Free Republic

Jon Bates owns Addicted to Fitness, a gym in Naples, Florida. As a personal trainer, he ends his nights by running 3.5 to 4 miles for both mental therapy and as a way to get his workout in. Bates said his friends give him a hard time about being outside in the humidity and heat when he has access to an air-conditioned gym, but he enjoys his outdoor runs, and the chance to sweat in the fresh air. So last Monday, he set out for his usual run, but on a slightly different route. He told Runner’s World he kept...

A woman on the Isle of Skye is asking people to send her dead midges so she can turn them into food for wild birds. Housewife-turned-entrepreneur Elaine Bunce adds the biting insect to beef dripping and flour to create her Original Highland Midge Bites. She has advertised in a local newspaper for people to send her expired insects, as it takes a thousand for each ball. Mrs Bunce discovered that midges, notorious for blighting Scottish holidays, are a good source of protein. She currently has five litres of midges in her freezer. She hoping to collect more from midge killing...

09 July 2007 Fossilised midges provide clues to future climate change Fossilised midges have helped scientists at the University of Liverpool identify two episodes of abrupt climate change that suggest the UK climate is not as stable as previously thought. The episodes were discovered at a study in Hawes Water in Northern Lancashire, where the team used a unique combination of isotope studies and analysis of fossilised midge heads. Together they indicated where the climate shifts occurred and the temperature of the atmosphere at the time. The first shift detected occurred around 9,000 years ago and the second around 8,000...