Category Archives: links

history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

And so at the end of another month we come to our regular collection of links to items you may have missed …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Extraterrestrials. What is believable, and how would we know? [£££££]

Meanwhile on this earth we have Vespa mandarinia, the Asian Giant Hornet, aka. the “Murder Hornet”. But just how dangerous is it? TL;DR: Very if you’re a honeybee.

I never cease to like the (small) variety of wasps in this country and what they get up to.

Still with the hymenoptera, the humble bumblebee has a clever trick to get plants to flower.

Health, Medicine

When is a llama not a llama? When it’s a unicorn!

So why is it that clinical trials of (new) drugs are so complicated and expensive? [LONG READ]

For a long, long time sunshine has been seen as having healing powers.

Researchers, almost accidentally, have found a microbe which completely stops the malaria parasite.

[TRIGGER WARNING] Having had four miscarriages, journalist Jennie Agg wanted to understand why it happened and why it is never talked about. [LONG READ]

Sexuality

Dr Eleanor Janega has some sexual fun over on Going Medieval. Here she is on:
•  No Nut November [LONG READ]
•  Dildos and Penance
•  “Alpha Men” and poorly disguised misogyny

Social Sciences, Business, Law

Have you ever wondered how the heights on Low Bridge signs are calculated? Diamond Geezer investigates.

Art, Literature, Language

Dutch researchers have been trying to extract the secrets from Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Mexico has too many mammoths – or at least bits of mammoths.

OK, so here’s another series from Going Medieval:
•  On chronicles versus journalism, and ruling versus governing.
•  On the King’s two bodies and modern myth making.
•  On the Lusty Month of May.

London

Diamond Geezer (again) discovers the interesting history of his local Tesco supermarket. What’s the history of your local supermarket’s site? Three near me: the iconic Hoover building, an old cinema and the site of a former gasworks!

And one more from Diamond Geezer … this time he’s been finding out the correct names for the different parts of a London bus stop.

Food, Drink

Apparently coconut oil isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Colour me surprised! [£££££]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

And finally … Pity the poor curators who are having to spend lockdown in places like Hampton Court Palace!

food+drink, history, links, science

Monthly Links

Yet once more a month has passed and we come to my collection of links to items you may have missed and didn’t want to.

Science, Technology, Natural World

If we found extraterrestrials, why should we expect them to look like anything we know?

Rather surprisingly many genes are not necessary for survival, and some species have lost quite a few.

Plants have unexpected ways to communicate, problem solve and socialise – indeed a whole secret life!

Blue Tits in Germany are dying and no-one knows quite why.

What’s in an Antarctic lake? Travel down a borehole Lake Whillans.

We live on a planet. But just what is a planet?

With clearer skies and time on our hands, here are a few tips about stargazing from your backyard.

Environment

A speculative drill in Cornwall for a souyrce of lithium has uncovered a potentially important copper deposit.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

The earliest known skull of Homo erectus has been found in South Africa.

Melting ice on a Viking-era mountain pass in Norway is revealing some spectacular artefacts.

In another story of ice, this time in the Alps, it seems that the record of lead pollution may reflect the murder of Thomas Beckett.

The mystery of the medieval sweating sickness.

Renaissance Europe was beset with paranoia about the pox leading to the rapid spread of guilt, scapegoats and wonder-cures.

And a bit more up to date, there has long been a puzzle over the early April sunrise shining through Brunel’s Box Tunnel near Bath.

Food, Drink

When do we need to adhere to expiry dates and when can they be flexed?

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Hints and tips on how to clean 10 annoying things around your home.

And finally, in our only concession to Coronavirus, here’s our favourite Zen master on dealing with what might happen – or it might not happen.

Be good, and stay safe!

history, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links

In the middle of these interesting times we’re living in, we bring you a diversion by way of our round-up of links to items you may have missed this month. And I promise it is Coronavirus-free.

Science, Technology, Natural World

The Rainfall Rescue Project are looking for (online) volunteers to help transcribe old rainfall records from the handwritten sheets, so they are digitised and useable for in depth research.

We thought we understood it, but rock samples brought back by the Apollo moon missions are reopening debate about how the moon formed. [£££££]

It seems that people who get lost in the wild follow strange but predictable paths. [£££££]

Dust is often not what you think, especially in museums.

