Where is everybody? It’s called the Fermi paradox.
July 30th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
This week, various people in the United States Congress became very excited about possible evidence for extraterrestrials visiting Earth. I don’t believe it for a moment. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence – and so far there’s none.
It is a paradox associated with the Italian-American Enrico Fermi (who makes an appearance in the current blockbuster movie “Oppenheimer”): there ought to be many cases of intelligent life in such a vast universe, but so far we have absolutely no clear evidence that there is – or has been – even one such civilisation, still less than they have visited us.
My own view, based on the current evidence, is that intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is probably extremely rare and that, even if there is (or was) such life, communication – let alone transport – between us would be so difficult as to conversationally meaningless but philosophically mind-blowing.
You can read a brief discussion of the Fermi paradox here.
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A review of the new blockbuster film “Oppenheimer”
July 29th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
“Oppenheimer”- or “Symbol Of Pacifism” as it is called in Poland, through which I passed recently – is the 12th film made by British director Christopher Nolan and I’ve seen (and admired) all of them, except the first, very low-budget work which I’ve never caught. Nolan is a director of exceptional talent and originality, every film he makes is a must-see phenomenon, and “Oppenheimer” is no exception.Based on the 2005 biography “American Prometheus”, this is the story of J Robert Oppenheimer, the ‘father of the atomic bomb’, the brilliant Jewish scientist who determined that the United States would beat Nazi Germany in creating this weapon of mass destruction and was then wracked by guilt about the existential force that he had unleashed.
The wartime building of the first atomic bomb, an operation codenamed the Manhattan Project, was a huge technological and logistical enterprise, perhaps comparable only to the first landing on the moon. But the Apollo 11 project was blatantly public, whereas Manhattan had to be conducted in total secrecy.
Nolan’s three-hour epic has a vast collection of characters, including scientific giants of the time such as – besides Oppenheimer himself, of course – Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Edward Teller, Enrico Fermi and Richard Feynman, all of whom have featured in my study and reading of physics, plus many military and political figures.
Most of these characters are played by members of a talented ensemble of well-known actors, starting with Cillian Murphy who is simply outstanding in the eponymous role, capturing wonderfully the intense, gaunt ‘black hole’ at the centre of this universe, and including Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr.
Sadly, I am advised by a half-Danish friend that Kenneth Branagh’s accent as Bohr is pretty terrible and the female roles in this quintessentially male world – Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife and Florence Pugh as his lover – are somewhat underwritten.
The cinematography is splendid: increasingly Nolan’s work demands to be seen in IMAX which how I viewed “Oppenheimer”. And the music by Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson – who also provided the soundtrack to Nolan’s previous work “Tenet” – is urgent and insistent.
Nolan’s trademark as a director is his fascination with playing with timelines, classically in “Dunkirk” where the land, sea and air segments deploy different timescales. Here, in “Oppenheimer”, Nolan uses a triptych of time lines: a chronology of Oppenheimer’s life starting in 1926 and running all the way through to 1963, a review of Oppenheimer’s security clearance in 1954 and a Congressional hearing in 1959 on a possible cabinet post for Oppenheimer’s one-time boss at the Atomic Energy Commission.
Most of the film is in colour, representing the subjective view of Oppenheimer himself, while the Congressional hearing is in black and white, apparently representing a more objective viewpoint (incidentally this is the first use of black and white film in IMAX).
The problem is that, with so many characters coming and going and this tangle of timelines plus the difficulty in catching some of the dialogue, the viewer is overwhelmed and it is really hard to stay on top of all the activity and intrigue. Also the science is inadequately explained and some scientists have argued that the test explosion does not show the heat and the violet hues that were key characteristics of this gargantuan fireball.
Furthermore, while accepting that this is essentially a bio-pic, I would like to have seen more consideration of the political decision to drop the bomb, which arguably is a greater moral question than the actual building of the bomb, and some representation of the dropping of the bomb and its enormous toll (I have seen the ‘Enola Gay’ B-29 bomber and visited the city of Hiroshima).
In short, “Oppenheimer” is a magnificent production but not without its flaws.
