When the weather is hot, zebra finches in Australia sing to their eggs - and these "incubation calls" change the chicks' development, a study has found.

The surprising discovery suggests that the birds are preparing their offspring for warm conditions after they hatch.
Scientists collected eggs and incubated them in controlled conditions, playing recordings of the incubation song.
Compared to a control group, hatchlings that received these calls grew more slowly and coped better in the heat.
Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say this is the sort of adaptation that could help animals acclimatise to rising global temperatures.
"It doesn't mean that they will still be able to breed at extreme temperatures - this was within the range they currently experience," said the paper's lead author Mylene Mariette, from Deakin University in Geelong.
"But what's encouraging is that it's a strategy that the birds use to adjust the growth of their offspring to temperature, that we didn't know about."
It is also the first time that singing to unborn chicks has been shown to yield such long-term results.
Previous studies have mostly concentrated on egg-bound embryos learning particular calls from their parents.
"We knew it could have some short-term effects on cognition and learning, but our study is the first to show that is has an effect on their growth and their development - and that those effects last until adulthood," Dr Mariette told BBC News.
"It means that the acoustic environment before birth has more impact than we thought."
She first noticed the rhythmic, high-pitched calls while making field recordings during her PhD.
"I was looking at how the parents talk to each other to coordinate parental care. That's when I noticed that sometimes when a parent was by itself in the nest, incubating the egg, it produced a quite different call.
"I wondered - hmm, are they talking to their eggs?"
When she started to study this squeaky serenade in detail, combing through Dr Mariette found that the birds were specifically singing it in the few days before eggs hatched - and only when the day's ambient temperature rose above about 26C.
"It's not that they do it spontaneously whenever it's hot; they do it when it's hot and when the embryos could potentially hear them," she said.
To figure out the specific effect of the calls, Dr Mariette and her colleague Katherine Buchanan used zebra finches living in the university's outdoor aviaries.
They collected eggs and, for the final five days of their incubation, played them either a recording of the birds' special egg-song, or a typical parent-to-parent call instead.
As soon as they hatched, the 175 chicks were returned to various nests and the team observed the youngsters' development in detail.
To begin with, the two groups were indistinguishable; the song hadn't changed the chicks' hatching weight.
Within a few days, however, that changed.
"We found that, depending on whether or not they had heard the 'hot call' from their parents, they reacted differently to heat," Dr Mariette explained.
"They adjusted their growth to temperature differently, and also solicited food from their parents differently."
Specifically, the "heat song" seemed to make the chicks develop slower - and remain lighter - if their nest was in a hot corner of the aviary.
Being a lightweight is generally bad news in evolutionary terms, but when the researchers followed the finches' fortunes into adulthood, it proved the opposite: those lighter birds that grew up in hot nests produced significantly more fledglings than their heavier childhood companions.
Furthermore, the chicks that were primed with a "heat song" in the egg went on to prefer warmer nesting spots.
"It's as if the parents are preparing the chicks for the temperature they will experience after hatching," said Dr Mariette.
It is a mystery, she added, how being smaller gives the birds an advantage in the heat. But it may be because growing in hot conditions is costly for the body, placing more oxidative stress on tissues - so staying small becomes a better strategy.
This could also help explain why, as global temperatures rise, wild bird populations in general are slowly shrinking - though mostly, that process has been seen to have negative consequences for the species involved.
Whatever their evolutionary implications, the Deakin team's findings are an intriguing case of communication between parents and unborn offspring.
Nicola Hemmings, a research fellow studying bird reproduction at Sheffield University in the UK, said the experiments were elegantly designed and the results convincing.
"They've shown that not only can parents teach their offspring a call while they're still in the egg - but that they're giving them quite specific information about the environment they're about to hatch into," she told the BBC.
Just like the study's authors, Dr Hemmings said she was fascinated by what might be driving the changes in the chicks' development.
"They're not actually thinking, 'Mum says it's hot out there, I better take it slow when I get outside!' But it's having some kind of physiological effect on their body which is making their growth rate slow.
"Does it have a hormonal basis? Is it a stress response? That would be the interesting thing to look at next."
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US drugs giant Pfizer has scrapped a planned merger with Ireland's Allergan amid plans to change US tax laws.

The decision comes two days after the US Treasury announced fresh plans to prevent deals known as "inversions", where a US firm merges with a company in a country with a lower tax rate.
The Pfizer-Allergan deal, valued at $160bn (Â£113bn), would have been the biggest example of an "inversion".
It would also have been the biggest pharmaceutical deal in history.
Pfizer said the move was "driven by the actions announced" by the US Treasury.
Ian Read, Pfizer's chairman and chief executive, said: "Pfizer approached this transaction from a position of strength and viewed the potential combination as an accelerator of existing strategies."
He added that the company could look at splitting off part of the business.
"We plan to make a decision about whether to pursue a potential separation of our innovative and established businesses by no later than the end of 2016, consistent with our original timeframe for the decision prior to the announcement of the potential Allergan transaction."
Pfizer said it would pay Botox-maker Allergan $150m "for reimbursement of expenses associated with the transaction".
Under the proposed acquisition, Pfizer would have moved its headquarters to Dublin, where the tax bill would have been lower than in the US.
The corporation tax rate in the Republic of Ireland is 12.5%, compared with 35% in the US.
On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama weighed in on the inversion trend, saying "these companies get all the rewards of being an American company without fulfilling their responsibility to pay their fair share of taxes".
In 2014, American fast-food chain Burger King bought Canadian coffee and doughnut chain, Tim Hortons. The merged group moved to Ontario in Canada, where the corporate tax rate is at 26.5%.
Analysts had said that Pfizer needed to look at acquisitions to help grow its business and revenue.
Pfizer made an offer to buy UK drugs group AstraZeneca in 2014. But Astra rejected the offer, arguing it undervalued the company.


Specialist prison officers have been sent to an Isle of Wight prison after two inmates gained access to its roof.

The Prison Service said officers negotiated overnight with the two men on a residential roof on the Parkhurst site of HMP Isle of Wight.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the two men had been brought down safely at 00:45 BST.
The prison in Newport is a category B prison made up of male inmates and vulnerable/sex offenders.
HMP Isle of Wight was created in 2009 with the merger of Parkhurst, Albany and Camp Hill prisons, the latter facility closed in 2013.
The prison holds approximately 1,100 prisoners on its two sites.


Scotland's finance secretary John Swinney has submitted a fresh proposal in talks to establish a "fiscal framework" for new devolved powers.

The Scottish and UK governments have been locked in talks about a financial deal, with deadlines pushed back due to disagreements over key terms.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said the deal needs to be fair to taxpayers in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Mr Swinney said UK taxpayers would "not lose a single penny" under his plans.
The fiscal framework is the financial structure which will underpin new powers being devolved north of the border as part of the Scotland Bill.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon dismissed the Treasury's previous offer on the matter as resulting in an "almost Â£3bn cut" for the Scottish budget.
The two parties disagree on a principle called for by the Smith Commission on new powers for Scotland known as "no detriment", which underlines that neither the Scottish or UK budgets should suffer from the terms agreed upon.
However, they disagree on what form this should take, particularly over the matter of population growth. Scotland's population is expected to grow more slowly than that of the UK in the coming years, which could impact on the economy north of the border.
Ms Sturgeon said the Treasury seemed to be trying to argue in terms of what detriment should be imposed on Scotland, and her spokesman later described the UK government's position on the matter as "increasingly isolated".
Outlining his latest proposal to his Treasury counterpart Greg Hands, Mr Swinney said taxpayers in the rest of the UK "are no better or worse off" under his terms.
He said: "Under the Scottish government's method, taxpayers in the rest of the UK will see no detriment. They do not lose a single penny under these plans.
"And it will ensure that the Scottish budget bears the risk of population changes relative to the rest of the UK via the Barnett formula.
"In line with the Smith agreement, the Scottish budget will bear the full financial costs or reap the full rewards of decisions taken here in Scotland. And our proposals will see Scotland bear the economic risk of delivering growth, via tax receipts.
"This proposal addresses each of the specific technical concerns the UK government has raised publicly and privately. Agreement on indexation would allow us to focus on agreeing the remaining outstanding matters under the Fiscal Framework.
"I hope we now have the basis of a deal."
Mr Cameron told MPs at his weekly questions session that no-one was "keener" than he was to reach an agreement on the deal, adding that "there has to be fairness across the rest of the UK too".
However, in a letter to Ms Sturgeon he warned that the Scottish government must "be prepared to move towards us" to reach a compromise agreement.
The prime minister said it would be "very difficult" for him to "explain to taxpayers in the rest of the UK that Scotland will stop paying income tax into the central pot yet somehow still receive a share of it".
Holyrood's devolution committee has called for both sides to give a "full explanation of their position on a fiscal framework" by 23 February, when they will be called to give evidence before MSPs.
Convener Bruce Crawford said there would be "very substantial impacts" on the Scottish Parliament's ability to scrutinise the deal before dissolution on 23 March if a deal is not struck soon.


Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender Carl Tremarco has agreed a contract extension with the club.

The new deal means the 30-year-old full-back will remain in Inverness until the summer of 2017.
Tremarco joined the Highlanders in July 2013 after spells at Tranmere Rovers, Wrexham, Darlington and Macclesfield.
"Carl is a great player with a great attitude and it's good to get him signed up for another year," said Caley Thistle manager John Hughes.
"There's other players who we've also made offers to and hopefully we can get some more sorted soon."


An Australian militant thought dead is still alive and under arrest in the Middle East, according to reports.

