Coat of Arms The Cornmill Intelligencer Coat of Arms
Edition No. 25 · Thursday, March 19, 2026

← Past Editions · Edition No. 25 · Thursday, March 19, 2026

Today’s outlook: Gloriously windswept with an iridescent green sheen and a 100% chance of spectacular plumage

From Floor to Belly-Up: How Rescue Pitbull Pumpkin Won the Internet in 24 Hours
Dogs & Animals

From Floor to Belly-Up: How Rescue Pitbull Pumpkin Won the Internet in 24 Hours

A viral Reddit post showing a shelter dog's overnight transformation is melting hearts — and reminding adopters that love works fast.

In the first photo, Pumpkin sits hunched on the floor beside a food bowl and bed, ears back, eyes wary — every inch the uncertain shelter dog navigating an unfamiliar world. In the second, taken just 24 hours later, she's sprawled across the sofa on her back, paws skyward, belly exposed in total surrender to comfort.

Read full story →
Fifty Years of Silence: Alexandria Still Searching for Mary Duncan
News Scotland

Fifty Years of Silence: Alexandria Still Searching for Mary Duncan

Police Scotland renew appeal for information as the 50th anniversary of Mary Duncan's disappearance falls today.

It has been half a century since Mary Duncan walked out of her home in Alexandria and never came back. Fifty years of silence. Fifty years without answers for a family that has never stopped looking.

Mary was just 17 when she left her home in Bonhill on March 19, 1976, telling her family she was going to meet a friend. She left behind her baby daughter, Laura, and was never seen again.

Today, on the 50th anniversary of her disappearance, Police Scotland confirmed the search continues. A spokeswoman said: "Extensive enquiries have been carried out over the years in an attempt to establish any information regarding Mary Duncan's whereabouts, however no trace of her has been found. Police Scotland regularly reviews all missing person enquiries and any new information will be assessed."

Read full story →
Volunteers Unite to Tackle 1.5 Tonnes of Clyde Litter — And They Need Your Help
News Clydebank

Volunteers Unite to Tackle 1.5 Tonnes of Clyde Litter — And They Need Your Help

The Big Clyde Clean Up 2026 is rallying communities on both sides of the river for six weeks of shoreline rescue, with events across West Dunbartonshire running until late April.

Last year, volunteers pulled 1.5 tonnes of rubbish from the banks of the Clyde. Traffic cones, tyres, a child's slide, a toilet seat, even a framed picture — 311 bags of debris hauled from the shoreline by 274 people across 24 events. This year, organisers want to go bigger.

The Big Clyde Clean Up 2026, founded by Inverclyde environmental group Green Tangerine, launched on Saturday 14 March and runs through to 24 April. For the first time, the campaign has expanded beyond Inverclyde to bring in volunteer groups from West Dunbartonshire, with clean-ups planned along the Clyde corridor from Dumbarton to Old Kilpatrick and Bowling.

"This is our third Big Clyde Clean Up and we are hoping it will be even bigger this year," said organiser Annette Thain of Green Tangerine. "We want as many people as possible to come and join us."

Read full story →
Two Granddaughters, One Marathon, and a £5,000 Tribute to Grandad
News Clydebank

Two Granddaughters, One Marathon, and a £5,000 Tribute to Grandad

Clydebank sisters Stephanie Borland and Megan Keown ran the Florence Marathon in memory of their grandfather, raising thousands for the hospice that cared for him.

When their grandfather passed away in May 2025, Stephanie Borland and Megan Keown knew they wanted to do something meaningful to honour him. Something that would hurt a little — the way grief does — but that would turn that pain into purpose.

They chose a marathon. Not just any marathon, but the Florence Marathon, 26.2 miles through one of the most beautiful cities in the world. On 30 November 2025, the pair laced up and ran every step in his memory.

Their goal was to raise money for St Margaret of Scotland Hospice in Clydebank — the place that had looked after their grandad in his final days. Between two JustGiving pages, generous donations from friends, family and strangers pushed the total past £5,000.

Read full story →
Daniel Sloss Brings Brand-New Show Bitter to the SEC Armadillo for Glasgow International Comedy Festival
What's On Glasgow

Daniel Sloss Brings Brand-New Show Bitter to the SEC Armadillo for Glasgow International Comedy Festival

Scotland's international comedy superstar returns home for a prestige GICF gig — and tickets are flying.

One of Scotland's biggest comedy exports is heading to Glasgow for a hometown headline show, and you'd be wise to grab tickets while you still can. Daniel Sloss plays the SEC Armadillo on Saturday 28 March as part of the 2026 Glasgow International Comedy Festival, bringing his brand-new show Bitter to one of the city's most iconic stages.

It's a homecoming gig for a comedian who has spent the best part of two decades conquering stages around the world. Sloss, who grew up in Fife, has toured across 55 countries, sold out nine off-Broadway seasons in New York, and broken box office records on multiple continents. Bitter is his 13th solo show — a staggering output for a performer still only 35 years old.

If you've spent any time on Netflix, there's a good chance you've encountered Sloss's work. His 2018 specials DARK and Jigsaw became a worldwide phenomenon. Jigsaw, in particular, earned a remarkable reputation — Sloss has claimed it caused over 120,000 breakups and more than 300 divorces, as viewers reconsidered their relationships after watching his razor-sharp take on love and settling. The New York Times called him "dirty, sweet and clever," which feels about right.