A brief look at five dinosaurs which, once upon a time, roamed the British Isles.

The smallest known dinosaur skull has been found in a piece of amber.

Crows understand death, at least death of a fellow crow, but can we work out what they’re actually thinking?

Now, while we’re all in solitary confinement, is a good time to take up birdwatching: there’s a surprising number of birds go past your window and they’re not all sparrows and pigeons.

If they share a vase, daffodils kill other cut flowers. Here’s why.

Health, Medicine

Copper is great at killing off microbes (it’s been used in horticulture and viniculture for centuries) and yet in a medical context the more inert stainless steel is preferred.

A small number of women are born with the rare MRKH Syndrome, where they lack a vagina and possibly other internal reproductive organs.

We all know about tree rings giving information about the growth of the tree, but it seems our teeth also document our life’s stresses.

Environment

A small Japanese village is leading the way into our carbon-neutral future, but it ain’t easy.

The Guardian gives us fifty simple ways to make life greener. [LONG READ]

Social Sciences, Business, Law

Many of us like to belief we have free thought uninfluenced by others; but can we ever be a truly independent thinker?

Art, Literature, Language

Aubrey Beardsley is one of many artists whose has work been suppressed for obscenity, and is the subject of a new exhibition at Tate Britain (assuming museums are ever allowed to reopen). [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

A new study reports that a supposedly important collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments are all fakes.

Archaeologists suggest that a collection of bones found in Kent church likely to be of 7th-century saint

Drake’s Island in Plymouth Sound is to be opened up and get its first visitors in 30 years.

London

London blogger Diamond Geezer takes a look at the genesis of London numbered postal districts.

Lifestyle, Personal Development

And finally … Should ladies’ loos provide female urinals, and would they be an answer to the queues for the loos?

Take care, everyone, and stay safe!

arts, environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

Once more (where is this year going; it’s already the end of February?) we bring you our monthly bumper bundle of links to items you will wish you hadn’t already missed. I’m ignoring Coronavirus per se for the simple reason that everything is moving too fast. Here goes …

Science, Technology, Natural World

One of our favourite physicists introduces the top 10 most important effects in physics.

Here’s an interesting idea about measurement: forget feet and meters there’s as more fundamental measurement for earthlings.

Anyone who is active in science, especially chemistry, will love The Pocket Chemist.

Male-male competition, and sometimes female preferences, have helped fashion the flashiest adornments. [LONG READ]

Health, Medicine

Do drugs deteriorate? Why are their use-by dates important?

Facemasks. Do they actually do any good against flu, coronavirus or pollution?

What can the medical profession do to help your back pain? It seems there’s not a lot in their toolkit which is of much help.

Retinal migraines are rare, but what are they like?

We all have left-right asymmetry (internally), but how do bodies map this out? [LONG READ]

And another biological conundrum … how do body parts grow to the right size? [LONG READ]

Apparently girls are beginning puberty a year earlier than they were 50 years ago.

Sexuality

Katherine Rowland talked to 120 women about their sex lives and desires.

As if we need an excuse, here are five ways to have more sex with your partner.

Here’s a review of Kate Lister’s new book A Curious History of Sex. I found it interesting and amusing. [Disclosure: I helped crowdfund it.]

An interesting look at parenting in a polyamorous relationship. There’s no evidence it’s any worse for children than any other style of relationship.

Meet some of Britain’s sex-positive influencers. [LONG READ]

Environment

Estate owners across UK are queueing up to reintroduce beavers.

Art, Literature, Language

Anglo-Saxon charters and place-names are an often-overlooked source of folklore and popular belief.

A portrait, long thought to be of Louis XIV’s son, turns out to be a late-17th century Lord Mayor of London.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

The records of the High Court of Chivalry (which still exists) reveal quite a lot about the life of 14th cetury soldiers.

The British Library has digitised a 15th century children’s guide to manners: Pyke notte thy nostrellys.

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of the mysterious 14th century Bek’s Chapel, lost at the time of the Civil War.

Four secret societies whch operated in the London’s shadows.

A brief hiostory of the (somewhat disreputable) East India Company.

The vast collection of King George III’s military maps are now available online.

