hoard. 'The jar was the subject of international attention when we first revealed the inscription, and it's great to be able to put it on display it for the first time in Kirkcudbright.' The jar will go on show later this year (Image: NMS) Cllr Maureen Johnstone, Chair of the Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing Committee, said: 'We are excited to see this important and unique object in Kirkcudbright. Dumfries and Galloway Council is very proud of the ongoing partnership with National Museums Scotland which has already produced two superb exhibitions at Kirkcudbright Galleries. 'I have no doubt the Rock Crystal Jar will be a fascinating exhibit, I am looking forward to it.' Due to gaps in church records in the 9th century, when the hoard is thought to have been buried, it has not been possible to more precisely identify Hyguald or where exactly he was based, but it is likely that he was a Northumbrian bishop. The inscription was the clearest evidence that some of the material in the hoard may have come from a church or religious community in the early medieval kingdom of Northumbria, which included Dumfries and Galloway, and stretched as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Sheffield. Since this was first read, a further translation of an Old English runic inscription from an arm ring in the Galloway Hoard has been proposed, describing a portion of the hoard as 'the community's wealth'. Another clear Christian association in the hoard is a magnificent Anglo-Saxon pectoral cross inscribed with depictions of the four apostles. The Galloway Hoard was acquired by National Museums Scotland in 2017 with the support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, and the Scottish Government, as well as a major public fundraising campaign. Since then, it has undergone extensive conservation and research at the National Museums Collection Centre as well as having been shown at the National Museum of Scotland, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Kirkcudbright Galleries, where it attracted record-breaking visitor numbers. Further venues for the international tour will be announced in due course, as will plans for the hoard's future display after the tour's conclusion, including both in Edinburgh and in Kirkcudbright, near where it was discovered. The research in the hoard was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which awarded £1 million for the three-year research project Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard, led by National Museums Scotland in partnership with the University of Glasgow. The project has also seen collaboration with experts from across the UK and Ireland, including The British Museum, Oxford University, University of Wales (Trinity St David), St Andrews University, and University College Cork.
Western Telegraph
19-06-2025
- Health
- Western Telegraph
Parents of autistic teenager who died hail ‘milestone' NHS training guidance
A report in 2020 found 18-year-old Oliver McGowan's death four years earlier was 'potentially avoidable'. He died at Southmead Hospital in Bristol in November 2016, after being given the anti-psychotic Olanzapine and contracting neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) – a rare side effect of the drug. An independent review later found that the fit and healthy teenager's death was 'potentially avoidable' and his parents Paula and Tom McGowan said their son died 'as a result of the combined ignorance and arrogance of doctors' who treated him. The learning disability mortality review (LeDeR) into the death concluded there had been a 'general lack of understanding and acknowledgement of Oliver's autism and how Oliver presented himself when in seizure' and that there had been a 'body of written evidence – alongside verbal requests from Oliver and Oliver's family – not to prescribe' Olanzapine. After the Olanzapine was administered, Oliver's temperature rose and he showed signs of NMS. The medication was stopped on October 28 and a CT scan two days later showed Oliver had sustained a serious brain injury. He died on November 11. His parents have campaigned since his death for improvements in the system, and on Thursday the Government published new guidance it said will ensure safer, more personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The teenager, from Emerson's Green, Bristol, had contracted meningitis twice during childhood and lived with epilepsy, learning difficulties and autism as a result. The Government said the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training aims to ensure staff have the right skills in providing care and better understanding of the needs of autistic people and those with learning disabilities. The guidelines for health and care providers to train staff set out the standards expected from care providers to be compliant with the law and help make sure patients are kept safe. Oliver McGowan's death in 2016 was 'potentially avoidable', a review found (PA) Mr and Mrs McGowan said they hope the guidelines will bring 'meaningful change' and have a 'lasting impact'. They said: 'The publication of the code of practice marks a deeply emotional and significant milestone for us and will ensure Oliver's legacy will continue to make a difference by safeguarding people with a learning disability and autistic individuals from the same preventable failings that he tragically endured. 'The code establishes a comprehensive legal framework for the delivery of the training, promoting consistency and a deeper understanding across health and social care services. 'We are profoundly grateful to cross-party politicians for their unwavering support and especially to Baroness Sheila Hollins, whose leadership has been pivotal in advancing this important work. 'Our heartfelt thanks extend to everyone within the NHS and social care sectors, to our expert trainers, and to individuals with a learning disability and/or autism, along with their families and carers. 'This is a true example of what meaningful change looks like, giving a voice to those who are not always seen or heard, creating a lasting impact that will continue to transform lives for the better.' Paying tribute to the McGowans, care minister Stephen Kinnock said they had been behind an 'incredible campaign to improve the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people after the tragic death of their son, Oliver.' He added: 'Through their work, they have shown admirable dedication, commitment and passion – Oliver's memory and legacy lives through them. 'This government recognises the appalling health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability and autistic people. 'Everyone deserves to receive high-quality, empathetic and dignified care but this cannot be achieved if staff do not have the right training. The Oliver McGowan Code of Practice published today will be a boost for anyone with a learning disability or autistic people, their families and loved ones.' The Government said training will be backed by funding as part of the Learning and Development Support Scheme for adult social care this autumn. Tom Cahill, national director for Learning Disability and Autism at NHS England said: 'We know that often the quality of care and support for people with a learning disability and autistic people has not been good enough and we are determined to make this better. 'This code of practice – a result of Paula and Tom McGowan's tireless dedication – will mean all NHS staff have the training and support they need to reduce inequalities and give people with a learning disability or autistic people the care they deserve.'