The Australian government in May said Neil Prakash, a senior recruiter for the so-called Islamic State group, had been killed in a US air strike.
He died in the Iraqi city of Mosul, Attorney-General George Brandis said at the time.
But the New York Times, citing senior US sources, now reports that Prakash is still alive.
Prakash handed himself to Turkish authorities several weeks ago, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.
Profile:The confused Buddhist who became a top IS jihadis
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter-Terrorism, Michael Keenan, said the government could not comment on intelligence matters.
"The government reported Prakash's death in May on the basis of advice from the US government that he had been killed in an air strike," he said in a statement on Friday.
"But as we have said previously, the government's capacity to confirm reports of deaths in either Syria or Iraq is limited. These places are war zones, with many ungoverned spaces."
Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, has been linked to attack plots in Australia and appeared in propaganda videos and magazines.
Using the acronym of the previous name of IS, Mr Brandis said in May that Prakash was a "prominent Isil member and a senior terrorist recruiter and attack facilitator".
"Prakash has been linked to several Australia-based attack plans and calls for lone-wolf attacks against the United States," he said.
"He has actively recruited Australian men, women and children, and encouraged acts of terrorism."
The Melbourne man, of Cambodian and Fijian heritage, converted to Islam from Buddhism in 2012. He left Australia for Syria in 2013.


The death of Labour MP Jo Cox, attacked outside her constituency surgery, is the latest act of violence against an MP - but can more be done to improve their security?

The killing of the Batley and Spen MP, the mother of two young children, has been met with sadness and shock and a recognition that being an MP can be a dangerous job.
While MPs are protected by high security measures in Parliament, it is a different matter in their constituencies.
MPs - even senior government ministers - hold regular surgeries to meet their constituents to help them and discuss issues concerning them.
A report out earlier this year by psychiatrists working with the Home Office, reported in the Guardian, suggested four out of five MPs had suffered intrusive or aggressive behaviour and some feared going out in public.
The ability of MPs and their staff to engage with constituents goes to the heart of our parliamentary democracy.
MPs can represent us here at Westminster only because every week they go back home and meet us face to face.
There will inevitably be another debate about MPs' security. Many are often subject to physical attack. But politics can't happen from behind a ring of steel.
Jo Cox's death is not just an awful tragedy. It is also an assault on our democracy.
Read more from James
Of the 239 who responded to a survey, 43 had been subjected to an attack or attempted attack and 101 had received threats to harm them. Comments included "pulled a knife on me in the surgery", "repeatedly punched me in the face", "came at me with a hammer" and "shot with air rifle".
Last week Conservative MP Gavin Barwell told the Evening Standard he was having to end his "open door" policy to constituents until further notice, after reportedly being threatened with a knife by a furious man outside his office in Croydon, south London.
Speaking on Thursday before the news of Mrs Cox's death, he said his prayers were with her. "It is an unavoidable part of the job that we meet constituents in lots of unsecured locations - on the streets, fairs, meetings.
"Unless you sort of lock MPs away from the public, which would be a terrible thing for our democracy, you can't remove the threat unfortunately."
In 2011, Conservative MP Mike Freer said he was threatened by a group of men while conducting a constituency surgery at North Finchley Mosque in north London. He was escorted to a locked part of the building to wait for police after 12 people forced their way in, and one sat at his table and used abusive language.
Two other high-profile attacks on MPs in their constituencies were the Samurai sword attack on Lib Dem MP Nigel Jones - which resulted in the death of his aide, Andrew Pennington in Cheltenham in January 2000 and the stabbing of Labour's Stephen Timms at his constituency surgery in east London in May 2010.
Mr Timms was stabbed twice in the stomach by a 21-year-old woman, Roshonara Choudhry, who claimed she attacked him in revenge for his support for the war in Iraq. The MP told her trial she had made an appointment to see him specifically, rather than his assistant, at the constituency surgery in Newham and was smiling as she walked towards him, before lunging at him with a kitchen knife.
She was later jailed for life, to serve a minimum term of 15 years, for attempted murder and possession of a knife. Mr Timms said he reviewed his security arrangements but said it would not prevent him from meeting the public.
Nigel, now Lord, Jones survived when sword-wielding Robert Ashman tried to kill him at his constituency surgery in Gloucestershire, but his assistant, local councillor Andrew Pennington, was killed. Lord Jones told the BBC later that he had put more emphasis on security measures following the attack: "We had a security button put in the office which we only used once and we were just very cautious. We changed over to an appointments system rather than just a queuing system."
He said on Thursday that his thoughts were with Mrs Cox's family and friends, adding: "Due process of law should be allowed to proceed without hindrance. MPs do a difficult and sometimes dangerous job."
Labour's shadow policing minister Jack Dromey said additional security measures had been taken in the past, following the attack on Mr Timms, and added: "I think fresh security guidance might now be necessary at the next stages. But that is for the next stages, for today our thoughts are with Jo."
The link between MPs and their constituents is one of the most highly-prized aspects of British democracy and, as Mr Barwell commented, MPs are reluctant to lock themselves away.
It is seen as a way of keeping MPs in touch with their constituents who can often simply turn up at the advertised time and queue up for a chat with their elected representative.
Former deputy PM Nick Clegg, a friend of Mrs Cox, said he was "deeply shocked" by the death of a "lovely decent person". He added: "My heart goes out to her and everybody affected.
"But also it is such a vile affront to our democracy. One of the great things about our democracy is that anybody can just wander in and see their MP in their weekly surgeries.
"That violence against Jo, although that is the most important thing ... is also violence against our democratic values and very proud democratic traditions."


DJ Neil Fox forcefully kissed three girls under the age of 16, magistrates in Westminster have heard.

The 53-year-old, who denies nine sex offences against six complainants, allegedly "forced his tongue" into the mouth of a girl aged 13 or 14.
The allegations, spanning more than two decades, also include a charge that he grabbed hold of a 16-year-old girl at Chessington World of Adventures.
Mr Fox is due in court again on 30 April for a case management hearing.
Details of what the Magic FM presenter, known as Dr Fox, is alleged to have done can be reported after his barrister, Jonathan Caplan QC, asked for the usual reporting restrictions that apply to preliminary court hearings to be lifted.
Mr Caplan said there had been a lot of false reports about what his client had allegedly done.
Mr Fox faces seven charges of indecent assault and two of sexual touching without consent, over a period from 1991 to 2014.
One of the complainants alleges that Mr Fox, from Fulham in south-west London, repeatedly assaulted her at Capital Radio's studios in London's Leicester Square.
Two other women claim to have been sexually touched against their will at Magic FM's premises in Winsley Street in central London, between January 2003 and August 2014.
Prosecutor Darren Watts told the court: "The Crown argue that the complaints show a consistent and determined pattern of sexual predatory behaviour on the part of the defendant which spans some 23 years."
He said Mr Fox assaulted two girls at a motor show in Bromley, south-east London, in summer 1991, at which he was appearing in his capacity as a DJ.
Mr Fox is also alleged to have kissed a girl aged 13 or 14 and forced his tongue into her mouth after she asked for a photograph with him.
The court heard a second teenager was assaulted by Mr Fox in a similar manner at the event, and she claims he also put his hand up her skirt.
A third complainant, who was also under the age of 16, alleges that, while she was at Chessington World of Adventures theme park in April 1996, she asked the DJ for a photo and a kiss.
He allegedly grabbed hold of her, causing her to back away.
The ages of the complainants range from the 13 or 14-year-old to a woman who was 36.
By Lisa Hampele, BBC News correspondent
In an unusual move, Neil Fox's barrister asked for regular reporting restrictions which apply at this stage in court proceedings to be lifted.
Jonathan Caplan QC made the request because he said he wanted to "safeguard a fair trial".
He said there'd been a lot of speculation on social media about what his client had allegedly done,   and that created prejudice against him.
The chief magistrate at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Howard Riddle, granted the application.
So, details of the allegations can be given. The alleged victims will remain anonymous.
Four of the alleged indecent assaults are said to have taken place at Capital Radio between January and December 2003.
It is alleged that on one occasion he put his arms around a woman and squeezed her breasts, that he would regularly touch her bottom, and that one incident involved him simulating sex with one of the complainants.
During one of the alleged assaults at Magic FM, Mr Fox is said to have walked up behind a complainant and kissed her shoulder.
"When questioned about his actions, he has said 'Oh, I just had to. You look as if you taste so good'," Mr Watts said.
Mr Fox, who was first arrested in September last year, then again in December and last month, has been granted bail.
He has elected to have his trial at the magistrates' court.
The DJ, who rose to fame presenting the chart show on Capital Radio, was a judge on Pop Idol between 2001 and 2003 alongside Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, and Nicki Chapman.


S4C's new headquarters should be relocated 120 miles away from the approved site, an AM has said.

Up to Â£6m of extra cash has been requested for the Carmarthen building, BBC Wales revealed on Thursday.
Arfon AM Sian Gwenllian said the case for building it in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, should now be reconsidered.
"I was under the impression that the move would be cost-neutral. It appears that the Carmarthen bid no longer fits that description," she said.
University of Wales Trinity St David is behind the Yr Egin project in Carmarthen, where the Welsh language broadcaster will be based from 2018.
It has bid for a grant of between Â£4m and Â£6m from the Welsh Government.
The AM said Gwynedd council's bid was "still a valid contender" which had to be considered in light of this request.
She added: "The Caernarfon bid was very strong. The industry is embedded in the area and locating the headquarters here would be a huge boost for the language and economy."
University of Wales Trinity St David said it was "exploring a number of funding options", including discussions with the Welsh Government.


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Syrian security forces have engaged in fierce clashes with rebels on the eastern outskirts of Damascus.

