Category: Life Style

Standing at a woodland entrance to the world’s longest cave system in Kentucky, a park ranger warns those about to enter of an extremely deadly fungus — not for humans, but for the bat populations it has devastated across North America.

In one of the most significant losses of wildlife in modern history, the fungus, which causes a disease called white-nose syndrome, has killed millions of the flying mammals since arriving in the eastern United States from Europe nearly 20 years ago.

Two decades on, no cure exists. But scientists are finally emerging with potential solutions.

And their research comes as the disease — which sprouts white fuzz on the bats’ tiny noses, ears and wings — is spreading to the American West.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) was first confirmed at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky in 2013, thriving in the pitch-black, cool conditions of its labyrinthine tunnels, which the group of visitors quickly descended into for their tour.

If WNS seems like a problem just for bats, scientists say, think again. The insect-eating animals play a vital ecological role and their loss is already reverberating.

All of the repercussions are not entirely understood. However in a recent study published in the journal Science, researchers linked the collapse of North American bat populations with higher use of pesticide and increased human infant mortality.

Particularly in the disease’s early days, researches witnessed grisly scenes: dead bats clinging to the ceiling next to sick bats, and diseased bats crawling along the floor, especially in the northeast United States.

Further south at Mammoth Cave, located in an extremely cavernous region of verdant rolling hills and forests, bats have tended to head out into the wilderness to die, likely due to warmer winter weather, simply disappearing forever.

Mass mortality

The United States and Canada are home to more than 40 bat species, with WNS affecting those that hibernate — although not all of them.

Counting bats is extremely difficult, but researchers widely agree the disease killed more than 90 percent of the three most impacted species — the northern long-eared, tricolored and little brown bat which used to be extremely common.

At Mammoth Cave, mass mortality has also occurred among the Indiana bat, the park’s cave resources management specialist, Rick Toomey, told AFP.

More than 400 miles (640 kilometers) of mapped passageways wind beneath the park, which Toomey compared to “a plate of spaghetti,” attracting visitors who may not have known or been thinking about WNS.

“It doesn’t cross my mind often at all, only when someone brings it up like they did today,” Makenzie Johnson, a 24-year-old student visiting from Indiana, told AFP after the tour.

Right tool, right time

White-nose syndrome is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), which infects bats during hibernation, waking them more easily and causing them to use up their energy reserves.

Scientists have been scrambling to find a solution — so far with only partial results.

“If we can come up with a lot of different tools, and we understand how to use them, and use them in the right places at the right time, we could help get a number of bats through that initial phase of disease when we see high mortality,” Michelle Verant, a wildlife veterinarian with the National Park Service, told AFP.

One of those tools is vaccines, which are fairly rare for fungal diseases, but are showing promise with comparatively more vaccinated bats returning to maternal roosts, she said.

According to Jonathan Reichard, assistant national coordinator for WNS at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, various disinfection tools for hibernation sites are being studied.

One is a chemical called polyethylene glycol 8000 that is sprayed in caves while bats are away in summer, reducing Pd’s presence. Another is the application of UV light. But scientists warn other organisms can be harmed in the process.

Researchers are also fumigating caves and their bats with volatile organic compounds to slow the fungus’s growth. And there is even a probiotic skin treatment, based on naturally occurring bacteria.

A double-stranded RNA application is also now under development, “which is something that can be highly specific to the fungus,” Reichard added.

“We’ve gone from sort of having no idea what was happening to now having a suite of tools relevant for use in different areas and different situations,” he said.

Mark Wahlberg has reassured guests that his Las Vegas restaurant is in good shape, just days after it caught on fire.

The 53-year-old actor shared a recent video to Instagram of his restaurant Flecha Cantina during its grand opening, which took place last night (November 7). In the clip, Wahlberg was seen standing at the front desk of the restaurant and taking a call from a customer.

“Flecha, how can I help you?” he said over the phone, before asking the customer their name. He then told the restaurant staff: “Hey, Samuel’s running five minutes late!”

While on the phone, the Ted star quipped about the fact that his restaurant had caught on fire days before the establishment’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“There’s no fire, there’s no fire,” he added. “We’re open for business. Come on, Sam. Drive safe. I’m holding it down for you until you get here.”

In the caption, Wahlberg also poked fun at the restaurant fire. “Amazing grand opening last night,” he wrote. “It’s the hottest restaurant in Vegas.”

