Final spacewalkers of Nasa's 30-year shuttle mission

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Space Shuttle Endeavour astronaut Greg Chamitoff is seen outside the International Space Station in this photo taken by Mike Fincke


159 space walks totalling 1,000 hours to build the station and keep it running

These stunning images capture the final stage of the construction of the International Space Station.

But as they marked the beginning of a new era in space exploration, the spacewalk undertaken by Gregory Chamitoff and Mike Fincke also represented an end - of Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme.

All future spacewalks - including one during the final shuttle voyage this summer - will be performed by full-time space station residents.


The space shuttle Endeavour, seen docked to the International Space Station, will be returning to earth in just a few days as the Nasa space shuttle mission draws to a close


'This space station is the pinnacle of human achievement and international co-operation,' spacewalker Gregory Chamitoff observed before heading back inside.

'Twelve years of building and 15 countries and now it's the Parthenon in the sky and hopefully the doorstep to our future. So congratulations everybody on assembly complete.'

The two astronauts completed construction of the International Space Station with the smooth addition of an extension boom.

Mr Chamitoff said it was fitting for Endeavour to be present for the last spacewalk by a shuttle crew - conducted on the next-to-last flight of the shuttle era - since it was present for the first in December 1998. It was the fourth spacewalk in a week for the Endeavour astronauts, who will head back to Earth in just a few days.

Mr Chamitoff and his spacewalking partner, Mike Fincke, teamed up with robot arm operator Gregory Johnson to accomplish the last construction job.


The space shuttle Endeavour first made the voyage to the International Space Station in 1992


The Russian Soyuz capsule is seen docked to the International Space Station with the earth's horizon and the sun in the background


Mr Fincke is due to pass the US record of 377 days in space. He spent six months living on the space station - twice. This is his first shuttle trip; he previously rode Russian Soyuz rockets into orbit.

'I could not share this moment with a group of better people, including our friends on the ground,' he radioed.

Endeavour and its crew of six will leave the space station late on Sunday night. Landing is set for the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday during a rare touchdown in darkness.



The space shuttle Endeavour is seen docked to the International Space Station


source: dailymail

Tuned in: Hospital takes classical approach to soothe newborns... by playing Mozart through headphones

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Lullaby: Newborn Nela listens to Mozart in Slovakia


A clinic in Slovakia has found a way to comfort newborn babies that are separated from their mothers for treatment - classical music.

Using regular size headphones that appear gigantic on the babies' tiny heads, the maternity ward in Kosice-Saca hospital has them listening to Mozart or Vivaldi.

During a recent visit to the clinic, chief Dr. Slavka Viragova said the music functions as a replacement for a mother's voice and is helping the babies breathe regularly and maintain a proper heart beat.

It seems to have struck a chord with two-day-old Nela, below.


Snooze: Baby Bruno drifts off to Vivaldi


Dr. Slavka Viragová, who launched the music project, claims that Mozart helps the infant to recall the mother when she is not with them.

She said: 'The birth trauma is enormously stressful for the baby. Music therapy helps a baby to gain weight, get rid of stress and handle pain better.'

The babies listen to soothing music 5-6 times a day, from Mozart to natural forest sounds. Nurses also use the method to care for premature babies as it helps to stabilise their breathing.


Radio gaga: Newborn baby listens to music which will help him relax without his mother




Nap time: Staff play classical music to little Nela


source: dailymail

Is it a unicycle? Is it a motorbike? Unveiled: The transforming 'dicycle' that can fit in a lift

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Transformers: The electric-powered Uno III Streetbike - or U3 - can convert itself with the push of a button from a conventional motorbike to unicycle-style machine


Dispatch riders and couriers know the fastest way to weave through heavy traffic is on a motorbike.

But for those jams even two wheels can't navigate, a new solution has been developed.

Just like a Transformer, the Uno III Streetbike - or U3 - can convert itself with the push of a button from a conventional motorbike to unicycle-style machine.


Robots in disguise: The Tron style motorcycle leathers are optional


The electric-powered machine balances on two parallel rear wheels, the front retracting between them to allow it to manoeuvre through spaces so tight it can be driven into a building - and even fit in the lift.

Then, when it's time to zoom off into the sunset, the front wheel slides forward as the rear pair move back, giving the vehicle the stability to pick up speeds of up to 30mph.

