Category Archives: environment

environment, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links

Herewith are the usual monthly collection of links to items you may have missed. It’s holiday season, so there’s not been so much of interest this month.

Science, Technology & Natural World

This year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures should be good. They’re titled “Who are You?” and will apparently be all about evolution and the rise of Homo sapiens. And who better to present them than the ever excellent Prof. Alice Roberts. But I bet there will only be three lectures again this year, rather than the original six.

Talking of human evolution, the latest research suggests that one of the last traits of our primate origins to disappear was our prehensile big toes.

More prosaically, it seems that the UK has this month been plagued by social wasps. I can’t say I’ve noticed, but here anyway are five reasons we should celebrate them. Oh and there’s another reason: our beloved honey bees are descended from ancient wasps.

I’ve seen it suggested that this is old news, but there are recent reports of Pine Marten recolonising the Kielder Forest for the first time in 90 years.

Health & Medicine

There’s a brilliant plan afoot to map the location of every publicly accessible defibrillator in the UK.

And a tragic story: how smallpox claimed it’s very last known victim here in the UK.

There’s new evidence that the HPV vaccine has been responsible for a huge reduction in the rate of cervical cancer. Even better is the news from last month that HPV vaccination is to be offered to teenage boys in England.

Apparently the idea that millions of sperm are in an Olympian race to reach the egg is yet another male fantasy about human reproduction. This Aeon piece has news of what actually seems to happen. [LONG READ]

I wasn’t sure whether to put this item under science or medicine, but here’s a piece of the chemistry of foxgloves, from which we still get the heart drug digoxin.

And here’s a strange phenomenon: aphantasia – the inability to picture things in one’s mind’s eye. It sounds as if there is a spectrum of aphantasia from very lucid to nothing; I suspect I’m somewhere in the lower half as the only pictures I have of events (even significant events like our wedding) are a few “snapshot” images, whereas other people I know can run everything in full HD video in their brains. It’s very curious.

Environment

Here’s another potentially disastrous new vanity project which George Monbiot has got his knife into: the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway. The article contains links to some of the official documentation, and it doesn’t look very pretty!

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Researchers have made a very interesting discovery of an ancient hominid girl whose mother was a Neanderthal and father was a Denisovan. It suggests that hybridisation between hominid species, and especially our close relatives, was a lot more common than was suspected.

An interesting alternative theory about the development of major monuments like Stonehenge and Easter Island. [£££]

Yet more laboratory research has led investigators to unravel the recipe for Egyptian mummification.

It been a hot summer (although writing this over bank holiday weekend it doesn’t feel that way) and the lack of rain has been a great result for archaeologists as many hitherto unknown sites have become visible in crop marks. And the use of drones has made finding them so much easier than hitherto. [Mostly images]

London

One of our favourite London bloggers has undertaken an epic journey: across London on the 51½°N line of latitude. It is documented in a series of 12 posts of which this is the first – or you can have the whole 51½°N journey in a single post. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle & Personal Development

So what is it really like being an artist’s model? A handful off London’s life models give us a few insights.

Food & Drink

Gluten is getting a bad name. Are problems with gluten in the diet a fad? Or are they a real medical issue? Joanna Blythman in the Guardian looks at some of what seems to be happening. I think the jury is still out.

Despite many people’s dislike, we all know cabbage is good for you and now researchers are suggesting it may contain anti-cancer chemicals. Well if was good enough for Diogenes …

That’s all for this month; more at the end of September.

current affairs, environment

Oxford-Cambridge Expressway

I’d never heard of the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, which seems to be a new mega-road linking the two university cities. And no wonder, because it seems to be being cookd up behind closed doors.

Yesterday’s Guardian ran a typically robust piece from George Monbiot attacking both the scheme and the governments approach:

This disastrous new project will change the face of Britain
yet no debate is allowed

Monbiot’s article links to a number of the government documents, which do seem to substantiate many of his assertions. Beyond that I leave readers to make up their own minds.

environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

So here we are then with this month’s selection of links to items you may have missed the first time round. There’s a lot her again this month, and as usual we’ll start with the “harder” science-y stuff and slalom downhill from there.

Science, Technology & Natural World

So are we alone in the universe? Maybe or maybe not. Science doesn’t know. [£££]

The Earth’s tectonic activity might be essential for the evolution of life.

Most of us hate the sound of our own voices when we hear recordings. Here’s why.

A New Yorker article on the obsessive search for the Tasmanian Tiger (aka. Thylacine). [VERY LONG READ]

Balls! The males of all mammals have them, but not all are on display: some species don’t have descended testicles.

Who could have predicted that crows can work a vending machine – and make their own tokens.

