Daniel's Den

further travels of Tintin 2

2012-01-27T17:30:00.000+11:00

In August 2009, I wrote about further travels of Tintin, cover art of additional places Tintin visited, by people who were not Hergé.

Australian artist Glenn Smith has drawn his tribute to Tintin set in Penrith, which is west of Sydney.

Glenn Smith hopes to offer the drawing as a poster.

Le changement, c'est maintenant

2012-01-26T13:00:00.000+11:00

The campaign slogan for France's Parti Socialiste, contesting the presidency with François Hollande as candidate, is "le changement, c'est maintenant".

Quite a dull campaign slogan but when combined with a hand and arm gesture, it's quite magnifique.

Le changement, c'est maintenant: le signe de... by francoishollande

See reporting in Le Nouvel Observateur and France24.

Whales give dolphins a lift

2012-01-22T21:10:00.000+11:00

In 2010, the journal Aquatic Mammals (DOI: 10.1578/AM.36.2.2010.121) reported about interactions between dolphins and whales. Abstract

Two Unusual Interactions Between a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hawaiian Waters

Mark H. Deakos, Brian K. Branstetter, Lori Mazzuca, Dagmar Fertl, and Joseph R. Mobley, Jr.

When two species share a common habitat, interspecific interactions can take many forms. Understanding the dynamics of these interactions can provide insight into the behavior and ecology of those species involved. Two separate, unusual interactions are described in which a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) lifted a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) completely out of the water. Both incidents occurred in Hawaiian waters. Based on reports of object play by hump-back whales, and the apparent initiation and cooperation of each dolphin being lifted, object (i.e., the dolphin) play by the whale and social play by the dolphin seem to be the most plausible explanations for the interaction. Aggressive and epimeletic behavior by the humpback were also considered.

Recently (10 January 2012), the American Museum of Natural History released photos of such an interaction

Was this a case of inter-species play or had one species 'domesticated' the other?

A random act of kindness does make a difference

2011-12-17T17:34:00.001+11:00

From Life Vest Inside

(Song: One Day by Matisyahu - original clip)

A random act of kindness does make a difference and 'what goes around comes around'

Stresstest

2011-12-16T23:25:00.001+11:00

Press release from Die Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (GfdS)/the Society for German Language, on the word of the year

Wort des Jahres 2011 ist Stresstest. Dieses Wort, ursprünglich aus der Humanmedizin stammend, begegnete im Laufe des Jahres auffällig oft. Es erwies sich dabei aus sprachlicher Sicht als äußerst produktiv und war in den verschiedensten Bereichen anzutreffen: Nicht nur Banken wurden auf ihre Belastbarkeit getestet, auch etwa das Bahnhofsprojekt Stuttgart 21, die grün-rote Landesregierung in Baden-Württemberg und deutsche Atomkraftwerke wurden Stresstests unterzogen. Diese Praxis und somit das Wort erlangten dadurch politische, wirtschaftliche und gesamtgesellschaftliche Relevanz. So ist Stresstest mittlerweile als fester Bestandteil der Alltagssprache anzusehen.

Read more, for the other nine words in the top ten list.

Borrowed from the English term, it was originally used in German in a medical sense. Lately, it has been applied in the financial sector as a measure of an institution's resilience and 'health'. The term has also been applied to describe whether transport systems and indeed nuclear reactors are able to withstand stresses and 'overloading'.

See also Duden for a more official definition.

In 2011, the word captures the fear of systems failing.

Another (sub) species, extinct

2011-11-12T07:00:00.000+11:00

According to the latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, "the Western Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes) has officially been declared extinct." (see IUCN news release).

The loss of a rhinoceros sub-species is a travesty, particularly as it was hunted to extinction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a democratic membership union composed of over 1,000 members, 11,000 scientific experts in various thematic commissions with 1,000 staff, working together in more than 160 countries to help the world find pragmatic solutions to the most pressing environment and development challenges.

The Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is a country member, along with nine state government agencies and 16 non-government organisations.

The United States Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and the United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are also country members.

Tintin in India

2011-11-11T22:30:00.000+11:00

Soutik Biswas is the Delhi correspondent for the BBC. He's also an unabashed Tintin fan and writes

Indians love Tintin like no other comic book. In an age of dashing, computer generated comic book heroes, Tintin albums - in English and in Bengali and Hindi translations - continue to sell by the thousands. Is it any surprise then that Steven Spielberg's paean to the intrepid reporter, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, releases in India later on Friday, six weeks ahead of its US release?

"Tintin is huge in India, perhaps bigger than in the US," says a spokesperson for Sony Pictures (India), which is releasing the film here. She says their research shows that more than 90% of the audience that watch Hollywood films in India are Tintin fans. Amazing.

Water from thin air

2011-11-10T22:00:00.000+11:00

The winner of the James Dyson Award was announced on 8 November 2011. From James Dyson Award website

The James Dyson Award is open to product design, industrial design and engineering university level students (or graduates within 4 years of graduation) who have studied in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA.

The award is £10,000 for the student or student team (up to four members) winner, £10,000 for their university department and the James Dyson Award trophy and Certificate.

This year, the award was won by Edward Linacre, a Swinburne University of Technology graduate, for his Airdrop invention, in which

Moisture is harvested out of the air to irrigate crops by an efficient system that produces large amounts of condensation. A turbine intake drives air underground through a network of piping that rapidly cools the air to the temperature of the soil where it reaches 100% humidity and produces water. The water is then stored in an underground tank and pumped through to the roots of crops via sub surface drip irrigation hosing.

Read more.

See also

In his own words

Amazing ingenuity from Australia - an innovative and practical solution to a major problem that is also cheap to implement. Congratulations to Mr Linacre.

Tintin TIME

2011-10-31T21:00:00.000+11:00

TIME magazine's 31 October issue featured a Tintin cover in the Europe, Asia and South Pacific editions.

The United States edition was unique

Evidence that the United States doesn't get Tintin the way the rest of the world does.

Saving canines

2011-10-30T21:45:00.000+11:00

Two interesting articles this week.

Global Post has a pictorial of pet dogs in Bangkok also being saved/evacuated from the flooding.

Der Spiegel reports whether the German Shepherd breed can be saved from show-breeders who have deformed the standard so that the lower back and hind-legs now slope down, making those dogs impractical for police work.

Tintin update

2011-10-27T22:00:00.000+11:00

The Tintin film was released in Belgium and France on 26 October 2011 (link for other release dates elsewhere).

Reported in Euronews

Read Euronews report.

Reporting in the Belgian and French media have been glowing.

Behind the face and voice of Elmo

2011-10-26T21:00:00.000+11:00

From ABC Nightline

video platform video management video solutions video player

Fascinating story.

Kevin Clash has been behind (underneath?) Elmo since late 1985 on Sesame Street.

More on Elmo

Measuring up. The Martians are here. The Sydney Story Factory.

2011-10-15T23:00:00.000+11:00

Inspired by 826 Valencia, a writing centre in San Francisco for children founded by novelist Dave Eggers and educator Ninive Caligari, the Sydney Story Factory is scheduled to open late in 2011 in Redfern, Sydney. From their website

The Sydney Story Factory is a not-for-profit creative writing centre for children. Volunteer tutors offer free help to tell stories of all kinds. Programs are targeted at disadvantaged children, especially those from indigenous and non-English speaking backgrounds, but are open to all.

Sydney Story Factory programs are project-based, and every child walks away with a published piece of work. At the end of a one-off, two-hour workshop, children might have a bound and illustrated chap book to take home. At the end of a longer program, they may have produced a book, zine, school newspaper or short animated film. They might have had an article published in The Sydney Morning Herald, our media partner.