It can travel between 30 to 35 miles on a single three to four hour charge.


Through the evil eye: This diagram shows the mechanism which allows the U3's transformation


Now the remarkable vehicle is being produced by his own motor design company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, called BPG Motors.

Small enough to fit in indoors, but powerful enough to tackle the road, the makers hope the cutting edge $7,500 (£4,600) ride will revolutionise the morning commute.


BPG Motors: Transforming UNO Video


source: dailymail

The Apes trailer which takes humanised monkey effects to a whole new level

By GRAHAM SMITH

You'll believe an ape can talk: A five-second preview from the forthcoming Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes took the Internet by storm yesterday. Today a full trailer was unveiled to awestruck science-fiction fans


The original 1960s film was a milestone in prosthetic make-up effects.

Now the latest instalment in the Planet Of The Apes franchise is taking another giant step forward in depicting 'realism' in fantasy cinema.

A five-second preview clip of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes posted online yesterday, left awestruck science-fiction fans clamouring for more. Today, the full trailer was unveiled.


Spellbinding: Filmmakers have made liberal use of CGI technology to create what looks to be the most realistic depiction yet of a humanised ape


Pop culture icon: Roddy McDowall as Cornelius in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, the third film in the franchise


Yesterday's tantalisingly brief segment shows an actor - who could be Andy Serkis as Caesar, the part made famous by Roddy McDowall in the original films - in his ape 'make-up'.

This close-up comes at the end of the full trailer for the new prequel, which shows how apes in the present day came to be supremely intelligent beings who take over Earth.


The new prequel, which shows how apes in the present day came to be supremely intelligent beings who take over Earth, stars James Franco (right) as a scientist conducting experiments on the animals


Filmmakers have made liberal use of CGI technology to create what looks to be the most realistic depiction yet of a humanised ape.

By using motion-capture technology - which records and analyses information from markers stuck onto the actor's body, and infrared lights which illuminate him - the special effects team is able to track motion and force.

This 'MoCap' technique has been used in many recent blockbusters, including the Lord Of The Rings trilogy for translating Serkis' movements into Gollum.


Calm before the storm: WETA Digital, an Oscar-winning visual effects company who worked on Avatar, is responsible for the new film's effects


Even the CGI effects in Tim Burton's 2001 remake Planet Of The Apes look dated when placed alongside the new effect.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow and Brian Cox and is scheduled for an August release in the U.S.


Rising star: The film also features Freida Pinto (pictured) and veteran acrtors John Lithgow and Brian Cox


Apes escape: What looks to be the start of a simian rampage begins


Too close for comfort? An ape watches over Pinto and Franco asleep in bed


Summer blockbuster? The new film is scheduled for an August release in the U.S.


Big budget: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes promises to be an action-packed, special effects-driven extravaganza


Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) - Trailer (HD)



source: dailymail

Video of babies 'talking' takes the Internet by storm and is viewed TEN MILLION times on YouTube

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Online hit: Twins Sam and Ren McEntee, aged just 17 months, enjoy a lively exchange in which they laugh, raise their hands emphatically and nod their heads


A home video of two babies engaged in an animated conversation in a kitchen has become an Internet phenomenon.

The two-minute clip shows twin brothers Sam and Ren McEntee, aged just 17 months and barely able to stand, enjoying a lively exchange in which they laugh, raise their hands emphatically and nod their heads.

So far the footage has attracted a staggering 9.4million views on YouTube.

This is probably because the boys' conversation is so adult in its mannerisms and they appear to genuinely understand what each other is saying.

Transfixed viewers even made suggestions as to what the brothers might be talking about - before comments on the video were disabled.

Suggestions had included one brother telling the other 'That diaper is so 2010', before receiving a response of 'If you're so smart, where is your other sock, Einstein?'

The babies' mother Abby has a blog, twinmamarama.com, on which she writes about her experiences as a twin sister raising twin boys.


Good times: The home video has been watched almost ten million times


Mrs McEntee wrote on Wednesday: 'We've had a fascinating time seeing language blooming around here. Now the experts weigh in on this kind of twin language.

'I remember my own folks talking about my sister and I sending out verbal signals (essentially squeaks and shouts) in an attempt to pinpoint the location of our twin sister around the house!'