That clean swimming pool smell … turns out it isn’t too good for you!

Health & Medicine

There’s this yeast; it’s a strange and deadly superbug.

So just how easy is it to catch germs from a toilet seat?

Women’s healthcare could be normalised by employers understanding the need for menstrual leave.

Low risk of breast cancer? Seems like skipping that mammogram isn’t such a bad idea.

Two items on fish oil and Omega-3 supplements. A study by the Cochrane Institute (who are the gold standard of medical reviews) concludes the supplements give no protection against heart disease and stroke. And what’s more the second article points out that such supplements are doing immense harm to the planet.

There’s a better medicine for the elderly than umpteen pills. It’s called social prescribing, where GPs can signpost people to activities and support – except most don’t know what is actually available.

Sexuality

Do lesbians have better sex than straight women? Seems like they probably do.

Environment

I remember my father talking about this 50+ years ago, so it’s been known for years (and ignored) that we need to look after and repair the soil to grow crops sustainably and with good yields.

Timber! So just how are tree trunks cut to make wood with a range of uses and appearances?

Social Sciences, Business, Law

Now I was suggesting this as a corporate strategy some 12 or more years ago, and it has taken this long for someone to catch on: accountancy giant PwC is making employees use mobile phones and cancelling landlines.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Archaeologists have unearthed an unknown Neolithic site near Woodbridge in Suffolk. Ritual is suspected.

IanVisits pays a visit to Avebury Stone circle (above).

Ireland is having a hot, dry summer which is good for revealing crop marks of ancient remains. In one a drone has spotted the outline of a previously unknown henge near Newgrange.

Slightly nearer home, soldiers have found the skeleton of a Saxon warrior on Salisbury Plain.

There’s an unexpected cockatoo in the margins of a 13th-century manuscript in the Vatican. And it’s forcing a rethink of the ancient trade routes.

Meanwhile on the north Kent coast a 16th-century shipwreck is being revealed by the sea, and it too is expected to reveal a lot about trade in Tudor England.

Still on watery archaeology, there is a massive metro construction project in Amsterdam which is necessitating the clearance of some stretches of canal. The astonishing range of finds, right back into pre-history, has been put online.

London

Kew Gardens station has a remarkable concrete bridge. IanVisits goes to see.

The Horniman Museum in south-east London has a new World Display as well as being all-round interesting.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

Are things getting worse – or does it just feel that way?

And are women’s breasts getting bigger – or is it just bras? (Or is it just low levels of hormones in food?)

Some schools are banning girls from wearing skirts supposedly to protect the girls. But skirts aren’t the problem; the problem is boys who think girls are lesser creatures. No, just let girls and boys wear skirts, or trousers, as they please.

A parents’ guide to surviving children’s teen years.

So just why do people believe in superstition and the unbelievable?

People avoid adopting black cats because they’re supposed to be unlucky and because they are hard to photograph. Neither is actually true!

Ah yes, the cashless society. It’s another big con of the banking sector to boost its profits. As Sweden is beginning to realise, if you don’t have cash the whole of society is vulnerable to computer malfunction, attack and power failure. Just think about that for a minute.

Food & Drink

On the history of borscht.

Shock, Horror, Humour

And finally one from Norfolk Police, who stopped a motorist only to find he was driving while sitting on a bucket and steering with pliers!

current affairs, environment, ramblings

HS2 (again)

1 Comment

Lord (Tony) Berkeley writes a regular column in the Railway Magazine. In the July issue he once again takes a very scathing look at HS2. The article isn’t online but here are a few key extracts:

Head in sand over escalating HS2 costs

New Civil Engineer reports design elements for one of the main design and construct contracts let for the civil works were coming in at 18% over the target price, up from £6.6billion to £7.8bn.

… some bids were as much as 30% to 40% higher than their individual target price.

… the project is probably running three to four years late, even before any serious work on the ground has started. Other estimates from along the route indicate the project is held up because the purchases of the necessary land and additional areas needed for accommodation works are late.

Has HS2 allowed for the cost of diverting a 12in-diameter fuel pipe a dozen times along the route? Have they applied to the National Grid for the necessary power supply for the trains and for the required capital cost contribution to build the necessary power station capacity? Have they allowed for the cost of driving piles to support 20km of double slab track in the mushy ground of the Trent Valley?

I have asked many questions in the Lords since that time and have always been told the funding
envelope of £23.73bn at 2015 prices is still valid.

Given what we are now discovering there seems to be every reason to suppose the out-turn cost of Phase 1 will be a lot closer to £50bn than the DfT’s £25bn.

