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.
amusements, environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links

Welcome to this the first of our 2023 round-ups of links to items you my have missed the first time. There’s plenty here, with a lot of long reads, so let’s get going!

Science, Technology, Natural World

Last year London’s Natural History Museum officially named 351 new species, and surprisingly a quarter of them are wasps.

Still at London’s NHM, Anna Turns in the Guardian visits their secret vault of whale skeletons.

Somewhat differently, palaeontologists have been working out the details of sex with Neanderthals. [LONG READ]

And here’s an interview with Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo on understanding Neanderthals.

Turns out there are human only genes which increase brain size. We need to be very careful with them.

On the improvement of synthetic routes to recreational drugs.

It’s the hidden properties of many rare earth elements which have enabled our modern technology. [LONG READ]

Roman concrete was much different from our modern version, and its self-healing properties could benefit modern construction.

Meanwhile, a volcanic eruption in the wrong place could cause havoc for world trade, much worse than a ship stuck in the Suez Canal ever could. [LONG READ]

So what actually happens when a huge ship sinks? How are the worst effects of a disaster averted? [LONG READ]

From lost ships to lost nuclear weapons which no-one can find. [LONG READ]

Which brings us conveniently to a look at the discovery, properties and politics of uranium. [LONG READ]

There’s long been talk of an undiscovered Planet Nine in our solar system, but if it is there why hasn’t it been seen? [LONG READ]

And finally in this section, one for those who like their brain strained … quantum reality is impossible to measure, so how can we possibly understand it? [£££]

Health, Medicine

All is not always what it seems … it appears there is a mystery virus which confers protection against monkeypox. [LONG READ]

In complete contrast, here’s a brief history of the clitoris.

Environment

Fewer and fewer migrant birds are visiting our shores as the climate crisis takes its toll.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

On the peculiarity of American copyright law.

Against which here are five lesbian expressions from the 19th century to remember when watching Gentleman Jack.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

What do we know about the lives of Neanderthal women? [LONG READ]

Egyptian researchers have used high-tech digital scanning to to look at a 2300 year old mummified boy.

Archaeologists reckon to have found the world’s oldest runestone in Norway.

It seems there was a medieval habit of dividing the night into “two sleeps“. [LONG READ]

A medieval pendant unearthed in Germany has had its secrets unveiled by neutron imaging.

Here’s our favourite medievalist on the gossiping of the female. [LONG READ]

And again we have said medievalist, this time on medieval standards of beauty. [LONG READ]

There were many medieval manuals which taught sword-fighting, but modern experts are unable to decode all the tricks. [LONG READ]

Twenty years ago the remains of a medieval trading ship were discovered in Newport, South Wales. The remains have now been preserved and its custodians now have a huge 2500 piece jigsaw.

Here’s a look at the dilemmas in dating old buildings. [LONG READ]

The blog A London Inheritance goes back 300 years and looks at the London events of 1723. [LONG READ]

Coming almost up to date, the Dutch have released a WWII map purporting to show where a hoard of Nazi treasure is hidden.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Tom Lamont in the Guardian takes a look at some of the UK’s more ribald placenames.

According to the 2021 census, the fastest growing religion in England & Wales is shamanism. But what is it?

The idea of “love languages” – or how we feel nourished by our partners – has been around for 30 years and does seems to help people.

So this is what the experts suggest about how to be the best possible parent, lover, friend, citizen or tourist.

A look at why the right to protest and dissent is so important.

People

Christina Bowen Bravery on becoming a world champion stone skimmer.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

One young art student discovers that her pubic hair is a capitalist.

And finally, some incredible images of the eerie shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea.

medical

On Depression – IX

Another in my very occasional series of articles on depression – my depression. They are written from a very personal perspective; they are my views of how I see things working and what it feels like on the inside. Your views and experiences may be vastly different. My views and experiences are not necessarily backed by scientific evidence or current medical opinion. These articles are not medical advice or treatment pathways. If you think you have a problem then you should talk to your primary care physician.

It’s a couple of years since I wrote about depression, and as I said last time it’s not that my depression has improved; if anything the opposite. There just doesn’t seem to have been a lot new to say.

However in the last couple of weeks there have been two major articles (one in New Scientist [£££], the other in Quanta).

Both articles report on (the same) research which suggests that the physiological causes of depression are a lot more complicated than the current model – which blames it all on the activity of serotonin.

We know some part of depression has a genetic cause. It is thought up to 40% is genetic, although only 5% is currently proven. But there are molecules other than serotonin which are being implicated. Unsurprisingly some are in the metabolic pathway of serotonin, and all seem to be doing things other than just increasing serotonin levels. This could account for a significant number of depressives not responding (or not responding well) to drugs which target only serotonin.

