Archive for the ‘Science & technology’ Category
How many people die from HIV/AIDS?
May 27th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
As we begin to see a way of eventually eliminating Covid-19 when the global death toll is around 3.5M and still rising, we should remember that HIV/AIDS is still a global killer and so far we do have a vaccine for it. Around 700,00 people die from HIV/AIDS each year; in some countries it is the leading […]
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How long have we been here?
May 12th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
By ‘we’, I mean humankind. By ‘here’, I mean the universe. Consider these amazing facts: The universe is 13.8 billion years old. The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Humankind has been around for about 200,000 years. So the universe is around 70,000 times older than humans. If the age of the universe was represented […]
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Word of the day: synesthesia
April 23rd, 2021 by Roger Darlington
Synesthesia is an anomalous blending of the senses in which the stimulation of one modality simultaneously produces sensation in a different modality. Synesthetes hear colours, feel sounds and taste shapes. What makes synesthesia different from drug-induced hallucinations is that synesthetic sensations are highly consistent: for particular synesthetes, the note F is always a reddish shade of rust, […]
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Has physics found a fifth force?
April 8th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
In physics today, there is something called “the core theory” which asserts that everything consists of particles (such as electrons, protons and neutrons) and forces (namely, the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism and gravity) that arise out of fields (such as the Higgs field). Now, for decades, scientists have sought to reconcile the general […]
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How does the current global pandemic compare with the influenza pandemic of 1918?
March 30th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
The influenza pandemic is usually called the Spanish flu. However, it was only called that because it came to the attention of the media more in Spain since this country was neutral and had a freer media than the Great War combatant nations of Britain, France and Germany where the flu was initially prevalent. We […]
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How should we test for coronavirus?
February 24th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
There are two tests to determine whether someone has coronavirus (and one – a blood test – to establish whether someone has actually had the virus). The first test for the virus is called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This involves swabbing the back of the throat and the nostrils. The swab has to be sent to […]
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Ever heard of the Schumann resonances?
February 5th, 2021 by Roger Darlington
No, neither had I – until today. A friend of mine, who is very spiritual, explained that her troubled week might be related to a high value of the Schumann resonances. As a sceptic, I am profoundly doubtful about all spiritual phenomena or explanations, but I was assured that Schumann resonances are a real thing. […]
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What do we know about the two new Covid variants in the UK?
December 24th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
The global pandemic is the stuff of nightmares. No sooner has most of the UK population moved into the toughest set of restrictions since formal lockdown than we have a mutant virus and now a second variant – apparently each more virulent than the previous strain. At such times, we need careful assessment based on […]
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Here’s what we know about the new variant of coronavirus
December 23rd, 2020 by Roger Darlington
I live in London, the epicentre of the new strain of the coronavirus – what is technically known as the Sars-CoV-2 lineage 1.1.7. In the “Guardian” newspaper today, there is an informative article by Sharon Peacock who is director of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium and professor of public health and microbiology at the University of Cambridge. […]
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How many cases of coronavirus been caused by touching contaminated surfaces?
November 6th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
The World Health Organization has warned about surfaces being a source of transmission, while conceding there are no reports demonstrating infection in this way. It said: “Despite consistent evidence as to Sars-CoV-2 contamination of surfaces and the survival of the virus on certain surfaces, there are no specific reports which have directly demonstrated fomite transmission. People […]
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