|RECOMMENDED RAMBLINGS
|Mac Dynamic Wallpaper
“It is named the "Web" for good reason.” David Foster Wallace When 'dynamic wallpaper' arrived with macOS Mojave it was a gimmick but a nice one. In reality it was showcasing what Apple could do with its new 'high efficency image file format' (HEIF - file...
|Carrying the Fire
“I know that I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three Apollo 11 seats, but I can say with truth and equanimity that I am perfectly satisfied with the one I have" Michael Collins Whilst everyone remembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz...
|Extinct Artist
"I have always painted things I am obsessed with and always gone with my heart regardless of convention." Dave White came to prominence as the pioneer of the 'Sneaker Art' movement, reinterpreting popular trainers as oil portraits. He has is own signature Air Jordan...
|Perseverance Pays
“If we see a hedgehog staring in the camera, we would know there’s current and certainly ancient life on Mars, but based on our past experiences, such an event is extremely unlikely. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the discovery that life...
| A New BMW Club to Join
I thought with my mentality having switched from the thunderous roar of V8s to the futuristic hum of electrics, the M5 itch was scratched. I was wrong. I can't remember when it happened or even how but without doubt the BMW M5 is in my psyche. It crept in there. It...
|Keep Rising Sir Lewis
I get kids from all different cultures and nationalities coming up to me now, all wanting to be F1 drivers. They feel the sport is open to everyone. I have had a passion for motorsport from a young age, in particular formula one (F1). I don't know where it came from....
|Season’s Greetings (2020)
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Peaceful (COVID free) New Year Christmas 2020 I think it goes without saying that we are all glad that this year is finishing and there is some light towards the end of the tunnel. Especially, when we as a family have beaten...
|Breaking the COVID bread
There were some upsides to the whole lockdown and pandemic. For instance, the enclave I live in was triggered to start a WhatsApp group. Something we should have done years ago but it took the 'house arrest' we were under to initiate it. This simple act has...
|Apologetic Integration
It is rather a disenchanting moment when the doctrine your parents subscribed to and expounded to you was not the armour you thought it was.It is a lie when people say 'children do not see colour' in reference to a person's skin tone. They do. It is just that they...
|Finding Colour in Black
It’s the difference between listening to Shakespeare being read by Brain Blessed instead of Patrick Stewart. Both would be enjoyable but one would be better nuanced. My younger brother had a great knack of extracting Sony Walkmans from my father. They were meant to be...
|Season’s Greetings (2019)
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Peaceful New Year Christmas 2019 This year's Christmas card was made up of photographs taken at Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland and Adobe Stock. The visit to the park was for Kitty's Birthday but sadly she couldn't attend due to a...
|Memo to David and the Cabinet
Can we address the issues now facing us? Can you put your own self-promotion aside?Dear elected politicians of any sort, please can we address the issues now facing us? Can you put your own self-promotion aside? For those of you who are career politicians and have no...
|HAPPENING ELSEWHERE
|Science
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Marmosets swap brain cells with their siblings
on 1 December | 2023
Most marmosets have non-identical twins or triplets, which exchange blood cells while in the uterus - and now it seems they also swap certain brain cells
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COP28: Energy transition may cut oil-producing states’ revenue by 60%
on 1 December | 2023
Without more international support, the transition away from fossil fuels could have disastrous effects for low-income countries reliant on their oil and gas industries
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Bottlenose dolphins can sense electric fields with their snouts
on 30 November | 2023
Like platypuses and some sharks, bottlenose dolphins have an electric sense which they may use to navigate and search for food
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Chinstrap penguins take thousands of very short naps every day
on 30 November | 2023
While incubating their eggs, chinstrap penguins need to stay vigilant for predators – so they only sleep for a few seconds at a time
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DNA repair has been captured in a step-by-step molecular movie
on 30 November | 2023
Researchers have worked out how a protein called photolyase repairs DNA using light, and their discoveries could guide the development of light-based manufacturing technologies
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Tiny star found harbouring a huge planet that shouldn’t exist
on 30 November | 2023
An enormous planet has been spotted orbiting a small star, and it could not have formed under either of our existing models of the birth of planets
|DAYS UNTIL THE CIRCUS
|General
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Guinea-Bissau: Heavy gunfire heard in capital
on 1 December | 2023 at 08:33
Special forces exchanged gunfire with National Guard members after a detained minister was released.
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Israel-Gaza war: Explosions heard and smoke rises...
on 1 December | 2023 at 07:12
Video shows plumes of smoke rising from Gaza City, Rafah and Khan Younis after pause in fighting ends.
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TikTok: US judge blocks Montana's ban citing free...
on 1 December | 2023 at 04:48
Chinese-owned app welcomes the ruling against "unconstitutional law" due to come into effect in January.
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Blinken steps up call for Israel to spare...
on 1 December | 2023 at 02:58
The top diplomat delivers the strongest US remarks yet in Israel on protecting Palestinian civilians.
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US Senator Rand Paul performs Heimlich on Senator...
on 1 December | 2023 at 01:59
Rand Paul of Kentucky performs the Heimlich manoeuvre on fellow Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa.
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Africa's week in pictures: 24-30 November 2023
on 1 December | 2023 at 01:57
A selection of the best photos from across the African continent this week.