Child development specialists have even chimed in to say how natural and healthy it is for babies to develop language skills as they mature.


An early 15 minutes? The brothers arrive to make in Times Square, New York, to make an appearance on Good Morning America this week


Professor Karen Thorpe, of the Queensland University of Technology’s School of Psychology and Counselling, told ABC News: 'Babies are wired for communication from the start and we see here a fine example of how sophisticated and beautiful communication in even young children can be.'

The broadcaster also reported that 40 per cent of twins develop what appears to be their own language.

However, they are mimicking sounds and mannerisms that they have heard or seen, rather than actually understanding what each other is saying.


twin baby boys have a conversation - OFFICIAL VIDEO



source: dailymail

And they're off! World's first robot marathon gets off to a shaky start (and the winner crosses the line after a leisurely 55 hours)

By GAVIN ALLEN

Victory: Robovie PC won the world's first full-length marathon for two-legged robots in Osaka, western Japan


As athletics events go it was hardly the most graceful start to a race ever witnessed.

In what you might call a staggered start the 'runners' more closely resembled drunks stumbling out of a pub at closing time than the next generation of Usain Bolts or Linford Christies.

While top athletes' bodies are often compared to highly-tuned machines, the world's first ever robot marathon somewhat turned that idea on its head.



On your marks: The robo runners await starters orders


As the starting gun went one contestant stood at the start line rooted to the stop, while another tottered forward a couple of steps before promptly falling on his face.

The event, which started two days ago, is still under way in Osaka, Western Japan, but it seems our top athletes shouldn't fear being replaced by more efficient robots just yet.

The fastest human marathon ever completed took just two hours, three minutes and 59 seconds, a record set by Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebrselassie on September 28, 2008. The average time for completing a marathon is 4 hours 30 minutes for men and 5 hours 10 minutes for women.


Are we there yet? Five robots tried to complete 422 laps around a 100-meter indoor racetrack to cover 26 miles


But the winner of the race, Robovie PC, took a slightly more leisurely time of 54 hours, 57 minutes and 50.26 seconds.

In total five two-legged robot entrants went under starters orders on Thursday but some are not expected to complete the requisite 26 miles until Sunday, when their human counterparts run in the popular Tokyo marathon.


Radio controlled: Osaka Institute of Technology student Kazumasa Shibata steers his team's robot while, right, Team Vstone's Takuro Imagawa adjusts eventual winner Robovie PC during the race


Whizz kids: Two of the teams comprised students of Osaka Institute of Technology


The 12in tall, battery-charged robots are competing 422 laps around an indoor 100-metre oval race track and the start was a true sporting spectacle.

On their marks, the robots bent their metal knees, stretched steel arms and gave the general impression that they were ready to take running to a whole new level.

But when the gun sounded you could have been forgiven for thinking that the robots had been programmed to believe they were taking part in a famous Monty Python sketch - the Silly Olympiad, which included a race for people with no sense of direction.


In full flight: The robots tackled the distance at a slow and steady pace


Salute: Robovie PC waves to the crowd after his moment of triumph


Not all the robo-runners were able to 'run' in the right direction from the starting line, some didn't move at all while one paused and then fell straight on its metal face, although it impressively stood up again courtesy of a clearly much-needed self-righting mechanism.

Two entrants from the Osaka University of Engineering's teams got off to a shaky start and it was the Vstone droids that performed best, providing the eventual winner.

Vstone chief executive Nobuo Yamato hopes the event will become international in the future.





source: dailymail

Perfect for those tight parking spaces: A £10k miniature replica E-Type Jaguar and Porsche Speedster... with top speeds of 46mph

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Miniature replicas of a Jaguar E-Type and a Porsche Speedster, with top speeds of 46 miles per hour. The tiny cars, which are half the size of the original, took over 450 hours to make and come with a 110cc petrol engine or an electric motor


These £10,000 miniature replicas of a Jaguar E-Type and a Porsche Speedster are perfect for squeezing into the tightest of parking spaces - and can still reach pretty impressive top speeds of 46 miles per hour.

The tiny cars, which are half the size of the original, took over 450 hours to make and come with a 110cc petrol engine or an electric motor.