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Parents of autistic teenager who died hail ‘milestone' NHS training guidance
The parents of an autistic teenager who died after being prescribed medication against his and his parents' wishes have hailed as a 'significant milestone' the publication of guidance they hope will safeguard others. A report in 2020 found 18-year-old Oliver McGowan's death four years earlier was 'potentially avoidable'. He died at Southmead Hospital in Bristol in November 2016, after being given the anti-psychotic Olanzapine and contracting neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) – a rare side effect of the drug. An independent review later found that the fit and healthy teenager's death was 'potentially avoidable' and his parents Paula and Tom McGowan said their son died 'as a result of the combined ignorance and arrogance of doctors' who treated him. The learning disability mortality review (LeDeR) into the death concluded there had been a 'general lack of understanding and acknowledgement of Oliver's autism and how Oliver presented himself when in seizure' and that there had been a 'body of written evidence – alongside verbal requests from Oliver and Oliver's family – not to prescribe' Olanzapine. After the Olanzapine was administered, Oliver's temperature rose and he showed signs of NMS. The medication was stopped on October 28 and a CT scan two days later showed Oliver had sustained a serious brain injury. He died on November 11. His parents have campaigned since his death for improvements in the system, and on Thursday the Government published new guidance it said will ensure safer, more personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The teenager, from Emerson's Green, Bristol, had contracted meningitis twice during childhood and lived with epilepsy, learning difficulties and autism as a result. The Government said the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training aims to ensure staff have the right skills in providing care and better understanding of the needs of autistic people and those with learning disabilities. The guidelines for health and care providers to train staff set out the standards expected from care providers to be compliant with the law and help make sure patients are kept safe. Mr and Mrs McGowan said they hope the guidelines will bring 'meaningful change' and have a 'lasting impact'. They said: 'The publication of the code of practice marks a deeply emotional and significant milestone for us and will ensure Oliver's legacy will continue to make a difference by safeguarding people with a learning disability and autistic individuals from the same preventable failings that he tragically endured. 'The code establishes a comprehensive legal framework for the delivery of the training, promoting consistency and a deeper understanding across health and social care services. 'We are profoundly grateful to cross-party politicians for their unwavering support and especially to Baroness Sheila Hollins, whose leadership has been pivotal in advancing this important work. 'Our heartfelt thanks extend to everyone within the NHS and social care sectors, to our expert trainers, and to individuals with a learning disability and/or autism, along with their families and carers. 'This is a true example of what meaningful change looks like, giving a voice to those who are not always seen or heard, creating a lasting impact that will continue to transform lives for the better.' Paying tribute to the McGowans, care minister Stephen Kinnock said they had been behind an 'incredible campaign to improve the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people after the tragic death of their son, Oliver.' He added: 'Through their work, they have shown admirable dedication, commitment and passion – Oliver's memory and legacy lives through them. 'This government recognises the appalling health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability and autistic people. 'Everyone deserves to receive high-quality, empathetic and dignified care but this cannot be achieved if staff do not have the right training. The Oliver McGowan Code of Practice published today will be a boost for anyone with a learning disability or autistic people, their families and loved ones.' The Government said training will be backed by funding as part of the Learning and Development Support Scheme for adult social care this autumn. Tom Cahill, national director for Learning Disability and Autism at NHS England said: 'We know that often the quality of care and support for people with a learning disability and autistic people has not been good enough and we are determined to make this better. 'This code of practice – a result of Paula and Tom McGowan's tireless dedication – will mean all NHS staff have the training and support they need to reduce inequalities and give people with a learning disability or autistic people the care they deserve.'
