All posts by Keith

I’m a controversialist and catalyst, quietly enabling others to develop by providing different ideas and views of the world. Born in London in the early 1950s and initially trained as a research chemist I retired as a senior project manager after 35 years in the IT industry. Retirement is about community give-back and finding some equilibrium. Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Anthony Powell Society. Chairman of my GP's patient group.
links, medical, science

Your Interesting Links

More links to items of interest which you may have missed. Quite a science based set this time, although again none of it too deep that non-scientists will get totally lost!
To start off this holiday season, what causes the scent of the sea? And no, it isn’t ozone as everyone believes!


Quickly followed by a quick look at the chemistry of insect repellents.
From insect pests to bacterial pests … A new study suggests that culling badgers is going to have next to no effect on bovine TB and the only way to constrain it is with mass culls of cattle. Sadly there’s probably zero chance the politicians will listen.
Following on from which George Monbiot is (quite rightly) scathing about the way the government is attempting to prevent the reintroduction of wildlife to the UK by using the Infrastructure Bill currently before parliament.
And here’s a piece on how we need to change the way we produce food if we are to be able to feed the ever increasing world population. Basically the whole global food narrative has to change because the current one, even with known tweaks, won’t work!
While we’re on food, here is a piece debunking ten common claims about genetically-modified crops. Yes, I understand the science, but I’m still not entirely comfortable with GMOs.
More food … This time it’s cheese, and a look at the work going on to understand the complex web of bacteria and fungi which turn milk into different types of cheese.
An important article looking at how we have to understand the statistical basis for evaluating actions (medical, social etc.). We have to measure their effectiveness against the background expected death rate (say), rather than against zero deaths.
[Trigger warning, especially for those who may have had miscarriages etc.]
Now let’s slide quietly into the medical arena with a look at the human placenta and the work that is going on to really understand it’s complexity and involvement in gestational and neonatal problems.
Here’s another important piece by the ever-excellent Prof Alice Roberts on how some hormonal contraceptives might be making PMS worse. And apparently this is something many women and lots of GPs do not understand well enough.
Here are twenty things you didn’t know about teeth.
And still on things medical, an interesting article by Carl Zimmer on the mysteries surrounding human blood groups and why we have them.
Now how’s this for a piece of lateral thinking? … A team of scientists are working on a system to use bubble wrap for conducting cheap blood and bacterial tests out in the field, away from the pathology lab, and where cost is a major issue.
The modern bathroom is a wasteful and unhealthy design. But it seems to stay that way because it is space efficient.
So at last we slide into psychology with an article on why the much hated Myers-Briggs test of personality types is totally meaningless.
I don’t pretend to understand Islam, so I found this infographic on the relationship between the various Islamic Sects very illuminating. Now will someone please do the same for Christianity and Buddhism.

And finally … A group of physicists and mathematicians are using mathematical tools to look at the complex social relations in the Icelandic Sagas (as well as other texts) and finding new things that literature specialists haven’t been able to unravel.

personal

What Brings the Week?

Looking back over the last week …
UP
Lovely warm weather. If anything it is slightly too warm, but better that than cold, grey, wet and windy. And it is so lovely and warm that all the windows are open, so lots of nice fresh air — well what passes for it within 20 miles of central London. I do feel so much better in this weather; why can’t we have it all the year?
Several totally blank days in the diary; all rather unexpectedly. This has meant not too many early mornings and some extra quality sleep. That with the nice weather means I feel more like getting on and catching up with lots of the jobs I need to do.
Went to the local Healthwatch AGM on Tuesday. Overall a good meeting, with an excellent facilitated session (for 100-ish people) on Healthwatch priorities for the next year — lots of good input and not too many time-wasters. Hopefully I’ll get to see the results and help set the top priorities next week. Had a well-deserved pizza and beer after the meeting — can’t remember when I last had pizza!
New mobile phone. I finally went for a Samsung Galaxy S4 which is a nice animal — it has just about everything the Galaxy S5 does and is about £200 cheaper! And moving my existing number from Virgin to Three went smoothly. I can’t believe how much cheaper Three are! At the end I had just over £20 left on my Virgin PAYG account, so the London Air Ambulance got a donation.
DOWN
Virgin being difficult about providing an unlock code for my old Samsung Galaxy S2. I don’t think they’re unwilling, just slightly disorganised, not communicating what they’re doing and having to be chased.
Also had an argument with my health insurance provider over whether they’ll cover some (probably non-dental) work in my mouth. Finally got them to see that it may not be dental and they agreed to cover at least the diagnostic phase — which is as much as they’ll ever do in one go. I don’t like having to be (politely) stroppy, even if I do get a result.
While the warmth of the weather is lovely, I don’t like the humidity, which does somewhat take the starch out of one. And despite the nice weather for some reason I can’t fathom I’ve been struggling more than usual with depression for the last few weeks. Hard to get off my rear-end and do anything. (Well, OK, no change there!) But of course the humidity isn’t helping; nor are my arthritic knees. Must keep doing, though. Must not rust up.
Paperwork. All I do seem to be doing is paperwork and more paperwork. Well I suppose I shouldn’t be so good at writing reports and running meetings etc. But with everything else, I keep putting off preparing meetings.
50% needing ice cream
20% paperwork
20% depression
10% aches and pains of getting old

history

Oddity of the Week: Chiswick Flyover

Chiswick Flyover in west London was apparently opened in September 1959 by Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield (picture below). No, I don’t know why either, but you can find more details at www.stmgrts.org.uk/archives/2009/09/jayne_mansfield_and_the_chiswick_flyover.html


Perhaps more worryingly the nearby Hammersmith flyover (currently the subject of on-going strengthening work after the discovery of concrete rot) has its own, much darker, celebrity connection. Underworld legend has it that the body of Ginger Marks, slain by the Kray gang, is buried in the foundations.
Gleaned from The Londonist at http://londonist.com/2014/07/five-more-odd-facts-about-london.php

amusements, photography

Weekly Photograph

This week another from the archives. I spotted this enormous cup and saucer last summer in the window of Alice’s Shop, in St Aldate’s, Oxford. And yes, that is a normal sized cake stand next to it!