Read full story →
What Would Real AGI Look Like? Google DeepMind Wants to Find Out
AI News

What Would Real AGI Look Like? Google DeepMind Wants to Find Out

The AI lab has published a cognitive science framework to measure progress toward artificial general intelligence — and launched a hackathon inviting the world to help build the tests.

Everyone talks about artificial general intelligence. Tech leaders promise it's around the corner. Sceptics say it's a fantasy. But here's the awkward truth at the heart of the debate: nobody can agree on what AGI actually means, let alone how to measure it.

Google DeepMind is trying to change that. The research lab this week published a paper, "Measuring Progress Toward AGI: A Cognitive Taxonomy," laying out a science-backed framework for evaluating how close AI systems are to genuine general intelligence. Alongside it, DeepMind has launched a $200,000 Kaggle hackathon inviting researchers worldwide to help build the benchmarks that would put the framework into practice.

Rather than treating intelligence as a single score on a leaderboard, the DeepMind team drew on decades of research from psychology, neuroscience and cognitive science to break general intelligence into ten distinct cognitive abilities.

Read full story →
Disney on Ice Glides Into Glasgow — Here's Everything You Need to Know
What's On Glasgow

Disney on Ice Glides Into Glasgow — Here's Everything You Need to Know

"Into the Magic" brings Frozen, Moana, Coco and more to the OVO Hydro, with nine shows still to catch this weekend.

Mickey, Minnie and some of Disney's most beloved characters have hit the ice in Glasgow. Disney on Ice presents "Into the Magic" is at the OVO Hydro now, running through Sunday 22 March — making it a perfect school-holiday treat for families across the central belt.

"Into the Magic" is a world-class ice-skating spectacular hosted by Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The two-hour show (with interval) features scenes from five much-loved Disney films: Moana and Maui set off on their ocean adventure; Miguel from Coco follows the music in his heart; Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from Tangled chase their dreams; Anna and Elsa bring the house down with Frozen favourites like Let It Go and Do You Want to Build a Snowman?; and Belle explores the Beast's enchanted castle.

Expect singalongs, dazzling costumes and plenty of jaw-dropping skating.

Read full story →
How Do You Make an Audience Feel 200mph? The Oscar-Winning Sound of F1
Audio Film & TV

How Do You Make an Audience Feel 200mph? The Oscar-Winning Sound of F1

The five-strong team behind the Best Sound win at the 98th Academy Awards reveals how matchbook-sized recorders, Lewis Hamilton's exacting ear, and a refusal to fake it brought Formula 1's roar to cinema.

When the envelope opened at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, five sound professionals — Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, and Juan Peralta — took the stage for the kind of work audiences feel in their chests before they ever think about it consciously. Their film, Joseph Kosinski's F1, had just won Best Sound. The applause was loud. Their work had been louder.

The challenge facing the Skywalker Sound team was deceptively simple: make a cinema audience feel like they're strapped inside a Formula 1 car at 200 miles per hour. No racing film had ever attempted it with this level of access to the real sport, and the team knew broadcast audio wouldn't cut it. "F1 has done a great job getting mics on the cars for TV," Nelson told Variety. "But it's still broadcast quality. For cinema, we wanted to build on that."

Authenticity started with production sound mixer Gareth John, who found himself navigating the obsessive weight restrictions of real Formula 1 teams. When Nelson showed Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff a Zoom F3 recorder weighing about half a pound, Wolff shut it down immediately. "Absolutely not. You're never putting that on our car," Nelson recalled in a Skywalker Sound interview.

Read full story →
FabFilter Pro-C 3 Arrives with Full Dolby Atmos Support — And Immersive Mixing Just Got a Whole Lot More Accessible
Audio Film & TV

FabFilter Pro-C 3 Arrives with Full Dolby Atmos Support — And Immersive Mixing Just Got a Whole Lot More Accessible

The industry's most popular third-party compressor now speaks surround natively, signalling that spatial audio mixing is no longer reserved for elite facilities.

When the compressor that lives on practically every mix bus in professional audio adds native Dolby Atmos support as a standard feature — not an add-on, not a premium tier — it tells you something about where the industry is headed. FabFilter's Pro-C 3, released in January 2026, does exactly that, and the implications ripple far beyond its impressive new feature list.

Pro-C has long been the dynamics plugin of choice for music producers, mix engineers, and post-production professionals alike. Its predecessor, Pro-C 2, held that position for a full decade. Version 3 doesn't just iterate — it leaps into immersive audio with support for all major surround formats up to Dolby Atmos 9.1.6.

What makes this significant isn't the technical achievement alone. It's the friction FabFilter has removed. Routing adapts automatically to whatever channel format your session is running — no manual configuration, no head-scratching. Stereo linking in surround mode operates independently for each speaker pair (L/R, Ls/Rs, and so on), while the output meter displays every channel with clear labelling. For engineers dipping their toes into Atmos mixing for the first time, that kind of seamless integration is transformative.

