New research has revealed that individuals with the highest metabolic rates within populations should be the least pre-occupied with keeping track of changes in their environments that could lead them to sources of food. Individuals with slower or average metabolisms however should be constantly monitoring their opportunities for higher gain when they are looking for food. The study shows that variation in metabolic rates between individuals can explain dramatic differences in information use when it comes to food. The researchers, from the University of Exeter and the Max Plank Institute...

Devon’s Crealy Great Adventure Park is offering their members a chance to take advantage of their new ‘Price for Life’ offer. Annual Memberships can be purchased or renewed at the current 2013 price of just £55.

Chris Down, Chief Executive of Crealy Great Adventure Parks said: “We were thrilled to welcome our 750,000th member during the summer holidays. To mark the occasion both our new and existing members can now benefit from ‘Buddy Bear’s Price for Life’. As long as the member commits to renewing their membership before the expiry date, they will pay the same renewal price from...

Devon’s Crealy Great Adventure Park employee Rebecca Tapp has recently taken a once in a lifetime trip to become a volunteer teacher in South Africa. Rebecca, from Cullompton, taught children at Sithobelumtheto Senior Primary School in the Madadeni Township in North East South Africa and took some gifts from Devon’s Crealy Great Adventure Park to give to the children.

Rebecca said: “I was really fortunate to be able to visit the Madadeni Township and the Primary School. I met some amazing people and it was a very humbling experience. I am really grateful to Crealy’s Chief Executive...

Less than two weeks after local charity See the Future had a collection pot stolen from a shop in Honiton, Devon’s social media users have come to the aid of the charity and helped it win a charity donation from the Exeter Cleaning Company.

Exeter Cleaning regularly runs competitions and giveaways on their Facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/exetercleaning and has a tradition of ensuring that local charities benefit as well. Their latest giveaway was a £100 donation for a local charity.

Online supporters of See the Future, which funds research into conditions...

The most recent meeting of the Dartmoor Sustainable Development Fund (DSDF) panel has resulted in Dartmoor National Park Authority supporting five exciting new projects across Dartmoor.

Okehampton College, Brimpts Farm, South West Devon Community Energy Partnership, Growing Our Future and Camphill Community in Buckfastleigh, have together benefited from £31,350 of support from the DSDF to deliver projects that will help reduce energy use, develop local tourism business opportunities and promote local food.

The aim of the DSDF is to encourage and support individuals,...

Exeter-based renewable technology specialist Fair Energy has partnered with the world’s largest wood heating manufacturer to offer homes and businesses across the region a wider choice of renewable energy solutions.

On 1 September, Fair Energy announced its partnership with world leading Austrian manufacturer, Fröling, launching a new comprehensive range of biomass solutions for domestic and commercial customers backed by quality design and technical support.

The new range of pellet, chip and log boilers will make renewable heat technologies more accessible to a wider...

An Exeter-based IT company has launched an innovative online platform that will allow its customers to see how well it is performing in customer service.

Hosted Desktop UK, an award-winning IT company with offices in Marsh Barton, Exeter and Lancashire, is thought to be one of the first businesses in the UK to introduce real time transparency.

Adam Chetnik, founder and director of the company which offers cloud and hosted desktop services to more than 4,000 users across the UK, is the brainchild behind the bespoke software and he believes more businesses should be...

Children at a hospice in Devon are proud that their hand-painted gorilla shares his name with the royal baby.

The gorilla, part of Paignton Zoo’s Great Gorillas Project, was created by children at Children’s Hospice South West and named George.

Naomi Dymond, from Children’s Hospice South West, said: “Kate has an affiliation with the hospice movement, but we never thought she’d name her baby after our gorilla!” The Duchess of Cambridge visited a hospice in Hampshire as part of Children’s Hospice Week 2013.

“We are extremely honoured that our little gorilla shares his...

Devon County Council is offering a chance to win a free tank of fuel to promote National Liftshare week (7-11 October). Commuters who register at Carsharedevon.com before 30 November will be entered into a prize draw to win up to £100 in fuel costs. On Carsharedevon.com commuters can organise lift shares across Devon and the South West. Lift sharers can take it in turn driving or contribute a small cost of the fuel for the journey. Among those who has found a carsharer through Carsharedevon is teacher Katy Lewis who lives in Exeter and travels to work in Plymouth. She said: “I signed up to...

A Devon charity hosted an inaugural open day event on Saturday 28 September at its headquarters in Honiton, giving visitors an opportunity to learn more about its life-saving work.

Devon Freewheelers, which provides an emergency out-of-hours courier service, invited locals to meet the volunteer bikers and take a look at the motorbikes that are central to the charity’s efforts.

The service, which transports vital supplies including blood, tissues, organs and breast milk to NHS hospitals across the county at no cost to the NHS, was set up by Daniel Lavery after his wife and...