The Sydney Story Factory is dedicated to developing creativity. There is growing global awareness that the ability to think creatively and flexibly is key to preparing children for a future we cannot yet imagine. All programs at the Sydney Story Factory are designed to nurture the creativity that is innate to every child. Programs will increase children's abilities to express their thoughts and feelings, and give them new ways of understanding the world around them.

Read more.

The proposed work of the Sydney Story Factory is best shown in the video Measuring Up

The most powerful tool a child has is his or her imagination.

See reporting in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Tintin update

2011-10-05T23:00:00.000+11:00

New trailer (UK) via MSN UK

<a href='http://video.uk.msn.com?vid=2c3838fe-e91e-4ac1-86b8-af598432aa92&mkt=en-gb&src=FLPl:embed::uuids' target='_new' title='MSN Exclusive: The Adventures of Tintin - trailer' >Video: MSN Exclusive: The Adventures of Tintin - trailer</a>

Evelyn Grace Academy

2011-10-03T20:30:00.000+11:00

The Evelyn Grace Academy, is a new secondary school in Brixton, south London located at 255 Shakespeare Road. It opened in September 2008. The building was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, which was awarded the £20,000 RIBA Stirling Prize 2011 for the best new European building built or designed in the United Kingdom. From Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announcement

A highly stylized zig-zag of steel and glass, the Evelyn Grace Academy is squeezed onto the tightest of urban sites (1.4 hectares - the average secondary school is 8/9 hectares). The architects received a complex brief: four schools under a single academy umbrella with the need to express both independence and unity. The architects were strongly encouraged by the client to 'think outside the box'. With such a small space and with sport being one of the Academy's 'special subjects' (each Academy school has one), the architects needed to be highly inventive. They succeeded, for instance by cleverly inserting a 100m running track into the heart of the site taking pupils right up to the front door. By dramatically celebrating the school's specialism, the RIBA Stirling Prize judges noted 'this is a design that literally makes kids run to get into school in the morning'.

The Evelyn Grace Academy is the first school to win the RIBA Stirling Prize, with seven schools shortlisted in previous years. It is the first time that Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a school and their first large-scale project in the UK. Previously they designed a Maggie's Centre in Scotland and more recently they have completed the Riverside Museum in Glasgow and the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics.

Read more.

Design as described by the architect

Following the principle of ‘schools within schools’, the design generates natural patterns of division within highly functional spaces which give each of the four smaller schools a distinct identity, both internally and externally.

Photo by Luke Hayes (via Zaha Hadid Architects website)

Video by RIBA

See reporting by BBC News.

It is an inspiring building, which hopefully will in turn inspire students in what is considered to be a disadvantaged socio-economic area.

2011 Ig Nobel awards

2011-09-30T23:00:00.000+10:00

The Ig Nobel is awarded to researchers, whose research should not be repeated. The 2011 winners, announced on 29 September 2011 at Harvard University were

PHYSIOLOGY PRIZE: Anna Wilkinson (of the UK), Natalie Sebanz (of NETHERLANDS, HUNGARY, and AUSTRIA), Isabella Mandl (of AUSTRIA) and Ludwig Huber (of AUSTRIA) for their study 'No Evidence of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise."
REFERENCE: 'No Evidence Of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise Geochelone carbonaria," Anna Wilkinson, Natalie Sebanz, Isabella Mandl, Ludwig Huber, Current Zoology, vol. 57, no. 4, 2011. pp. 477-84.
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Ludwig Huber

CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Makoto Imai, Naoki Urushihata, Hideki Tanemura, Yukinobu Tajima, Hideaki Goto, Koichiro Mizoguchi and Junichi Murakami of JAPAN, for determining the ideal density of airborne wasabi (pungent horseradish) to awaken sleeping people in case of a fire or other emergency, and for applying this knowledge to invent the wasabi alarm.
REFERENCE: US patent application 2010/0308995 A1. Filing date: Feb 5, 2009.
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Makoto Imai, Hideki Tanemura, Yukinobu Tajima, Hideaki Goto, Koichiro Mizoguchi and Junichi Murakami

MEDICINE PRIZE: Mirjam Tuk (of THE NETHERLANDS and the UK), Debra Trampe (of THE NETHERLANDS) and Luk Warlop (of BELGIUM). and jointly to Matthew Lewis, Peter Snyder and Robert Feldman (of the USA), Robert Pietrzak, David Darby, and Paul Maruff (of AUSTRALIA) for demonstrating that people make better decisions about some kinds of things — but worse decisions about other kinds of things‚ when they have a strong urge to urinate.
REFERENCE: "Inhibitory spillover: Increased Urination Urgency Facilitates Impulse Control in Unrelated Domains," Mirjam A. Tuk, Debra Trampe and Luk Warlop, Psychological Science, vol. 22, no. 5, May 2011, pp. 627-633.
REFERENCE: "The Effect of Acute Increase in Urge to Void on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults," Matthew S. Lewis, Peter J. Snyder, Robert H. Pietrzak, David Darby, Robert A. Feldman, Paul T. Maruff, Neurology and Urodynamics, vol. 30, no. 1, January 2011, pp. 183-7.
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Mirjam Tuk, Luk Warlop, Peter Snyder, Robert Feldman, David Darby

PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: Karl Halvor Teigen of the University of Oslo, NORWAY, for trying to understand why, in everyday life, people sigh.
REFERENCE: "Is a Sigh 'Just a Sigh'? Sighs as Emotional Signals and Responses to a Difficult Task," Karl Halvor Teigen, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 49, no. 1, 2008, pp. 49–57.
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Karl Halvor Teigen

LITERATURE PRIZE: John Perry of Stanford University, USA, for his Theory of Structured Procrastination, which says: To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that's even more important.
REFERENCE: "How to Procrastinate and Still Get Things Done," John Perry, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 23, 1996. Later republished elsewhere under the title "Structured Procrastination." http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~jperry
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Colleague Deborah Wilkes accepted the prize on behalf of Professor Perry.

BIOLOGY PRIZE: Darryl Gwynne (of CANADA and AUSTRALIA and the USA) and David Rentz (of AUSTRALIA and the USA) for discovering that a certain kind of beetle mates with a certain kind of Australian beer bottle
REFERENCE: "Beetles on the Bottle: Male Buprestids Mistake Stubbies for Females (Coleoptera)," D.T. Gwynne, and D.C.F. Rentz, Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, vol. 22, 1983, pp. 79-80
REFERENCE: "Beetles on the Bottle," D.T. Gwynne and D.C.F. Rentz, Antenna: Proceedings (A) of the Royal Entomological Society London, vol. 8, no. 3, 1984, pp. 116-7.
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Darryl Gwynne and David Rentz

PHYSICS PRIZE: Philippe Perrin, Cyril Perrot, Dominique Deviterne and Bruno Ragaru (of FRANCE), and Herman Kingma (of THE NETHERLANDS), for determining why discus throwers become dizzy, and why hammer throwers don't.
REFERENCE: "Dizziness in Discus Throwers is Related to Motion Sickness Generated While Spinning," Philippe Perrin, Cyril Perrot, Dominique Deviterne, Bruno Ragaru and Herman Kingma, Acta Oto-laryngologica, vol. 120, no. 3, March 2000, pp. 390–5.
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: The winners accepted via recorded video.

MATHEMATICS PRIZE: Dorothy Martin of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), Pat Robertson of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), Lee Jang Rim of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), Credonia Mwerinde of UGANDA (who predicted the world would end in 1999), and Harold Camping of the USA (who predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994 and later predicted that the world will end on October 21, 2011), for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.

PEACE PRIZE: Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, LITHUANIA, for demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank.
REFERENCE: VIDEO and OFFICIAL CITY INFO
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Arturas Zuokas

PUBLIC SAFETY PRIZE: John Senders of the University of Toronto, CANADA, for conducting a series of safety experiments in which a person drives an automobile on a major highway while a visor repeatedly flaps down over his face, blinding him.
REFERENCE: "The Attentional Demand of Automobile Driving," John W. Senders, et al., Highway Research Record, vol. 195, 1967, pp. 15-33. VIDEO
ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: John Senders

Compare to 2010 and 2009, which I've previously written.