Read full story →
From Ashes to Fully Booked: Glasgow Barber Reopens Just 10 Days After Union Street Fire
News Glasgow

From Ashes to Fully Booked: Glasgow Barber Reopens Just 10 Days After Union Street Fire

When fire destroyed his barbershop, Graeme Milne didn't wait for handouts — he grabbed a set of keys, rallied his mates, and got back to work.

By 9am on March 9, less than 24 hours after the devastating Union Street fire gutted his barbershop, Graeme Milne already had the keys to a new unit. Nine days later, Future Studios reopened on Hope Street — and was fully booked within hours.

"More than anything I just wanted to put a positive spin on it," Milne told GlasgowLive. "My main focus was getting this place back up and running."

The blaze that tore through the landmark Victorian building on Union Corner on March 8 destroyed dozens of businesses, from nail salons to tattoo studios. Future Studios, which Milne had operated for five years, sat close to the vape shop where the fire started. It was one of the first to go.

Read full story →
Gabby's Dollhouse Live! Comes to the SEC Armadillo — Here's Everything You Need to Know
What's On Glasgow

Gabby's Dollhouse Live! Comes to the SEC Armadillo — Here's Everything You Need to Know

The hit Netflix preschool show lands in Glasgow on 27 March for a rainbow-bright live spectacular — and it's the opening night of the entire UK tour.

If your wee ones can't get enough of Gabby, Pandy Paws and the Gabby Cats, get ready: Gabby's Dollhouse Live! arrives at the SEC Armadillo on Friday 27 March, bringing the beloved DreamWorks Animation series to life on stage for the very first time in Scotland.

Better still, Glasgow is the opening night of the brand-new UK tour — so Scottish families get first dibs on the magic.

This isn't a screen-on-stage job. Gabby's Dollhouse Live! is a fully staged theatrical production featuring original puppetry, dynamic sets and a cast of singer-actor-puppeteers performing a brand-new story.

Read full story →
Glasgow Gears Up for Joyful Eid al-Fitr Celebrations as Ramadan Draws to a Close
What's On Glasgow

Glasgow Gears Up for Joyful Eid al-Fitr Celebrations as Ramadan Draws to a Close

Communities across the city prepare for prayers, feasts, and festivities as the holy month ends and Eid begins on Friday.

Tonight, the buzz of anticipation will sweep through Glasgow's Muslim communities as Chand Raat — the Night of the Moon — ushers in Eid al-Fitr. After a month of fasting, reflection, and togetherness during Ramadan, thousands of Glaswegians are preparing to greet one another with a heartfelt "Eid Mubarak" when celebrations begin on Friday morning.

Glasgow Central Mosque confirmed that Eid al-Fitr falls on Friday, March 20, following the moon-sighting process that determines the end of Ramadan each year. The UAE moon-sighting committee met on Wednesday and, after the Shawwal crescent was not sighted, declared Eid for Thursday in only a handful of countries — with Glasgow and the rest of the UK marking the occasion a day later.

The celebrations are already underway. Today, a Chand Raat event at Foodasia Hypermart on Centre Street runs from 2pm until 11pm, offering clothes, jewellery, food, desserts, and mehndi as families make their final preparations for the big day. Chand Raat, which translates as "Night of the Moon," is a beloved tradition across South Asian communities, where markets stay open late and women have their hands decorated with intricate henna designs.

Read full story →
Glasgow Girl Brie Sprints Back Into the Classroom After Life-Saving Heart Transplant
News Glasgow

Glasgow Girl Brie Sprints Back Into the Classroom After Life-Saving Heart Transplant

Six-year-old Brie McCann returned to school this week — nearly ten months after her last day — to a surprise welcome-back party and a lot of happy tears.

When Brie McCann walked through the doors of her East Dunbartonshire primary school on Monday morning, she didn't hesitate. She sprinted right into the classroom.

"The joy on her wee face overshadowed everything," said mum Jodie, fighting back happy tears. "She sprinted right into that classroom — we couldn't be more proud. She's so loved."

It was the moment Jodie, dad Gary, and little brother Oran had been dreaming about for the best part of a year. The six-year-old from Robroyston hadn't set foot in school since last summer, spending months in hospital as her family faced what they called their "worst year ever."

Read full story →
Glasgow Spin-Out Entourage AI Raises $5m to Build the World's First Consumer Aging Clock
News Glasgow

Glasgow Spin-Out Entourage AI Raises $5m to Build the World's First Consumer Aging Clock

A University of Glasgow company is using protein science to tell you how fast your body is really aging — and it's doing it from a brand new lab in Glasgow's West of Scotland Science Park.

Your smartwatch can count your steps. Your DNA kit can tell you where your ancestors came from. But neither can answer the question that actually matters: how fast are you aging on the inside?

A Glasgow company thinks it has the answer — and it's found in your proteins.

Entourage AI, the latest spin-out from the University of Glasgow, has launched with a $5 million (£3.75m) pre-seed investment to build what it calls the world's first consumer Proteomic Aging Clock. The company has simultaneously opened a new Research and Operations Centre at Glasgow's West of Scotland Science Park and begun taking preorders for its first products in the UK and US.

