Put your name on an asteroid !

Put your name on an asteroid !

Well… why not ?  In any case, it’s a pretty ambitious sample return mission and worth following ! 

Alan Turing

Happy Birthday Mr Alan Turing ! What better day to have a ultra mega geeky day out at Bletchley Park looking at his finest work which probably saved our country (but who was subsequently so horribly treated by the same country), and watching the world’s first (1943 Britain beat the americans to it by 2 years), large scale computer, ‘Colossus’ actually working as opposed to the usual ‘fake-flashing-lights-working’ ! I had my thick-rimmed glasses on the whole way round (and I want that boilersuit)

The last days of May

“They’re OK the last days of May
But I’ll be breathin’ dry air
I’m leaving soon
The others are already there (all there)
Wouldn’t be interested in coming along
Instead of staying here?
It’s said the West is nice this time of year”   …     Blue Öyster Cult

New Zealand, Dairies, and legal highs

Ok, so following my travels I’ve continued to take an interest in NZ current affairs, and today I was listening to RN and learned about ‘Dairies selling drugs’ ! I didn’t think I’d heard right and so it took a little research to be able to join the dots. So, ‘Dairies’ are what Newzealanders call small food stores, 7-11s, corner shops etc. – you learn something new every day – And the drugs that they’re selling (for huge profit) are ‘party pills’ and synthetic cannabis – as far as I can tell it’s all herbal stuff. Anyway, there appears to be some ‘substance’ (pardon the pun) to the efficacy of the products. Needless to say, this has been causing quite a storm over there of late and I’m not surprised ! Only in NZ !

New additions to the family

Two new additions. Slingbox Pro HD for the UK and a cheap n’ cheerful mobile Bearcat for passing the surface intervals on the island being nosey.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

A noble attempt to improve the convergence of data for species as the climate changes.  Much easier for the scientists to get decent stats in a hurry rather than working in isolation.  Also makes interesting reading for the rest of us. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

World’s fish are migrating to escape global warming

A new study shows what we all suspected. A few articles referenced here in New Scientist.

Bolt in Cayman

Usain Bolt was here last night doing his thing.  I didn’t get to watch the race but by the looks of things it wasn’t that impressive.  Must be difficult being an over-achiever though.  Here’s an interesting article from Psychology Today discussing the achievement-motivated vs. the failure-avoiding individual.  Which one are you ?

HowStuffWorks

Well, ever wondered how the Mafia operates or why Bitcoin is the way it is.   These guys have a great podcast that I’ve been listening to for years and their site will kill hours so watch out – they even have an app.

Zombie Ants

I know this article has been out for the longest time, I just never manage to retell it accurately enough each time.  It’s such a great illustration of how amazing evolution gets.  So here ’tis.