Geochronologists say basalt columns in Antrim sprung up during volcanic activity over 5.5m years – 8m less than thought

For centuries, the tale has been passed from generation to generation: how the Irish giant Finn McCool built the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland to fight Benandonner, his Scottish rival, by hurling chunks of the Antrim coastline into the sea.

Now, scientists have revealed it was intense geological activity during a “major globally impacting volcanic event” – and not a legendary battle between two destructive giants – that led to the formation of the coastline’s 40,000 distinctive interlocking basalt columns about 60m years ago.

Awareness of disorders such as hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is low among British healthcare professionals

People in the UK with hypermobility conditions are waiting up to 21 years to be diagnosed while suffering from symptoms ranging from chronic pain to partially dislocated joints, research suggests.

The study of more than 2,000 people, which was led by the University of Edinburgh and described as the largest of its kind in the UK, indicates awareness of hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is low among British healthcare professionals.