Read full story →
Glasgow Spin-Out Clyde Hydrogen Cracks a Key Puzzle in the Clean Energy Transition
News Glasgow

Glasgow Spin-Out Clyde Hydrogen Cracks a Key Puzzle in the Clean Energy Transition

A University of Glasgow chemistry team has built a working prototype that produces green hydrogen more safely and cheaply — and stores it without the risks of high-pressure gas.

Hydrogen has long been billed as the fuel of the future. The problem? Making it cleanly has been expensive, complicated, and — thanks to the need to store a highly flammable gas under enormous pressure — more than a little dangerous.

A team working out of the University of Glasgow's School of Chemistry believes it has found a better way. And it just proved it works.

Clyde Hydrogen Systems, a spin-out founded on research by Professor Mark Symes, has successfully built and operated its first fully integrated prototype system — a milestone that transforms a promising lab discovery into something investors, energy companies, and policymakers can see and touch.

Read full story →
Derelict Govan Pub Transformed Into Wheelchair-Accessible Homes
News Glasgow

Derelict Govan Pub Transformed Into Wheelchair-Accessible Homes

A long-empty sandstone pub on Govan Road has been carefully converted into two modern flats designed for independent, accessible living.

For years, the former Vital Spark pub at 1250 Govan Road sat empty — a boarded-up reminder of better days in a neighbourhood that deserved better. Now, the building has been reborn as two contemporary homes, one fully wheelchair-adapted, giving new meaning to the idea of a local that serves its community.

The conversion is a partnership between Linthouse Housing Association, construction specialist CCG (Scotland), and architecture practice HOOS Development. Together, they've turned a derelict pub inside a pre-1919 sandstone tenement into high-quality, affordable housing designed around the needs of disabled residents.

The details matter here. The fully wheelchair-adapted flat includes a rise-and-fall kitchen — a worktop that adjusts in height at the touch of a button, making cooking possible for someone in a wheelchair. The second flat has been designed for future adaptation, with step-free access, wet rooms, wider doorways, and layouts built around mobility needs.

Read full story →
Wild Highland Retreat Offers People With Dementia a Chance to Reconnect With Nature
News Scotland

Wild Highland Retreat Offers People With Dementia a Chance to Reconnect With Nature

A groundbreaking pilot at a 10,000-acre rewilding estate in the Highlands is giving people living with dementia — and their carers — free three-day residential retreats filled with nature walks, Gaelic storytelling and bannock making.

Imagine stepping out of your front door and into 10,000 acres of ancient Caledonian forest. The air smells of pine and damp earth. A guided walk through the trees is followed by bannock making, Gaelic storytelling around a table, and music that fills a room with warmth. For a small group of people living with dementia in the Scottish Highlands, that experience is now a reality — and it's completely free.

A new pilot project at Dundreggan Rewilding Centre in Glenmoriston is bringing together two of Scotland's most distinctive strengths: its wild natural heritage and its tradition of compassionate, person-centred care. Co-designed by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) and conservation charity Trees for Life, the residential retreats give people living with dementia and their care partners three days immersed in nature at one of the country's flagship rewilding estates.

The programme is the first of its kind. Participants stay for two nights in purpose-built, accessible accommodation at Dundreggan, with meals, activities and support all provided at no cost. The schedule has been carefully tailored: nature walks through restored forest, craft sessions, board games, music, and storytelling drawn from the area's rich Gaelic heritage.

Read full story →
The Yoghurt Ladies Keeping Japan's Elderly Connected — One Doorbell at a Time
Community

The Yoghurt Ladies Keeping Japan's Elderly Connected — One Doorbell at a Time

In the world's fastest-ageing nation, tens of thousands of women delivering probiotic drinks have quietly become a vital lifeline against loneliness.

Every Monday morning for 25 years, Satoko Furuhata has loaded her car and set off on her delivery route through the streets north-west of Tokyo. She visits around 40 households a day, dropping off small bottles of Yakult probiotic drinks. But for one 83-year-old customer who lives alone in Maebashi, the real delivery is something no factory can bottle: human connection.

"Knowing that someone will definitely come to see my face each week is a tremendous comfort," the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC. "Even on days when I feel unwell, hearing her say, 'How are you today?' at my doorstep gives me strength."

She calls Monday her "energy charging day."

Read full story →
Miniature Worlds, Massive Appeal: Model Rail Scotland Returns to the SEC
What's On Glasgow

Miniature Worlds, Massive Appeal: Model Rail Scotland Returns to the SEC

Scotland's premier model railway exhibition steams into Glasgow's SEC Centre from March 27-29, celebrating its 60th anniversary with three days of jaw-dropping layouts, community spirit, and a hobby that's never been more alive.

There's something irresistible about peering into a perfectly crafted miniature world — tiny trains threading through hand-painted landscapes, past villages no bigger than your fist, over bridges built with the patience of a watchmaker. This month, thousands of enthusiasts will get their fix when Model Rail Scotland takes over Hall 3 at Glasgow's SEC Centre for three days of pure, absorbing joy.

Running from Friday March 27 to Sunday March 29, the exhibition is the biggest model railway show in Scotland and one of the UK's premier independent events. Organised by the Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland (AMRSS), it draws hobbyists, families, and the simply curious from across the country and beyond — and this year marks its 60th anniversary.

