|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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Intermittent fasting linked to a higher risk of heart disease death
on 18 March | 2024
Only eating within an 8-hour window is associated with a significantly higher risk of heart disease-related death compared with eating over 12 to 16 hours
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Blood-clotting drug derived from pigs can now be made synthetically
on 18 March | 2024
A common anti-clotting drug called heparin is made from pig intestines, which risks contaminations and infections. A safer, synthetic version has now been developed but its production needs scaling up
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Mammoth carcass was scavenged by ancient humans and sabre-toothed cats
on 18 March | 2024
A southern mammoth skeleton found in Spain bears cut marks from stone tools and bite marks from carnivore teeth, suggesting that both hominins and felids feasted on its meat
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Titan’s sand dunes may be made of smashed up small moons
on 18 March | 2024
The sand dunes that splay across the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan may be made of the ground-up remains of ancient irregular moons, rather than atmospheric particles
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Mathematicians plan computer proof of Fermat's last theorem
on 18 March | 2024
Fermat's last theorem puzzled mathematicians for centuries until it was finally proven in 1993. Now, researchers want to create a version of the proof that can be formally checked by a computer for any errors in logic
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Gold flecks make super-transparent glass fully opaque from one side
on 15 March | 2024
A glare-free window that is opaque from the outside but still offers a clear view from inside could be made with a coating using billions of tiny bits of gold
|DAYS UNTIL THE CIRCUS
|General
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Putin hails Crimea annexation after claiming...
on 19 March | 2024 at 02:56
Russia's president addresses thousands in Moscow after official figures suggest he won 87% of the vote.
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Nvidia unveils latest artificial intelligence chip
on 19 March | 2024 at 02:38
The firm has benefited from the AI boom, making it the third-most valuable company in the US.
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Trump unable to get $464m bond in New York fraud...
on 19 March | 2024 at 02:13
The former president must either pay the full amount in cash or secure a bond to continue his appeal.
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The US just announced an asbestos ban. What took...
on 19 March | 2024 at 01:30
The move comes decades after dozens of other Western nations took steps to ban the carcinogen.
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'Only God can change this place': Haitians see no...
on 19 March | 2024 at 01:14
Bodies pile up even in the "safest" areas of Port-au-Prince, a capital city reeling from gang warfare.
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Evergrande and its founder accused of $78bn fraud
on 19 March | 2024 at 01:14
Former billionaire Hui Ka Yan has been fined and faces being banned from the financial market for life.