London

A secret passageway has been discovered in the Place of Westminster.

The V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green is to close in May for two years for a £13m revamp.

Lifestyle, Personal Development

Want to rewire your brain for clearer, calmer thinking? The case for Transcendental Meditation.

And finally … Women share their stories of celebrating their body hair.

We’ll have more next month!

environment, history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Welcome to thee first of our monthly links for 2020. Here are links to items you may have missed the first time round, but will be glad you’ve now found. We’ve collected a huge number of items this month, so lets get stuck in …

Science, Technology, Natural World

You may well poo-poo astrology (and who should blame you!) but there is an argument that it paved the way for predictive, analytical science.

In the western world we do a lot to mask our body odour. Here’s some of the chemistry behind what we’re trying to mask.

Science’s theoretical models can be complex, however the most successful ones usually aren’t. [££££]

So how is it that some trees life 1000 years, apparently healthily?

Health, Medicine

I know my body temperature is naturally low, but it now seems that human body temperature is generally cooling over time. Two looks at this from New Scientist [££££] and Scientific American [££££]

Six curious facts about our sense of smell.

The whole situation around the new Chinese Coronavirus is moving so fast I’m not going there with blog posts. However here is something about the viruses which cause colds and flu.

While mentioning flu, researchers are now discovering that injecting the flu vaccine into a tumour stimulates the immune system to attack it.

Medics are coming to the opinion that many mental health conditions, from depression to dementia, are caused by inflammation.

The vaginal, uterine, cervical, clitoral, urinary, rectal, and muscular dimensions of the pelvis: the VAGGINA hypothesis.

Which takes us nicely on to …

Sexuality

Apparently almost half of British women have poor sexual health, around three times the rate for men.

Here’s something I didn’t know … One part of this is poor sexual health is that some women have incredibly painful orgasms. It’s not clear if this also affects men.

But men do have sexual problems too: it is thought that around 10% of men have Peyronie’s disease, which causes significant bending of the penis; it’s often painful and prevents sex.

One woman talks about how wanking brought her closer to her husband. [NSFW]

Environment

One UK scientist is suggesting that half the country’s farmland should be transformed into woodlands and natural habitat to fight the climate crisis and restore wildlife.

Following in the footsteps of the Woodland Trust, the National Trust to plant 20 million trees in the UK over the next decade as part of efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

It’s reported that London’s new year fireworks increased air pollution with a legacy of metal particles. Why is anyone surprised?

York is the latest city (following Bristol and Birmingham) to plan on banning private car journeys from the city centre.

I’ve been saying this for twenty years: the majority of business air travel is unnecessary; there are more environmentally, financially and employee friendly ways of doing business – and they’re just as effective. Why is there no will to grasp this?

Social Sciences, Business, Law

Hansard is the official record of business in the UK’s parliament. Here’s something on how their reporters handle getting to grips with an influx of new MPs.

Art, Literature, Language

OK, so who understands what sodomy actually is, at least according to the medieval world view. [LONG READ]

An Italian art gallery has discovered its stolen Gustav Klimt painting in a wall.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have found the graves of high-status Romans in Somerset.

Here’s a series of long reads from Going Medieval about medieval life …

The most maligned of creatures, since ancient times, the wolf has a central role in mythology. [LONG READ]

Medieval people were nicer to cows than we are now. [LONG READ]

Medieval courtly love was just as full of pick-up artists as other times. [LONG READ]

There’s a subset of society who (erroneously) believe the medieval Church was a shadowy organisation dedicated solely to suppressing knowledge and scientific advancement. [LONG READ]

No medieval people weren’t dirty. Yes, mediaval people bathed – a lot more than we think. They even invented soap! [LONG READ]

It’s interesting what you can find in the sludge of a London medieval cesspit.

Slightly nearer our own time, it seems that Columbus may well have been right in his claims of cannibals in the Caribbean.

Lifestyle, Personal Development

A Utah (think Salt Lake City and Mormons) court convicts a mother of lewd behaviour for bearing her breasts in front of her children. But is being naked around your own kids good for them? Spoiler: yes.

The “power of bad” and the “curse of good”. We’re living in a gilded age but can we defeat negativity?