The show floor is a visual feast. Dozens of intricate layouts — from sprawling OO gauge mainlines to delicate N gauge branch lines — fill the hall, each representing hundreds of hours of painstaking craft. Traders and manufacturers will be out in force too, offering everything from locomotives and rolling stock to scenic materials and digital control systems.

Read full story →
A Snowman Walked Onstage — And Showed Us Where AI Is Heading
AI News

A Snowman Walked Onstage — And Showed Us Where AI Is Heading

At GTC 2026, NVIDIA unveiled Vera Rubin, a new supercomputer platform built for the age of AI robots, self-driving cars, and walking Disney characters.

A snowman stole the show at the world's biggest AI conference this week. Olaf, the lovable character from Disney's Frozen, waddled out onstage during Jensen Huang's keynote at NVIDIA's GTC 2026 in San Jose — not as a cartoon, not as a pre-recorded clip, but as a walking, talking robot, powered by NVIDIA's AI technology.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Olaf," said Huang, as the character shuffled into view. When Olaf asked about the computer inside him, Huang grinned: "It's in your tummy… and you learned how to walk inside Omniverse."

It was a moment of pure theatre. But it was also a statement about where artificial intelligence is heading next.

Read full story →
Powerful AI Just Got a Lot Cheaper — OpenAI Launches GPT-5.4 Mini and Nano
AI Model Releases

Powerful AI Just Got a Lot Cheaper — OpenAI Launches GPT-5.4 Mini and Nano

OpenAI's newest models bring near-flagship intelligence to smaller, faster, and far more affordable packages — and one of them is free to use in ChatGPT.

There was a time when the most powerful AI was reserved for deep-pocketed tech companies and research labs. That time is ending fast. On Monday, OpenAI released two new models — GPT-5.4 mini and GPT-5.4 nano — that pack much of the intelligence of their flagship system into packages that run faster and cost a fraction of the price.

It's part of a broader shift in the AI industry: the race is no longer just about building the biggest brain. It's about making powerful AI accessible to everyone.

Think of it as a three-tier menu. GPT-5.4 is the full-fat flagship — maximum power, maximum cost. GPT-5.4 mini is the sweet spot: it runs more than twice as fast as its predecessor and approaches the flagship's performance on several key tests, while costing roughly a third as much. GPT-5.4 nano is the lightest option — the smallest and cheapest model in the family, built for quick, focused tasks where speed and cost matter most.

Read full story →
Paolo Nutini Stuns Glasgow Pub With Surprise St Patrick's Day Set
News Glasgow

Paolo Nutini Stuns Glasgow Pub With Surprise St Patrick's Day Set

The Paisley-born singer grabbed a guitar and delighted punters at MJ Heraghty Bar in Strathbungo on Monday night — because that's just the kind of thing Paolo Nutini does.

Imagine you're a few pints of Guinness deep in your favourite southside pub on St Patrick's Day. The live music's flowing, the craic is mighty, and life is good. Now imagine Paolo Nutini casually strolling up to the mic.

That's exactly what happened at MJ Heraghty Bar in Strathbungo on Monday night, when the chart-topping singer-songwriter appeared without warning and launched into an impromptu set that left the packed pub stunned.

Heraghty's — the family-run Irish bar widely regarded as serving the best pint of Guinness in Glasgow — had organised its own live entertainment for the evening. A local singer was leading the St Patrick's Day celebrations, keeping the crowd lively, when Nutini slipped onto the stage, grabbed a guitar, and joined in.

Read full story →
What If Your Neighbourhood Could Vote a Bus Route Into Existence?
Community

What If Your Neighbourhood Could Vote a Bus Route Into Existence?

In Shanghai, passengers — not planners — are designing bus routes. And the idea is spreading.

Imagine opening an app, drawing a line on a map from your street to the train station, and watching a real bus appear on that route within days. In Shanghai, that's not a thought experiment — it's public transport policy.

The city's "customised bus" system, known as dingzhi or DZ, lets residents propose new routes through an online platform. Once a route attracts a minimum of 15 to 20 passengers per trip, it gets approved and can launch almost immediately. No years-long consultations. No parliamentary committees. Just enough neighbours saying: "Yes, we'd ride that."

The concept, highlighted by innovation foundation Nesta as one of its key "Future Signals" for 2026, represents a fundamental shift in how public services can work. Traditional bus networks are designed top-down — planners study population data, draw routes, and hope people use them. Shanghai flipped the model. The network grows from the ground up, shaped by the people who actually need to get somewhere.

Read full story →
Peter Kay Brings Record-Breaking Tour to the OVO Hydro — And Every Penny Goes to Charity
What's On Glasgow

Peter Kay Brings Record-Breaking Tour to the OVO Hydro — And Every Penny Goes to Charity

Britain's best-selling comedian plays two huge Glasgow nights on 3–4 April, with all profits from his final arena shows donated to 12 cancer charities.

Peter Kay doesn't do things by halves. Now in its fourth year, his Better Late Than Never tour has become the most successful stand-up run in British comedy history — and on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 April, he brings it back to Glasgow's OVO Hydro for two nights that promise to be among the most joyful events the venue hosts all year.