Artillery shells and rockets landed in the heart of the capital as part of a surprise rebel attack launched in the Jobar district.
The assault began early on Sunday with car bombs and suicide attacks, activists said. State media said secret tunnels were also used.
The military says it managed to push the rebels back.
Government warplanes launched more than 30 air strikes on rebel positions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group of activists monitoring the conflict.
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Damascus only has a few opposition-held areas, and Jobar is the closest to the city centre. Control of the war-damaged area - which is split between rebels and jihadists on one side and government forces on the other - has been fought over for more than two years.
AFP correspondents in Damascus said the army had closed routes into the strategically important Abbasid Square as explosions reverberated across the city.
The Observatory said the rebels had initiated the attack to relieve pressure on fighters under attack from government forces in the districts of Barzeh, Tishreen and Qabun.
Last Wednesday, at least 31 people  were killed in a suicide bomb attack at the main court complex in the centre of Damascus.
Later, another suicide bomber attacked a restaurant in the western district of Rabweh, injuring more than 20 people.
The attacks came on the sixth anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.


Great Britain women kept alive their hopes of qualifying for next year's Eurobasket finals with a 71-67 win over Montenegro in Manchester.

Media playback is not supported on this device
Britain trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quarter but came back to win in a thrilling finish.
Johannah Leedham led GB's scoring with 28 points, while Ella Clark added 15 and Azania Stewart 12.
Great Britain's next match in November is away to group leaders Italy, where they will need another win.
They currently lie third in Group C, behind the unbeaten Italians and Montenegro, with only the nine group winners and six best second-placed teams making it through to the finals in the Czech Republic.
Clark, who hit three three-pointers in her 15 points and took a game-high 12 rebounds, told BBC Sport: "It's a bit of a blur now when you think about it but it was definitely a team effort.
"We were in that rut where we don't do what we do well and we were missing open shots, but even then we were like 'we can still do this - it's only 10 points.'
"It's a big mental thing to know that we still have the chance to qualify."
Montenegro led 35-33 at half-time on Wednesday before increasing their advantage to 58-48 with eight minutes remaining.
But Leedham, Clark and Rachael Vanderwal inspired Britain's late 21-4 surge to ensure they stay in with a chance of qualifying ahead of November's final two matches.


Wales needs a relentless drive towards earlier cancer diagnosis, an expert in the field has said.

Tom Crosby, medical director of the Wales Cancer Network, made his comment as the Welsh Government launched its refreshed cancer delivery plan.
In it, the Welsh government has committed to continuing to improve survival rates for cancer and reduce early deaths caused by the disease.
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said survival rates increased year on year.
The revised plan is focusing on delivering better results for lung cancer patients, improving early detection through better access to diagnostic tests and ensuring the highest standards of care.
The Welsh government is aiming to close the gap with the best providers of cancer care in Europe.
In October, the UK Lung Cancer Coalition said Wales needed "drastic improvement" to improve its five-year survival rates, which are the lowest in the UK.
Dr Crosby wrote in an introduction to the revised plan: "We must lead a relentless drive towards earlier diagnosis.
"We are aware that Wales performs less well in this compared to other developed countries worldwide. Diagnosing cancer early allows for a combination of less aggressive and less expensive treatment, improved patient experience and quality of life, and crucially, better survival."
Mr Gething said: "Sadly, cancer touches all our lives at some point. Most of us will know a friend or relative that has had the disease; some will have had a personal experience of it.
"Some will have lost the fight, but thankfully, many will have survived and gone on to live full and healthy lives.
"We're proud that here in Wales cancer survival rates continue to increase year on year. Early death through cancer has declined by around 14% over 10 years."
He said spending on cancer services had risen from Â£347m in 2011-12 to Â£409m by 2015 and the government had allocated Â£15m in the draft budget for better diagnostics.
Susan Morris from Macmillan Cancer Support in Wales welcomed the plan, saying: "We are pleased the plan aims to have outcomes and services that match the best in Europe and wants to tackle the inequalities which mean that people from our most deprived communities are more likely to develop cancer than those in our least deprived areas.
"A cancer diagnosis can affect so many parts of a person's life so we are pleased the plan commits to people being offered a key worker, a needs assessment and a care plan as well as information on where to access welfare benefits advice."
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A vast and hidden field of small black holes predicted to be near the centre of our galaxy could be revealed as a giant gas cloud passes by.

The G2 cloud is as large as our Solar System, and bound for a "supermassive" black hole at the Milky Way's core.
On the way, it should encounter many black holes just tens of km across.
A report in Physical Review Letters suggests they will spin and heat the gas, which will emit a spray of X-ray light that telescopes could see.
The cloud of gas - three times larger than Pluto's orbit but with a total mass just three times that of the Earth - was first spotted on its course toward the galaxy's centre in 2011.
Researchers have been gearing up for the cloud's approach to the galaxy's enormous central black hole, with its closest approach in September.
But Imre Bartos of Columbia University in New York, US, and colleagues hit on the idea of using the cloud's passage for another purpose.
"We know that there is a very massive black hole in the centre of the galaxy, many millions of times heavier than our Sun, and we also suspect that there are thousands and thousands much smaller - a few times the mass of the Sun," explained Dr Bartos.
Source: BBC Science
Could you survive falling into one?
"When I first saw this G2 cloud going toward the centre, we thought that this may be the first opportunity to hopefully say something directly, to see these black holes near the centre," he told BBC News.
The idea is that as the cloud speeds past these small black holes - some slightly more massive than our Sun but just a few tens of km across - gas will spiral around them faster and faster, heating up to millions of degrees and emitting X-ray light.
It is a bit like allowing a giant sink to empty through thousands of tiny drains and looking for any evidence of swirling water.
The team estimates - based on guesses about just how much gas is in the cloud - that as G2 makes its pass around the central black hole, X-ray space telescopes such as Chandra or NuStar should be able to glimpse about 16 interactions with its smaller cousins.
Keeping an eye out for these X-rays may also confirm the existence of what are called "intermediate mass" black holes - a few thousand times the mass of our Sun.
Here again, theory predicts their existence - particularly near the centres of galaxies - but none has ever been definitively confirmed.
"I think it's a good idea," said Stefan Gillessen of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, co-author of the 2012 paper in Nature on the G2 cloud's discovery.
"We didn't think of that when we did the original paper - I think it's something worth following up," he told BBC News.
"But the big uncertainty, as always in this game, is what is the density of the gas which comes in."
The less dense the gas is, the less likely that enough light will be produced that our telescopes can see it. But as Dr Bartos points out, it is the first real chance to get a look at what may be thousands of smaller black holes hidden between us and the galactic core.
"It's a very special opportunity, and it's also lucky that we've now got the capacity to observe these things with X-ray telescopes on satellites," he said.


The plane crash in Smolensk in April 2010 that killed the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and all 95 others on board has returned to the forefront of the country's politics.

Some in the opposition are accusing the new government of seeking revenge for the disaster, whose victims also included the heads of the armed forces and the central bank.
On Thursday five people involved in the organisation of the flight are scheduled to give evidence in the first trial relating to the crash.
Most senior among them is Tomasz Arabski, who in April 2010, led the office of the then prime minister, Donald Tusk, who's now the President of the European Council.
Mr Arabski and the others are accused of failing to uphold their obligations as public officials. They face up to three years in prison if convicted.
Members of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) camp have said it would be a good idea if Mr Tusk himself was brought before the country's State Tribunal to answer accusations of negligence for his handling of the disaster.
In April 2010, relations between President Lech Kaczynski, the twin brother of Jaroslaw, who still leads PiS, and Mr Tusk's centre-right government were tetchy and both camps competed to represent Poland abroad.
That year marked the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, during which the Soviet secret police murdered more than 21,000 Polish officer prisoners of war, as it attempted to eradicate the country's elite.
Instead of Prime Minister Tusk and President Kaczynski jointly heading commemorations in Katyn, near Smolensk, two separate events were arranged.
On 7 April, Mr Tusk landed at Smolensk in clear blue skies to take his place alongside Vladimir Putin in a ceremony to honour the victims, the first time a Russian leader had taken part in such an event.
Three days later, in dense fog, President Kaczynski's plane crashed just short of the same former military airport as his delegation made its way to the second ceremony.
Representatives of all Poland's political parties were among the victims, but they predominately belonged to the PiS camp.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who last spoke to his brother by telephone during the early morning flight, has worn a black suit and tie in public ever since.
Two years after the disaster, Jaroslaw Kaczynski stood before Mr Tusk during a parliamentary session and told him: "Everything that happened before the catastrophe is your fault. This is the result of your policies. In the political sense you bear 100% responsibility for the catastrophe in Smolensk".
Now Jaroslaw Kaczynski's PiS party is in office and Ryszard Petru, who heads the opposition Nowoczesna (Modern) party, believes he is motivated by his personal loss.
"This is my theory, this is revenge because he (President Kaczynski) was forced to land and it was due to the fact there was competition between these two and the best way for revenge is to put into jail those who were responsible for the crash," Petru said.
Tomasz Arabski has said he supervised the organisation of Prime Minister Tusk's visit and was not involved in the preparations for President Kaczynski's flight.
In an investigation, prosecutors said they discovered irregularities during the organisation of the flight but they were insufficient to bring charges and the case was dropped. The case against Mr Arabski and the four others has been brought privately by some of the victims' family members.
Ninety-six people were killed when the Tupolev plane they were travelling in went down in thick fog, short of the runway near Smolensk in western Russia.
The high-level delegation was on its way to Katyn to mark the 70th anniversary of the murder of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.
Among those who died were:
More than three quarters of Poles believe Mr Tusk's government did not do enough to explain the causes of the crash. Critics say Mr Tusk should not have allowed the Russians to conduct the first crash investigation.
In a CBOS opinion poll on the fifth anniversary of the disaster, only 20% said the crash had been fully explained, while 31% said it had been the result of an assassination or attack.
The poll did not ask who would have carried out such an act, but one presumption is that since the plane came down in Russia, it would have been orchestrated by Moscow.
It is a view promoted by Antoni Macierewicz - a close confidant of Jaroslaw Kaczynski - since 2011. He has repeatedly argued that two explosions caused the crash.
Two weeks ago, Mr Macierewicz, who is now the Polish defence minister, told a university audience that Poland had been the first victim of terrorism in the 1930s and "after Smolensk we can say that we were also the first great victims of terrorism in contemporary conflicts".
To date, the completed official investigations into the crash have said there is no evidence that an explosion caused it.
An investigation conducted by aviation experts under Mr Tusk's government largely agreed with an earlier Russian probe that blamed the crash on pilot error.
The Polish investigation concluded that the "hastily, haphazardly" trained crew had flown too low, ignoring repeated warnings to pull up, in weather conditions that meant they were unable to see the ground.
The 20-year-old Russian made Tupolev TU-154M plane then hit trees, shearing off part of its left wing, causing it to turn upside down before hitting the ground.
Unlike the Russian investigation, the Polish one also said the Russian air traffic controllers had been at fault for misinforming the crew about the plane's position.
Mr Macierewicz believes those investigations contain errors and he recently launched another investigation to review new information he says he now possesses.
Six years on from the tragedy, the crash continues to haunt Polish politics.