Surely it is time to reflect on why ministers continue to allow HS2 to have a blank cheque to spend what they like – a figure likely to reach more than £100bn if Phases 2A and 2B are included – while at the same time starving Network Rail of any investment …

It is all investment in the railway and there are many who believe £100bn could make a massive
difference to improving the present network in a greater number of beneficial ways.

Now we know that Tony Berkeley is a powerful voice in the rail freight side of the industry (so he’s not totally unbiased), but he is also a respected civil engineer. Even if half of what he says were to stand up to scrutiny (and from what I’ve read I’m unsure about the cost figures quoted) then it is yet another damning condemnation of this benighted government.

HS2 is a vanity project, pure and simple. It is government “willy waving” on a massive scale. See, for instance, this in the Spectator, this and this in the Daily Mail.

And all of that is without the environmental damage HS2 will do – as the Woodland Trust and the National Trust highlight.

Isn’t it time for everyone to come clean and admit that we just cannot afford HS2? Environmentally or financially. If nothing else, wherever the money is supposed to be coming from, it just isn’t there. Not when we have such a huge public debt. Not now, and certainly not after Brexit.

environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

There’s again a lot in this month’s round up of items you may have missed the first time. So here goes …

Science, Technology & Natural World

Maglev trains have been around for a surprisingly long time, so why aren’t they ubiquitous?

Inter-species hybrids were once looked on as just biological misfits, but science is now coming to appreciate their importance for evolution. [LONG READ]

Did you know that witches’ brooms grow on trees? You do now!

Tidal power is supposed to be able to provide a significant percentage of the world’s energy needs, but a close look suggests it won’t. [£££]

Health & Medicine

Here’s a little about how Moorfields Eye Hospital in London really has changed the world.

It’s only a matter of time before we get the next major pandemic. An American-centric look at our preparedness? [VERY LONG READ]

The medical profession prescribe a lot of opioid painkillers. But are they all they’re cracked up to be, and would we miss them if they weren’t there?

Restoring life using CPR is brutal and rarely works. So why do people have so much faith in it and demand resuscitation at all costs?

Against most specialists expectations there’s work going on to develop a single vaccination to prevent several common cancers. It’s about to start a major trial in dogs.

While we’re on cancer, the placenta may just give us insights into cancer treatment – it’s just one of nine ways the placenta is so amazing. [£££]

Scientific American recently asked “When Does Consciousness Arise in Human Babies?”

Did you know you have an “inverse piano” in your head? Well actually there are two and they’re in your ears.

Finally in this section, Fred Pearce in the Guardian, takes another look at the real fallout from the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster.

Sexuality

Why was it ever in doubt that women can have multiple orgasms?

Environment

Here are two articles on the length of time it takes garbage to decompose. The first is fairly general; the second gives us the following graphic looking at plastic and other rubbish in the sea.

And while we’re on plastic, Annie Leonard in the Guardian says that the “plastic crisis” is too big to be solved by recycling alone.

The Woodland Trust are understandably – and quite rightly – angry at Network Rail’s apparent plans to clear trees from railway embankments.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

History tells us that all cultures have their sell-by date, so has the West’s time come and are we on the brink of collapse?

Oxford and Cambridge Colleges own a bigger portfolio of property than Church of England.

The rail industry are running a public consultation on rail fare structure prior to submitting proposals to the government. Do have your say.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Aethelflaed: A Saxon warrior queen who was out to vanquish the Vikings.

London

Layers of London is a super resource which allows you to overlay a number of old maps on the current street plan of London. One of the best is the Tudor layout of 1520. IanVisits takes a look.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

So just why are Dutch teenagers among the happiest in the world? And couldn’t we learn something from their approach?

Here’s Zen Master and writer Brad Warner contemplating the problem of spirituality, religion, the ego and intellectual honesty. It is readable, and well worth a read.

Meanwhile the Guardian (again!) reports that UK homes vulnerable to a staggering level of corporate surveillance from smart TVs, smartphones, laptops, security cameras etc.

Shock, Horror, Humour

And finally, just because it isn’t 1st April … a prep school in Derbyshire has lost its Bakewell pudding in space. So very careless!

More next month!

environment, natural history, personal, photography, pleasures

Waltham Abbey – 2

So this was the exciting part of our day out on Monday of this week …

For Christmas I bought Noreen and half-day falconry experience with Coda Falconry, who are a couple of miles north of Waltham Abbey. I also made sure we had a couple of guest passes to go with it, especially as I wanted the chance to do some photography (which was not just allowed but actually encouraged).

Noreen has always been interested in falconry, mainly because of its use in medieval times. So this was a superb chance to have four hours hands-on experience. And did we have a great time!