The mathematics and peace prizes were particularly interesting. Sigh. Or was just a sigh?

"Goldman Sachs rules the world"

2011-09-28T23:30:00.000+10:00

according to Alessio Rastani, a London-based trader, while interviewed by BBC News

See also Yahoo! News for discussion about whether it was a hoax (apparently it wasn't).

Thanks to Eric Olander via Google+

A logo for Human Rights

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000+10:00

A universal symbol for Human Rights was announced in New York on 23 September 2011 following a world-wide competition seeking a suitable design. The Human Rights logo is an open source product, free to be used by everyone, everywhere, without restrictions for the purpose of promoting Human Rights.

The logo was designed by 32-year old Serbian graphic designer Predrag Štakić from Belgrade.

See reporting in Deutsche Welle (in English) and German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) media release (in German).

The logo in different formats can be downloaded from a Logo for Human Rights.

Breakaway (Speedy Singhs)

2011-09-26T19:00:00.000+10:00

Breakaway is a joint Indian-Canadian film production about Punjabi Indian Canadian life set in Toronto. It combines Bollywood with Canada's major sporting past-time ice-hockey.

Trailer for Breakaway

In India, the film has been released as Speedy Singhs. Even the trailer has been edited for a different film-going market.

One that I will watch. Bend it like Beckham was a splendid film and the Punjabi culture depicted made that film appealing and charming.

Catalonia's final torment and torture of bulls

2011-09-25T20:45:00.000+10:00

Last year, I wrote about the Catalan parliament banning the torment and torture of bulls, otherwise known as bullfighting.

Today, Barcelona hosted its last bullfight.

Reported by Euronews

Further print reporting in BBC News, AFP and France24.

FC Bayern München in lederhosen

2011-09-20T21:30:00.000+10:00

**

After defeating FC Schalke in an away game, players for FC Bayern München donned traditional Bavarian dress including the lederhosen.Of course, Oktoberfest has already started.

World in Union

2011-09-10T21:00:00.000+10:00

The 2011 Rugby World Cup began on 9 September 2011 with the New Zealand All Blacks defeating Tonga 41-10.Every four years, the competition begins with the rugby union anthem World in Union. This was first heard in 1991 at Twickenham sung by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. This year, it was sung by New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra. It is probably the best sporting anthem of all time. Of course the tune would be familiar to most people from the Thaxted melody of Gustav Holst's The Planets (Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity) and also in the hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country.

British ITV's introduction to their rugby coverage makes best use of Hayley Westenra's rendition of World in Union

The 2007 All Stars recording for the RWC in France was also well done

I Vow to Thee, My Country

Holst The Planets - Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity

Google Doodle for Freddie Mercury Day

2011-09-05T22:45:00.000+10:00

Today worldwide (except for the United States), Google celebrated what would have been Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury's 65th birthday with an animated doodle using an embedded YouTube video (see below)

France24 also had an excellent article about it, excerpt

"It has a lot of fun, goofy stuff to celebrate what an incredible song writer, fashion icon, and musical innovator he was," doodle team creative lead Ryan Germick told AFP during a visit to their base at Google's headquarters in the California city of Mountain View.

"Freddy Mercury was an awesome performer, an ambitious creator and pioneered really audacious concept records," Germick said. "We just love him; we've been blasting Queen for the last couple of months and it is always joyful."

Read more.See also, Queen guitarist Dr Brian May's post in the Google blog.

Previously, the animated doodle for Lucille Ball's 100th birthday was also very creative, allowing for interaction with different 'channels'.

football - round 24

2011-09-03T06:00:00.000+10:00

Sydney Swans 3.3 11.7 14.9 18.11 (119)
Brisbane Lions 4.3 6.6 9.9 9.13 (67)

GOALS
Sydney Swans: Bolton, Goodes 4, Rohan, Spangher 3, Parker 2, Hannebery, Malceski
Brisbane Lions: McGrath 3, Karnezis 2, Rich, Hawksley, Redden, Cornelius

BEST
Sydney Swans: Bolton, Goodes, Spangher, Rohan, McVeigh, O'Keefe, McGlynn
Brisbane Lions: McGrath, Rich, Leuenberger, Hanley, Karnezis, Hawksley

INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Reid (calf), Grundy (illness) replaced in the selected side by Malceski and Jetta
Brisbane Lions: Banfield (hamstring) replaced in the selected side by Buchanan

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney Swans: Spangher replaced by Jetta in the fourth quarter
Brisbane Lions: Retzlaff replaced by Buchanan in the third quarter

Umpires: Margetts, Chamberlain, Meredith
Official crowd: 27,721 at SCG.

It was the last game for the season and the year. Brisbane Lions won the first quarter before Sydney Swans picked up the pace. Match report by James Dampney and Ryan Chase.Photos by Craig Golding for Slattery Media.

Jack Redden

Simon Black

Aaron Cornelius

Matthew Leuenberger

New York City - get fit and make music. For free.

2011-09-01T22:00:00.027+10:00

For VMAN, Clark Cord and Matthew Terry show how New York City can provide the means of staying fit and making music, without paying a dime.

Clark "you can go down the street and work out anywhere"

VMAN 23 CLARK ll from V Magazine on Vimeo.

Matthew - shows that the city has a rhythm and beat

VMAN 23 MATT ll from V Magazine on Vimeo.

Coconut water

2011-08-31T22:00:00.002+10:00

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young green coconuts. Coconuts are more commonly harvested when mature and brown for the hard white coconut flesh or meat, from which liquid is extracted using added water to make coconut milk.

The liquid from green coconuts, usually available fresh in the tropics where the coconut palm is grown, has gained popularity elsewhere as a drink in recent times through the availability of packaged drinks. While the usually sweetened juice with some pulp has been popular in Thailand for some time sold in a can or plastic container, the unsweetened variety has gained wider acceptance outside of Asia. Unsweetened coconut water (not juice) is now a popular health drink. Marketed as a health drink, it has become a fad. Its health benefits, however, have been challenged (see New York Times, CNN, Reuters).

I have actually been drinking coconut water for some time, starting with the nudie brand but the last few months noticed an increase in other brands and availability. Hence, I thought it would be interesting to compare prices, ingredients and taste.

A comparison of each of these is provided below. Prices in Australian dollars.

nudie Coconut Water
Australia, from imported ingredients, source not indicated, no sugar added
350mL ($2.99), 1L ($6.99), per 100mL (small $0.85, large $0.70)
per 100mL - Energy 90kJ, Sodium 18mg, Potassium 190mg, Polyphenols 9mg, sugars 5g
per 350mL - Energy 315kJ, Sodium 63mg, Potassium 665mg, Polyphenols 31.5mg, sugars 17.5g

This is one of the older products in the market with the larger bottle more recently available. It has a natural taste to it without being too sweet. Available in the refrigerated aisles in Coles and Woolworths.

AYAM Coconut Water with pulp
Product of Thailand, coconut juice 90%, water, coconut pulp 3%, sugar, preservative 223
320mL ($1.52), per 100mL ($0.47)
per 100g - Energy 96kJ, Sodium 25mg, sugar 4.1g
per 320mL - Energy 308kJ, Sodium 80mg, sugar 13.1g

This one has added sugar and added water. A cheaper option that is drinkable and slightly sweeter because of the mix despite having lower total sugar content. Available in the Asian aisle in Woolworths.