A fire initially broke out in the restaurant on November 6, just one night before Wahlberg hosted the ribbon-cutting ceremony. At the time, a video of the flames outside Flecha Cantina was shared on X/Twitter. The incident also came nearly three weeks after Flecha Cantina’s soft opening on September 14.

A spokesperson for Flecha Cantina told People that the blaze started after “a defective fire pit caught fire on the bottom of it.”

“The fire crew came and put it out right away,” said the spokesperson. “No damage at all in the interior restaurant. The only damage was the fire pit and the chair next to it. Thankfully no one was injured.”

They added: “The fire sprinkler company came back out and recharged the system and the restaurant was back open at 7pm.”

The Clark County Fire Department responded to reports of flames reaching the restaurant’s patio at approximately 5:30pm. By the time they arrived, sprinklers had already activated and the restaurant had been fully evacuated.

Fire officials confirmed that the flames had not reached the building’s interior and were confined to a single propane fire table. Surveillance footage indicated that the fire ignited from within the table’s internal mechanisms.

Flecha Cantina – which also has a location in Huntington Beach, California – aims to “re-experience Modern Mexican cuisine through the eyes of Mark Wahlberg and his team of chefs and restaurateurs,” according to the company’s official website. The restaurant’s menu is “crafted by renowned international chefs and mixologists, blends Mexican classics with a contemporary fire.”

Wahlberg moved to Las Vegas from Hollywood in November 2022 with his wife, Rhea Durham, and their four children – Ella, 20, Michael, 17, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 14. During an appearance on The Talk one month before his move, he shared his plans to “build a state-of-the-art studio in his new hometown, Las Vegas,” and “make [the city] Hollywood 2.0.”

“I wanted to be able to work from home, I moved to California many years ago to pursue acting and only made a couple of movies in the entire time that I was there,” he said. “So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams, whether it be my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense for us.”

An AI generated portrait of the eminent World War II codebreaker, Alan Turing, has been sold for a record $1.3 million at auction.

There were 27 bids for the digital artwork sale of “AI God”, which had been originally estimated to sell for between $120,000 (£92,563) and $180,000 (£139,000), said Sotherby’s, reported BBC.

It is worth noting that mathematician Turing was a pioneer of computer science and was also known as the father of artificial intelligence (AI).

As per the auction house, the historic sale “launches a new frontier in the global art market, establishing the auction benchmark for an artwork by a humanoid robot”.

The work by Ai-Da Robot is “the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork sold at auction”, it added.

Additionally, the art piece is a large scale original portrait of Turing, who studied at King’s College, Cambridge.

By helping to crack codes and deciphering the infamous Enigma machine at Bletchley Park, the scientist played a crucial role in the Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

He produced a detailed design for a digital computer in the modern sense after the war.

Moreover, Sotherby’s said the online sale, which ended at 19:00GMT on Thursday, was bought by an undisclosed buyer for a price “far outstripping the artwork’s estimate price”.

The auction house said the sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist “marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between AI technology and the global art market”.

Winter is coming, and with it dry lips.

The colder air is already beginning to creep in. Whilst that may put some of us in the festive spirit – our lips aren’t so grateful.

While many of us swear by certain toothpastes and old-school salves – but they may be the main culprit of dry and flaky smiles.

“Due to the drop in humidity and frequent dry, cold winds, our lips tend to dehydrate much more quickly in winter,” says consultant dermatologist Dr Eva Melegh.

“Lips shed skin regularly, but when they get dry, the skin shedding becomes uneven and that is when chapping and flaking appears.”

We hear from dermatologists on how to actually care for our lips this winter – and what products to avoid at all costs.

Just like weekly face masks or monthly massages, your lips need an in-depth treatment outside your daily routine.

“Try to complete an extensive lip routine once every two to three weeks and during every seasonal transition period,” advises CellDerma’s founder and aesthetician Dr Dev Patel.

“Within this, I would include a gentle scrub and exfoliation, an overnight lip mask and a clinically proven lip balm.

“During your daily regime, be sure to apply a hydrating lip mask and/or balm in the morning and at night, as well as throughout the day to maintain moisture levels.”

Dermatology M Moisturising Lip Balm, £9.50

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask, £17.10 (was £21), Beauty Bay

Beauty Pie Smooth Ahead Nourishing Lip Scrub, £15

Hydrate in and out

Whilst nourishing balms and masks may seem obvious, the key to hydrated lips is not just down to the products you put on them.

