And Finally

The Falkirk Wheel is set to be drained of water as annual maintenance works get underway to ensure the world’s only rotating boat lift keeps on turning in 2018. The works, which will run from February 5 until March 7, will see Scottish Canals’ engineering team carry out a programme of inspection

Online retailer Amazon has unveiled a miniature rainforest of 40,000 plants which form the centrepiece of its $4 billion office expansion, including a 55ft tree transported from a farm in southern California. Located at the company’s headquarters in Seattle, the Spheres are three glass domes that

Pōhutukawa trees A property developer in New Zealand has been jailed for two-and-a-half months for damaging native trees.

A school in Merseyside has removed the exterior wall of a girls’ toilet block in a bid to stop smoking, bullying and truancy. The new layout at St Mary’s College in Wallasey means pupils can no longer hide in between lessons.

Police who attempted to ticket a car during a cold snap discovered it was made of snow. Simon Laprise, 33, an artist and machinist, had built the car outside his house after heavy snowfall earlier this month.

Plans have been unveiled for a major facelift of the UK’s highest restaurant. The Ptarmigan is situated 1,097m (3,599ft) up Cairn Gorm mountain in near Aviemore in the Cairngorms.

A trial is being developed to finally paint the Forth Road Bridge’s main truss deck in its entirety for the first time since it was finished in 1964, Transport Scotland has revealed. The work, which has previously been estimated at costing around £65 million, is expected to take more than 10 year

Eight foot concrete tubes could be the future of housing, at least that’s the solution to the fast growing population offered by Hong-Kong architectural studio James Law Cybertecture. OPod Tube Housing was conceived as an experimental, low cost, micro living housing unit to ease Hong Kong’s affo

Housebuilder Redrow has teamed up with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and Coleg Cambria, one of the UK’s largest colleges, to establish the UK’s first dedicated Housebuilding Degree. LJMU have also validated the qualification.

A former construction worker turned singer is to return to the UK for a number of shows. Rod Picott returns to the UK in March with a new album, Out Past the Wires, and a book of poetry, God in His Slippers.

A new start-up company has produced pioneering flooring with inbuilt sensors that allow retailers to track the movements of their customers. Scanalytics, based in the US city of Milwaukee, has developed paper-thin tiles, similar to a touch-screen, called a Sole-Sensor to track shoppers.

Little has ever stood between Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and realising his ambitions for the club. But plans for a £1 billion new stadium are being held up by one family over their right to light - and the lack of it shining into their home when the new Stamford Bridge is built.

Residents of a street called “Bell End” have launched a petition to change the name because of its impact on house prices. But thousands of people have backed a rival petition seeking to protect the name, claiming that it has historical and sentimental value.

A new specialist breakdown safety vehicle is now in operation on the Tay Road Bridge and a public poll is being held to name it. From December the bridge staff have been using an impact protection vehicle (IPV) to assist with breakdowns.

A landlord who was ordered to make repairs to a 1930s cottage currently inhabited by his brother-in-law has applied instead to demolish the home altogether. Named Barr Bheag, the metal-clad, timber frame home situated on the hills above Taynuilt in Argyll and Bute, has been the home of Nick Charlton