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A review of the David Lean film that you’ve never heard of: “Summertime”
July 26th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
In 1955, just two years before acclaimed British director David Lean began turning out a series of hugely successful epic movies, he made “Summertime”, a small romantic comedy-drama shot entirely in the glorious city of Venice. In spite of being a massive Lean fan since “Lawrence Of Arabia” (1962) and visiting Venice three times, I had never heard of this film until 2023 when the British Film Institute screened a restoration, with an introduction by Lean biographer Kevin Brownlow, as part of its seniors’ free matinee offering. It was a delight to see.Based on the 1952 play “The Time Of The Cuckoo” by Arthur Laurentis, it was scripted by Lean himself and the novelist H E Bates. It tells the story of Jane Hudson (the wonderful Katherine Hepburn), a lonely, spinsterish American who travels to Venice for a vacation and falls in love with both the city and one of its inhabitants (the charming Rossano Brazzi). Hepburn is splendid at portraying Janes’s initial aching loneliness and subsequent playfulness, but the motivation for Jane’s final decision is never made clear.
In his biography of Lean, Brownlow writes: “‘Summertime’, or ‘Summer Madness’ as it was called in Britain, was David’s favourite film, starring his favourite actress. It was made in Venice, one of his favourite places in the world. As he told a friend: ‘I’ve put more of myself in that film than any other I’ve ever made.'”
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Eight lifestyle changes that can add 20 years to your life
July 25th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
- Eat well.
- Avoid cigarettes.
- Get a good night’s sleep.
- Be physically active.
- Manage stress.
- Avoid binge drinking.
- Be free from opioid addiction.
- Have positive social relationships.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (17): conclusion
July 23rd, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia have a common 20th century history as parts of the former Soviet Union and are all modestly-sized countries with small populations in a minor and compact region of the world. Yet they are so different politically, culturally, religiously, linguistically.
Azerbaijan is the most modern and confident, aided by plentiful oil and authoritarian leadership. It has the powerful support of Turkey in its territorial conflicts with Armenia.
Georgia has no problems with Azerbaijan or Armenia, but has lost control over a fifth of its territory as a result of intervention by Russia. It is the most western-orientated, very much hoping for entry to the European Union and NATO.
Armenia suffers from a lonely, victim complex, having lost a major part of its original land to Turkey and losing in its recent and still current conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Each of the three has different offerings for tourists in terms of terrain and buildings. The most common visits were to churches and monasteries in Georgia and Armenia but the venerable age of these and their often spectacular locations made each a unique experience. The Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijani, the Stalin Museum in Georgia and the Genocide Museum in Armenia could not be more different from one another.
Throughout the two and a half weeks of the trip, the temperature was consistory hot (high 20s to low 30s centigrade) but tolerable, even pleasant, while Britain had poor weather and southern Europe sweltered in excessive heat.
So another very successful trip which brings the total of countries that I have visited to 88. One of our group had clocked up 98 countries, so I have a way to go and I plan to keep going as long as I can manage these journeys. I learn so much.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (16): more in and round Yerevan, Armenia
July 23rd, 2023 by Roger Darlington
On the last day of our tour of the Caucasus, again there was much less travelling because we were either in or around Yerevan.
We made a late start of 9.30 am and drove around the city centre while Garik pointed out key locations such as the parliament building and the presidential palace.
Since we had been in Armenia, there had not been a morning or an afternoon when Garik had not mentioned the Armenian genocide and the loss of Armenian land to surrounding nations. All this sorrow and victimhood came to the fore as we visited the Genocide Museum and Memorial.
The massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire took place from 1915 to 1922 and the number of victims is estimated at 1.5 million. The museum has been compared to Israel’s Yad Vashem or Holocaust Museum which I have visited.
In the case of the Holocaust, few doubt that it was a genocide and Germany acknowledges culpability. But, in the case of the massacre of the Armenians, not all states (including Britain) formally recognise it as a genocide and Turkey vehemently denies that it was such a crime against humanity. The academic consensus, however, is that it was such tragedy.
The museum opened in 1995 and it is an impressive and moving presentation of the history and conduct of the genocide with some 50 sections arranged chronologically, each labelled in Armenian, Russian, English and French. We had a young female guide who set out the information calmly and persuasively. I was reminded of a recent film called “The Promise” which features the genocide as background to a love story.
The memorial was completed earlier in 1968 and consists of a tall, pointed edifice split in two to symbolise the current and lost provinces of Armenia and 12 huge tilted slabs set around an eternal flame of remembrance with a recording of a lament.
From here, we drove to the town of Vagharshapat which is the home of what is known informally as the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic Church and is called formally the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Before doing the holy bit, in the grounds of the complex, we found a restaurant, “Agate”, where we planned to have a drink and finished up having lunch sitting outside but in the shade.
Etchmiadzin may be a site of special spiritual significance but “The Lonely Planet” guide calls it “underwhelming” and the main cathedral – originally consecrated between AD 301-303 – was closed. What is more, the temperature was now 38.5C.