Engineering firm Pocket Classics also makes 'tribute' versions of the Mercedes 300SL, Willys Jeep and Bugatti Type-35.

A full size Bugatti would cost up to £1.5 million and the others could set you back £200,000 each but these handmade miniatures are priced between £6,995 and £9,995.

Their makers claim they are designed to be the 'best toy in the world' and, at 7ft 6ins long and 3ft wide, they are just big enough for an adult to drive.

The replicas are fully serviceable and most come with working lights, horn, indicators, adjustable seats and disc brakes.


The handmade miniature cars by engineering firm Pocket Classics - some of which can be driven by children as young as four - are priced between £6,995 pounds and £9,995


The petrol models deliver a staggering 250 miles per gallon and have a semi-automatic gear box with three gears, plus reverse.

The electric motors, which have a top speed of 14mph, will do up to two hours on a single one-hour charge.

They all have eight- or ten-inch tyres and weigh up to 200kg.
Some can be driven by children as young as four and others by children as young as six.


The car makers claim their vehicles are designed to be the 'best toy in the world' and, at 7ft 6ins long and 3ft wide, they are just big enough for an adult to drive


Ben Hedley, of Pocket Classics, said: 'Our cars offer luxury motoring at a fraction of the price and size of the original models.

'We like to think of them as the best toy in the world for grown-ups - they are designed to be big enough for an adult to drive.

'When you get an adult behind the wheel they immediately revert to being a big kid - their eyes light up, they have a huge smile on their face and you can see they are having a lot of fun.

'The vehicles handle very well and are great to race

'We are not associated with any of the original manufacturers so can't say they are exact replicas but if you put them side by side they are a very good match.
'They are a tribute to the original.

'Many of our customers already own the real thing and want a smaller version for their children to drive or to put on display in their home.

'They often add their own manufacturer's badge too.'

The models are not road legal but can be driven on private property.
Cars can be built to a buyer's exact specification with any combination of interior and exterior colour.

source: dailymail

Blind dog can 'see' again thanks to a set of extra-long plastic whiskers

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Innovative: Blind Dolly wears plastic 'whiskers' on her collar so she can feel her way around without walking into objects


A blind dog can 'see' again after being fitted with a set of extra whiskers.

Dolly, a Staffordshire bull terrier, lost her sight after developing cataracts brought on by diabetes.

She was left completely blind and would regularly walk into things.

That was until her vet Joanne McCelland pioneered an innovative idea to fit extra long cable ties to the ten-year-old dog’s collar.

The plastic ties help Dolly feel her way around without walking into objects, in much the same way that her natural whiskers do.

Owner Brian Chadwick, from Arnold, Nottinghamshire, claimed the plastic whiskers have helped Dolly recapture her life.

He said: 'We could deal with her diabetes, but when she went blind I felt really helpless.

'The effect of the whiskers was almost immediate. Within a few hours she had learnt how to feel her way around the house with her new plastic whiskers.'

Dolly has lived with Mr Chadwick since she was a puppy.

Over time she has become less dependent on the collar - although she still wears it when she is out and about.


Proud: Owner Brian Chadwick claims the plastic whiskers have helped Dolly recapture her life


Mr Chadwick added: 'The special collar has become quite a talking point in our local park.

'I still can’t believe something so simple has helped Dolly so much.'

Vet Ms McCelland has praised the progress Dolly has made.

She said: 'She wore them a lot at first but doesn’t wear them quite as much now. She has developed a better understanding of the layout of her home.'

Dolly was treated at the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Pet Aid Hospital in Nottingham where her treatment has turned her into a celebrity.

PDSA spokeswoman Emily Malcolm said: 'Dolly has become an icon for the PDSA and has featured in our magazine and leaflets.'

But Mr Chadwick is just relieved that his companion has retained all her personality thanks to the treatment.

He said: 'Dolly is a wonderful and loyal companion and rarely leaves my side.
'Even though she’s blind, she lives life to the full and is as fun-loving and as lively as ever.'


source: dailymail

Dogs have feelings too: How your pooch can be divided into an optimist or pessimist

By DAVID DERBYSHIRE


Half full or half empty? Scientific research has discovered that some dogs have a pessimistic attitude, while others are optimists


If your dog gets upset when you walk out of the door, it's probably a pessimist.