The numbers are staggering. Kay's 2024 dates alone grossed £27 million, according to Pollstar — eclipsing the touring revenues of Billie Eilish, Robbie Williams and Lady Gaga. He has completed over 100 shows at Manchester's AO Arena, smashing all attendance records, and became the first artist in the world to hold a monthly residency at London's O2, where he has played more than 45 nights.

And he's not done yet. In November 2025, Kay announced a final run of arena shows across the UK — with all profits going to 12 leading cancer charities, including Teenage Cancer Trust, Prostate Cancer UK, Blood Cancer UK and The Brain Tumour Charity.

Read full story →
Plastic Bottles Transformed into Parkinson's Drug by Engineered Bacteria
Science

Plastic Bottles Transformed into Parkinson's Drug by Engineered Bacteria

University of Edinburgh scientists have turned waste plastic into L-DOPA — a frontline Parkinson's medication — using engineered bacteria, tackling pollution and producing life-changing medicine in one stroke.

Every year, the world produces around 50 million tonnes of PET plastic — the stuff your water bottles, food trays, and soft drink containers are made from. Most of it ends up in landfill, incineration, or worse, polluting oceans and landscapes. But a team at the University of Edinburgh has found a way to give that waste a remarkable second life: as medicine for one of the world's most common neurological diseases.

In a study published this week in Nature Sustainability, Professor Stephen Wallace and his colleagues describe how they engineered common E. coli bacteria to convert PET plastic waste into L-DOPA (levodopa), the primary drug used to manage the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. It is the first time a biological process has been used to turn plastic pollution into a treatment for neurological disease.

Parkinson's disease affects millions of people worldwide, causing tremors, stiffness, and difficulty with movement. The condition results from the loss of brain cells that produce dopamine, a chemical messenger essential for controlling movement. L-DOPA is the gold-standard treatment — a precursor molecule that the body converts into dopamine to replace what has been lost.

Read full story →
Meet Rebel — The Ginger Cat Who Got Himself Banned from Glasgow College
Dogs & Animals Glasgow

Meet Rebel — The Ginger Cat Who Got Himself Banned from Glasgow College

A tabby with a taste for education has been barred from Glasgow Clyde College after months of wandering corridors, attending lectures, and allegedly setting off an alarm.

Every campus has that one character who turns up without fail, charms everyone they meet, and plays by nobody's rules. At Glasgow Clyde College's Cardonald campus, that character happens to be a ginger tabby cat.

His name — or at least the name students have given him — is Rebel. His real name remains a mystery, which only adds to the legend. What is known is that Rebel has been treating the college like his own personal kingdom for months, strolling corridors, popping into lessons, and winning hearts from 9am to 4pm like a furry, four-legged mature student keeping office hours.

But all good things come to an end — or at least get redirected to the car park. This week, the college put up signs that read: "No cats allowed beyond this point. As cute as he is, for the cat's own safety and well-being, please don't feed him or encourage him to loiter as he has started to enter the building."

Read full story →
Richard Ashcroft Brings Bitter Sweet Symphony — and a Whole Lot More — to the OVO Hydro
What's On Glasgow

Richard Ashcroft Brings Bitter Sweet Symphony — and a Whole Lot More — to the OVO Hydro

The former Verve frontman plays a sold-out Glasgow arena show on March 31, riding a wave of momentum from the Oasis reunion tour and an acclaimed new album.

If you were lucky enough to grab a ticket, mark your calendar: Richard Ashcroft plays the OVO Hydro on Tuesday 31 March, and it promises to be one of the standout gigs of the month.

The Glasgow date — added after the original four-city tour sold out in minutes — is itself now sold out, according to Ashcroft's official website. That puts the Hydro show in rare company: Cardiff, Liverpool and London's O2 all went the same way. If you're still hoping to attend, resale tickets may appear on Ticketmaster closer to the date, but availability isn't guaranteed.

Ashcroft's sold-out headline show at Manchester's Co-op Live in November offered a generous two-hour set mixing Verve classics with solo material spanning his entire career. 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', 'The Drugs Don't Work', 'Lucky Man' and 'Sonnet' all featured, alongside deeper cuts like 'Velvet Morning', 'C'mon People (We're Making It Now)' and 'Music Is Power'.

Read full story →
Scotland's Rewilding Revolution: Where Farmers and Nature Are Winning Together
News Scotland

Scotland's Rewilding Revolution: Where Farmers and Nature Are Winning Together

Five-year data from the Northwoods Rewilding Network reveals extraordinary biodiversity gains — and proves rural livelihoods can flourish alongside nature recovery.

Thirty years ago, Comrie Croft in Perthshire was a nature-depleted conifer plantation making little money. Today it's an award-winning eco-tourism destination with mountain biking trails, a bustling café, and 50,000 visitors a year — while supporting four times as many bird species as before.

"Families, jobs, wildlife — it doesn't have to be either-or," says founder Andrew Donaldson. "It's hugely satisfying to know that what was once a struggling livestock farm is now a rewilded destination where people and nature thrive side by side."

Comrie Croft is one of more than 100 landholdings across Scotland's Northwoods Rewilding Network, and striking new research published this month confirms what Donaldson can see from his doorstep: rewilding works — and it works dramatically.