Celebes Organic Coconut Water
Product of the Philippines
350mL ($3.20), per 100mL ($0.91)
per 100mL - Energy 84kJ, Sodium 19mg, Potassium 222mg, sugars 5g
per 350mL - Energy 294kJ, Sodium 70mg, Potassium 780mg, sugars 16g

Despite the similar natural sugar content as other brands, this one tastes less sweet. Available in health food stores.

nakula coconut water
Made in Thailand from local organic certified ingredients
300mL ($3.95), per 100mL ($1.32)
per 100mL - Energy 91kJ, Sodium 16.6mg, Potassium 230mg, sugars 3g
per 300mL - Energy 272kJ, Sodium 50mg, Potassium 690mg, sugars 9g

Probably the most expensive brand. The sugar content is much lower and the corresponding taste reflects this. Available in health food stores.

(Schweppes Australia) Kokomo Coconut Water
Packed in the Philippines, no added sugar or artificial sweetener, no preservatives, no concentrate
330mL ($2.50), per 100mL ($0.76)
per 100mL - Energy 83kJ, Sodium 19mg, Potassium 222mg, sugars 4.3g
per 330mL - Energy 274kJ, Sodium 63mg, Potassium 733mg, sugars 14.2g

This is a new product from a large beverage company. It is not as sweet. Available in the drinks aisle in Coles supermarket.

cocobella coconut water
Made fresh at the coconut plantation in Indonesia, free from concentrates
250mL ($1.99), per 100mL ($0.80)
per 100mL - 95kJ, Sodium 40mg, Potassium 131mg, Phosphorous [sic] 67mg, sugars 4.7g
per 250mL - 238kJ, Sodium 100mg, Potassium 328mg, Phosphorous [sic] 166mg, sugars 11.8g

Along with nudie, probably one of the more popular and well-established brands. It has the right amount of sweetness. Available in the drinks aisle in Coles supermarket.

football - round 23

2011-08-27T23:35:00.001+10:00

There are 24 rounds this year to allow for the new 17th team in the competition with two byes (game free rounds) for each team, playing a total of 22 games per year. In previous years, with 22 rounds, one round was split over two weekends allowing half the teams to have a game free weekend during that round.

West Coast 5.2 5.5 9.10 13.11 (89)
Brisbane Lions 4.4 7.6 9.12 11.15 (81)

GOALS
West Coast: Masten 3, Nicoski 2, Kennedy, Ebert, LeCras, Hams, Shuey, Priddis, Lynch, Gaff
Brisbane Lions: Rockliff 2, Rich, Redden, Drummond, Power, Polkinghorne, Adcock, Karnezis, Cornelius, Sheldon

BEST
West Coast: Lynch, Gaff, Priddis, Masten, Shuey
Brisbane Lions: Black, Raines, Rich, Hanley, Rockliff

INJURIES
West Coast: Cox (eye)
Brisbane Lions: Staker (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Dean Cox replaced by Ashley Smith in the third quarter
Brisbane Lions: Brent Staker (knee) replaced by Patrick Karnezis in the first quarter

Reports: Josh Kennedy (West Coast) for striking Mitch Golby in the fourth quarter
Umpires: McBurney, Ryan, Mollison
Official crowd: 13,500 at the Gabba

It was a wet game and the slippery conditions suited Brisbane Lions more than West Coast. While a loss (again), it was a valiant effort against a top four side. Sadly, Luke Power surprised supporters by announcing after the game that it was his last. Power is one of the club greats. Match report and on Power's retirement by Michael Whiting.

Photos by Chris Hyde for Getty.

Sam Sheldon

Simon Black

Brent Staker (against his former team)

Luke Power

A planet made of diamond

2011-08-27T21:00:00.004+10:00

A team of international researchers led by Australia has found a planet made of diamond. Media release from Swinburne University of Technology

A planet made of diamond

Date posted: 26 Aug 2011
A planet made of diamond

A once-massive star that’s been transformed into a small planet made of diamond: that’s what astronomers think they’ve found in our Milky Way.

The discovery, reported today in Science, was made by an international research team led by Professor Matthew Bailes, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne and the ‘Dynamic Universe’ theme leader in a new wide-field astronomy initiative, the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO).

The researchers, from Australia, Germany, Italy, the UK and the USA, first detected an unusual star called a pulsar using the CSIRO Parkes radio telescope and followed up their discovery with the Lovell radio telescope in the UK and one of the Keck telescopes in Hawaii.

Pulsars are small spinning stars about 20 km in diameter—the size of a small city—that emit a beam of radio waves. As the star spins and the radio beam sweeps repeatedly over Earth, radio telescopes detect a regular pattern of radio pulses.

For the newly discovered pulsar, known as PSR J1719-1438, the astronomers noticed that the arrival times of the pulses were systematically modulated. They concluded that this was due to the gravitational pull of a small companion planet, orbiting the pulsar in a binary system.

The pulsar and its planet are part of the Milky Way’s plane of stars and lie 4,000 light-years away in the constellation of Serpens (the Snake). The system is about an eighth of the way towards the Galactic Centre from the Earth.

The modulations in the radio pulses tell astronomers several things about the planet.

First, it orbits the pulsar in just two hours and ten minutes, and the distance between the two objects is 600,000 km—a little less than the radius of our Sun.

Second, the companion must be small, less than 60,000 km (that’s about five times the Earth’s diameter). The planet is so close to the pulsar that, if it were any bigger, it would be ripped apart by the pulsar’s gravity.

But despite its small size, the planet has slightly more mass than Jupiter.

"This high density of the planet provides a clue to its origin," said Professor Bailes.

Read more.

The pulsar at the centre of the below image is orbited by an object that is about the mass of Jupiter and composed primarily of carbon; effectively a massive diamond. The orbit, represented by the dashed line, would easily fit inside our Sun, represented by the yellow surface. The blue lines represent the radio signal from the pulsar, which spins around 175 times every second.

Explanatory video from Professor Bailes

In the episode called Utopia from Doctor Who (2007), set 100 trillion years into the future before the universe is about to end, Martha Jones asked a child named Creet "What do you think it's going to be like in Utopia?" who replied "My Mum used to say the sky was made of diamonds."

Perhaps the diamond planet might be nicknamed Lucy.

When art is money and money is art

2011-08-21T09:00:00.006+10:00

Works of art are worth as much as the highest bidder would pay for them at auction (or the price set by the artist and paid by the buyer).

Denis Beaubois is a Sydney artist who is auctioning a pile of cash a sculptural object. From his website

The Currency project is the first work in a series that looks at money as an architecture of possibility. Twenty thousand dollars, consisting of one hundred dollar bills, will be presented as a simple sculptural object to be auctioned through a fine art auction house. The material/money for the work has been sourced from a “New Work Established grant“ from the Visual Arts and Craft section of the Australia council for the Arts.

All currency used in the creation of the work will not be altered or modified and will retain its potential function and value as currency. However each hundred dollar bill will have its serial number recorded to validate it as an authentic part of the work, thereby instilling a cultural value on top of the financial value. The tension between the economic value of the material against the cultural value of the art object will be explored through the process of the financial transaction.

The work will be auctioned by Deutscher and Hackett and its catalogue notes

Currency, poses fundamental questions about value and values. These questions are not so new: artists have been posing them for generations. In the twentieth century we have seen the ‘readymades’ by Marcel Duchamp, the use of non-art materials in Arte Povera, Campbell’s Soup cans as ‘high art’ via Andy Warhol, or Jasper Johns’ Painted Bronze of the 1960s where the artist disguises the high art material of bronze by painting it to give the illusion of a humble coffee tin full of used paint brushes.

Simply, the value of an art object is subjective and often it greatly exceeds its material value. Yet, the face value of currency tends to decline with time and inflation, unless of course the banknotes gain ‘collector value’ in the world of numismatics, or become ‘collectable’ in the art market.

The art doesn't stop with the object itself. The auction itself would have to be part of the art.