There is some surprising psychology behind being perpetually late.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally, the United Kingdom wins a Darwin Award for Brexit. Well who would have guessed?!

amusements, environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

And for the last time in 2019, here’s our monthly round-up of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

There are lots of Rose-Ringed Parakeets in London (far from their native home in Northern India). How did they get here? The legend is that they were released by Jimi Hendrix, but they’ve been around a lot longer than that. Two reports on the latest investigation from the BBC and The Oldie.

A fossil forest has been found in New York State, and it is the oldest one known.

Now to one of my favourite subjects: wasps. Just what is the point of wasps?

There’s a new formula for converting your dog’s age into human years. [£££]
But note: it is different for cats.

Health, Medicine

There is a significant resurgence of measles with a number of countries, including the UK, losing their measles-free status.

A very small number of people have a mystery illness which causes a fever every few weeks, but finally the cause has been identified. [£££]

In the stomach, the mind, or the brain? Migraine’s causes and remedies have been debated for 2,000 years. [LONG READ]

Medical science has traditionally neglected women’s health, and still does. Why does medicine have a gender problem?

Environment

Now here’s an idea: reintroduce national service and use the victims to do environmental and conservation work.

How often do you mow your lawn? There’s a good chance the answer is “too often”, because less frequent mowing can help wildlife.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

We’ve heard of environmental rewilding, well now here’s political rewilding: the antidote to our current malaise of the demagogues.

Art, Literature, Language

Japanese artist Masayo Fukuda hand-cuts intricate images from a single sheet of paper.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Here are ten English archaeological finds of the last decade.

Archaeologists do keep pushing the boundaries. In Indonesia they’ve now found the earliest known cave art by modern humans.

And in Greece archaeologists have unearthed gold-lined Mycenaean royal tombs.

2020 is the 850th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas Becket, and it will be a year of commemorative events, culminating in a major exhibition at the British Museum.

Prince Albert is usually blamed for introducing the Christmas tree, but it is likely to be much older than that. One early instance dates from 1419 in Freiburg.

So, apart from the obvious, what went on in a medieval brothel? Well, it often wasn’t pleasant. [LONG READ]

An academic has discovered annotations by Elizabeth I on a document in Lambeth Palace Library.

Religious and secular celebration of Christmas was forbidden by the English Puritan republic, but not entirely successfully. [LONG READ]

London

There’s a very elderly eagle in Croydon.

The Greek god Priapus, protector of gardens, fruit plants, livestock … and male genitals, is an unlikely subject for a statue in the discrete streets of Pimlico.

Food, Drink

Peru, as we all know, is the home of the potato, and they have a potato museum which conserves well over a thousand varieties and could be important in breeding the plants to handle climate change.

Haggis is a traditional Scots food. Or is it? [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development

So how do couples stay together long-term? Understanding the other person is trying to do their best is important.

John Horgan in Scientific American investigates whether mysticism can help us solve the mind-body problem.

Naked therapy is a (non-sexual) treatment to help people become more comfortable with their bodies.

How the tattoo became fashionable in Victorian England. [LONG READ]

And, oh dear, it seems the codpiece is back in fashion.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally … In Turkey there’s a bee which builds its nests out of flower petals. and they’re stunningly beautiful.

That’s all for now, folks. The Fates permitting, we’ll be back in January. Meanwhile a happy New Year to everyone!

amusements, links, pleasures

To Keep You Amused …

Just in case anyone is at a loose end over the holidays, the Guardian has printed the King William’s College 2019 GKP, as it has every year since 1951. This is the general knowledge paper 2019-20, the 115th issue, sat by the pupils of King William’s College, Isle of Man.

According to Wikipedia: Since 1904, the College has set an annual general knowledge test, known as the General Knowledge Paper (GKP). The pupils sit the test twice: once unseen on the day before the Christmas holidays, and again when they return to school in the New Year, after spending the holiday researching the answers. It is well known to be highly difficult, a common score being just two correct answers from the list of several hundred. The best scores are 40 to 50 for the unseen test and about 270 out of 360 for the second sitting.

The quiz is always introduced with the Latin motto Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est, “To know where you can find anything is, after all, the greatest part of erudition.”

You can find this year’s GKP at https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2019/dec/24/king-williams-college-quiz-2019 or https://www.kwc.im/uploads/gkp-questions-2019-20.pdf.