Read full story →
ScotRail's £147 Million Train Upgrade: New Fleet to Transform Glasgow's Intercity Routes
News Scotland

ScotRail's £147 Million Train Upgrade: New Fleet to Transform Glasgow's Intercity Routes

Scotland's busiest intercity corridors will get 22 refurbished modern trains by 2028, replacing ageing high-speed stock with better comfort, accessibility, and greener technology.

If you've ever settled into a ScotRail high-speed train and noticed the seats looking a little tired, the WiFi patchy, or the plug sockets conspicuously absent — help is on the way. And it's arriving with a £147 million price tag.

ScotRail announced today that its fleet of ageing high-speed trains (HSTs) will be replaced by 22 modern Class 222 trains in a major overhaul of intercity services. The investment — £80 million for new rolling stock and £67 million from the Scottish Government — represents one of the most significant commitments to Scotland's rail network in years.

The new trains will serve ScotRail's key intercity corridors: Glasgow to Edinburgh, Glasgow to Aberdeen, and Glasgow to Inverness. These are some of the busiest routes in the country, carrying millions of passengers each year for work, leisure, and study.

Read full story →
Audio Royalty Meets Music City: Sennheiser Moves Americas HQ to Nashville
Audio Equipment

Audio Royalty Meets Music City: Sennheiser Moves Americas HQ to Nashville

One of pro audio's most storied brands is planting its American flag in the heart of Music City — and the symbolism couldn't be louder.

When a company has spent 80 years building the microphones that capture the world's greatest performances, choosing where to call home says something. Sennheiser, the German audio manufacturer whose name is practically synonymous with professional sound, has announced it will relocate its Americas headquarters from Old Lyme, Connecticut to Nashville, Tennessee — settling into Rock Nashville, a sprawling 600,000-square-foot production campus that's fast becoming a nerve centre for the live entertainment industry.

The move, announced on March 4, represents a $2.5 million investment and the creation of at least 25 new jobs. Perhaps more significantly, Sennheiser becomes the first company to partner with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) to locate within the Rock Nashville facility.

It's a question that practically answers itself. Nashville isn't just Music City in nickname — it's a living, breathing ecosystem of artists, engineers, producers and the technology that connects them all. For a company whose microphones have graced stages from the Grand Ole Opry to the Super Bowl, the fit feels almost inevitable.

Read full story →
Sennheiser Chose the Super Bowl to Debut the Future of Wireless Audio — and Nailed It
Audio Film & TV

Sennheiser Chose the Super Bowl to Debut the Future of Wireless Audio — and Nailed It

The world's first wideband digital wireless mic system made its broadcast premiere on one of the most-watched events of the year, delivering studio-grade sound over a single TV channel of RF spectrum.

When Brandi Carlile stepped onto the field at Levi's Stadium on February 8 to sing "America the Beautiful," she was holding something no performer had ever used on a live broadcast: a custom gold Sennheiser Spectera SKM handheld transmitter, fitted with a Neumann KK 205 capsule. Millions were watching. There was no safety net.

The Super Bowl is the highest-pressure broadcast environment on Earth — a stadium saturated with competing wireless signals, where a single dropout could become the most replayed audio failure in history. Sennheiser chose this moment to debut Spectera, the world's first wideband, bidirectional digital wireless ecosystem. It worked flawlessly.

Traditional wireless microphone systems are narrowband — each mic or in-ear monitor occupies its own slim RF carrier, and scaling up means stacking frequencies, coordinating guard bands, and praying nothing interferes. It's a system that works, but it's a system that sweats.

Read full story →
Glasgow Takes a Bow: Our City Swings Into the Spider-Man Spotlight
News Glasgow

Glasgow Takes a Bow: Our City Swings Into the Spider-Man Spotlight

The first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is here — and Glasgow's streets are starring alongside Tom Holland.

When the trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day dropped on Tuesday, millions of Marvel fans around the world hit play to get their first glimpse of Tom Holland's fourth outing as Peter Parker. But for Glaswegians, there was something extra in every frame — the unmistakable thrill of watching their own city on the world's biggest stage.

Glasgow's city centre doubles as New York City throughout the trailer, and the results are extraordinary. Streets that locals walk every day have been transformed into a pitch-perfect Manhattan, complete with NYPD cruisers, yellow taxis, American flags, and New York-style food stalls. Unless you know what to look for, you'd never guess Spider-Man was swinging through Scotland.

Sharp-eyed Glaswegians have been picking the trailer apart frame by frame. The showpiece is a dramatic tank chase along Bothwell Street, where Spider-Man dodges explosions in mid-air outside the Aurora building. St Vincent Street appears dressed to the nines, with Italian restaurant Little Tuscany and The Drum and Monkey pub visible beneath their American disguises.

Read full story →
A Himalayan Yak Gene Could Hold the Key to Repairing Nerve Damage in Multiple Sclerosis
Science

A Himalayan Yak Gene Could Hold the Key to Repairing Nerve Damage in Multiple Sclerosis

A genetic mutation that helps yaks thrive at extreme altitude has protected and repaired the myelin sheath in mice — offering a surprising new avenue for treating MS.

