It wasn’t all bad

Atlantic salmon have been found in Derbyshire’s River Ecclesbourne for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. The fish disappeared from the tributary of the River Derwent in the 19th century, owing to pollution from mills and the construction of weirs that stopped fish reaching breeding grounds. But two decades of work by the Environment Agency to improve water quality, and the creation of “passes” to help fish migrate, is now paying dividends.

A British endurance athlete has set a new record by cycling around the world in 79 days. When Mark Beaumont, from Perthshire, set off from Paris in July, he hoped to match the time set in Around the World in Eighty Days – but he trumped it, and beat the previous record, set in 2015, by 44 days. Rising at 3.30am each day, the 34-year-old typically cycled for 16 hours a day, with a daily target of 240 miles. His 18,000-mile route took him through Europe, Russia, Mongolia and China; he then cycled across Australia, New Zealand and North America, before flying to Portugal, and cycling through Spain and France, to Paris.

One of the most successful space missions in history ended after 20 years last week, when Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft destroyed itself by plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere. Cassini had been orbiting the planet since 2004 – lasting far beyond the four years planned – but once it ran out of fuel, Nasa wanted to ensure the spacecraft didn’t wander in space, where it risked contaminating Saturn and its moons with microbes from Earth. The mission has transformed our understanding of Saturn – and, in particular, its moons Titan and Enceladus.