For scientists have shown that for every pooch who believes its water bowl is half full, another is convinced that the bowl is half empty.

While the discovery that dogs have all-too-human personalities won't surprise pet lovers, the researchers say it sheds light on why some animals are happy to be left on their own, while others suffer from separation anxiety.

Dogs who are naturally optimistic are convinced their owners will return, while the pessimists assume they have been abandoned, they say.

Professor Mike Mendl, head of the animal welfare and behaviour research group at Bristol University who led the study, said: 'We all have a tendency to think that our pets and other animals experience emotions similar to our own, but we have no way of knowing directly because emotions are essentially private.

'However, we can use findings from human psychology research to develop new ways of measuring animal emotion.

'We know that people's emotional states affect their judgements and that happy people are more likely to judge an ambiguous situation positively.

'What our study has shown is that this applies similarly to dogs – that a 'glass-half-full' dog is less likely to be anxious when left alone than one with a more 'pessimistic' nature.'

The findings emerged from a study into the personalities of 24 dogs at two animal shelters in the UK.

Each of the dogs was first assessed to see whether it suffered from separation anxiety - behaviour such as barking, jumping on furniture or scratching at the door when it was left alone.

Each dog was then trained to expect that when a bowl was placed at one specific location in a room it would contain food, but when it was placed in another it would be empty.

Once the dogs had learned that only some bowls contained a meal, the researchers placed bowls in 'neutral' locations in the room.

Dogs that bounded up to the bowls expecting food were classified as optimists. But those who didn't bother approaching the bowls were deemed to be pessimists.

Animals who suffered from separation anxiety were far more likely to be pessimists, the researchers report in the journal Current Biology.

'Around half of dogs in the UK may at some point perform separation-related behaviours - toileting, barking and destroying objects around the home - when they're apart from their owners,' said Prof Mendl.

'Our study suggests that dogs showing these types of behaviour also appear to make more pessimistic judgements generally.'

Dr Samantha Gaines, from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said: 'Many dogs are relinquished each year because they show separation-related behaviour.

'Some owners think that dogs showing anxious behaviour in response to separation are fine, and do not seek treatment for their pets.

'This research suggests that at least some of these dogs may have underlying negative emotional states, and owners are encouraged to seek treatment to enhance the welfare of their dogs and minimise the need to relinquish their pet.

'Some dogs may also be more prone to develop these behaviours, and should be re-homed with appropriate owners'


source :dailymail

My quest to find all 59 British butterflies (and how I made my girlfriend take flight)

By PATRICK BARKHAM

Abundant: There are 59 types of British butterfly including this Swallowtail variety


Small brown jobs. That’s what my mum called them. The common plodders of the butterfly world that would scarcely divert your gaze as they bimbled past: Meadow Browns or Hedge Browns or Wall Browns. Mostly brown, and fairly dull.

This particular brown job was different: the Brown Argus. When I was eight years old, on our annual summer holiday at Holme Dunes Nature Reserve in North Norfolk, this small brown job twitched some obsessive passionate cell in my brain that has shaped my life ever since.

My Dad and I had set out one hot afternoon on our first butterfly mission. He’d had a hunch that this would be the perfect habitat for the rarely seen Brown Argus.

After several false alarms, we suddenly saw a silver shape flying over a thorny patch of brambles before dropping onto a tiny flower of thyme. There, in the sunshine, it opened its wings. A deep chocolate colour spread from the orange studs bordering the wings right into the soft brown hairs of its delicate body.

Brilliant brown, with one little black dot in the middle of each upper wing. Here, unmistakably, was a Brown Argus. It was thrilling.

That was the first of our annual expeditions, and over the years my father and I travelled the country attempting to see all 58 species of British butterfly (it’s 59 since the discovery of Réal’s Wood White, in Northern Ireland in 2001).

But we ran out of summers, or steam, and my personal tally got stuck at 54. I had never seen the Duke of Burgundy, the Chequered Skipper, the Glanville Fritillary, the Mountain Ringlet or Réal’s Wood White.

But last year, despite having a full-time job and a girlfriend, I had decided I must see all 59 in the course of one summer.