Click the image for larger views on Flickr
Mega Cup
Mega Cup
Oxford; August 2013

links

Your Interesting Links

Another in our series of links to items you may have missed, but which I found for you.
First off let’s kill off a few common science myths which most people seem to believe but which are, well, myths.


Next, something dear to my heart … what gives beer it’s flavour?
Also interesting is what causes the colours of gemstones.
And a third infographic (isn’t that a horrible word?) on how dogs evolved.
Returning to the theme of science mysteries and myths, here are a few things about how the world of flying works.
And on to the medical. What is the classical medieval disease? No not plague, but leprosy. It is something else which is commonly misunderstood, including the fact that it is still around.
And here are seven things you shouldn’t let your doctor do unless you absolutely have to.
Just what were they thinking? A Chinese hospital has installed an automatic sperm extractor.
Yes, apparently female infant masturbation is a thing, at least in America. And it really isn’t a cause for concern.
Meanwhile sex educator and blogger Emily Nagoski has this week been answering sex education questions from her readers. Interestingly one asked “How do you fix sex education?” Here’s Emily’s answer, which is just as applicable to the UK as the USA.
Apparently one psychologist is suggesting that we should give up forcing gender equality in the sciences at school. And from reading this article have to say I agree: far better that boys and girls study what they’re interested in than we channel them into subjects they may not do so well at, just because. At the end of the day I don’t care who deigns my drugs or my car; I’m more interested that they do it well and hopefully enjoy doing it. But that doesn’t mean we should put roadblocks in the way of girls doing science or boys doing needlework. When I was at school (half a century ago!) no-one stopped girls doing science. Yes more girls than boys did English, French and Biology at A-level but almost as many girls as boys did Maths and Physics. And we even had one boy who insisted on doing O-level Domestic Science! Let’s just find out what kids can do and encourage them to do what they enjoy — which should be so much more fulfilling.
Meanwhile according to another doctor we would all be much better off and less stressed if we were all to work a four day week. What he doesn’t say is whether we would get only 4 days pay for it, and if not how it would be funded.
horse

Now an article on how wildlife is thriving in the aftermath of Chernobyl and in the absence of meddling humans.
A very interesting report on some historic experiments to determine if birds of prey see or smell out their carrion lunch.
What to do with dead wood? For the sake of wildlife, just leave it alone.
George Monbiot (who else?) suggests that the principal threat to freedom of expression comes not from state regulation but from censorship by editors and proprietors
Ah, so we’re now onto wordy things. OK, so here are 11 “modern” words which are much older than we think.
Still on words, it seems Shakespeare invented many phrases we take for granted in the modern world.
Which allows us to shimmy quickly to history. Our favourite London cabbie is still writing about the history of Waterloo Station and its environs. Episode 9 is about Waterloo’s darker side.
And while on the darker side, here’s an encyclopaedia of everyday monsters, starting with that widespread parasite, the earworm.
Coming up to date, here are some more infographics who owns all the major brands in the world. So who thought all these companies were independent?
Finally I’ll leave you with this summary of what it is like to be middle aged …

personal, pleasures

Ten Things #7

So, here’s my list of ten things for July.
10 Trees in My Garden:

  1. Apple (an old tree, which we think is James Grieve; it may be as much as 80 years old but still gives us some fruit every year!); also two ornamental crab apples
  2. Silver Birch; and the closely related Downey Birch
  3. Spruce (not sure the exact species as they were potted Christmas trees)
  4. Rowan
  5. Hawthorn (self-set)
  6. Liquidamber (grown from seed by me)
  7. Cherry — an edible cherry as well as a couple of ornamentals
  8. Pedunculate Oak (that’s Quercus robur, our native English Oak; self-set probably from an acorn cached by a bird; now 20 years old and growing slowly; hopefully a lasting legacy when all the others are gone)
  9. Pittosporum
  10. Holm Oak, Quercus ilex

Pine Cones
Cones on one of our Spruce trees

Yes we really do have that many different species of tree — and a few more — in our (not over large) suburban garden. And we’ve planted/encouraged them all except the old apple tree which was here when we came 30+ years ago. They’re all a bit crammed in and many quite young (under 20) so not all are yet huge trees but the birches, the English Oak and the Liquidamber are as tall as the house. In the past we’re also had a pear tree, ash tree and an elder tree.
The neighbours don’t understand why we like trees. They don’t like anything that grows over 3 feet high. They must like looking at the backs of the houses in the next road.
But we do like trees. They add shade, make dividers between “rooms” in the garden and they encourage wildlife. Because we have a woodland glade we get lots of birds and squirrels as well as woodland edge butterflies like Speckled Wood which wouldn’t be here otherwise.
We need more trees, and suburban gardens are actually a good place for them (just not too close to the foundations). If more people planted a couple of trees it would help clean the air and encourage wildlife by providing small green corridors for them to move along.
Something else we can all do is to encourage our local councils to plant trees in the streets and on verges. Most councils are open to people suggesting a site for a tree. And if you want one outside you house, and are prepared to fund it (our council charges £250 for the tree and planting), the council is more likely to plant that tree.
We need trees. We need to encourage wildlife diversity. We need to keep England green. And you feel good for giving something back to the environment.