🌞 Jillaroos make history

If I may, I’d like to give you all a recommendation for life: switch things up. 

We all have our favourite shows and regular orders, but when your days start feeling too similar, make small changes to your daily routine. It sounds silly, but trying new things is a lost art and we really should be doing it more often (#bringbackwhimsy). 

Try a new coffee order, join a new gym class, commute differently to work, make a new breakfast or use a different mug -  maybe even read this newsletter on a Monday! 

This week, I ventured past my usual cafe and went to a small bakery to try a biscuit bun. I am a changed woman. 

P.S. Happy Diwali to those who celebrate! 

An echidna has been sighted in person on Tasmania’s Lungtalanana/Clarke Island for the first time in decades, according to the ABC. 

In 2005, the island returned to Aboriginal ownership, with rangers currently working to restore it. 

While echidnas have been spotted on trail cameras on the island in recent years, the ABC reports ranger Tasha Cooper has now seen one in person. The little guy entered a feral cat trap by accident. Don’t worry, the echidna is fine. 

In 2014, a bushfire burnt through 98% of the island’s vegetation, meaning this sighting was even more meaningful. 

A study by University College London has found that UK institutions repatriated 491 cultural items between 2010 and 2022.

Repatriation means objects that were taken unethically from their native countries and people are returned by the museums and organisations that have them. The process  acknowledges that taking the object was wrong, and and restores its cultural identity. Repatriations from UK museums, in particular, also acknowledge injustices committed on behalf of the British Empire as part of colonisation.

Around 60% of all repatriated items were stored in the Natural History Museum in London. Of the human remains that were repatriated, 97% of them were sent home to Australia or New Zealand. Museums and institutions also returned items to communities in  Ethiopia, India, Canada, Nigeria and the U.S. 

Lead author Rachel Gatehouse said: “Repatriating the items back to Indigenous communities themselves indicates a shift in the heritage sector’s priorities; a shift away from an item preservation focus and towards a living culture focus.”  

Tavarna Papalii of Samoa celebrates her try with Laikha Clarke and Jetaya Faifua during the 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Lithuanian musician DØVYDAS was performing at an aged care home, when one centenarian made a song request. The resident then decided to join in, and took out his flute, treating his peers to an impromptu performance. 

The best warm and fuzzy feelings. You can watch it here.

The YouTube video also has one of my favourite comments: 

Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge has donated a flat in London for early-career writers, as part of a broader scheme to make the arts more accessible. 

She bought the property for Writer’s Block, a scheme that makes writing opportunities more accessible for people from working-class backgrounds. 

Writer’s Block connects playwrights with Londoners who are able to give them a place to stay at a discount.  This helps writers access more opportunities without the financial burden of paying rent in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Waller-Bridge’s donated flat will be rent-free for writers. 

The initiative has already housed 12 writers, signed up 15 homes and supported 55 writers.

Screenwriter Jack Thorne, who co-created Adolescence, is also supporting the scheme. 

He told The Guardian: “For many writers, the need for a roof makes writing impossible… If we want stories told about our complicated world, we need writers of every background writing them… Every spare room a scheme like this can give to writers starting out in London, not only helps them write but saves them from giving up completely.”

Up to 50% off skincare is the kind of maths we can all get behind.

Hey Bud's biggest sale of the year is on now, across its natural hemp-seed-oil skincare, kits and bundles. Think a neck serum made to firm, smooth and hydrate, a peptide eye balm and a clay mask, all vegan and cruelty-free.

So, treat your skin and your wallet at the same time.

A team at the University of Cambridge is working to create vaccines against highly infectious viruses using an AI-guided technique. 

They’ve made a new vaccine against bird flu that’s outperformed current vaccines in animal trials. The study found current vaccines only protect around half of the animals exposed to multiple bird flu variants, whereas the new vaccine provides complete protection. 

Next up are  human clinical trials, so the jab can protect us as well as wildlife. 

Professor Jonathan Heeney, who led the work, said: "Rather than providing immunity to a single variant of bird flu, our new broad-spectrum vaccine is protective against a huge range of variants. It’s designed to counteract viral evolution, rather than reacting to it."

Australia’s women’s  rugby league team made history last weekend with their 124-6 win over Wales in the World Cup. 

The total score and margin of 118 points are both records for the women’s tournament. The Jillaroos scored 21 tries, six of which were by Jaime Chapman, who equalled the team’s record for tries in a game. 

The team made it to the semi-finals and are up against Fiji this evening.