As the countryside has shrunk, species have become confined to isolated fragments of land. The Swallowtail, our largest and most spectacular butterfly, lives in glorious isolation in the Norfolk Broads, and the Duke of Burgundy and the Wood White are on the brink of extinction. One of my species could slip away before I saw them.

The year started well thanks to Matthew Oates, the National Trust’s butterfly expert. He took me to see ‘His Grace’, as he puts it, the Duke of Burgundy, which Oates believed was now Britain’s most vulnerable butterfly.

In 2000, there were thought to be 200 colonies; by 2009, this number had shrunk to just 80. And all except five of these were tiny, and therefore fragile, so that one or two bad summers could destroy them altogether.

Seeing the Duke of Burgundy in a cowslip-filled combe in the Cotswolds on a perfect April morning, I felt a buzz of pleasure I had not felt since a child.

The next on my never-seen list was the Glanville Fritillary, a spring butterfly found only on the Isle of Wight. It’s the only British butterfly named after a real person.

Eleanor Glanville was a wealthy widow who had the misfortune to marry a cheating second husband called Richard. When he took a mistress, Eleanor took refuge in entomology. She became the first person to describe the early life stages of the High Brown Fritillary, winning the respect of fellow (all-male) entomologists.

On her death, her husband contested her decision to leave her estate in trust for her children, rather than giving it to him, arguing — successfully — that her passion for butterflies was a sign of insanity.

The last weekend of May brought a heatwave, so at 6am on the Sunday, promising my girlfriend Lisa a day by the seaside, we set off. I was anxious — I had little knowledge of the fritillary’s habits. Was it an early riser, did it fly in the wind, could it could be seen at rest?

Arriving on the island, I, the alleged expert, decided we should search along the clifftop. But just ten paces from the car park, Lisa asked: ‘Is that one?’
Thinking how unlikely this would be, I followed her pointed finger and there, on the scrubby grass between the footpath and the old military road, was a faded, windblown Glanville Fritillary — one of the most geographically restricted, rare butterflies in Britain, next to hundreds of oblivious day-trippers.

It was so simple and lovely, and a bit of an anticlimax. While its top side was a characteristic fritillary chequerboard of golden brown and black, its beauty lay in its striking and unique underside of white and orange bands decorated with black and brown dots and borders.

After all my anxiety, it turned out I could have ticked off the Glanville Fritillary simply by going sunbathing.

Where once there were swarms of butterflies in our skies — Victorian collectors would rave about clouds of them in the New Forest or South Downs — those days have changed. Certainly, I had never seen a swarm of butterflies.


Butterfly varieties: The left of each images shows the upper wings, the right the underside, visible when the wings are closed. Scroll down for more...


But one sultry day in late June, in a small clearing in the heart of Blean Woods in Kent, a swarm began to build. I learned about it when I got a call from Nigel Bourn, one of the Butterfly Conservation charity’s scientists.

He whispered that he was witnessing ‘the event of the century’ — a mass gathering of another rare butterfly, called the Heath Fritillary.

I drove as fast as I could to Blean Woods, and two miles into the forest there was a small clearing where, at first, I saw only one or two.

Then I saw another pair, then dozens, then scores, then hundreds. It was a dizzying, disorientating spectacle: like a music festival for insects.

There were at least 1,300 of them. Half the entire British population of one of our rarest butterflies was in this quarter of a hectare. Every blade of grass, every bramble leaf and flower was taken.

Two-thirds of this swarm were estimated to be male. The females looked tired and harassed, subject to constant gropings and probings. One female had a broken wing from fending off so many advances.



Witnessing such an extraordinary gathering of rare butterflies was a stunning event, but it did not fill me with rapture. I found it stressful to watch their urge to mate and lay eggs in such a competitive environment. I found one fresh-looking couple dead together, as if they had undertaken a gruesome pact to escape this world.

After this experience, I continued with my summer mission, ticking off butterflies on schedule. One butterfly, in particular, held me in its power.

Although, technically, I had seen a Purple Emperor years before, it was a two-second glance, and I would do anything to see one again.

Which is why I found myself in a glade of the ancient royal hunting forest of Rockingham, looking at five tables laid for breakfast, a different dollop of food on each of 20 paper plates.

On one, two king prawns sweated in the sunshine. On another sprawled dozens of tiny pickled mudfish. There were crushed grapes, a rotten banana, honey water, horse manure, fox scat and plenty of servings of stinking shrimp: shrimp curry, sautéed shrimp fry, and shrimp paste.