We headed back to Yerevan. First, we went on a tour of a brandy company called “Noy” (which is Armenian for Noah). This distillery originally began operation in 1887 and, following the break-up of the Soviet Union, it was reopened in 1999. We had samples of three products.
Finally, in the city centre, we were scheduled to visit the National History Museum in Freedom Square very close to our hotel. In fact, of the 14 in our group, 12 had set out this morning, only seven started on the guided tour of the museum, and a mere two of us were there at the end. I stuck it out for the displays of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age because I wanted to see the section on the democratic government of 1918-1920, only to find that this section was closed for renovation.
The formal tour of the Caucasus was over, but we still had an evening in Yerevan. Most of us went for an excellent meal with lots of wine in a nearby restaurant called “Mansoor”. Then we strolled over to Freedom Square where all the surrounding buildings were illuminated and a huge fountain area had waters ‘dancing’ to stirring music – a wonderful send-off to a fascinating tour.
It was a short night, however, as we had to leave the hotel at 2 am (!) to be at Yerevan airport for a night flight to Warsaw and then a connecting flight to London.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (15): in and around Yerevan, Armenia
July 21st, 2023 by Roger Darlington
On the penultimate day of our tour of the Caucasus, there was much less travelling because we were either in Yerevan or in the district about an hour to the east of the city.
Over a period of centuries, Armenia has had no less than 14 capitals. The current capital – since the Soviet days of 1918 – is Yerevan which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world (most of the other claims to longevity are cities in Syria and Lebanon, both of which I have visited). Its current population is just over 1 million which is about 35% of the country’s total population.
First, we drove up to a hill overlooking the city – not a particularly pretty sight. We were there to see the 22 metre (72 feet) high Mother Armenia memorial commemorating the country’s losses in the Second World War. Our guide claimed that, proportionate to its population, Armenia suffered the greatest loss of any of the Republics in the USSR. He also pointed that the designer of the MiG jets Artem Mikoyan – one of these aircraft was on display at the foot of the monument – was an Armenian.
Then we drove down into the city centre to see a building that is of special pride to all Armenians.
The Matenadaran (literally book depository) is the nation’s Manuscript Museum containing some 3,000 manuscripts dating from as far back as the 5th century. We had a museum guide who spoke excellent English and astonished us with the wonder of the museum’s displayed items which are, of course, a tiny fraction of the collection.
After we has-beens had indulged in a cafe called “The Green Bean”, we drove east for about an hour to a garden restaurant in a place called Geghard. The, having viewed a demonstration of the making of local bread using a kiln in the ground, we ate lunch in the shade (the temperature was 34C).
Suitably refreshed, we then toured the Geghard Monastery which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This was founded in the 4th century with most of the current buildings dating from the 12th century and carved out of a cliff. In one of the vaults, we were treated to the singing of a number of Armenian songs by a quartet of two men and two women. Their singing was divine and the acoustics amazing. I have not been so moved by sound since I visited a village just outside Damascus before the civil war and heard the Lord’s Prayer delivered in Aramaic.
It was only a short ride to an unusual site: an Hellenic-style temple. Garni Temple was originally built in the first century AD, largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1679, and rebuilt between 1969-1975. As with so many of the ancient churches of both Georgia and Armenia, the location was impressive – in this case, on the edge of a deep gorge.
It had been an easier day with much less travelling than previously, but it was still a nine-hour day by the time we returned to our hotel in Yerevan.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (14): more Armenia
July 20th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
It was a very long day (almost 12 hours) and very hot (up to 34C), but it was much more interesting than yesterday. If only our guide could talk less and plan more.
We commenced the day by driving south to the Noratus Cemetery. Located at a height of around 2,000 metres (some 6,500 feet), this location has around 900 khachkars which are outdoor steles carved from stone by craftsmen in Armenia. Dating back as far as the 10th century, the central motif is a cross but, over time, khachkars have become more ornate and symbolic.
We then drove through the Selim Pass in glorious weather with stunning scenery. Eventually we came to a special caravanserai. This used to be on the Black Sea Silk Route and it was built into the side of a hill and totally unrestored. One of our group, Stephen, spotted me sitting on a rock with the mountainside behind me, decided that this would make a good photograph, and started a succession of shots of various members of the group.
Lunch was in a small village called Areni where a family had converted their home into a small restaurant for tourist groups. The food was delicious and the service friendly.