As usual I shall not be getting 100% as tonight’s bedtime reading.

arts, food+drink, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links

Once more, dear friends, unto our monthly collection of links to items you may have missed the first time. And we have a well stuffed list this month.

Science, Technology, Natural World

First off something to worry you (well maybe) … Scientific American looks at how easy it is to hack GPS, and the USA’s lack of a backup. [£££]

I’ve never liked the way we change the clocks twice a year, and it seems there is evidence that daylight saving time does affect our health.

Another of my bêtes noir is the way wasps get such a bad press and abuse. We need to learn to love them as they’re amazing pest-killers and useful pollinators. [£££]

Many more birds migrate than we realise. Now a Robin has been recorded doing 140 mile crossing of trhe North Sea in just four hours

And now for some good news … a mouse deer thought to be extinct (it’s not been seen for nearly 30 years) has been found alive in Vietnam.

Now you now we had to get to cats eventually! It seems that our cats are more attached to us than we thought. [£££]

A mysterious 300 million-year-old fossil known as the Tully Monster could be a vertebrate or an invertebrate: scientists are still trying to decide and the oddities keep multiplying.

Do animals speak to us? Dutch philosopher Eva Meijer says that they do but we don’t (know how to) listen to them.

Finally in this section, one not for the squeamish. A look at how forensic scientists are studying the microbiological decay of corpses using human bodies. [LONG READ]

Health, Medicine

In the 1950s, photojournalist Lennart Nilsson set out to capture photographs of foetuses, and his Foetus 18 Weeks may be the greatest photograph of the 20th century.

Why is measles such a dangerous illness, even after recovery? Because it appears to make the body forget how to fight infection.

Now here’s something very odd: apparently some left-handed women can smell normally despite having olfactory bulbs in their brain. And this is only left-handed women!

So are women’s experiences of menopause psychosomatic? It seems they may be (at least in part) as women’s experience of menopause appears to be related her family’s experiences.

Sexuality

So here are seven myths about fertility.

New in London: the world’s only Vagina Museum. Needless to say it’s dedicated to female genitalia. [LONG READ]

Environment

We aren’t nearly good enough at recycling, so here are 15 ways to reduce your plastic footprint.

The National Trust is set to release families of beavers at sites in Somerset and Sussex as part of plans to ease flooding and improve biodiversity.

Art, Literature, Language

Italian police have arrested over 20 people in connection with the trafficking of archaeological artefacts.

Now here’s another oddity. It appears that our (western) perception of musical octaves is learned and not hard-wired in the brain.

Art can be cathartic, as Laura Dodsworth discovers when talking to high security prisoners about her work.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Should the Iron Age really be called the Flax Age? [LONG READ]

The Ancient Egyptians mummified millions of sacred birds, but were they wild caught or captive bred?

So just why was the year 536 AD the worst year to be alive?

Researchers are linking the Catholic Church’s ban on cousins marrying (well, incest in general) to the emergence of western individualism. [£££]

We all know that inflation happens, but how much has the value of money changed over the centuries? It seems it depends on how you measure it, and that isn’t easy.

It is a wise child who knows its father. New research shows this is truer in cities than rural areas.

London

The Museum of London is planning to move into part of the old Smithfield Market. IanVisits looks inside the space before construction work begins.

Meanwhile London blogger Diamond Geezer gives us an A to Z of Kew Gardens.

Food, Drink

Ten of the world’s most environmentally controversial foods.

Zoe Williams in the Guardian contends that there’s a generation gap in food.

Lifestyle, Personal Development

Collective worship in schools must be provided for all pupils in an appropriate way for their beliefs, and not be single religion.

One woman tells the story of how she became an astrologer, what it was like, and why she stopped.

The patriarchy is not the natural human state, after all hunter-gatherer societies remain remarkable for their gender equality. [LONG READ]

Attachment: are you a secure, avoidant or anxious partner?

We all know about green space, but blue space? It appears that time spent near water is the secret of happiness.

So fifty fascinating facts about our friendly felines.

People

And finally … Who would have guessed that Rod Stewart has spent over 20 years building a mega model railway?

