Wind-powered cargo ship takes maiden voyage

Pyxis Ocean was retrofitted with ‘WindWings’ sails

(Image credit: Cargill)

published 24 August 2023

A cargo ship that has been fitted with giant, rigid sails designed to cut the vessel’s carbon emissions set out on its maiden voyage from Singapore this week. The Pyxis Ocean was chartered by the US commodities group Cargill, in an attempt to investigate how wind power could reduce energy usage in the shipping industry, which is estimated to account for about 2.1% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The ship’s 123ft-tall, fibreglass “WindWings” sails, which were developed by the British firm BAR Technologies, can rotate and fold down to the ship’s deck. If they prove a success, hundreds more ships are expected to be fitted with them.

Lost cocker spaniel Lola found after two years

A dog that went missing from Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire in March 2021 has been found over two hours’ drive away. When Lola, a cocker spaniel, was stolen outside her owner Lydia Rampin’s house, Rampin followed even the vaguest of leads to track her down, with no luck. Lola was eventually found by a driver in West Sussex who nearly ran her over, then took her to a vet. When they were finally reunited, Rampin said, Lola “just went nuts, then fell asleep on me”.

Britain’s first womb transplant

Surgeons performed Britain’s first womb transplant this week, on a 34-year-old woman whose sister donated the organ. The team at Churchill Hospital in Oxford spent eight hours removing the womb from the 40-year-old donor, who already has two children, then nine hours implanting it into her sister, who was in the operating theatre next door. The womb is said to be working “perfectly”, and both women have made a full recovery. The recipient, who was born without a uterus, now hopes to have two children with her husband via IVF treatment.