Sydney Exhibition
thursday 18th to tuesday 23rd august
11am to 6pm
55 oxford St (cnr pelican st)
surry hills 2010
ph: 02 9297 0600

Melbourne Exhibition
thursday 25th to tuesday 30th august
11.00 am - 6.00 pm
105 commercial road
south yarra 3141
ph: 03 9865 6333

AUCTION
wed 31st august
to be held at Melbourne address

See reporting in The Age by Giles Hardie and Kylie Northover. As Hardie noted

So the Government gave Beaubois currency to purchase currency to be sold for currency, as art.

How much is money worth? Most people would try and bid less than the face value of the currency. How many would actually pay more than what the pile of cash is worth? In the name of art.

football - round 22

2011-08-20T23:30:00.010+10:00

Collingwood 2.4 7.10 12.16 14.18 (102)
Brisbane Lions 3.5 5.6 6.6 13.6 (84)

GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 5, Young 2, Fasolo 2, Swan 2, Brown, Sinclair, Beams
Brisbane Lions: McGrath 3, Staker 2, Rockliff 2, Cornelius 2, McKeever, Banfield, Sheldon, Power

BEST
Collingwood: Cloke, Swan, Ball, Beams, Pendlebury, Didak, Young
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger, Rockliff, Redden, Maguire, Black, McGrath

INJURIES
Collingwood: Andrew Krakouer (quad tightness) replaced in selected side by John McCarthy, Reid (ribs)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Ben Reid (ribs) replaced by John McCarthy at three-quarter time.
Brisbane Lions: Patrick Karnezis replaced by Daniel Rich during the third quarter.

Umpires: Dalgleish, Findlay, Jeffery
Official crowd: 47, 788 at the MCG

Although it was a loss, it was a great effort against the top team with the Brisbane Lions in the lead at the end of the first quarter. The second and third quarters were Collingwood's game. Going into the final quarter, the margin could have blown out from 46 points but the Lions fought back and cut it down to 18 points, kicking seven goals. Match report by Jason Phelan.

Photos by Darrian Traynor for Slattery Media, except Rockliff by Michael Willson

Luke Power

Simon Black

Tom Rockliff

Patrick Karnezis

Cow on the run

2011-08-16T22:35:00.005+10:00

First there was Luna the jumping cow, then Krista the bovine beauty queen. Now, there is a report about yet another cow, Yvonne, who is living life on the run in a Bavarian forest. Reported in the Guardian

A €10,000 reward is being offered in Germany for the safe return of a cow called Yvonne who went on the run in May after apparently sensing she was about to be sent to the slaughterhouse.

Yvonne, a six-year-old dairy cow, has, in the words of one newspaper, become "a kind of freedom fighter for the animal loving German republic" since she escaped from her field in the village of Zangberg, 50 miles north-east of Munich, on 24 May.

Having been fattened up, she was due to be dispatched when she managed to breach the electric fence surrounding her farm. For months she led a quiet life grazing among the fir trees of nearby forests, until she nearly came a cropper crossing a road into the path of a passing police car.

Read more. See also NPR and Der Spiegel. Ernst, a rather attractive bull has been enlisted to help lure her out of the forest (see video below from ZDF). Ernst, being castrated, might not actually be of much use.

See another video from Der Spiegel.

The German media appears to be obsessed with cows.

football - round 21 - QClash 2

2011-08-13T23:30:00.038+10:00

Brisbane Lions 5.2 7.5 10.11 18.15 (123)
Gold Coast 1.4 3.6 4.9 8.13 (61)

GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Staker 2, Clark 2, Polkinghorne 2, Sheldon 2, Banfield 2, Leuenberger 2, Black, Raines, Adcock, Hanley, Stiller, Karnezis
Gold Coast: Rischitelli 2, Shaw 2, Ablett, Fraser, Stanley, Bennell

BEST
Brisbane Lions: Black, Redden, Leuenberger, Staker, Rockliff, Drummond
Gold Coast: Bock, Ablett, McKenzie, Brennan, Iles

SUBSTITUTES
Brisbane Lions: Aaron Cornelius replaced by Pat Karnezis at three-quarter time
Gold Coast: Charlie Dixon replaced by Dion Prestia in the third quarter

Umpires: Rosebury, Ryan, Wenn
Official crowd: 23,565 at the Gabba

Finally a win! Even if it was against another bottom-ranked team. Dubbed the 'QClash' - Q for Queensland for the two teams in the state, the second rivalry game was won by the Brisbane Lions and redeemed them for the loss in round 7. Though a win, there was far too much inaccurate kicking-to-target. Match report by Michael Whiting.

Matthew Leuenberger (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Ash McGrath (photo: Jonathan Wood/Getty)

Aaron Cornelius (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Josh Drummond (photo: Jonathan Wood/Getty)

50 Jahre Mauerbau

2011-08-13T17:30:00.006+10:00

On 13 August 1961, East Germany closed its border between East and West Berlin, dividing Berlin for the next 28 years until the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.

The 50th anniversary is a sobering commemoration.

The Wall was a 1962 short documentary film directed by Walter de Hoog for the US Government

See BBC News and France24/AFP for reporting on the commemorations (in English).

More in-depth coverage in Deutsche Welle (in English), Die Welt, Berliner Morgenpost (2) and Der Spiegel.

City of Literature 5

2011-08-10T21:30:00.000+10:00

I previously wrote about Dublin becoming the fourth UNESCO City of Literature. UNESCO recently designated Reykjavik in Iceland as the fifth UNESCO City of Literature. From the UNESCO website

The city of Reykjavik boasts foremost an outstanding literary history with its invaluable heritage of ancient medieval literature, the Sagas, the Edda and the Íslendingabók, Libellus Islandorum (Book of Icelanders). This longstanding tradition has naturally cultivated the city’s strength in literature education, preservation, dissemination and promotion.

For a city of small population, approximately 200,000 habitants, Reykjavik is especially appreciated for demonstrating the central role literature plays within the modern urban landscape, the contemporary society and the daily life of the citizens. With the support of the central government of Iceland, the city continues to pursue its development plans in support of languages, translation initiatives as well as international literary exchanges.

The city’s collaborative approach through cooperation between various actors involved in literature, such as in publishing, in libraries, etc, in addition to the strong presence of writers, poets and children’s book authors is also noted to give the city a unique position in the world of literature.

With Reykjavik, the Creative Cities Network now has 29 members. As the fifth City of Literature, the city joins Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa City and Dublin in enriching the Network with its best literary practices.

Reykjavik and the rest of Iceland have a very strong literary tradition dating back to the old Norse era. The first four cities of literature were English-speaking, so it is great to have a non-English-language city. It's just unfortunate that readers of the Icelandic-language probably number no more than 300,000 world-wide.

Shedding some light on Census night

2011-08-09T22:15:00.002+10:00

Tonight, Australia held its five-yearly Census of Population and Housing. 29,000 Census Collectors delivered approximately 14.2 million Census forms to Australia’s 9.8 million households.

About 30 per cent of the population are expected to complete their Census forms online through eCensus.

The first results of the 2011 Census are planned for release in June 2012.

Firstdog Onthemoon had a different view.

football - round 20

2011-08-07T17:45:00.001+10:00

Adelaide 6.3 9.5 10.10 16.14 (110)
Brisbane Lions 5.1 11.6 14.7 16.9 (105)

GOALS
Adelaide: Walker 4, Gunston 3, Wright 2, Johncock 2, van Berlo, Henderson, Jacobs, Riley
Brisbane Lions: Cornelius 4, McGrath 3, Clark 2, Karnezis 2, Rockliff, Hanley, Pokinghorne, Leuenberger, Banfield

BEST
Adelaide: Thompson, van Berlo, Gunston, Jacobs, Sloane
Brisbane Lions: Rockliff, Black, Hanley, Staker, Cornelius, McGrath

INJURIES
Adelaide: Knights (calf)
Brisbane Lions: Patfull (wrist)

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Chris Knights (calf) replaced by Ricky Henderson in the third quarter
Brisbane Lions: Joel Patfull (wrist) replaced by Jsoh Dyson in the first quarter

Umpires: Kamolins, Armstrong, McInerney
Official crowd: 17,930 at the Gabba

Brisbane Lions played well until the final quarter, when the Crows woke up and closed the gap on the scoreboard until their final goal, winning the game. Match report by Michael Whiting.