This elegantly presented but utterly rancid repast, organised by Matthew Oates, was for the Purple Emperor.

No other butterfly in Britain can compete with the charisma of His Imperial Majesty. The Purple Emperor has bewitched butterfly lovers for centuries. It is a muscular, swooping, soaring, gliding black beauty.

Despite its size and power, it is rarely seen because it lives in the tops of trees, haughtily refusing to descend from its kingdom to feed, like an ordinary butterfly, on mere flowers.

But it turns out that Purple Emperors have a taste for the exotic, and enjoy nothing more than dipping their proboscis into shrimpy Far Eastern dishes — which explained the fetid feast.

After a few minutes’ waiting, a Purple Emperor swooped high overhead and sailed back into the oak and ash. I could not believe how easy it had been to see one.
A second male flew in, lower this time, and looped around the broad crown of a squat sallow bush. Others soon followed; lightning forays and lordly retreats.

They were, explained Matthew, searching for a mate. ‘They behave like testosterone-laden young men let out for an evening to go clubbing,’ he told me. ‘If they flush a girl out, all hell breaks loose.

‘They are looking for freshly emerged, virgin females. Female virginity doesn’t last too long in the Purple Emperor world.’


One roared down low and confronted me, dancing around me. Its wings made an audible clicking as it batted around me. It was my first real encounter with an Emperor. And, like every object of unrequited love, it treated the lovelorn with something like contempt.

Over the next couple of days, I would come to realise that it wasn’t just the Emperor who would treat my passion with disdain. Butterflies are traditionally symbols of freedom and happiness, sunshine and summer days; tokens of romance, not heartache. But could a butterfly stand for love and loss?

I had my answer sooner than I thought. After getting drunk on Purple Emperors, I drove north to the Lake District, hunting the butterfly that was the most difficult of all 59 species to see.

The Mountain Ringlet is very dark and very small. It is a smudge of an insect which inhabits mountainsides and boggy gullies in the harsh climate of Scotland and parts of the Lake District. People often spend weeks looking, yet never find one.

I woke up uneasy. It was PST (pre-sighting tension), and it welled up strongly when I was on my own, at the mercy of the weather, in a place where I had never seen this species before.

There was something else, too. Lisa had seemed distant when I departed for this latest two-week stretch away. Perhaps I needed to spend more time with her? She’d gone away that weekend with friends.

When I arrived in the Lake District, I found one very flat text message in my inbox, in reply to my two enthusiastic ones. She was tired, she was going to bed. She did not call for a chat.



The next morning was grey, and I drove impatiently up Honister Pass. The isolation suited my mood. I walked onto Fleetwith saddle, where there was said to be a Mountain Ringlet colony.

Grass and rocks; bleak and cold. I phoned Lisa. She was on a train home, exhausted, and did not want to talk. She didn’t want to have this conversation now, she said. The signal disappeared.

I sat on Grey Knotts and looked out blankly over a sheltered boggy spot between two crags for another hour. There was no sign of the Mountain Ringlet. I did not really care any more.


Then the sun poked out from behind a barrage of grey cloud. Was that another bee I could see? I was hallucinating butterflies now. It was tiny and brown. Much smaller than I imagined. It had to be. Was it? I hurtled down the slope.

Silky brown and busying around very close to the tufty ground, with a curious crab-like flight, sidling left and then right, tacking against the breeze, was a Mountain Ringlet. And there was another. Their wings were faded, more beige than brown, and frayed at the edges.

I had, on my own, on the first day of looking, found the Mountain Ringlet — the final one of the species I had never seen before.

I knew that my relationship with Lisa was over, but I could take heart from my modest achievement. Butterflies, said the French naturalist Marcel Roland, give us ‘solace for the pain of living’.

Although I saw all 59 British butterflies that summer (plus a rare visitor, the Queen of Spain Fritillary), from now on, for me, the Mountain Ringlet would always be my break-up butterfly.

Adapted from The Butterfly Isles by Patrick Barkham, published by Granta on October 14 at £20. © Patrick Barkham 2010. To order a copy at £18 (p&p free), call 0845 155 0720.


source: dailymail