Nine questions about Syria that you were too embarrassed to ask
September 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The answers have been compiled by the “Washington Post” for an American readership but I think that we can all benefit from the information. Check it out here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
The 20 BIG questions in science – and how they might be answered (eventually)
September 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
- What is the universe made of?
- How did life begin?
- Are we alone in the universe?
- What makes us human?
- What is consciousness?
- Why do we dream?
- Why is there stuff?
- Are there other universes?
- Where do we put all the carbon?
- How do we get more energy from the sun?
- What’s so weird about prime numbers?
- How do we beat bacteria?
- Can computers keep getting faster?
- Will we ever cure cancer?
- When can I have a robot butler?
- What’s at the bottom of the ocean?
- What’s at the bottom of a black hole?
- Can we live for ever?
- How do we solve the population problem?
- Is time travel possible?
You can see a brief discussion of each question here.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
A review of the sci-fi movie “Elysium”
August 31st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
If you enjoyed the science fiction film “District 9”, this is something for which you have been waiting for four years. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the Hungarian novel “Embers”
August 31st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
By an author of whom you have never heard, it was first published in Hungarian in 1942; it was only translated into English in 2001; and I have just read it and reviewed it here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Vee and Saskia brave the South Bank Starflyer
August 30th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I spent this afternoon with my brother Ralph, his partner Carol, and their daughter Saskia who was 10 this week. They live in Manchester but have been down in London this week visiting relatives and attending the Notting Hill Carnival.
We passed the time on London’s South Bank which is always lively, especially so in the summer. Vee and Saskia went on a ride called the Starflyer which is 67 metres (220 feet) high. It used to be a permanent attraction in Austria, but it was purchased by the Mellors Brothers and adapted to be the largest freestanding and mobile ride attraction operating in the UK
Ready …
… Steady …
… Go!
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
50 years on and poorer children in Britain are still born to fail
August 30th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
In a report published today, children’s charity the National Children’s Bureau is calling for urgent action to address the poverty and disadvantage that still wreaks havoc on children’s lives, causing them to lag far behind their more affluent peers in almost all areas of their lives, from health to education, early development to housing. Furthermore, a comparison with other developed nations shows that a lack of ambition for children growing up in this country causes children to suffer unnecessarily and risks these patterns of disadvantage becoming permanent features of our society.
“Greater Expectations” compares data on different aspects of children’s lives today with a ground breaking national cohort study of 11-year olds published in 1973. It finds that significantly more children grow up in poverty today, 3.5m compared to 2m, and these children suffer devastating consequences throughout their lives, including:
- A child from a disadvantaged background is still far less likely to achieve a good level of development at age 4, to achieve well at school age 11 and do well in their GCSEs at 16 compared to a child from the most well off backgrounds.
- Boys living in deprived areas are three times more likely to be obese than boys growing up in affluent areas and girls are twice as likely.
- Children living in deprived areas are much more likely to be the victim of an unintentional injury/accident in the home and are nine times less likely than those living in affluent areas to have access to green space, places to play and to live in environments with better air quality.
You can access the NCB media release here and the full report here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Bashar al-Assad helpfully sets out the options for the Western allies
August 29th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
See his guest posting here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Why is a minute divided into 60 seconds, an hour into 60 minutes, yet there are only 24 hours in a day?
August 28th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
All is revealed in this short but informative essay.
Posted in History, Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
The “I have a dream” speech – the actual text
August 28th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King made his famous “I have a dream” speech in Washington DC.
You can read the full text here.
You can see a 17 minute video of the march here:
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Ever been to Glossop?
August 27th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
No, I didn’t think so – and I hadn’t been there for half a century until this week.
Glossop is a lovely market own in Derbyshire which bills itself as the gateway to the Peak District. I was brought up in the nearby city of Manchester and a boy at my school actually lived in Glossop. We became friends and I visited him in the town. I remember very few of my friends from school days, but I have always remembered his name and even his address: Nigel Chamberlain of 13 Hope Street. I was impressed that, at the end of his road, was the countryside.
So it was strange to revisit the town after so long and for a totally different reason: I was having discussions with an organisation called Digital Outreach. The local train from Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop offers some splendid views of the countryside and stops at a succession of quaintly named stations: Ashburys, Guide Bridge, Flowery Field, Newton For Hyde, Godley, Hattersley, Broadbottom. Dinting. Another world compared to Manchester or London.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)