“Often dry lips can be a sign of dehydration, and so I would urge anyone experiencing dry and chapped lips to look at their fluid intake,” advises Harley Street skin expert, Dr Nina Prisk.

“According to the NHS an adult should drink six to eight cups of fluid a day.”

This doesn’t necessarily have to be tap water – herbal teas and water mixed with flavoured electrolyte powders can contribute hugely to hydration.

But be warned – anything caffeinated (such as sodas, English Breakfast tea and coffee) do not count as a cup of fluid, as the caffeine cancels out the hydrating liquid.

Fourfive Hydro Plus Natural Berry 20 Tablets – Berry, £5 (was £8), Holland & Barrett

Steer clear of heavy lipsticks, alcohol and whitening toothpaste

That may sound like an odd list, but lipstick, alcohol and whitening toothpastes are the hidden culprits contributing to chapped lips.

“Unlike skin, lips do not have oil glands and so their natural moisture retention is scarce at the best of times,” says Melegh, “so dehydration from alcohol can make lips extra dry and fragile.”

Melegh suggests avoiding excessive alcohol consumption and cosmetics that include alcohol, this can include anything that is heavily perfumed which contains ethanol.

“Try to avoid lip balms which are fragrant or flavoured, such as mint, citrus or cinnamon, as they can have the opposite effect and simply irritate the lips,” explains London dermatologist, Dr Ross Perry, “Although it might feel nice on the lips, they are actually very dehydrating.

“Additional ingredients to avoid include lanolin, octinoxate and oxybenzone,” says Perry. These can be found in certain SPFs and jelly-based lip balms.

On top of this, Melegh warns against heavy lipsticks, “Avoid wearing lipsticks during the day as these contain wax and can be drying and irritate chapped lips.

“They may even cause some infection or inflammation as lipsticks are often harbouring bacteria.”

Whitening toothpaste can also contribute to dry lips, as the hydrogen peroxide they contain is incredibly drying on the skin. Experts suggest swapping to a standard sensitive toothpaste during the winter months.

Sensodyne Repair & Protect Original Sensitive Daily Toothpaste 75ml, £6, Sainsbury’s

Children’s presenter Konnie Huq hasn’t bought any new clothes for 20 years. And she’d like nothing better than everyone else to follow suit.

But her avoidance of fast fashion isn’t because she doesn’t care about her appearance, it’s because she cares about the planet, and doesn’t want what she wears to negatively affect it, as 85% of textiles end up in rubbish dumps, and 10% of the world’s greenhouse gases come from those dumps (UNECE).

“I am essentially a bit anti-consumerist, so I don’t buy things,” declares Huq, author of the Cookie! children’s book series, and the longest-serving female Blue Peter presenter.

She buys food, of course, and items that might need replacing such as leaking wellies, but stresses: “I haven’t bought clothes in, say, the last 20 years – all those years I did on Blue Peter, you get clothes for the job anyway.

“The older I get, the more comfy I feel in my own skin. So now, I’d rather be really unfashionable, but know people like me for me, rather than the clothes I wear. I’m much happier opting out.

“Most of the stuff in our house is furniture that’s come from my mum’s house, a bit of a set they were chucking away, and so on. My kids will be in hand-me-downs often – I don’t really do shopping as such.”

And the mum-of-two’s eco-friendly stance is one she wants to share with the future generation, so she’s teamed up with around 80 other children’s book authors, illustrators, environmentalists, campaigners and experts to produce the new  e-book Children For Change, to inspire kids through its collection of stories, poems, illustrations and advice to take action against climate change.

The free anthology, which was edited by Huq, contains everything from love letters to Planet Earth and passionate appeals on behalf of endangered species, to stories and illustrations inspiring day-to-day action on energy consumption and features on fast fashion, sustainability and rewilding.

“It’s all to do with saving the planet and empowering children to feel positive and hopeful about climate change and what we can do to solve it,” explains Huq. “It’s so important to get kids with the right values and mindset. So it’s less about lecturing them, and it’s more empowering them and giving them the right beliefs, thoughts and morals.”

Huq, 49, who’s married to the writer and TV presenter Charlie Brooker, points out that if something strikes you when you’re young, you’ll often take that through life, and continues: “So if you’re going to use a bag for life, or take a bag with you when you go shopping, that will be an ingrained thing. And similarly, if you’re always going to look for a more carbon positive way of doing things, maybe walking on journeys, eating more responsibly, locally-sourced products, or less meat or whatever it is, the younger you’re conditioned or exposed to doing that, the longer that stays with you.