A Rwandan court has released a pregnant woman from the United Kingdom who was accused of involvement in a plot against Rwanda's government.

Violette Uwamahoro appeared last week in court in Rwanda's capital Kigali, charged with spreading state secrets.
A judge said there was no evidence to warrant the detention of the expectant mother and released her on bail.
Mrs Uwamahoro, from Leeds, was arrested in February after going to Rwanda for a family funeral.
The prosecution has a window of five days to appeal against the court's decision, Mrs Uwamahoro's lawyer Antoinette Mukamusoni told the BBC.
She was immediately freed after the court's ruling but she is not allowed to leave the country, pending the appeal.
Beyond the issue of bail settled on Monday, prosecutors must prove their case against Mrs Uwamahoro within 30 days or all charges will be dismissed, Mrs Mukamusoni said.
The arrest of the Leeds youth worker had caused an uproar among rights groups with Amnesty International saying she was illegally held without access to lawyers or her family.
Her husband, Faustin Rukundo, an opposition activist, feared she would be denied a fair trial.
He had appealed for the intervention of the British government to secure her release.


Many new university students want to get on with their courses and avoid the heavy drinking culture of freshers' week, say private school head teachers.

"They want to start studies in the first week," said William Richardson, general secretary of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference.
Some students wanted the week reformed, said Mr Richardson, quoting anecdotal evidence at the HMC annual conference.
It had got "out of control 10 years ago", but was being reined back in.
Mr Richardson said informal conversations with new undergraduates suggested freshers' week, currently under way at most UK universities, could be an isolating and expensive experience.
The official emphasis was to encourage students to join teams, clubs and societies - but too often it involved drinking games, initiations and pub crawls, he said.
The current generation of students, who faced rising tuition fees and debts often running into tens of thousands of pounds, were more focused on studying  than their forebears, said Mr Richardson.
He said: "There is concern about freshers' week being culturally very clunky.
"So, the teetotal, faith-based female student, who wants to enjoy freshers' week, at a venue where you can't say no to drinking - that's definitely an issue.
"We've had a chat with the presidents of the students' unions.
"Their concern is quite interesting - they want all students to feel included in the induction, and sometimes freshers' week is so far off the scale the wrong way that it is a big problem for them.
"They want it reformed, I think.
"Freshers' week did definitely get out of control 10 years ago, and [they] are reining it back in.
"The university authorities have a problem - [they say,] 'We want independent study, and they [the students] are all 18. We can't mollycoddle them.' They need guiding, these kids."
Mr Richardson's comments come as a survey of 2,000 students from independent schools suggest their top concerns are workload (27%) and money (25%).
Many also worried about going from "the highly structured" school day to the "less well structured" study patterns of university, said Peter Hamilton, headmaster of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Hertfordshire.
"For many people almost every second is mapped out. They go to university and find that is not the case," he said.
"They're paying Â£9,000 a year for it and the fact they've just come from a highly pressured 18 months where it's been work, work, results, results, and you can kind of see why they're so serious. They want to get on with this."
National Union of Students vice-president for union development Richard Brooks said: "Students are asking more and more for different opportunities to meet other students in a variety of spaces.
"Students' unions are rising to the challenge and providing a range of events that reflect this and finding ways to welcome new and returning students.
"NUS research has previously shown students are becoming more interested in all sorts of activities."
NUS research published in February hinted at changes to student life, with 87% of respondents saying coffee shops were the most used facility, ahead of the union shop (81%), clubs and societies (78%), and bars (74%).


Cornish Pirates' former Germany international Rob Elloway will retire from professional rugby at the end of the season.

Hooker Elloway joined the Pirates from Gloucester in 2007 and played 229 times for the Penzance-based club.
He played twice for the German national team, and spent time on loan at London Welsh in the Premiership in 2015.
"With a two-year-old and another on the way in July, I want to spend more time with my wife and children," he said.
"I feel excited to start the next chapter in my life and keen to find a role where my positive nature and enthusiasm will make a difference."


A five-year-old passenger was killed in a head-on crash because he was not on a booster seat, a trial has been told.

Joseph Smith suffered multiple injuries when the Ford Focus car he was travelling in smashed into oncoming traffic on Cardiff's Western Avenue.
Driver Dean Collins, 24, from St Mellons, denies causing death by dangerous driving in September 2015.
Cardiff Crown Court heard witnesses described his driving moments before as "impatient".
The trial was told that Mr Collins was in a borrowed car carrying his partner Laura Bright, 23, her mother Michelle Holmes, Joseph, and Mr Collins' own two-year-old daughter.
The grey Focus car crossed the central reservation on Western Avenue hitting a white Seat Ibiza head-on.
The jury was told that rear-seat passenger Joseph was wearing a seatbelt, but was not on a booster seat.
Prosecutors said it meant the child was too short, with the seatbelt across his neck.
The boy suffered broken limbs, a fractured spine, head and internal injuries.
"Joseph was not sitting on a booster seat as required by law," said prosecutor Janet McDonald.
"This impacted his chances of survival.
"The prosecution say the responsibility for that child was that of Dean Collins."
The trial heard that Mr Collins' own daughter had been strapped into a booster seat, and survived the crash.
His partner and her mother, and the driver and passenger in the Ibiza car all suffered critical injuries which required "intensive medical care".
The defendant has also pleaded not guilty to four charges of causing serious injury through dangerous driving.
The trial continues.


A large portrait of Marxist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg hangs in the Thessaloniki office of Nikos Samanidis, a founder member of Greece's Coalition of the Radical Left, better known as Syriza.