We were a small group: 4 taking part and 3 guest observers. Paul, the falconer, was patient, interesting and knowledgeable about a whole range of natural history and not just falcons.

Starting at midday, and after some brief introduction, Paul brought out a variety of birds, one at a time. And as the day wore on the birds got bigger and bigger!

The first three birds were in turn a tiny Scops Owl (from SE Asia), a European Kestrel, and a Barn Owl. Otis, the Scops Owl was really sweet; he was no more than six inches tall; and he loved being stroked, siting happily on a gloved hand, eyes shut, head tucked in, apparently dozing off!

Otis, Scops Owl
Otis, Scops Owl

Bramble, the male Kestrel, was really beautiful with grey head and chestnut back …

Bramble, Kestrel
Bramble, Kestrel

Next up was Dizzy, a female Barn Owl …

Dizzy, Barn Owl
Dizzy, Barn Owl

Paul let us all (participants and observers) feel the Barn Owl’s plumage as it is just so soft – unbelievably softer than anything previously encountered, and softer even than eider down – the feathers were almost ethereal! No wonder Barn Owls are so silent in flight.

All these birds were flown. They would all sit on a post, waiting for a gloved hand, with a piece of food, to be proffered. Then they’d fly over and enjoy the morsel. All the participants experienced this with every bird.

By this time it was pushing 1.30 and, after a short break, time for an hour-long woodland walk to show off Griffin, a 15-year-old Harris Hawk. I opted out of this part as I wasn’t sure how my knees and back would stand up; and besides it was very hot and sunny and a cool drink and some shade was needed. Just as well I did opt out as the walk lasted more like an hour and a half!


Griffin, Harris Hawk. © Coda Falconry

I used the gap to have a quick look at the “zoo” on the rest of the farm site (it is very family and school group orientated), see a few of the other birds of prey and have that cool bottle of pop.

When everyone returned about 3pm, Paul showed the final two birds of the day: a Eurasian Eagle Owl and a Golden Eagle.

Logan, the Eagle Owl, is a mean-looking, brute of a bird, although according to Paul he’s actually a softie! But he is certainly fearsome in flight.

Logan, Eurasian Eagle Owl
Logan, the fearsome Eagle Owl

Apparently there are now thought to be two pairs of Eagle Owls living in Thetford Forest, and there is a lone female on the loose in Epping Forest (not very far away from Coda’s site). Apparently the females (which as with all birds of prey are larger than the males) are quite capable of taking a fox. (One of Coda’s Harris Hawks has also been known to take a Greylag Goose – no mean feat!)

Last up was the largest bird of the day, Nelson, the Golden Eagle, who weighs in at around 6lbs (almost 3kg). We were all of us allowed to have Nelson sit on our hand: as Paul said “It’s not every day you get to hold a Golden Eagle!”.

Ere mate, that ones a bit tasty, innit!
Nelson: Ere mate, that one’s a bit tasty, innit!

The photo above is of Nelson sitting on my (thankfully gloved) hand. He was certainly a magnificent beast: around 75-80cm from beak to tail and with the wonderful bronze/gold head and nape which gives them their name. You wouldn’t want to meet either the Golden Eagle or the Eagle Owl on a dark night!

By this time it was pushing 4pm and the afternoon wrapped up with with the group seeing a number of Coda’s other falcons.

We went off very tired, rather stunned and slightly sunburnt for a much needed couple of pints!

Coda Falconry are a small, award-winning, friendly outfit, with a wide range of birds of prey most of which have been hand-reared and/or are rescues; their team even includes Loki the Raven, who is apparently incredibly mischievous and cunning. Coda do several different experience sessions as well as frequent filming, regular re-enactment displays (many at Headingham Castle), routine pest control work, and more.

What a brilliant day, and thoroughly recommended!

PS. More photos on my Flickr photostream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kcm76/albums/72157692159960390.

current affairs, environment

Enviroconcern

Two articles on environmental concerns in the Guardian during the week caught my attention.

First George Monbiot slices into agriculture and our habit of eating meat in The best way to save the planet? Drop meat and dairy. While he may be technically correct, I don’t see this being very practical – although of course most of us could happily eat much less meat than we do.

Secondly Simon Jenkins inserts quite a few daggers between the ribs of Heathrow’s proposed Third Runway in Heathrow airport’s polluting new runway is a macho folly. Jenkins doesn’t say it in as many words, but it is essentially just a vanity project and willy-waving by the erstwhile BAA. To be sure, the alternatives aren’t too wonderful either, but then as I’ve been saying for a long time we have to get to grips with our fetish for flying everywhere – two, three, four long-haul holidays a year are just not sustainable.