James Polkinghorne (photo: Matt Roberts/Getty)

Simon Black (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Patrick Karnezis (photo: Matt Roberts/Getty)

Brent Staker (photo: Matt Roberts/Getty)

Jack Redden (photo: Matt Roberts/Getty)

Move, Eat, Learn

2011-08-06T16:30:00.001+10:00

STA Travel Australia commissioned Rick Mereki, Andrew Lees and Tim White to film their journey over 44 days to 11 countries on 18 flights and travelling some 38,000 miles. Their journey has been condensed into a series of one minute films, with original music by Kelsey James. More technical details from Vimeo.

(has rapidly alternating images - epilepsy/seizure warning)

Move

Eat

Learn

Now for one called Play.

Free speech or hate speech?

2011-08-03T21:00:00.002+10:00

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC's) Q&A on Monday night featured a challenging discussion between Brendan O'Neill, editor of Spiked and the federal Minister for Human Services and Minister for Social Inclusion, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP. The exchange was a debate about free speech and hate speech, and well worth watching.

Transcript, the debate followed on from discussion about the terrorist attack in Norway

TONY JONES: The core fear is about racism because, isn't it, because there isn't any question at all, as far as I can see, that he was a racist and the attacks were racially motivated?

BRENDAN O'NEILL: They were racially motivated. He didn't attack another race of people. He attacked his own people but he was obviously driven by cultural paranoia, by insanity, by various different things. But the problem is that to say that there is a direct link between right-wing commentators who say "I hate Muslims" or "I hate immigration" or whatever cranky stuff they come out with, and this guy, who then goes out to kill people - to draw a link between those two things is effectively to say that words kill. And as far as I'm concerned, the only people who say that words kill are censorious people - people who want to clamp down on debate, people who want to restrict what we can say. So I think, yeah, The Sun made a mistake, but it made a fleeting mistake. Other people are making a very conscious, more long, drawn-out mistake by drawing a link between words and violence.

TONY JONES: Tanya Plibersek?

TANYA PLIBERSEK: I feel really deeply uncomfortable about what Brendan's saying. I think he's saying that the left are trying to exploit this terrible event and it makes me sick to the stomach to hear that. It makes me absolutely sick to the stomach to hear you saying that there is any group of people in the community trying to exploit what is a deeply disturbing event. I don't know the answer to whether this person is one crank or whether he's a terrorist. I think normally terrorists work in concert with other people, so I would say in many ways that he is one crank. But the idea that people who preach hatred in the community have then no responsibility for violent acts that occur afterwards, I cannot understand that you think that it is fine for people to go out and say we should kill all Muslims or we should do this or do that and that that has no real effect in the world.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: But people are - no but the writers that are being blamed for...

[APPLAUSE]

BRENDAN O'NEILL: No, wait, before you clap, the writers who are being blamed for this massacre did not say "Go out and kill all Muslims". They said "I am opposed to the ideology of multiculturalism." They said "I think there should be 5,000 immigrants a year rather than 50,000". Now, I happen to disagree with them on pretty much everything, but what I'm saying is that you cannot draw a distinction between someone who rationally criticises multiculturalism and someone who irrationally kills 77 people.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: And I think that it is perfectly fine in any democracy to have a discussion about government policy, whether it's multiculturalism or climate change or social security legislation. Whatever it is, of course we should have a debate. But what you're saying is that there is no responsibility if you preach hate for what happens when you preach hate.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: No, there isn't, because I believe in something called free will. I think people should take responsibility for their own actions and you are - you are letting Breivik off the hook by saying that other people are to blame for invading his mind.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No. No. No. No.

STEPHEN MAYNE: So, Brendan, you're saying it's fine for...

TANYA PLIBERSEK: I didn't say that. Please don't put words in my mouth. I do not say that he - he has...

BRENDAN O'NEILL: You have just said other people need to bear responsibility for his actions.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No. No. I didn't say that.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: I'm saying only he...

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: ...only he should bear responsibility for his actions.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No, I did not say that. He should bear responsibility but people who preach hate bear responsibility for the hatred they support in the community.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: Okay.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: And I'm not drawing a direct link and you cannot put those words in my mouth.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: Okay, well, I...

TANYA PLIBERSEK: But if you think it doesn't matter in a community that we shouldn't have courteous debate about the issues we care about as a nation, then I am very disappointed to hear that.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: Well, I think it is illegitimate for you - for a politician to depict legitimate criticism of multiculturalism...

TANYA PLIBERSEK: I don't.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: ...as preaching hate.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No, I don't.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: You have aligned those two things.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No, I don't.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: The writers who are being blamed for this act did not preach hate.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: You are not listening to me.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: They raised legitimate political concerns. You may disagree with them. I do.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: You are not listening to me.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: But you cannot (indistinct).

TONY JONES: Okay, I'm sorry. No, I'm going to put a pause button on this.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No, Tony, I just...

TONY JONES: No, I'll let you make your comment and then I'll go to someone else.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: I need to repeat this. I have not drawn that direct link and I have said very clearly that people should be able to have any civilised debate in our community about any issue but that debate should be respectful and it should not preach hate.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: Respectful of what?

TONY JONES: Can I interrupt there? Very briefly, have you seen that link drawn in Australia?

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No. No, I haven't.

TONY JONES: Some people suggest, for example, the Cronulla riots...

STEPHEN MAYNE: Absolutely.

TONY JONES: ...came, partly at least, as a result of talkback radio.

STEPHEN MAYNE: It was. It was incited by Alan Jones. Let's say it.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: I believe it was incited and I'll tell you something else....

BRENDAN O'NEILL: That's incredible.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: I'll tell you something else, Tony. I mean, you know, the Gabrielle Giffords, the crosshairs, if you think that that sort of thing doesn't influence people, if you think that people out there saying homosexuals deserve to die and the Iraq war is God's punishment on homosexuality, that that doesn't increase...

BRENDAN O'NEILL: The implication...

TANYA PLIBERSEK: ...homophobic violence it...

BRENDAN O'NEILL: The implication of these argument are extraordinary because what you're effectively saying is that journalists should be restricted in what they should say and the tone in which they can say it and the public are so stupid and gullible that if there is a Daily Mail article which is shrill and outrageous, they'll go and get a gun and kill loads of people.

TANYA PLIBERSEK: No, nobody's saying that.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: The censorious implications of this are extraordinary.

STEPHEN MAYNE: But are you okay with Alan - are you okay with Alan...

BRENDAN O'NEILL: It's pretty predictable that a politician would have those kind of view but for Stephen, a journalist and a founder of online publications, to draw a link between Alan Jones and riots as if one incites the other...

STEPHEN MAYNE: Well, there were investigations of it? I mean are you comfortable with Alan Jones saying that Julia Gillard, our Prime Minister, should be put in a bag and thrown out to sea? That's what he said recently. I mean...

BRENDAN O'NEILL: Yes, because I trust -

STEPHEN MAYNE: ...it's ridiculous.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: I trust that the vast majority of the public know that he is having a joke and will not take him literally.

STEPHEN MAYNE: It's not a joke.

BRENDAN O'NEILL: And if they do...

TONY JONES: All right. Okay. Okay...

BRENDAN O'NEILL: If they do they he has committed a crime.