With many Greeks exhausted by five years of recession, tax hikes and record unemployment rates, Syriza and its firebrand leader Alexis Tsipras are tipped to win the early elections that must be called, according to the Greek constitution, if parliament fails to elect a new head of state by 29 December.
"After decades on the defensive, the left is staging a comeback. Not just in Greece, but in Europe and Latin America as well," said Mr Samanidis, a top official of Syriza in the country's second city.
Alluring as it may prove to Greek voters, the prospect of a leftist party coming to power in Europe's most indebted country is rattling the markets and European capitals.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has warned parliamentarians that if they fail to elect a new president, Greece could risk a disastrous exit from the eurozone.
The Athens Stock Exchange posted its biggest drop on record on 9 December, while borrowing costs for Greece have skyrocketed amid the political uncertainty.
A number of senior European officials have urged voters to support the ruling coalition of conservatives and social democrats. "I wouldn't like extreme forces to come to power. I would prefer if known faces show up," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker recently told journalists, commenting on the chances of a general election in Greece.
While Rosa Luxemburg may adorn its offices, Syriza is not the revolutionary force that her Spartacists represented in Germany a century ago.
As the party draws closer to real power, it has softened many of its sharp edges and tried to build bridges, even with City hedge funds. Syriza is vowing to keep Greece within the eurozone and has reassured creditors it will refrain from unilateral decisions on the debt issue.
Far from being destructive, Syriza's political proposals offer a reasonable way out of austerity and a chance to replace existing bailout laws with new ones, argues political economist Yanis Varoufakis.
"The first priority is renegotiating with creditors. Syriza needs to speak the language of truth about the continuing triple bankruptcy of the country - public debt, banks, private sector - something no Greek government has done so far. Then they need to table positions that the average German will find reasonable."
But Syriza and its 40-year-old leader are still seen by many in the Greek and European establishment as unknown and potentially dangerous quantities.
Mr Tsipras has warned markets that they "will have to dance to the tune" of his government, while Syriza promises to boost public spending, reverse privatisations, increase salaries and pensions and repeal bailout laws liberalising the markets.
Nikos Samanidis emphasises that the prospect of power has not blunted the radical nature of the party, despite its meteoric rise from relative obscurity to frontrunner in little over two years.
"The rich, the elites, the markets, the super-rich, the top 10%, yes, they obviously do have reason to worry," he says.
"They will lose their privileges. Our voter base has expanded greatly, but the grassroots, radical nature of Syriza has been preserved thanks to the crisis. Our party has not and will not sever its ties with the streets, with the social movements it arose from."
Syriza was formed in 2004 as a coalition of groups and parties ranging from Maoists to greens. Before 2012 its electoral appeal had been of little consequence for Greece's political system, never exceeding 5% of the vote. It only became a unitary party in 2013.
But in 2012, in the apogee of the Greek crisis, Syriza took the political establishment by storm, polling close to 27% in the June general elections and eclipsing the social democrats to become the second-largest party in the country. In the European Parliament elections in May 2014, Syriza emerged victorious, polling close to 27% of the vote.
Mr Tsipras, the youngest political leader in Greece's history, was instrumental in transforming Syriza from an also-ran to a potential ruling party. Known for his rhetorical skills, his dislike of neckties and his good looks, Mr Tsipras rose to the leadership of Syriza in 2008 and was elected to parliament in 2009.
"The economic crisis and the collapse of traditional parties certainly helped Syriza grow its influence, but it was Alexis Tsipras who catapulted the party," says Christoforos Vernardakis, Professor of Political Science at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and founder of the public opinion survey company VPRC.
"This happened because Tsipras is young and knows no fear. He took a defensive left and turned it into a credible choice for government."
Despite his undoubted charisma, several Syriza members and officials who know Mr Tsipras personally describe him as "an everyday, decent person".
"With Alexis we go a long way back. We used to hang out and I can tell you he is a normal, decent guy. Even as a leader, he likes collective processes and decisions," said Mr Samanidis.
Critics, on the other hand, see Mr Tsipras as arrogant, inexperienced and power hungry - a maverick politician willing to sacrifice Greece to rise to power.
Long-time friend Nikos Karanikas rejects this description of Syriza's "comrade-president".
"Although it was clear from the start he was a leader, it took some encouragement from us for him to come forward and take the lead - he had no lust for power," said Mr Karanikas, a member of the political bureau of Syriza's largest constituent group, Synaspismos.
Tsipras, he argues, still lives in the middle class Athens neighbourhood of Kypseli, and cut his professional teeth while working as a civil engineer. He was one of the "700-euro generation" of youth who struggled to advance beyond the average Greek salary.
Eager as they are for a historic victory for the left, Syriza officials are also prepared for a long struggle. "My generation has a chance now with Syriza to stop the disaster. We have no fear of governing," said Mr. Karanikas.
The party's first battle starts on Wednesday, in the first ballot of the parliamentary election for president.
Some analysts predict that renewed fears for Greece's future in the eurozone will convince enough MPs to vote for the government's presidential candidate; or, in the event of a general election, convince enough Greeks to turn the tide in favour of the ruling coalition.
Alexis Tsipras has denounced this tactic as an "operation of terror" by Prime Minister Samaras and European officials.
Some Greeks seem to believe the danger is real, with weekend polls showing that Syriza's lead has narrowed slightly.
But others, like Panagiotis Makridis, a waiter at a Greek coffee shop, are enraged by what they say is blatant scaremongering from the government, Brussels and European capitals.
"So Jean-Claude Juncker is telling me who to vote for? I didn't plan on voting Syriza, but now I just might."


Jose Mourinho would be a "fantastic signing" as Manchester United manager, says Carlo Ancelotti.

United are in talks with the Portuguese coach, 53, to replace Dutchman Louis van Gaal, who was sacked on Monday.
"In the last year, Manchester United has lost its identity," Ancelotti, 56, told BBC Sport pundit Jermaine Jenas.
However, the Bayern Munich boss said Van Gaal had been faced with the tricky task of rebuilding United and perhaps needed more time to make his mark.
"The job of Van Gaal was not easy, he had to rebuild the team," said Italian Ancelotti. "It takes time. In football, you need time to build something."
Old Trafford legend Eric Cantona says new Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola would have been a better fit for United than Mourinho.
"I would have loved to have seen Guardiola at Manchester United," Cantona, who celebrated his 50th birthday this week, told the Guardian.
"Guardiola was the one to take. He is the spiritual son of Johan Cruyff. He is the only one to change Manchester United.
"I love Jose Mourinho, but, in terms of the type of football he plays, I don't think he is Manchester United."
Mourinho's agent, Jorge Mendes, flew into London on Tuesday morning and is leading discussions with United.
If he is confirmed in the role, Mourinho will renew his rivalry with Guardiola, who was Barcelona boss when Mourinho was in charge at Real Madrid.


A man who went missing with his two young children has been found with them safe and well in Brighton.

Sussex Police appealed for help in finding Robert Roche, 36, from Hove, after he failed to arrive at nursery with his three-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter on Monday morning.
Officers said they received a call from a member of the public earlier on Tuesday and found them in London Road.
Police are working to establish the circumstances of their disappearance.
A spokesman for the force said the three remained with officers on Tuesday for a welfare and health check.
Live: More on this story and other news from Sussex
They were spotted just after 10:00 BST by a police community support officer responding to a tip-off from the member of the public.
Sussex Police said on Monday they were not treating the disappearance as suspicious but were concerned because it had not happened before.


Chile still very much relies on imported fossil fuels and hydropower, with only 4% of its energy needs being covered by non-conventional renewables.

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15 April 2012 Last updated at 17:19 BST
And this, despite huge potential for solar energy in the Atacama Desert, where sun shines almost all year round.
Subsole, one of Chile's major fruit producers, decided to give solar energy a try, building a solar park in Copiapo Valley in the north of the country.
The firm's chief excecutive Jose Miguel Fernandez says that Chile should pay more attention to renewables.


Veteran Andre Greipel won the seventh stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday to make it three successive stage victories for his Lotto Soudal team.

It also makes the 33-year-old the most successful German rider in the history of the race, with five stage wins.
Greipel delivered a well-timed sprint to finish ahead of Italians Giacomo Nizzolo and Sacha Modolo in the 211km race between Sulmona and Foligno.
Dutchman Tom Dumoulin of the Giant team retains the race leaders' pink  jersey.
Dumoulin finished safely in the peloton as the sprinters hit the front of the race in the closing kilometre.
Australian Caleb Ewan headed the race as his Orica-GreenEdge made a late charge for victory, but Greipel pulled clear with around 50 metres remaining.
"If we were playing football we'd say we've scored a hat-trick," said Greipel, who also won stage five, while his team-mate Tim Wellens won Thursday's mountain-top finish.
Etixx rider Marcel Kittel was looking for a third stage win in this 99th edition of the Giro, but suffered a puncture five kilometres from the finish.
Stage seven result:
1. Andre Greipel (Ger/Lotto) 5hrs 01min 08secs
2. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita/Trek-Segafredo) same time
3. Sacha Modolo (Ita/Lampre-Merida)
4. Caleb Ewan (Aus/Orica-GreenEdge)
5 Enrico Battaglin (Ita/Lotto)
Overall classification
1.  Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Giant) 29hrs 23mins 23secs
2.  Jakob Fuglsang (Den/Astana) +26secs
3.  Ilnur Zakarin (Rus/Katusha) +28secs
4.  Bob Jungels (Lux/Etixx-Quick-Step) +35secs
5.  Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Lotto) +38secs


Edinburgh's Stuart McInally admits he has followed Ross Ford's lead in a bid to dislodge his "good buddy" from the number two shirt for club and country.

McInally, 26, has had to settle for a bench role so far this season despite starting Scotland's last two Tests, in Japan, when Ford was injured.
But he will get a first start of the campaign away to Munster on Saturday.
"I just have to respect the man I have ahead of me in the starting jersey at the moment," he told BBC Scotland.
"I think the world of him. We get on really well and he has taught me a lot over the last few years, and not just about throwing or scrummaging.
"I see how hard he works in terms of the extra stuff he does and how early he comes in to do his extra fitness or rehab.
"I have realised that I needed to work as hard as that, if not harder. And it is hard to work harder than Ross, because he works exceptionally hard.
"Certainly over the last couple of years I have upped my attention to the little things. I come in a bit earlier to do a bit extra here and there because I know the challenge there is to get ahead of him.
"He has got 99 caps for his country, he is an exceptional player. But obviously I want that jersey, and I am just so eager to get out there and play."
McInally has won nine Scotland caps in the last 13 months - six off the bench - after making the positional switch from flanker to hooker three years ago.
Saturday's trip to Munster's atmospheric Thomond Park - a challenge he describes as "right up there" in Pro12 terms - brings back mixed emotions. "Playing there has been enjoyable, but sometimes it has been a nightmare as well," he recalls.
Two years ago Alan Solomons' side earned a one-point victory at the storied stadium on the first day of the season, but McInally was not involved - on the field anyway. "I was helping with the commentary for BBC Alba, so I was admiring it from their studio, unfortunately."
In 2012 McInally was in the back row when Edinburgh travelled there for a group fixture in the old Heineken Cup, the season after they reached the semi-finals.
"I think we were 6-0 down at half-time, and taking it right to them," he said.  "We ended up losing 33-0. It was awful.  I hate those moments.  That is what drives me and motivates me to play well because I hate losing.  I will be doing everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen again."
To avoid a repeat scenario on Saturday, McInally - who is co-captain of Edinburgh this season along with Grant Gilchrist - is in no doubt where the team's priorities lie after last Friday's disappointing home defeat by Leinster.
"We just need to go there and put right the wrongs from last week," he added. "Our defence is nowhere near where we need to be as a standard - that has been made abundantly clear by Peter (Wilkins), our defence coach.
"The players take that to heart and we've been working hard this week to get better.  There has been a lot of chat, but the proof will be in the pudding when we get out there, and how we react. I just want us to be really, really physical, and then I will be happy."


Nicola Sturgeon has hardly made a secret of her belief that Scotland's different attitude to the EU possibly justifies a second independence referendum.

