@elsie

From 1 October 2026, Scotland will restrict the prominent placement and certain promotions of high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt foods in larger shops, both in-store and online. The measures aim to reduce impulse purchases, encourage healthier eating habits and help address obesity, while limiting the impact on smaller businesses.

This two-year, £2.7 million collaborative research project brings together multiple UK academic institutions to develop drought-resistant Sphagnum moss varieties, a critical step in protecting peatlands from worsening dry weather. The team will identify naturally drought-tolerant local moss populations across the UK and Ireland, sequence their genomes to pinpoint key adaptive traits, and establish the first controlled breeding methods for this species. These new resilient moss strains will help preserve peatlands’ vital functions of locking away carbon, supporting biodiversity, and retaining water as climate conditions become more extreme.
https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/media/2026-news/uhi-researchers-join-27-million-project-to-develop-drought-resistant-peatland-moss.html

The University of St Andrews has been named the UK’s top university for 2027, marking its third time in six years at the top of the rankings. It was also recognised as Scotland’s University of the Year, with five subjects ranked first nationally and all its subjects placed within the UK’s top six.

https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/st-andrews-is-uks-best-university/

FM writes to PM on Scotland’s right to decide