I don’t like big numbers. There are nine billion people in the world, but how many of us can honestly imagine of more than a couple thousand people? When you look at the moon on a clear night, it looks pretty close. But it’s actually over 240 thousand miles away! I think Norwich is a long way – If I try to think of more than about a thousand miles, my brain melts…
Today’s blog is all about ingenious ways of making mind-boggling concepts and huge numbers understandable to mere mortals like you and I…Read more
Haggis vs. BigMac: Which is really better to eat?Haggis is like Marmite: People love it or hate it. Banned in the USA and slammed by health critics, just how bad can this Scottish delicacy really be?
Haggis is no longer the reserve of the ardent kilt-wearing Scot because more and more of us Burn’s Night revellers are opting for this authentic fare. Not helped by its anaemic appearance, the haggis has an image problem. Ardent proponents of this ‘boil in a bag’ of sheep innards claim that it is authentic, traditional, and no worse than most processed meat products many of us eat.
So, on the eve of my first Haggis experience (I know I’m late for Burn’s night), I cast a critical eye on the evidence for and against this Scottish national dish.
Is writing by hand dead?With so much work being done on computers these days, the poor old pen has pretty much been consigned to the stationary drawer. Technology is now so portable that we can stay ‘connected’ in every conceivable situation: laptops for coffee-shop working, iPads and PDAs while commuting, and Smartphones when we’re out and about.
In our house, important bits of paper also have a habit of getting lost. This would be a typical conversation:
“Where’s that important letter dear?”
“Where did you last see it?”
“On the coffee table, I think!”
“Have you checked the pile of important letters?!” (points to large box of unfiled papers)
My idea of organised paperwork...So for disorganised people like us, it makes sense to keep computer records of anything important. And if you’re a tech-savvy touch-typer, the keyboard is far quicker than writing something by hand.
Which is all a shame really, because there’s something special about writing by hand: It’s completely different to typing words on a screen, you recognise your handwriting, and those words BELONG to you.
So there’s good news for all the quill-lovers out there because the humble pen has finally come of age! If you think writing is dead, think again: the ‘SmartPen’ is a pen for grown-ups. Loaded with microchips and clever technology, it will even meet the whims of the iPad generation (and it’s a darned sight smaller)…Read more
Insomnia is something all of us struggle with from time to time. Not being able to get off to sleep is perhaps one of the most frustrating and loathsome things in the world (second only to an itchy back).
Counting sheep never seems to work very well...You can toss, turn, and even count sheep, but nothing seems to work. Sometimes your mind just refuses to switch off. Francis Scott Fitzgerald got it right when he said,
“The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.”
Do you have a solution to insomnia? My father always has a glass of milk and a biscuit (ginger nut, incidentally) before bed. I find reading a book or listening to the radio normally works or me.
Many of us resort to herbal or medical remedies. If you had to choose one, which would you go for? Did you realise though that the colour of your remedy has an effect!? Read on to find out why blue is best…Read more
Everyone loves a good hospital drama. They tick all the boxes for good TV: Gritty plots, life and death situations, steamy relationships, ethical dilemmas and blood and gore. Now more popular than ever, medical TV dramas have come a long way in the last 50 years. But just how accurate are they?
You might be surprised to discover just how many inaccuracies modern hospital TV dramas have in them. Here’s the Top 10 list of things you will only ever see in a TV hospital…Read more
It’s going to be a job with some ups and downs: Cramped living conditions and rubbish food, but great views and plenty to talk about at parties when you get home!
But if you’re not a millionaire or a member of NASA, how easy is it to get into space and experience some zero-gravity weightlessness? As it happens, pretty difficult…
Since 1996, a $10 million prize was offered for the first person to do it (governments not allowed), and amateurs have going at it like the clappers! There have been some mixed successes, and today’s blog is dedicated to some of man’s attempts to break free from Earth….Read more
Should you cut the red wire or the blue wire? Quick! Time is running out! Red digits are already counting down from 10 seconds. With wire-cutters tentatively poised, a snip of the red wire and then…
Wait! Is bomb disposal really anything like what we see in the movies?
A few days ago, I wrote about the Trowbridge bomb scare. It was a pretty exciting event for us simple Wiltshire-folk. The centre of town was ‘locked-down’: All pedestrians and cars were diverted away by anxious-looking police officers. Meanwhile ambulances, fire engines and a bomb disposal team swarmed around The Shires Shopping Centre.Trowbridge Police fight to keep control (photo: Wiltshire Times) No-one came to harm and it was later discovered that the abandoned suitcase contained nothing more than a hat and a sock! But not quite everyone was relieved: One unimpressed Melksham resident asked “Was it really necessary to re-open the Shires?!”
Clearly, my high quality reporting of the event did not go unnoticed: Rikki, a Bomb Disposal Engineer from the Royal Logistics Corps who was there that fateful day had read my blog post and decided to get in touch. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass by to get the low-down on real-life bomb disposal, Rikki was kind enough to answer some of my questions:
How do you deal with the pressure?
What is modern-day bomb disposal all about?
How does it feel to have helped save both Trowbridge’s ‘Poundland’ and ‘Greggs’!?…Read more
I was sat with friends and enjoying Christmas festivities, when this text came through:
“Why do bubbles stick to the straw in fizzy drink?”
My niece had come up with the question after watching bubbles dance around in a glass of soft drink. For a seven year old, this was a pretty good question. My sister (who also has scientific inclinations) was unable to give her a convincing answer, and knowing that I’m a sucker for trying to solve anything remotely scientific, she turfed it to me…
I looked into it and gave her my best answer. I also discovered that the science of bubbles is pretty interesting (no really). So if you’ve ever wondered about how and why bubbles form in a glass of soda/champagne/beer then read on!
Enter the fascinating & bubbilicious world of fizzy drinks…(with some stuff even seven year olds will enjoy)!Read more
I bet that you own at least one loyalty or ‘reward’ card. They sound like a great idea – You get money and points for just doing your normal grocery shop! Well, if you think you’re getting something for nothing, then you’re wrong…Ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett branded loyalty cards 'an invasion of privacy', but was he right?The barcode bleep is like the soundtrack to modern society. And in the 21st Century, we must shop to survive. But when you use a loyalty card, every bleep sets off an invisible chain of electronic events: In the UK, purchases are instantly fed into a huge computer database for detailed analysis. But why, and for what purpose? Today’s blog explores the murky world of the supermarket loyalty card…Read more
New Year’s Resolutions: Just what is the point? I used to hate the idea of resolving to do something good just because it was a new year. And yet there seems to be something magical about the stroke of midnight on December 31st: Many of us pledge to get fit, save money or stop smoking. Having witnessed family and friends make dozens of failed attempts, it’s tempting to think that Oscar Wilde had it right…
Resolutions are “pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil”. Oscar Wilde (1909), The Picture of Dorian Gray
What are your New Year's resolutions?These days I’m less of a resolution-hater. In fact I’ve actually quite warmed to the idea, and I’ve even made myself a few New Year’s resolutions for this year: To start writing a book, to change my gym routine and to make sure I have more fun! But will I just be like everyone else; starting with good intentions, but disappointed and disillusioned a couple of months down the line?
Psychologists have tried to answer these questions and a team of researchers from America did some intensive work to find out the secret of sticking to New Year’s resolutions. Read on to find out if you’ve got what it takes to carry through on your resolution…
I don’t like big numbers. There are nine billion people in the world, but how many of us can honestly imagine of more than a couple thousand people? When you look at the moon on a clear night, it looks pretty close. But it’s actually over 240 thousand miles away! I think Norwich is a long way – If I try to think of more than about a thousand miles, my brain melts…