At Westminster and Holyrood in recent months there's been a building sense that she has made up her mind to call a vote.
Those close to her are careful to emphasise that there is no final decision. She, herself, is at pains to say she has not reached a conclusion. But even if it's still an "if", she seems clearer on the "when".
In a documentary tonight, the first minister told me the "common sense time" for such a vote would be in autumn 2018. Others have speculated as much, but she is in charge. And her more explicit remarks display how expectation is building.
If Ms Sturgeon is now willing to discuss the timing of a second vote in public, consideration of another independence referendum is far beyond the hypothetical.
The crucial facet of that calculation is that the SNP believes its best chance of winning is before the EU negotiations are complete.
Senior sources suggest Theresa May will be at her most vulnerable when the UK government is consumed with the Brexit negotiations, and that if Scotland is to be offered independence again, that choice must be made before the UK has actually left the European Union.
There is though not just the problem that just as her supporters may be enthused, many other Scots will be enraged by being asked to go there again.
Just as the first independence referendum galvanised Scottish politics, for others it was divisive, even distressing.
But also, it's up to the Westminster government to permit another referendum.
There are huge risks for them in denying it, but ministers in London certainly would not grant a vote at the time of the SNP's choosing without a fight.
My interview with Nicola Sturgeon will be broadcast on Britain's Biggest Deal on BBC 2 at 21.00 GMT. I have also spoken to  Boris Johnson, David Davis and Tony Blair among others.


Automobiles, bullock carts, motorcycles, cycle-rickshaws and old planes are some of the attractions at a unique museum in India.

The four-storey, 95,000 sq ft (8,825 sq m) Heritage Transport Museum, located off a highway near the capital, Delhi, showcases the evolution of various forms of transport in India. The collection has been mainly put together from contributions of private donors.
The museum features cars that have been used in India since the advent of motoring. On display are over 75 vintage and classic cars.
The cars are parked alongside a recreated Indian street scene from yesteryears.
On display is the Ambassador, the first car to be made in India. Modelled on the Morris Oxford, the design of the Ambassador has changed little since it first went into production in 1957.  Earlier this year, the manufacturer halted production of the car,     blaming weak demand and financing problems.
"Oddly, in the sea of glimmering metal here, a 1935 Buick Series Limousine stands out for its decrepit state," wrote a reviewer for a leading automobile magazine, while reviewing the museum.
The improvised four-seater auto-rickshaw, locally called "phatphati", continues to run in parts of the capital's old city. The ornate, vintage ones are built out of old Harley Davidson motorcycles.
The humble pedal-driven cycle rickshaw is still used as a mode of transport over short distances in a number of Indian cities and towns.
On display are also locally-made indigenous forms of motorised transport, like this tempo which has been improvised to carry passengers.
A 1946 Piper aircraft also finds a pride of place in the museum. These yellow-painted, light aircraft were built between 1937 and 1947 mainly for flight training.
Palanquins, bullock carts, horse carriages and camel carts were among the earliest forms of transport in India and some of them can still be seen in rural India. The museum has a collection of bullock carts.


University plans to demolish a row of Victorian buildings in central London are put on hold while government ministers consider the application.

Thousands of people have signed a petition to stop King's College London replacing the buildings on the Strand with a new, bigger academic building.
Save Britain's Heritage campaigners said the new building would be "bland".
Westminster Council approved the college plan on 21 April but a holding direction has since been applied.
The application for 154-158 Strand, which includes a new courtyard and link to Somerset House, was submitted in December 2014.
The college said it had the support of English Heritage and the council.
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "The Department has received representations asking for this application to be called-in.  We have issued an Article 31 holding direction on this planning application while we assess whether or not to do so, so we can give the matter proper consideration."


Ireland's former world champion Martyn Irvine has retired from competitive cycling after failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics this summer.

The 30-year-old County Down man became the first Irish cyclist to win a world track title in 117 years with victory in the scratch race in Belarus in 2013.
Irvine also won a World Cup gold in Manchester in the same year.
"Missing out on the Olympics is a big part of it and I fell out of love with cycling," said the Northern Irishman.
He added: "The passion to train and put all that time into it has gone. I would just be wasting my time if I carried on."
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Irvine secured silver in the individual pursuit in Belarus an hour before his triumph in the scratch event at the 2013 World Championship.
It was a rollercoaster year for Irvine, who also won silver in the points race at the World Championships and a European bronze medal in addition to sustaining a couple of injuries.
A month after his Belarus triumph, Irvine suffered a leg fracture during the Tour of Taiwan road racing event later in 2013 sustained leg muscle injuries at a track event in Belgium.
However, Irvine finished 2013 as number one scratch rider in the 2013 UCI world rankings and claimed a scratch silver medal in the 2014 Track Cycling World Championships.
His achievements in 2013 led to him being named as the BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year.
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After winning silver in the scratch race at the 2014 World Championships in Colombia, Irvine was regarded as a strong medal contender at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and improving on the team pursuit bronze that he won with Northern Ireland in Delhi in 2008.
However, Irvine produced disappointing performances in Glasgow and has struggled to regain form since then, with a number of injuries not helping.
Irvine said the "aches and pains" were another factor in his decision to retire.
"I just loved the fact that I got cycling to be more mainstream than it used to be," he added.
"I'm glad I achieved some world and European success - I got some medals and got my name in the history books."


Who the Americans put in the White House makes a big difference to the world because US presidents have considerable power to shape foreign policy.