It was about 24 hours since we had seen a monastery – but this absence was soon corrected. Nearby was the Noravank Monastery. Founded in 1205 and sensitively renovated in the 1990s, this is regarded as one of the most spectacular sites in the country. We had great weather for our viewing of this impressive collection of buildings set among stunning red cliffs.
We had to travel further – westwards – to visit our second monastery of the day: the Khor Virap Monastery overlooking Mount Ararat which is actually in today’s Turkey. We looked carefully, but there was no sign of Noah and his Ark.
We had set off at 8.30 am and it was 8.15 pm before we rolled up to our next (and last) hotel: the Tufenkian in the capital Yerevan.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (13): Tsaghkadzor, Armenia
July 19th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
Our second day in Armenia involved very little travel as we stayed in and out the town of Tsaghkadzor. Our minivan was a slightly larger one with three more seats providing a bit more room. At this height, the temperature was a comfortable 22C. Our problem was our guide who seemed to have improvisation as his guiding principle.
It was only an half hour drive to Lake Sevan. Set some 1,900 metres above sea level and covering 1,240 sq km (some 5% of the nation’s territory), this is the largest lake in the Caucasus and and one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in the world. The impact of local development and climate change means that, in recent years, the level has fallen significantly. In the north-west corner of the lake, we went on an 30-minute boat ride – the first time on our holiday that we had been on water.
Afterwards the programme would have had us visiting a monastery on a hill by the side of the lake (Sevanavank Monastery), but some of the group were not keen on the 227 steps that would have been required to reach the top. So instead our guide took us to a nearby seminary, only for us to find that it was closed.
This enabled an early lunch back in Tsaghkadzor in a restaurant called “Zanazan”. Bizarrely I was served with my dessert first, then the wrong main course came along, and finally the correct main course arrived – but the food was good.
Even more bizarrely, we were then introduced to a friend of our guide who was an Armenian from Iran who had managed to fight in the Iraq/Iran war and both the recent Armenia/Azerbaijan wars. In Azerbaijan, our guide had described the wars as involving the Armenians as the aggressors. Here we were told that Azerbaijan had no claim to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Next we visited another ecclesiastical site: the town’s Catholic Kecharis Monastery Complex where we were soon joined by a bride and groom plus photographer and drone. Our last activity was to use the ski lift to ascend Mount Teghenis where winter activities are very popular. There was nothing to see but the rides up and down were exciting. For once, we were back at our hotel at a time (4.15 pm) which gave us a decent time to relax before dinner in the hotel.
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Holiday in the Caucasus (12): into Armenia
July 18th, 2023 by Roger Darlington
The tour moved on to Armenia, the third and last country of the holiday and the 88th nation that I have visited.
Armenia is the smallest of the three countries in the Caucasus. It is just under half the size of the other two nations. With just 3M people, it is also the least populated nation in the region, but only a little less than Georgia. However, proportionately Georgians have a huge diaspora with three or four times as many living outside the country as inside.
Like Georgia, the people are overwhelmingly Christian. Indeed the country has over 50 medieval monasteries. The currency is the Dram which is about 500 to the pound.
In 2018, the country had a “Velvet Revolution” when it overthrew the decade-long rule of Serzh Sargsyan, shortly after he had become prime minister for a second time. However, the country is probably the one in the region with the most economic challenges as it faces low growth, unemployment and poverty plus the constant tension with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
Leaving Tibilisi at 9am, we were at the border in just over an hour and then it took another hour to complete border formalities in both Georgia and Armenia. The three of us who had been in Azerbaijan were questioned especially about why we had been in ‘enemy’ territory.
Our Armenian guide was Garick who, compared to our guides in Azerbaijan and Georgia, was much less cheerful and much less proficient in English but, of course, immensely knowledgeable. We were packed into a minivan with just enough seats for the group and cries of “We’re gonna need a bigger bus”.
Sightseeing started immediately as we dashed off to Haghpat Monastery which is a UNESCO World Heritage site located just east of the town of Alaverdi. The monastery was founded in 976 but most of the plain-designed buildings date from the 12th and 13th century.
Next stop was a most unusual community in a village up at an elevation of 1,730 metres (almost 5,700 feet). The village is called Fioletovo and it is inhabited by a community of Molokans who are Russians that split from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century. They drive motorised vehicles, but do not drink alcohol, watch television, or marry outside the community. In one of the homes, we had a light lunch of local delicacies.
A nearby third destination was a small town called Dilijan. Set in the mountains, this is billed as ‘the Switzerland of Armenia’. During Soviet times, it was a popular place for artists.
Our hotel was an almost deserted Marriott at a place called Tsaghkadzor which normally caters to winter skiers.
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