“And in most cases, that’s something you take with you for life, a subtle behavioural change, a shift that’s needed in society. And young people, they are the future.”

Ultimately, Huq says the message behind the book is to not be wasteful. “Even if we didn’t have climate chaos, even if there wasn’t this dying environment, it’s really good anyway to not be wasteful. That’s what it’s all about – not being wasteful, greedy, too frivolous or extravagant, because the minute you think your happiness comes through external validation, then that’s when it’s like a drug you’re chasing – so you get your happiness through buying trendy clothes or having the bigger house, all these very superficial factors.”

Huq says her sons Covey, 12, and Huxley, 10, aren’t particularly into fashion yet – although she admits it “destroyed my soul a bit” when one of the boys needed new trainers and her husband bought him branded ones.

“At the moment, touch wood, they’re not too bad,” she says, “but I’m just waiting for those hormones to kick in at puberty and it could be very different. Obviously I can’t enforce my stuff on other people, so whereas I don’t buy things, I can’t say that my husband is the same. So it’s something I have to tread carefully with.

“I do like to practise what I preach, but it’s not always perfect, unfortunately.”

She explains that her parents came from Bangladesh, and her mum always wanted her and her sisters to finish everything on their plates at mealtimes. “It’s the mentality of put less on your plate, eat it all and then take more, just don’t put loads on your plate and then scrape half of it off in the bin,” she says, “because that could be a meal where I come from.

“It’s that sort of living responsibility which fits in so nicely with climate change, because people shouldn’t be wasteful – it doesn’t breed nice people. We want a society of people that are caring, where their happiness comes from other people being happy, not just pleasing themselves.”

She adds: “If you could just be happy with what you have rather than what you don’t have, then you’re winning, aren’t you?”

It’s a message echoed throughout the book by many famous names, including chef Jamie Oliver, environmentalist Chris Packham, and broadcaster and fashion guru Mary Portas. Portas bemoans fast fashion and the harm it’s doing to the planet in the book, and says: “Things are changing. People started to realise that buying so much wasn’t making us happy, and that our planet is getting sick.

“Now, buying clothes from charity, second hand, and vintage shops or swapping with your friends or mixing old and new is the coolest thing to do.

“And the best bit is that it’s better for all of us. The planet will be happier. And people will be happier, too.”

And Packham stresses: “I want, need and think that you deserve a healthy and happy future on our beautiful little planet earth.

“All you have to do is speak up and speak out. Sometimes you can whisper and people will listen, sometimes you might have to shout, even scream. Keep using your voice to get what you want and need and think is right. And of course if you shout, and your friends shout or your class or whole school shouts, then that’s a loud voice that people cannot ignore.”

Schools can apply for a free Children for Change book at pop-up.org.uk/childrenforchange . Available now.

Victoria Derbyshire has opened up about the devastating moment she suffered a miscarriage on a plane before going straight back to work.

The 56-year-old TV presenter, known for her tough interviewing on BBC flagship shows including Panorama and Newsnight, has previously spoken about difficult topics, including being the victim of domestic violence and abuse.

The mother-of-two said she had kept the experience a secret for years, as she shared the impact that the revelation had on her sons.

“I actually had the miscarriage on a plane,” she told the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast.

“I was so practical and pragmatic I was like, ‘Well this is happening now and I’m going to work’ and I just carried on; it’s absolutely bizarre.”

Despite being a self-professed “talker” the BBC host said that it was the one thing she struggled to be open about.

“I’m a talker, I talk about everything. I’m very open – maybe it’s partly because of the way I was brought up; we talked to my mum about all the crap that was going on,” she continued.

“That was one thing I couldn’t talk about for about five years; it was so odd, I could not speak about it.”

Derbyshire says two sons, aged 20 and 17, with her husband Mark Sandell, whom she married in 2018. She explained that they were aware of the experience and wondered what it would have been like to have had a sister.

“My boys know I had that miscarriage and they think fondly, ‘What if that had been a sister?’” she explained.

“I know what we’d have called her; they would have liked to have a sister.”

Reflecting on her experience of being pregnant at the time, she said: “I was happy to go through the pregnancy. Happy to eat loads of food and you know, put loads of weight on. I loved it.”

Despite being in her 50s, and not having had a period since chemotherapy for breast cancer, she said she feels she could still have another baby.

“I feel like, obviously I can’t now, I’m in my 50s and I haven’t had a period since chemotherapy, [but] I feel like I could have a baby now, isn’t that mad? I love being the mum of a newborn.”