Think Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam; Richard Nixon and the opening to China; George Bushes Senior and Junior and their Iraq wars.
This election offers voters a real choice. Despite Donald Trump's sometimes incoherent and seemingly improvisational approach to foreign policy, the two candidates do offer quite different visions. Hillary Clinton firmly believes the US role is to uphold a global security order from which it also benefits, the Pax Americana at the core of traditional US military and diplomatic thinking.
Donald Trump's America First approach is more transactional. He frames alliances in business terms, vowing to get better value from them or pull back from historic commitments he says the US can no longer afford.
This is how their differences might play out in key international issues.
In no other area has Donald Trump departed more radically from decades of US foreign policy than his approach to traditional relationships. He has castigated Nato as outdated and obsolete and characterised its members as ungrateful allies who benefit from US largesse.
He says America can no longer afford to protect countries in Europe - and in Asia - without adequate compensation, suggesting he would withdraw American forces unless they pay up.
He's also said Nato members like the Baltic states couldn't count on the US to come to their military aid if attacked by Russia, unless they'd fulfilled their obligations.
Mr Trump is voicing longstanding criticisms. President Obama has also expressed frustration that most Nato members don't meet their goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence.
But Mr Obama stands firmly by the military alliance. As does Mrs Clinton, who proclaims Nato one of the best investments America has ever made.
She's said Mr Trump has made himself unfit for office by stepping away from Nato's "ironclad" mutual defence commitments, and some in his own party have warned his approach could embolden Russia.
As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the architect of the "reset" aimed at greater co-operation with Russia, but she left office urging a harder line against President Vladimir Putin. That distrust carries over into her policy proposals to "stand up to Putin" and increase the costs of his actions.
While she acknowledges the US needs to work with Moscow where it can, she vows to partner with allies to limit its "aggression" in places like Ukraine and Syria.
She advocates strengthening Nato and improving the energy security of European states, and is willing to consider new sanctions.
In a reversal of traditional party roles, it's the Republican Trump who has taken a more conciliatory tone to Moscow. But he's gone further than any other presidential candidate ever, amidst charges that Russia is trying to disrupt the election by hacking Democratic Party emails.
That's prompted allegations that his campaign has ties to the Kremlin. The real estate mogul has a history of business dealings with Russia and a number of advisers with Russian connections. The FBI, however, hasn't found any direct links.
Mr Trump says said he believes he can ease tensions with Mr Putin, and has praised him as a strong leader with whom he would love to have a good relationship.
He's said little about what this might involve beyond a desire for a joint fight against the Islamic State militants. But he intends to find out if the Russians would be "reasonable", confident that he could better command Mr Putin's respect than Mrs Clinton or President Obama.
Both candidates see so-called Islamic State as a global threat that must be defeated.
Hillary Clinton mostly adopts what President Obama is doing. Donald Trump talks tougher, vowing to "bomb the shit"out of IS and "take back the oil" from the group.
He's also criticised the current administration for failing to use the element of surprise in attacks, especially in the campaign against the IS-held city of Mosul.
The rhetoric is different, but many of the candidates' policy proposals sound similar.
Both talk about fighting IS with a coalition of Western and Arab states in ways the US is already doing, although they would intensify the campaign. Neither would send American combat troops to fight the group in Iraq and Syria. Donald Trump flirted with the idea at one point but seems to have dropped it.
However, he is much more willing to work with Russia in the fight against IS than Mrs Clinton, and supports harsh interrogation techniques of captured fighters, which she does not.
The candidates might also differ on what happens the day after in Mosul is captured. Mrs Clinton seems more likely to invest in fixing sectarian politics that could lead to new conflict.
Broadly speaking, Hillary Clinton is open to involvement in the civil war and Donald Trump is not.
He does support a safe zone to stop the flood of refugees but says wealthy Arab countries should set it up.
In line with US policy, defeating so-called Islamic State is a higher priority for Mr Trump than persuading Bashar al-Assad to step down.
But he argues that the Syrian president is fighting IS, which Mrs Clinton disputes. He's also suggested he wouldn't back the rebels and that overthrowing Mr Assad could lead to something worse.
President Obama has similar misgivings, but covertly he does supply some rebels with some weapons and overtly he takes their side in peace talks. He also believes the Assad regime is the most destructive force in Syria and has to be replaced in order to change the environment that breeds Islamist violence. He has tried to achieve that through diplomacy but Mrs Clinton is prepared to go further.
She supports a No Fly Zone - a move that could lead to confronting Syrian and Russian warplanes. The idea would be to protect civilians and control some Syrian territory to use as leverage in a future settlement.
She might also be open to supplying heavier weapons to rebel groups. But the bottom line is that Moscow's military involvement in Syria has severely limited options. No one wants to go to war with Russia.
The Iran nuclear deal has reduced the immediate threat of a military confrontation with the US, but the new president may struggle to see it implemented.
Hillary Clinton supports the agreement. Indeed, she laid much of the groundwork for it while she was secretary of state. But she takes a tougher tone than President Obama.
She calls her approach "distrust and verify", promising to penalise Iran for any violations. She's also laid out a broader strategy to confront its "bad behaviour" in the region.
This includes maintaining Israel's military superiority, bolstering security cooperation with Arab allies in the Gulf, and building a coalition to counter Iran's proxies. And she's signalled that she'd take a more forthright stand against human rights violations than the Obama administration.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, hates the agreement and opposes all aspects of it - he's called it 'one of the worst deals ever made by any country in history,' and maintains that Iran got the better of Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton.
He contends he could renegotiate it, although hasn't convincingly spelled out how he'd be able to do that. His pledge to counter Iran's push to "destabilise and dominate" the region doesn't sound so different from Mrs Clinton's, although it lacks the detail.
Both are prepared to use force if Iran tries to obtain a nuclear weapon.
There has been debate within the Democratic party about America's unconditional support for Israel, but that is not reflected in Hillary Clinton's platform.
She promises to guarantee Israel's qualitative military edge in the region, oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and cut off all efforts to unilaterally recognise Palestinian statehood or achieve it outside of direct negotiations with Israel.
Donald Trump initially pledged to be neutral in any peace talks. But he's since doubled down on promising an unbreakable alliance with Israel and taken a harder line on the Palestinians. He's said he supports a two-state solution but it would only be possible when the Palestinians overcome their "ingrained hatred" of Israel and stop "teaching their children to be terrorists".
His advisers, though, have questioned the viability of a two-state solution, a cornerstone of US policy, and any reference has been dropped from the Republican platform. That's distressed American Jewish lobbyists, who see it as essential to Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state.
At the same time, Israel's Jerusalem Post newspaper has noted that Mrs Clinton showed limited interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as secretary of state. It's suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would most likely welcome such a position after the Obama administration's failed attempts to broker a peace deal.
The new president will inherit a crucial but complex relationship with this rising global power, characterised by disputes over its economic policy, charges of cyber theft, and claims to territory in the Asian seas.
Donald Trump approaches China primarily as a trade issue, singling Beijing out for criticism on dumping exports and devaluing its currency. He has said he would "use trade to negotiate", threatening tariffs as high as 45% and promising to designate Beijing as a currency manipulator.
Hillary Clinton has also vowed to impose consequences for trade abuses but says the relationship doesn't fit neatly into categories like friend or rival. She was a central actor in President Obama's strategic pivot to Asia and would continue to reinforce US alliances with Asian states as a counterweight to China.
She calls for increasing co-operation with Beijing in areas of mutual interest, but would press it to play by international rules.
She'd take a stronger stand on China's human rights record. She'd also continue to challenge its programme of "island building" in disputed waters and might be more hawkish about conducting intrusive air and sea patrols to ensure freedom of navigation.
Mr Trump has attributed China's assertive behaviour in regional waters to American weakness, but he has not spelled out how he would respond to it.
The next president will face a North Korea well on its way to becoming a nuclear power capable of delivering an atomic missile. Current US policy is a mix of sanctions and the promise of negotiations if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear programme.
That hasn't worked and isn't likely to, according to the head of US intelligence James Clapper.
He said recently that pressing the regime to give up its nuclear weapons was probably a "lost cause" because they were its "ticket to survival". The best the US could hope for, Clapper said, was a cap on North Korea's nuclear capabilities.
Nevertheless, Hillary Clinton would do more of the same: work with the UN to increase sanctions, bolster missile defences in Japan and South Korea, and press China to use its influence to deter Pyongyang.
Donald Trump suggests a more confrontational approach: he claims China has "total control" over North Korea and says he would "make trade very difficult" for Beijing if it didn't solve the problem.
He's prepared to talk directly with the isolated leader Kim Jong Un, a major shift in US policy. And he's said he'd be open to Japan developing its own nuclear deterrent, triggering fears of nuclear proliferation in East Asia.


Carlisle ended a seven-match winless run in League Two with victory at Yeovil.

John O'Sullivan lifted the visitors into an early advantage while Reggie Lambe struck after the interval to ensure a miserable afternoon for the Glovers in which their midfielder Ben Whitfield was also shown a straight red card.
Keith Curle's men, who had lost six of their previous seven games, move back into the play-off places as a result of Blackpool's defeat at Luton.
O'Sullivan broke a goal drought for Carlisle that had stretched to 701 minutes at the point he found the net in the 16th minute, heading a quickly taken Danny Grainger free-kick past Artur Krysiak.
The hosts struggled to respond, not creating any chances of note until just before half-time as Tom Eaves nodded a cross just wide.
Yeovil's task was made even harder on 53 minutes when Whitfield appeared to elbow Tom Miller and referee Trevor Kettle immediately sent off the Bournemouth loanee.
The Cumbrians wasted no time in making their one-man advantage count as Lambe was played in behind in the 55th minute and although Krysiak saved the winger's first effort, he turned it in at the second attempt.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Yeovil Town 0, Carlisle United 2.
Second Half ends, Yeovil Town 0, Carlisle United 2.
Corner,  Yeovil Town. Conceded by Mark Gillespie.
Foul by Shaun Brisley (Carlisle United).
Francois Zoko (Yeovil Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt saved. George Waring (Carlisle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Jamie Devitt (Carlisle United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Bevis Mugabi (Yeovil Town).
Danny Grainger (Carlisle United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Liam Shephard (Yeovil Town).
Attempt missed. Francois Zoko (Yeovil Town) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
Foul by Michael Raynes (Carlisle United).
Francois Zoko (Yeovil Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt saved. Reggie Lambe (Carlisle United) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt blocked. Jamie Devitt (Carlisle United) right footed shot from very close range is blocked.
Attempt saved. George Waring (Carlisle United) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt blocked. James Bailey (Carlisle United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Francois Zoko (Yeovil Town) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Substitution, Carlisle United. Samir Nabi replaces John O'Sullivan.
Gary Liddle (Carlisle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kevin Dawson (Yeovil Town).
Attempt saved. Brandon Goodship (Yeovil Town) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. Reggie Lambe (Carlisle United) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner following a set piece situation.
Foul by Ryan Dickson (Yeovil Town).
Jamie Devitt (Carlisle United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. George Waring (Carlisle United) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high following a corner.
Corner,  Carlisle United. Conceded by Ryan Dickson.
Attempt missed. Reggie Lambe (Carlisle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Delay in match Michael Raynes (Carlisle United) because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Brandon Goodship (Yeovil Town) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Francois Zoko (Yeovil Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by James Bailey (Carlisle United).
Substitution, Yeovil Town. Brandon Goodship replaces Tom Eaves.
Substitution, Carlisle United. George Waring replaces Jamie Proctor.
Substitution, Yeovil Town. Tom James replaces Shayon Harrison.
Substitution, Carlisle United. Jamie Devitt replaces Luke Joyce.
Foul by Danny Grainger (Carlisle United).
Bevis Mugabi (Yeovil Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!  Yeovil Town 0, Carlisle United 2. Reggie Lambe (Carlisle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner.
Attempt saved. Reggie Lambe (Carlisle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.


Inspirational, obsessive, ruthless and thick skinned are words you normally associate with the art of management, but here is a new one for the coaching lexicon - nurturing.