Another instalment in the dull days following Christmas! Have a good one.

history, links, medical, ramblings, science

Monthly Links

Being our round-up of links to items you missed the first time – but they’re a bit thin on the ground this month.

Science, Technology, Natural World

An article on the American woman who established industrial medicine and toxicology.

A southern European wasp species (Polistes nimpha, right) has seen in UK for probably the first time.

Should we feed garden birds or not? A BTO researcher weighs the evidence.

Health, Medicine

Transplant of vaginal fluid could help cure bacterial vaginosis.

A look at how Mooncup bust period taboos and built a successful business

Sexuality

Is this sexuality or is it medicine? Anyway it is here … It is suggested that stimulated ovulation (eg. in rabbits) could provide an underlying explanation for female orgasm.

Art, Literature, Language

A look at something we all know … the English language is not normal. [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Some recent research suggests that Botswana’s Okavango Delta was the cradle of all living humans.

There is now some debate over whether Neanderthals are the same species as Homo sapiens. It seems to depend on how you define a species.

Aerial geophysics scanning has found 1000 ancient sites on the Scottish island of Arran.

Still in Scotland, some ruins in a Tayside forest may have been illicit 18th century whisky distilleries.

The Museum of London has acquired a silver plate which belonged to diarist Samuel Pepys.

And that’s all for this month, folks!

environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links

Here goes then with this month’s selection of links to items you may have missed the first time round, and probably shouldn’t have done!

Science, Technology & Natural World

Cheeky monkeys! Apparently squirrels eavesdrop on birds’ chatter to find out if there’s a security alert.

After which it isn’t surprising that squirrels’ cousins, the rats, love games, giggle and jump for joy.

Insects deserve much more respect than they get; without them we’d not be here! [LONG READ]

One insect group deserving of greater respect, and admiration, are the wasps. Not just the annoying “yellow jackets”, there’s a whole diversity of species and they’re brilliant predators.

On the other hand we all like butterflies, and this has been an especially good year, especially for Painted Ladies.

Health & Medicine

Research has shown definitively that babies born by Caesarean have different gut bacteria compared with vaginal births. Why does this surprise anyone?

Statistical analysis shows that 26 September is the busiest day for births (at least in the UK) at about 10% above the average. Yes, you guessed it: it’s all down to Christmas and New Year shagging.

Sexuality

The world’s first Vagina Museum opens in November at London’s Camden Lock. Aim: to educate and raise awareness of vaginal and vulval health and fight stigmas.

Environment

Apparently the fish stock calculations were way off and North Sea cod should not have been labelled as sustainable.

What practical things can you do to combat climate change? One thing we seldom consider is to plant your own trees.

Art & Literature

After 119 years the Wallace Collection in London is to start lending out its artworks. Under the terms by which they were established they thought they couldn’t do this, but now they think they can.

History, Archaeology & Anthropology

Archaeologists have uncovered over 250 Neanderthal footprints, many of children, in northern France. They promise to throw some light on Neanderthal lifestyle.

Again, I’m not sure why this is surprising, but there is now evidence to suggest that the first people in the Americas came by sea.

Archaeologists are also now suggesting that prehistoric babies were fed animal milk from pottery bottles.

Coming more up to date, English Heritage are concerned that damp is putting many ancient murals, especially church wall paintings, at risk.

A piece of what is thought to be Elizabeth I’s lost dress is to go on display at Hampton Court.

In Scotland there is a plan to establish a national witches’ memorial.

London

While Britain’s parliamentarians are letting off quantities of hot air, the Houses of Parliament are threatening to collapse on their heads. [LONG READ]

One of our favourite London bloggers, Diamond Geezer, takes a random walk from Oxford Circus.

Food & Drink

No part of the pig is ever wasted. Now chefs are beginning to sign up to fin-to-gill eating – cooking fish without discarding anything.

Lifestyle & Personal Development

A pair of (American) researchers are suggesting every couple should have eight intense discussions to cement and develop their relationship. When you read their book, although they are deep discussions, it is the usual structured common sense – but something many will not easily do without a prompt.

It has apparently now been confirmed that there are benefits to being left-handed.

Shock, Horror, Humour

And finally, it’s time for this year’s Ig Nobel prizes. Amongst this year’s winners is a study of French postmen’s testicles.

More next month.