Of all the places scientists might look for a breakthrough in multiple sclerosis research, a yak grazing at 14,700 feet on the Tibetan Plateau was probably not top of the list.

Yet that's exactly where a team of Chinese researchers found a clue that could change the game for 2.8 million people living with MS worldwide. A naturally occurring genetic mutation — one that helps yaks and Tibetan antelopes survive in dangerously thin air — has been shown to protect and repair the myelin sheath, the vital insulating layer around nerve fibres that MS systematically destroys.

The study, published on 13 March in the journal Neuron, comes from a team led by Professor Liang Zhang at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.

Read full story →
Clydebank's Polish Community Welcomes Spring with Colourful Marzanna Festival
News Clydebank

Clydebank's Polish Community Welcomes Spring with Colourful Marzanna Festival

A free, family-friendly celebration this Saturday will see an ancient Slavic winter effigy drowned at Auchnacraig Car Park — and everyone's invited.

If you're looking for a reason to dust off your brightest outfit this weekend, Clydebank's Polish community has one: they're drowning winter.

This Saturday (March 21), the Community Culture & Art Association (CCAA) and Cosmopolis Independent Group are hosting a free Spring Festival at Auchnacraig Car Park on Cochno Road, featuring the centuries-old tradition of drowning Marzanna — a handmade effigy representing the end of winter's grip.

The custom of burning or drowning a Marzanna effigy stretches back to pre-Christian Slavic culture and remains a beloved folk tradition in Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Marzanna — a figure associated with winter and death in Slavic mythology — is typically fashioned from straw and cloth, then carried in a colourful procession before being cast into water.

Read full story →
A Flashlight, a Hard Hat, and a Whole Lot of Heart: How Construction Workers Befriended a Four-Year-Old Awaiting a Heart Transplant
Community

A Flashlight, a Hard Hat, and a Whole Lot of Heart: How Construction Workers Befriended a Four-Year-Old Awaiting a Heart Transplant

When Brinley Wyczalek shone a flashlight from her hospital window, a crew across the street shone one right back — and started a friendship that's melting hearts across America.

Brinley Wyczalek is four years old. She likes flashlights, teddy bears, and waving at people from her window at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, where she's been waiting for a heart transplant for more than 100 days.

One day in January, bored and restless — as any four-year-old would be after weeks indoors — Brinley's father Travis shone a flashlight toward the construction site across the street, where OCP Contractors are building the clinic's new Neurological Institute. They weren't expecting much.

But somebody noticed. A worker shone a light right back. Then he held up a handmade sign: "Get well soon" — with a heart drawn on it.

Read full story →
Eyes in the Sky: How Drones and AI Are Making Landmine Detection Faster, Safer, and Smarter
Science

Eyes in the Sky: How Drones and AI Are Making Landmine Detection Faster, Safer, and Smarter

Researchers are building the first open-access datasets to train AI systems that could transform demining — and save thousands of lives.

Somewhere in the world right now, a farmer is walking a field that might kill them. A child is taking a shortcut to school across ground that hasn't been cleared. In at least 57 countries, live antipersonnel landmines remain buried in the earth — silent, patient, and lethal.

In 2024 alone, 1,945 people were killed by landmines and 4,325 were injured, according to figures cited by researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Ninety per cent of casualties were civilians. Nearly half were children.

The technology to change this is finally catching up with the scale of the problem.

Read full story →
Irn-Bru Opens Free Tattoo Parlour in Glasgow to Mark 125th Birthday
What's On Glasgow

Irn-Bru Opens Free Tattoo Parlour in Glasgow to Mark 125th Birthday

Scotland's favourite fizzy drink is inviting fans to make their love permanent — with free ink at a pop-up 'Tat-BRU' parlour this Saturday.

If you've ever loved Irn-Bru so much you'd get it tattooed on your body, this weekend is your moment. And it won't cost you a penny.

To celebrate its 125th birthday, Irn-Bru is taking over Empire Ink on Bath Street this Saturday (March 21) to open the 'Tat-BRU' parlour — a pop-up where fans can get a free tattoo inspired by the brand's refreshed 'Made in Scotland from Girders' packaging. Permanent or temporary — your call.

The parlour opens from 11am to 4pm, with each fan getting a 60-minute appointment slot. Designs are chosen from an exclusive Irn-Bru flash sheet featuring the iconic girder emblem and other brand imagery. No custom jobs — this is pure, undiluted BRU art.

Read full story →
From Track to Reef: McLaren's Machine One Could Plant a Million Corals a Year
Science

From Track to Reef: McLaren's Machine One Could Plant a Million Corals a Year

The Formula 1 team has turned its engineering prowess toward the Great Barrier Reef — and the results could transform coral restoration worldwide.

In Formula 1, every fraction of a second matters. Now McLaren Racing is applying that same obsession with speed to a very different race — one to save the world's coral reefs.

Revealed trackside at the Australian Grand Prix on 10 March, Machine One is a semi-automated coral-seeding system developed by McLaren Racing and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. It does something deceptively simple: it assembles the small cradles that hold baby corals before they're placed back onto damaged reef. By hand, each cradle takes up to 90 seconds to build. Machine One does it in ten.

That difference could change everything.

Read full story →