It is one of the surprising adjectives Carlo Ancelotti's assistant coach Paul Clement uses to describe Paris Saint-Germain's new manager after the Italian had held court at PSG's Camp des Loges training centre for the British media earlier this week.
Clement had joined his boss at the briefing, perhaps also a chance for Steve Kean's former assistant at Blackburn to hear familiar English voices as he gets to grip with learning French.
Ancelotti has been in Paris since late December, succeeding Antoine Kombouare who had led PSG to the top of the French league before the winter break, only to be sacked by PSG's general manager Leonardo.
So having talked of finding a Premier League club after his sacking by Chelsea at the end of last season, Ancelotti finds himself in Ligue 1, which even he admits is not as strong as the English and Spanish leagues.
So what made him join PSG and its fabulously wealthy Qatari owners Qatar Sports Investments (QSI)?
"In December I didn't have a really good offer from England and then I spoke to Leonardo and I found this club, PSG, are really very ambitious," Ancelotti told BBC Sport. "They want to build a strong team, an important team in Europe.
"I feel very good and I've found a fantastic club, where there is a lot of enthusiasm to build a strong club.
"The owner is young, the president is young, the general manager is young," added the 52-year-old Ancelotti who, pausing for comic effect, adds, "and the manager is very young."
"The people involved in this club have a lot of enthusiasm and they really want to improve."
Leonardo has spent close to £100m in revamping the PSG squad but the Parisian club has been unable to attract a stellar name to the Parc des Princes.
LA Galaxy's David Beckham, AC Milan's Alexandre Pato and Manchester City's Carlos Tevez all decided against a move to the French capital.
"We had some problems because the French league is not at the level of Spain and England," said Ancelotti.
"We were able to buy Thiago Motta, Alex and Maxwell and, in the future, we will have more possibilities to buy new players."
PSG remain interested in Tevez and asked whether the Parisian club would try and sign him in the summer, Ancelotti replied: "Could be" - but the Italian suggested money might remain a stumbling block in any possible future negotiations.
"He is a fantastic player with a strong personality," said the PSG coach. "We spoke with his agent during the transfer window but we could not reach an agreement.
"I do not think Tevez will change his idea about how much he wants to earn
"I do not think he will change his idea about how much he wants to earn and I think he will ask the same in the summer that he was asking for in January."
Ancelotti might have only have been in charge of PSG for few weeks but he has already brought a new rigour and professionalism to the club according to the French journalists who regularly visit Camp des Loges, with training sessions conducted at a much greater intensity.
"He has a good way of dealing with people," said Clement. "He is very clear about what he wants to achieve tactically - both by talking to the players and by using video as well as in his half-time team talks.
"Whereas some managers might fly off the handle in training he is very nurturing."
Switching effortlessly between French, English and Italian, the urbane Ancelotti makes mentions of his liking for Parisian restaurants, but what is also striking is that he twice makes mention of a desire to manage again in the Premier League.
"Chelsea gave me the possibility to know about a new country and a new football and I have to say thanks," said Ancelotti. "Without that I wouldn't have known England and English football. I found a fantastic atmosphere and if you feel good in some place you deserve to come back."
They also gave him a whacking pay off with Chelsea revealing on Wednesday that it had cost them £28m to terminate the contracts of the Italian and his backroom staff, as well as subsequent compensation to Porto in hiring new manager Andre Villas-Boas.
"I knew when I signed if I didn't win I was sacked," said Ancelotti reflecting on his dismissal following the 1-0 loss to Everton on the last day of the season as Chelsea finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United.
A Football Focus interview with Carlo Ancelotti will be shown later in February


A resolution is being presented to the UN General Assembly asking for a special investigator to look into the 1961 plane crash that killed then UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold.

The plane went down over what is now Zambia during a diplomatic mission to help broker a ceasefire in the Congolese civil war.
Pilot error was initially suspected.
However, new evidence has emerged which sceptics say could add weight to suspicions of foul play.
The UN resolution would seek to compel countries to hand over documents and radio intercepts to a special investigator, which might nail down the truth of what really happened, BBC South Africa correspondent Karen Allen says.
Dag Hammarskjold: Crash or a conspiracy?
Mr Hammarskjold and his aides had been flying to Ndola in what was then Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, to meet Moise Tshombe, who had declared independence for the mineral-rich Congolese province of Katanga.
The DC6 aircraft crashed in darkness in a forest near Ndola shortly before landing, killing the Swedish diplomat and 15 others on board.
The reason for the crash has never been fully explained, despite three official investigations.
The third investigation, by the UN in 1962, reached an open verdict and did not rule out sabotage or attack.
Then in 2015, the UN set up a panel of independent experts to examine new evidence in the case.
Our correspondent says more recent information includes eyewitness accounts of white men in Land Rovers close to the crash site.
That has fuelled speculation that foreign agents could have been involved as part of a complex plot which put Cold War rivalries and European mining interests centre stage, she says.


Wales' top doctor has urged people with symptoms of flu or norovirus to stay away from hospitals.

Hospitals across Wales have had to close a number of beds to prevent the spread of norovirus among vulnerable patients.
This means they cannot admit new patients quickly from A&E departments.
Wales' Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ruth Hussey, said the surge in cases followed the recent cold snap which increased demand.
"We are asking people not to visit friends or relatives in hospital if they have experienced any sickness or diarrhoea in the last 48 hours," she said.
"Norovirus is highly contagious and can spread rapidly, just like flu, and some hospital patients could be particularly vulnerable."
Emergency departments and the Welsh Ambulance Service continue to experience significant peaks in demand - attendances have peaked at 25% higher than the average daily number so far this year.


Winger Lloyd Roby has renewed his contract with Super League side Widnes until the end of the 2019 season.

Roby, 18, only made his first-team debut in the recent Challenge Cup loss to Warrington Wolves.
He joined at the age of 14 and has represented Widnes at every level.
Brett Hodgson, head coach of Widnes Under 19s, told the club website: "Lloyd handled himself well in his recent debut and this shows that he has a real future at Super League level."


If you recently found yourself head banging your way through an article about a department for regional development consultation paper rather than yawning you were probably reading the Ulster Gazette.

The Armagh paper ran a story this week on DRD Minister Danny Kennedy's railway service consultation exercise.
Getting a gripping headline out of a story like that might have been a tough chore for most journalists.
The Gazette, however, ran with "Over Â£100m! Is this the rail price? Is this just fantasy? Caught up in land buys, No escape from bureaucracy!".
In case you're one of the few people reading this who doesn't recognise that ancient call to prepare to bang your head up and down, here are the first few lines of the fabled Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen:
"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality".
The Ulster Gazette's deputy editor Richard Burden is the man responsible for that outstanding bit of glam rock pastiche.
"I just always liked to do that type of headline. If there's a film, a song, a lyric - anything that springs to mind and it lends itself, you'll try to fit the words in round it," he says.
But why choose Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody? Is it some deep and meaningful commentary on Danny Kennedy's plans for our rail network?
"They're my favourite all time band, so it was an obvious thing for me.
"It's one of those iconic songs, the tempo and the lyrics lend themselves to the headline. You recognise it right away, it's not an obscure song, I think it's pretty obvious what it's on about.
"Campaigners in Armagh might say that the amount of money involved or suggested doesn't add up and it just lent itself to the lyric, you know - is it a real price or is it just fantasy?".
Richard and the Gazette are no strangers to the art and science of witty headline wrangling.
"I like to do unusual headlines, something that catches the imagination; it gets more people to read the actual story," he says.
"There's no point telling the whole story basically in the headline, because then there's no need to read what comes after it."
Richard seems most pleased with his newest baby, but there are a few past masterpieces which would do any hack proud.
"We had one story on an upturn in Christmas sales. The headline was The Tills Were Ringing Out For Christmas Pay."
"Asda had been interested in acquiring the former Drumadd Army Barracks and decided to withdraw from that as Tesco had expressed an interest in town, the obvious one there had to be Asda la Vista. It's a bit of fun, but it does get people talking."
When covering a controversy over Armagh council increasing parking charges at one of their facilities, the Gazette dubbed it The Charge of the Tight Brigade.
A debate about introducing a one-way system around the Mall in Armagh gave Richard another chance to dip into his big bag of lyrics.
"That had to be One Way or Another, obviously going for the Blondie reference.
"We've had a lot of toxic waste dumping and that going on around south Armagh. There was one at Carnagh forest so the headline there was Forest Dump.
Richard admits that sometimes, he's had to sacrifice his art for the greater good.
"There's probably a few that come close to the knuckle. We've looked at it and we thought 'oh no we'll not go ahead with that'," he says.
"You have to ask yourself too: is it offensive? Will people take it the wrong way? You make a collective decision."
Among some of his greatest hits, Richard recalls:
And Richard's Bohemian Rhapsody tribute in this week's paper has now attracted official approval.
"We were giving the minister the opportunity to respond - he was going to write a platform piece. He couldn't help commenting on the headline - he admitted he thought it was very good.
"It was very nice that Danny Kennedy would concede that he was quite amused by the headline himself."
Any way the wind blows...


Two pieces of aircraft debris found on beaches in Mauritius and South Africa almost certainly came from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, say Malaysian and Australian officials.

It is the latest development in efforts to solve the mystery of the aircraft, which went missing in March 2014.
The plane, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, had 239 people on board when it vanished.
It is presumed to have crashed into the sea after veering off course.
Three ships are searching a 120,000 sq km area of the southern Indian Ocean but have so far found no trace of the plane.
Five pieces of debris have been confirmed as definitely or probably from the plane.
Each was found thousands of miles from the search zone, though within the area models of ocean currents have indicated debris could wash up.
1. A section of wing called a flaperon, found on Reunion Island in July 2015 - confirmed as debris in September 2015
2. Horizontal stabilizer from tail section, found in Mozambique in December 2015
3. Stabilizer panel with "No Step" stencil, found in Mozambique in February 2016
4. Engine cowling bearing Rolls-Royce logo, found in March 2016 in Mossel Bay, South Africa
5. Fragment of interior door panel found in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius in March 2016
All the debris is being examined in Australia by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and other experts.
They use manufacturing marks on the pieces as well as samples of marine ecology like barnacles to help confirm whether they are likely to have come from the missing Boeing 777.
Speaking on Thursday, Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the team had "confirmed that both pieces of debris from South Africa and Rodrigues Island are almost certainly from MH370".
The ATSB also said both sections were "almost certainly" from 9M-MRO, which is the plane's registration.
No other 777 has ever crashed in the southern hemisphere, and none has reported missing pieces.
The ocean search, involving Australia, Malaysia and China, has scoured more than 105,000 sq km of seafloor so far, much of it areas which have never been explored before.
But the countries have agreed that in the absence of "credible new information" the search will end by the middle of the year.


Unranked Thai player Jatuporn Nalamphun has received an 18-month ban and a $5,000 (£3,490) fine after being found guilty of betting offences under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme.

Nalamphun, 22, admitted to committing three betting offences in 2014.
He was also found guilty of failing to co-operate with an investigation by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), a charge he contested.
Nalamphun's fine comfortably exceeds his career earnings of $682 (£476).
He is the first player to be sanctioned by the TIU since the BBC and BuzzFeed published revelations about match-fixing in the sport.
Following the report, the Tennis Integrity Board said it would start an independent review into their anti-corruption practices.