One leading theory is that the chemistry of the serotonin pathway is majorly affected by chronic, systemic inflammation. Certainly people with chronic inflammatory diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are known to be more prone to depression. It is also a component of Long Covid and other post-viral syndromes.

There is also evidence, that depression can be affected, if not directly caused, by the action of some bacteria in the gut microbiome. It is known that much of our serotonin and its precursors are produced in the gut. What isn’t known is precisely how this affects brain metabolism. But there are reports, many anecdotal, that taking probiotics can release depression. But it doesn’t work for everyone. It doesn’t obviously work for me.

There are then the psychological factors which may trigger those otherwise vulnerable to depression, or may exacerbate a pre-existing condition. However it seems unlikely that psychology is the sole cause.

The net result is “It’s complicated”, and it could turn out that “depression” is really an umbrella covering a multitude of different causes. We’re therefore going to need a range of medical interventions to follow on from a way of establishing the differential diagnoses.

Meanwhile I keep wondering what state I’d be in without SSRI antidepressants. Would I be worse? Are they really doing any good? Is there likely to be anything better? I don’t know the answer, and to be frank, I’m frightened to try finding out.

It’s a bugger.

quotes

Monthly Quotes

Here we are with the first of our monthly collections of quotes for 2023 – and we have a bumper bundle this month. So in no particular order I offer you …

If the general public doesn’t understand science and technology, then who is making all of the decisions about science and technology that are going to determine what kind of future our children live in, some members of Congress? There are only a handful who have any background in science at all, and some of them don’t even want to know about it.
[Carl Sagan]

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. lt’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.
[Carl Sagan]

That’s what the world is, after all: an endless battle of contrasting memories.
[Haruki Murakami]

I’m sick of people saying it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism. I think about the end of capitalism every day. Today I imagined what it would be like to live in a community that valued me for being present rather than “useful” or “productive”. In that world, I think I would spend a lot more time taking care of plants. I would tell stories when I felt like it, instead of on deadline. What do you imagine?
[Annalee Newitz]

This stupid star has been following us all week, we’re still half a day’s ride from Bethlehem … As I type this, we’re being followed by three strange men trying to sell us gold, frankincense, and myrrh – whatever that is. On top of that, Mary’s contractions have started, and she’s chosen tonight of all nights to tell me the kid isn’t mine.
[From https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/joseph-of-nazareth-has-had-it-with-hotelscom]

The problem is we are not eating food any more, we are eating food-like products.
[Dr Alejandro Junger]

When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent.
[Isaac Asimov]

Sometimes magick is as simple as burning a single candle with good intentions behind it.
[unknown]

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, we must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity.
[Marie Curie]

London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall […]
Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means. The parties to it understand it least, but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises. Innumerable children have been born into the cause; innumerable young people have married into it; innumerable old people have died out of it […]
The little plaintiff or defendant who was promised a new rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndyce should be settled has grown up, possessed himself of a real horse, and trotted away into the other world.
[Charles Dickens, Bleak House]

Who can doubt the futuristic brilliance of Sunak and co? They’ve given us driverless government.
[Marina Hyde; Guardian; 23/12/2022; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/23/rishi-sunak-government-prime-minister]

We see what we see, not necessarily what is there, and we write what we know, not necessarily what we see.
[Annie Proulx, Fen, Bog and Swamp]

Arrrrrrgh! The feral dinos sing.
Gory to our newborn thing!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild –
Sweet mercy, please, I have a child!
Urgh and ewgh and arrrrrgh and arrrrr!
GMO has gone too far!
Arrrrrrgh! The feral dinos sing –
Gory to our newborn thing!
[Timothy Train]

There will come a time when fascism would take over this great nation of ours and destroy the peaceful and economic ties we enjoy with our neighbours in Europe. They will come armed with their silver tongues and promising the earth. Be extremely vigilant.
[Winston Churchill]

Bats can hear shapes. Plants can eat light. Bees can dance maps. We can hold all these ideas at once and feel both heavy and weightless with the absurd beauty of it all.
[unknown]

You wouldn’t want to be minding them poet fellows. They’re a dangerous clique be the best of times.
[Brendan Behan]

The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.
[Mahatma Gandhi]

We should bear in mind that, in general, it is the object of our newspapers rather to create a sensation – to make a point – than to further the cause of truth.
[Edgar Alan Poe]

I see the onslaught of NY diet/fitness advice has begun. Let me tell you that painting nudes from life has taught me that all bodies are inherently beautiful. They really, really are. Don’t let anything or anyone convince you otherwise. Your body is wonderful, just the way it is. We know this as children but something external & insidious creeps in & makes us doubt it. But looking at nudes of all genders/sizes/shapes/abilities in life class & trying to render the beauty of skin/flesh/light/gravity has helped me remember how beautiful *we all* are.
[Haiku, @19syllables on Twitter]

Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt.
[Mahatma Gandhi]

Those who are emotionally intelligent understand that just because you address something that bothers you doesn’t mean you’re trying to argue. Were just simply communicating. Disagreements don’t have to end with arguments or fights.
[unknown]

Einstein said that if quantum mechanics were correct then the world would be crazy. Einstein was right – the world is crazy.
[Daniel M Greenberger]

Don’t force your children into your ways, for they were created for a time different from your own.
[Plato]

I keep six honest serving men
(they taught me all I know);
their names are What and Why and When
and How and Where and Who.
[Rudyard Kipling]

I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.
[Richard Feynman]

I call God to witness that as a private person I have done nothing unbeseeming an honest man, nor, as I bear the place of a public man, have I done anything unworthy of my place.
[Francis Walsingham]

What if we were naked?
Just an everyday normal thing?
Would the world fall apart,
If bodies were free?
Would our eyes burn in fear,
Should less fabric reveal,
Bodies are near?
[James, @JEGography on Twitter; What If We Were Naked?]

If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
[George Orwell]

amusements, music

January Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to this month’s five quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

January Quiz Questions: Music

  1. Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was composed for the consecration of what building? The new Coventry Cathedral in 1962
  2. Who composed Liberty Bell? John Philip Souza
  3. Who created 4’33” of silence? John Cage
  4. JS Bach wrote a huge amount of both liturgical and secular music. But what brand of Christianity did he belong to? Lutheran
  5. Which Russian composer was also a renowned chemist? Alexander Borodin

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2022.

amusements, personal, photography

Self-Portrait, January

Here’s something else I’m going to try new this year: take a few self-portraits. They may turn out to be interesting, or deadly dull. I don’t know, as it’s not a photographic genre I’ve really had a go at before. They’re not intended to be “selfies” in the popularly understood form, although no doubt they’ll be construed as such. Anyway I’m intending to post one a month. So here’s the first …

Bathroom Cabinet, Mirror Doors
Bathroom Cabinet, Mirror Doors
[Click the image for a larger view]
memes, science

Ten Things: January

This year our Ten Things column each month is concentrating on science and scientists.

Where a group is described as “great” or “important” this is not intended to imply these necessarily the greatest or most important, but only that they are up there amongst the top flight.

Important Physics Discoveries

  1. Gravity
  2. Laws of Motion
  3. Wheel
  4. Atomic structure
  5. Speed of light
  6. Transistors
  7. Electromagnetism
  8. Spectrum of light
  9. Heliocentric planetary system
  10. Doppler Effect
arts, books, thoughts

On Poetry

Until now I had never read TS Eliot’s The Waste Land. So when Simon Barnes (yes, that Simon Barnes: environmentalist, journalist, author, former Chief Sports Writer of The Times) had a piece recently in The New European I took notice.

I know Barnes slightly; he’s a great fan of Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time and gave the 2022 Anthony Powell Society Annual Lecture just a few weeks ago. So of course I took notice – especially as he read English at the University of Bristol, and I know him to be a thinker.

Why had I not read The Waste Land before? Well, I’m not a great reader of poetry; I never have been, partly because, like so much of English Literature, I was put off it by school. It’s not that I dislike poetry but all the

I wondered lonely as a cloud of golden daffodils

[sic] stuff turns me off, as does most modern so-called poetry that doesn’t scan and doesn’t rhyme – and I’m not even sure how Shakespeare brings off blank verse. So spare me, inter alia, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Longfellow (of the first type) and Allen Ginsberg, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy (of the second).

But there is poetry I like. Coleridge, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43997/the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-text-of-1834. Lewis Carroll, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43909/the-hunting-of-the-snark. TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (see Eliot can write “proper” verse) – I knew the entire 66 lines of Skimbleshanks off by heart when I was about seven or eight. Roger McGough, Summer with Monika. C Day Lewis, Requiem for the Living. John Updike. Christopher Smart, Jubilate Agno.

But I’m sorry, The Waste Land is pretentious garbage – and the Four Quartets are not that far behind. It neither rhymes (OK, there’s the odd couplet) nor scans. For me it is in the same rubbish bin as Ulysses, Finnegan’s Wake, Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, Edith Sitwell’s Façade. None of them make sense, and they’re pretty unreadable. Pseudo-profound bullshit, one suspects written to make money from a clutch of gullible critics. And were they gulled.

No, sorry, you enjoy it if you want to, but it says nothing to me. Just leave me alone to be a Philistine.