TONY JONES: Brendan...

TANYA PLIBERSEK: Just the vast majority.

It was an extraordinary exchange. The issue was whether society should allow hate speech as a part of freedom of speech.

Words have consequences.

Smells like Lithuania

2011-08-02T21:30:00.017+10:00

Three enterprising Lithuanian entrepreneurs have created a scent as an olfactory reminder of Lithuania. Reported in the Guardian

Developed by Rutkauskas and two other Lithuanian entrepreneurs and produced by the French perfumery Galimard, Lietuvos Kvapas – literally, "the scent of Lithuania" – is an attempt to create a positive national brand.

"If I say chocolate and watches, what do you think? Switzerland. If I say Guinness and leprechauns? Ireland. Fish and chips? England. But here in Lithuania we don't have an internationally recognised symbol of our identity," said Rutkauskas. Since the £25 scent went on the market earlier this year, 1,000 bottles have been sold – mostly, said Rutkauskas, to local tourist offices and businessmen keen to improve Lithuania's image abroad.

The prime minister's chief of staff ordered bottles to give to the heads of other Baltic states at a recent summit, and the foreign minister sent one to every foreign ambassador in Vilnius, the capital.

The defence minister even flew 20 vials out to Afghanistan to give Lithuanian soldiers a reminder of home.

Read more. See also the Daily Telegraph. From www.lietuvoskvapas.lt

Scent is a strong emotional factor which invokes memories and associations. Therefore, there are no bad or good scents until the moment we grant them a meaning and relate them to our experiences. Our memory can preserve separate scents or their combinations and sequences. Most people can recall the scent of their childhood, homeland, heroic adventures or first love. Scents can remind us of the countries we have visited, the people we have met and the experiences we have had.

When creating the Scent of Lithuania, our goal was not only to impersonate the fragrances of the country, but also to tell a story about its cities and villages, its nature, ancient traditions and cultural heritage, the character and the achievements of its people: everything what we are justly proud of and respected for.

This is how the Legend of the Scent of Lithuania emerged and inspired the Galimard perfumers to select the distinctive scents and incorporate them into the fragrance. Only natural essences and components tested in authorized laboratories were used in the production of the Scent of Lithuania. This finest quality three-note perfume is designed for ambient scenting.

Characteristics of Lithuania are revealed in the perfume notes

Top note
Bergamot, note of wild flower bouquet, ginger, raspberry, note of red berries, grapefruit

Middle note
Lily of the valley, lilac, rose

Base note
Amber, tree moss, cedar, sandalwood, patchouli, musk, note of tree smoke

If other countries 'bottled' a characteristic scent, as an olfactory reminder, it would be interesting to find out what they choose.

There is a particular tropical smell that is characteristic of places like Bangkok and Singapore upon arriving at their airports. It's a thought to consider the next time you arrive in a new place. Close your eyes and take in the smell.

There was an interesting piece by Jason Logan in the New York Times in 2009 about the smells of Manhattan.

The coconut meat rap

2011-07-27T23:00:00.003+10:00

The white 'flesh' of a coconut is called 'meat'. A work colleague couldn't believe it is called 'meat' for something that isn't of animal origin.

Being also a talented rap musician, he also wrote the following ditty

Go loco for Coco, the Coconut /
sweet is the meat when you split the nut /
it's not like beef, nor pork my friend /
it's a fruity meat, a treat till the end /
slurp on the juice, white crumbly flesh /
combine it with peanut meat, now that's somethin' fresh /
Coconut meat, Aroy-D all in the can /
when you eat the cocomeat well you da man /

There you go. Lyrics above © copyright by D'Opus & Roshambo

Light travels at the speed of light.

2011-07-24T22:15:00.006+10:00

Hong Kong researchers have published in the prestigious Physical Review Letters from the American Physical Society that the photon precursor cannot travel faster than the speed of light. Abstract

Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 243602 (2011)
Optical Precursor of a Single Photon

Shanchao Zhang, J. F. Chen, Chang Liu, M. M. T. Loy, G. K. L. Wong, and Shengwang Du*
Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

Received 31 March 2011; published 16 June 2011

We report the direct observation of optical precursors of heralded single photons with step- and square-modulated wave packets passing through cold atoms. Using electromagnetically induced transparency and the slow-light effect, we separate the single-photon precursor, which always travels at the speed of light in vacuum, from its delayed main wave packet. In the two-level superluminal medium, our result suggests that the causality holds for a single photon.

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.243602
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.243602
PACS: 42.50.Gy, 32.80.Qk, 42.50.Dv

*dusw@ust.hk

The press release from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology of 19 July 2011 was titled "HKUST Professors Prove Single Photons Do Not Exceed the Speed of Light". Excerpt

A group of physicists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) led by Prof Shengwang Du reported the direct observation of optical precursor of a single photon and proved that single photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum. HKUST's study reaffirms Einstein's theory that nothing travels faster than light and closes a decade-long debate about the speed of a single photon.

Prof Shengwang Du, Assistant Professor in HKUST's Department of Physics, and his research team have published their study in Physical Review Letters recently. Co-authors include three postgraduate students Shanchao Zhang, Jiefei Chen and Chang Liu, Chair Professors Michael M T Loy and George K L Wong. This is the fifth time in the last two years that Prof Du's team published their optics research in Physical Review Letters, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in physics, and the second time their papers were selected as editors' suggestion for reading. This research was also highlighted as a Physics Synopsis by American Physical Society with a title "Single photons obey the speed limits."

Prof Du's study demonstrates that a single photon, the fundamental quanta of light, also obeys the traffic law of the universe just like classical EM waves. Einstein claimed that the speed of light was the traffic law of the universe or in simple language, nothing can travel faster than light. HKUST's team is the first to experimentally show that optical precursors exist at the single-photon level, and that they are the fastest part of the single-photon wave packet even in a so called 'superluminal' medium.

Read more. This was also reported by AFP via France 24, which made a rather assertive conclusion

Hong Kong physicists say they have proved that a single photon obeys Einstein's theory that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light -- demonstrating that outside science fiction, time travel is impossible.

Read more. Surely a single experiment proving that light (photon as a light particle) cannot travel faster than light would not rule out faster than light travel by other types of particles. In any case, there are other time travel theories that are not predicated on travelling at faster than the speed of light.

football - round 18

2011-07-23T22:00:00.001+10:00

North Melbourne 4.7 8.10 12.15 17.20 (122)
Brisbane Lions 4.0 8.5 10.6 11.11 (77)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Pedersen 3, Petrie 3, Harper 2, Edwards 2, Wells 2, Bastinac 2, Goldstein 2, Warren
Brisbane Lions: Cornelius 2, Karnezis 2, Clark, Polkinghorne, Black, Power, Rockliff, Hawksley, Banfield

BEST
North Melbourne: Bastinac, Harvey, Ziebell, Swallow, Petrie , Adams, Edwards, Goldstein, McMahon
Brisbane Lions: Black, Rockliff, Redden, Raines, Leuenberger, Adcock

Reports: Michael Firrito (North Melbourne) reported for striking Simon Black (Brisbane Lions) in the second quarter.

Umpires: Dalgleish, Chamberlain, Pannell
Official Crowd: 20,809 at Etihad Stadium

It was a promising start for the Brisbane Lions and there was a slight chance until the third and fourth quarters. In the end, the Lions couldn't deliver. Match report by Jennifer Witham.

James Polkinghorne (photo: Andrew White/Slattery Media)

Jack Redden flies for a mark (photo: Mark Dadswell/Getty)

Brent Staker (photo: Andrew White/Slattery Media)

Simon White (photo: Sean Garnsworthy/Slattery Media)

A contested (pack) mark (photo: Robert Prezioso/Getty)

Shop window dummies. Alive.