DUBLIN: In a rather intriguing yet disturbing revelation, a Pakistan-based artificial intelligence-powered website has been found to be behind a hoax Halloween parade in Dublin that led to thousands of people gathering for an event that didn’t exist in the first place, The News reported on Monday.

The publication, citing United States-based news agency Vice, said that a large number of people dressed in different costumes gathered on a main road of the city in connection with the Halloween festival in the country’s capital.

The people who gathered to participate in the parade kept waiting for the start of the parade, but with the passage of time, their wait became longer.

Owing to the large number of people gathering, the surrounding roads were also blocked after which the police had to be mobilised and the people gathered for the parade were removed from there.

The police announced that there was no parade scheduled in Dublin, adding to the surprise of those gathered for the parade.

US media has reported that the fake announcement was made by a website called “My Spirit Halloween” — hosted in Pakistan — which said that the Halloween Day Parade would be held on Thursday evening from 7pm to 9pm.

Although the reason for this false declaration by the website has not been revealed, many people believe that the website’s purpose was to earn money from advertisements.

Panniers strapped to their haunches, a team of horses waded collar-deep through North Sea waters — hauling wide nets along the Belgian coast as cawing seagulls swirled all around.

In the saddle, clad head to toe in yellow oilskins, riders steered them parallel with the beach in Oostduinkerke — the last place on Earth, they say, where the tradition of shrimp-fishing on horseback lives on.

Once practised throughout Europe, the custom has all but died out — but a community of enthusiasts has kept the flame going in this coastal town, earning a spot on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.

They do not fish for profit, but the rare spectacle they offer has become a tourist draw for the small town, situated half an hour from the French border.

Back in the day, historians explain, poor farmers used to ride to the coast to fish — as a way to supplement their diet.

At first they pulled their nets by hand, later using mules then eventually workhorses able to haul much larger, heavier loads. The method was used in Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France and the south of England.

‘Unique’

On this sunny day in late October, a group of five headed out at low tide to fish for grey shrimp.

“This is the only place in the world where shrimp-fishing is still practiced with horses,” fisherman Gunther Vanbleu told AFP as he sorted his catch on the beach — surrounded by a curious crowd of smartphone-wielding onlookers.

“You’re working with your horse, you’re in the sea and the combination of everything at the same time — the pleasure of catching fish or catching shrimp, all of that together makes it fun,” he said.

This time around, some 200 people gathered — in rubber boots or barefoot — to watch the afternoon show under crisp blue skies.

“There is always a lot of interest from people, because it is unique,” Vanbleu said.

Not for sale

The day’s catch — a few kilogrammes of shrimp — is not for sale: it will be cooked up by the dozen families who keep the tradition going and shared among friends.

But the sight alone continues to draw tourists from April to October.

“I think that this will always exist in the municipality,” said Vanbleu.

After the custom won UNESCO recognition in 2013, a committee was set up whose purpose is to ensure it is kept alive, he explained.

“I think that it will continue forever,” he said.

Asked about the possible impact of climate change, Vanbleu said he has seen some shifts over the years.

“We do notice that something has changed a little, such as the temperature of the water — it’s maybe a little warmer than usual.”

“And we are seeing other animal species arrive here,” he said. “Maybe if the water gets too warm, the shrimp will move to colder water… in 30 or 40 years.”

“If it comes to that, we will see,” said Vanbleu — who for now, come rain or shine, plans to keep riding out to sea.

As the colder months draw near, many US citizens will also see more hours of daylight in the mornings and darker evenings – due to the end of daylight saving time (DST).

Daylight saving time is the practice of setting the clock forward an hour each spring, beginning on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November. However, that wasn’t always the case.

This year, daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 3 – when most people in the US will get an extra hour of sleep.

When does DST begin and end?

In the US, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday of March, which fell on March 10, 2024. At 2am local time, the clocks were set forward by an hour for most US citizens.

On November 3, 2024, daylight saving time will end at 2am local time when we “fall back” and gain an extra hour of sleep. It will occur again next year on Sunday, March 9, 2025.

Who follows DST?

In the United States, most states adhere to the rules of daylight saving time, with the exception of Arizona, the Navajo Indian Reservation, and Hawaii, according to the National Institutes of Standard and Technology (NIST).

The territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands also do not follow the practice.

Why do we follow DST?

