A new lower-cost method for creating high-tech prosthetics aims to make the devices much more accessible to amputees around the world – especially children. New York-based prosthetics company Unlimited Tomorrow unveiled its amazing 3D-printed prosthetic arm at CES this week. The arm is equipped with muscle sensors and an artificially intelligent control system, which work … Read more
Amazing drone footage has revealed both the interior and exterior of Manchester Airport’s brand new Terminal 2 pier. The 700ft building has more than 300 panes of glass, 1,400 seats and 11 gates and air bridges, and is the first completed phase of a £1billion transformation programme at the airport. The fly-through-footage was released to coincide … Read more
There comes a time in every parent’s life when their child will turn to them and ask the one loaded question that makes them want to reach for the whisky, even if it’s 11am. No, not ‘Where do babies come from?’ – far more fraught than that. In 2019, the most ticklish question of all … Read more
Hotels make big profits on Fridays and Saturdays, when their rates shoot up by around 30 per cent (or even more). Book on a Sunday, usually the quietest night of the week, or go for a midweek break, and you can save a bundle. And check out any seasonal deals, which may be hidden away … Read more
An Inspector Calls… The Farmhouse in Hitchin has a ‘happy combo’ of offerings, including cosy rooms and a wall of wine The Farmhouse at Redcoats is a combo of hotel, pub, restaurant and party venue Stay in room 42 in one of the barns if given a choice, advises the Inspector He was a fan … Read more
With temperatures in the mid-20s and a lively cafe culture, Seville is brilliant to visit now, although it will be busy (with pricey rooms) over Easter and during Feria de Abril festivities a fortnight later. Yet Andalusia’s capital thrives on its buzz — and its flamboyance. Flamenco dancers perform in the streets near the gothic … Read more
Britain at its best: Walking with Wordsworth in the Wye and Usk valleys Gliffaes is an ‘ultra-comfy’ country house hotel in the Usk Valley, Wales The artist and cleric Rev William Gilpin once lauded the qualities of the river Wye Llangoed Hall, above Hay-on-Wye, is being ‘driven to yet greater heights’ By Clive Aslet For … Read more
Oregon’s annual UFO festival is just the place to channel your inner green man UFO Fest, in McMinnville, Oregon, will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in May In 1950, the small town was the location of an alleged UFO sighting by a farmer The highlight of the wacky festival is a parade where people dress … Read more
The turtles have been disloyal. That’s what Keilu, our water sports supremo, tells us mournfully on our first morning. Normally, you can just snorkel out to them, but after a few days of rough seas they headed off and haven’t returned. Keilu seems genuinely upset by their desertion. But his inability to produce aquatic reptiles … Read more
Wherever your travels lead in southeast Sicily, you’re never far from 1693. The earthquake of January that year destroyed more than 70 cities, killing some 60,000 people —including two-thirds of the population of Catania. Which makes the Baroque cities, built with such nerve and verve following the quake, so awe-inspiring — both from an architectural … Read more
Don’t starve in the Algarve! Baker Brothers share their recipe for a fab time sampling Portuguese wares Loule market has stalls filled with fresh produce and is buzzing on Saturdays Dive into the fish market in Quarteira for clams, prawns, sea bass and dourada Gigi’s has good seafood and its opera-singing owner uses a sabre … Read more
One of my favourite Gerard Manley Hopkins lines is from his poem The Windhover: ‘My heart in hiding stirred for a bird.’ Has your heart ever stirred for a bird? Have you ever, even for a fleeting second, looked at a bird and thought how wonderful it is? How wonderful life is? How wonderful the … Read more
You may have had your fill of the sights of Paris but still feel drawn to the French capital. One way to discover something new is to visit easily accessible places in the countryside just outside the city that most people don’t know about. I have lived in Paris since 1991 and still delight in … Read more