In September I took over most of the parenting chores to allow Pam to study for exams at the end of the month. This involved a minimum of 3 hours driving for the school run alone. Plus the usual grocery shopping, cooking and laundry. And of course giving the children something to do other than …
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Radical ocean solution for climate change
Writing in the journal Nature, Science Museum head Chris Rapley and Gaia theorist James Lovelock have suggested boosting ocean take-up of CO2 using huge flotillas of vertical pipes in tropical seas, a technology already being investigated by a US firm, Atmocean. The pipes use convection currents to bring cold water nearer the surface. The colder …
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Japanese protest history cover-up in text book
Over 100,000 people in Okinawa, Japan protested over proposals to change the account in school text books detailing the account of Japanese army involvement in mass suicides during World War 2. The protest was against moves to modify and tone down passages that say the army ordered Okinawans to kill themselves rather than surrender. When …
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Rare 19th century books to go on-line
The British Library is digitising and putting on-line more than 100,000 old books previously unavailable to the public. The programme focuses on 19th Century books, many of which are unknown as few were reprinted after first editions. This excellent initiative will help teachers who otherwise can not get access to this literature, and it will …
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Is Apple morphing in to Microsoft …?
In August the iPhone was hacked allowing users to choose which network they use. Now Apple has issued an “update” that disables phones that have been hacked. It also has disabled some phones that haven’t been hacked. The move demonstrates the collusive character of the mobile network in the US and illustrates a morphing of …
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The world is waking up to the reality of climate change
A BBC World Service poll, published a day after 150 countries met at the United Nations to discuss climate change, suggests most people believe human activity is causing global warming and major action is needed to deal with the problem. More than 22,000 people were surveyed in 21 countries. An average of 79% of respondents …
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While the world burns, America fiddles …
It is reminiscent of the story of Nero playing the violin while Rome burned, because of his lunacy. In the past week gatherings of the world’s powers to discuss climate change all advocate accelerated, multilateral, cooperative action to reduce carbon emissions and change human consumption habits, except America. The richest country in the world uses …
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Give a $ 200 laptop to a poor child
The One Laptop per Child project has been launched. For a modest donation of $ 200 you can provide a child with a new MIT designed notebook. Check out the site on-line. For a couple of weeks in November, you can can get one yourself too.
Virtual worlds are a window on human psyche
As virtual worlds become more ubiquitous and more long lived, user behaviour is offering more insights into human psyche and revealing how virtual reality can fill some emotional needs we might have. As this article discusses, the working and spending behaviour of avatars is active by choice rather than necessity – you don’t have to …
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US schools cleaning up the menu
It appears from anecdotal evidence that school cafeterias in the US have made a concerted effort to facilitate better diets: fewer fried foods, smaller servings and no cupcakes. Growing awareness of increasing obesity and federal guidelines have encouraged a administrators to take steps to make food in schools healthier. For example California school districts have …
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