The idea for daylight saving time was reportedly first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. However, it did not become implemented until 1966 when the Uniform Time Act was created, according to the US Department of Transportation.

Although there were previous periods where the US followed daylight saving – including during World War II, when President Roosevelt instituted year-round daylight saving called “War Time” – the Uniform Time Act mandated that all states follow a time as decided under the four main time zones and follow DST, unless the entire state agreed to be exempt. The Uniform Time Act also meant that all states would implement the time change at the same time.

In later years, the Department of Transportation hypothesized that daylight saving could positively impact violent crime rates, traffic safety, and energy conservation. However, a subsequent report found that there were minimal changes when DST was implemented.

The daylight saving time the United States follows now wasn’t implemented until 2007, when it was decided it would begin on the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November. The annual practice previously took place from the last Sunday of April to the last Sunday of October.

DST is now followed for 238 days of the year.

How does DST affect our health?

Daylight saving time can result in significant changes to our sleeping patterns. When we “spring forward” in March, we lose an hour of sleep. According to the Sleep Foundation, the average person receives 40 minutes less sleep on the Monday after daylight saving time. Sleep deprivation is already an ongoing problem in the US, with one in three adults sleeping less than the recommended seven-plus hours nightly, per the AP.

The American Heart Association also reported an increase in heart attacks and strokes in the days following the hour change.

Sunlight is another important factor that influences our circadian rhythm – the body’s natural 24-hour cycle that regulates alertness and sleepiness, typically in response to light changes in our environment. While some Americans may receive an extra hour of morning sunlight when we “fall back” in November, this also means earlier sunsets and darker skies by the time we leave work.

During this time, many people have been known to experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression usually linked to the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter. Symptoms of SAD may include fatigue and decreased energy; feelings of irritability, frustration, or restlessness; loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities; and changes in sleep, appetite, or unplanned weight changes.

The National Institute of Mental Health recommends a combination of light therapy, vitamin D supplements, antidepressants, or talk therapy as treatments for SAD.

Do you have to manually switch your clocks?

Most clocks will update the time on their own. However, certain appliance clocks may require the time to be updated manually.

Some clocks may also have a DST on/off function that needs to be switched on to change the time.

Why do some Americans call for an end to DST?

In recent years, the practice of daylight saving time has become increasingly unpopular, with multiple states proposing bills to end the practice of switching clocks. In March 2022, the Senate passed The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make US daylight saving time permanent. The bill was introduced in the House in March 2023, though it has yet to be passed.

PIEN: Buried with a padlock on her foot and an iron sickle across her neck, “Zosia” was never supposed to be able to come back from the dead.

Entombed in an unmarked cemetery in Pien, northern Poland, the young woman was one of dozens feared by her neighbours to have been a “vampire”.

Now, using DNA, 3D printing and modelling clay, a team of scientists has reconstructed Zosia’s 400-year-old face, revealing the human story buried by supernatural beliefs.

“It’s really ironic, in a way,” said Swedish archaeologist Oscar Nilsson. “These people burying her, they did everything they could in order to prevent her from coming back from the dead… we have done everything we can in order to bring her back to life.”

Zosia, as she was named by locals, was found in 2022 by a team of archaeologists from Torun’s Nicolaus Copernicus University.

Aged 18-20 when she died, analysis of Zosia’s skull suggests she suffered from a health condition which would have caused fainting and severe headaches, as well as possible mental health issues, Nilsson said.

The sickle, the padlock and certain types of wood found at the grave site were all believed at the time to hold magical properties protecting against vampires, according to the Nicolaus Copernicus team.

Zosia’s was Grave No 75 at the unmarked cemetery in Pien, outside the northern city of Bydgoszcz. Among the other bodies found at the site was a “vampire” child, buried face down and similarly padlocked at the foot.

Little is known of Zosia’s life, but Nilsson and the Pien team say items she was buried with point to her being from a wealthy — possibly noble — family.

The 17th century Europe she lived in was ravaged by war, something Nilsson suggests created a climate of fear in which belief in supernatural monsters was commonplace.

Nilsson’s recreation began with creating a 3D printed replica of the skull, before gradually building layers of plasticine clay “muscle by muscle” to form a life-like face.

He uses bone structure combined with information on gender, age, ethnicity and approximate weight to estimate the depth of facial features.

“It’s emotional to watch a face coming back from the dead, especially when you know the story about this young girl,” Nilsson says.

Nilsson said he wanted to bring Zosia back “as a human, and not as this monster that she is buried as”.