2011-07-20T22:30:00.000+10:00

Reported by AFP via France24 on 18 July 2011, Italy's union Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL) has expressed displeasure at Milan department store Coin for displaying live models in place of shop window dummies claiming to "protect workers' decorum and customers' intelligence" against the 'commodification' of the body.

In turn, the models have also protested the union's claims holding signs saying "Anche fare il modello è un lavoro".

See also Corriere della Sera on 15 July 2011, which suggests the union won with Coin withdrawing the models.

One would think that in the prevailing economic circumstances in Italy, the union would be supportive of young people being employed.

Dear Chaps, it's not the Olympiad.

2011-07-19T21:45:00.012+10:00

The seventh Chap Olympiad, hosted by The Chap magazine was held on Saturday, 16 July 2011. Reported by AFP, excerpt

LONDON — Wearing their finest tweeds, stroking their sideburns and filling the air with pipe smoke, competitors and spectators gathered for The Chap Olympiad, an annual celebration of the classic English gentleman.

Hundreds of "chaps" and "chapettes" descended on a leafy square in central London on Saturday for the sporting social occasion, where regular pastimes are overlooked in favour of smoking pipes, ordering butlers about and swilling cocktails.

The event is the annual summer bash of The Chap, a bi-monthly magazine celebrating the English gent, his eccentricity, courteous behaviour, impeccable dress and devotion to facial hair. In its 12th year, it now has 10,000 readers.

"It's a sports day for people who don't like sport," said organiser Gustav Temple, The Chap's editor.

"It's unfair that chaps who spend most of their time filling their pipes, pressing their trousers and mixing dry Martinis don't get a chance to compete," he told AFP.

The 10 events include the pipeathlon -- sauntering, bicycling and being carried by servants while smoking a pipe -- butler baiting, ironing board surfing and moustache wrestling.

Read more.

See also reporting in The Independent and The Chap and see flickr gallery.

When members of the House of Lords aren't sleeping in the chamber, they may possibly be engaging in similar antics at the Palace of Westminster.

football - round 17

2011-07-17T18:45:00.001+10:00

Geelong 3.4 9.4 13.8 20.13 (133)
Brisbane Lions 4.6 8.8 13.11 15.14 (104)

GOALS
Geelong: Podsiadly 8, Hawkins 3, Corey 2, Christensen 2, Stokes, Johnson, Hunt, Varcoe, Bartel
Brisbane Lions: Banfield 4, Clark 3, Karnezis, Hawksley 2, Rockliff, McGrath, Power, Sheldon

BEST
Geelong: Podsiadly, Bartel, Corey, Christensen, Taylor, Stokes
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger, Black, Banfield, Raines, Hanley, Rockliff

INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Brown (face)

SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Simon Hogan replaced by Steven Motlop in the third quarter
Brisbane Lions: Jonathan Brown replaced by Ryan Harwood in the third quarter

Umpires: Kennedy, Bowen, Pannell
Official crowd: 19,906 at the Gabba

Unfortunately, this game was not broadcast live across most of Australia and the free-to-air channel and subscription satellite service showed the same Sydney game instead. Live reports via Twitter showed that Brisbane Lions were certainly playing well for the first three quarters and led on the scoreboard for much of that time. While it was a loss, Brisbane Lions held well, particularly during the absence of Mitch Clark and captain Jonathan Brown following a ground collision. Match report by Michael Whiting.

'Goose' Matt Maguire (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Patrick Karnezis (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Joel Patfull (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Brent Staker praying after the game (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

wasting food 6

2011-07-16T21:45:00.002+10:00

I've previously written (a number of times) about wasting food. Sweden's The Local (in English) has reported that Swedes throw away a large amount of food every year and malformed vegetables do not even reach human consumption stage.

Swedes throw away food for 20-40 billion kronor ($3-6 billion) every year and the food tossed aside by households, stores and restaurants is just the tip of the iceberg. A new report from the Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket) reveals that vegetables considered unattractive never even reaches stores.

"A lot of carrots get thrown away because of their looks, and that just feels completely wrong considering today's debate about the environment," carrot farmer Tanya Hultman, outside Piteå in northern Sweden, told The Local on Thursday.

Carrots that don't make the cut are among the unappealing foodstuff most often rejected, according to Sveriges Radio (SR). Too small, too crooked, too big - none of these vegetables will see grocery stores.

Hultman is disappointed by this blatant discrimination, pointing out that there's nothing wrong with the carrots apart from looking insufficiently appealing.

According to the Swedish Board of Agriculture, as much as a fourth of all the carrots farmed are rejected by stores.

The Local also reported that one third of all food produced is not even eaten. Read more. Full report from Jordbruksverket, Hållbar konsumtion av jordbruksvaror linked here (pdf document in Swedish).

Surely, unattractive vegetables would have been used in food processing. The high levels of food wastage in affluent nations is unacceptable given so many in the world have barely enough to eat.

Has he lost his noodles?

2011-07-14T22:30:00.005+10:00

Reported by BBC News (14 July 2011),

An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear".

Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago after reading that headgear was allowed in official pictures only for confessional reasons.

Mr Alm said the sieve was a requirement of his religion, pastafarianism.

Later a police spokesman explained that the licence was issued because Mr Alm's face was fully visible in the photo.

"The photo was not approved on religious grounds. The only criterion for photos in driving licence applications is that the whole face must be visible," said Manfred Reinthaler, a police spokesman in Vienna.

He was speaking on Wednesday, after Austrian media had first reported Mr Alm's reason for wearing the pasta strainer.

After receiving his application the Austrian authorities had required him to obtain a doctor's certificate that he was "psychologically fit" to drive.

Read more. Earlier reporting by AFP in France24 (12 July 2011), Der Spiegel (13 July 2011).

(photo from Niko Alm blog)

See also Niko Alm's blog. His press release

Eine kleine Pressemitteilung.

—-

Morgen 8.30 Ad hoc PK: Die Nudelsieb-Affäre. Die Hintergründe.

Eine Beweisführung darüber, wie absurd Kirchenprivilegien heute sind. Mit Niko Alm und seinem Nudelsieb.

(Wien 13.7.11,) Wie es kam, dass ein Führerschein-Foto des Unternehmers Niko Alm mit Nudelsieb auf dem Kopf von der Behörde akzeptiert wurde – Niko Alm, Atheist und Mitinitiator des Volksbegehrens gegen Kirchenprivilegien, ist bekennender Pastafari und hat 3 Jahre lang um sein Recht auf einen Identitätsausweis mit Nudelsieb am Kopf gekämpft. Der Pastafarianismus wurde 2005 vom US- Physiker Bobby Henderson gegründet, Gottheit ist das Fliegende Spaghettimonster. Niko Alms Führerschein hat dieser Tage großes mediales Aufsehen erregt. Allerdings kann jeder das Privileg einer konfessionellen Kopfbedeckung am Passfoto in Anspruch nehmen. Niko Alm möchte aufzeigen, dass religiöse Privilegien vielfach aus dem Mittelalter kommen, oft skurril sind und im 21. Jahrhundert endlich beendet werden müssen.

Alles über das Recht aufs Nudelsieb und den seit heute laufenden Wettbewerb “Pimp your Head” – zeig die kreativste konfessionelle Kopfbedeckung, präsentiert von den Initiatoren des Volksbegehrens gegen Kirchenprivilegien.

Pressekonferenz und Fotoshooting:
morgen Donnerstag, 14.7., 8.30h

mit
Niko Alm, Unternehmer, Mitinitiator Volksbegehren gegen Kirchenprivilegien,
und
Univ. Prof. Heinz Oberhummer, Physiker und Wissenschaftskabarettist, Mitinitiator des Volksbegehrens gegen Kirchenprivilegien

Café Prückel
Stubenring 24 (Luegerplatz)
A-1010 Wien

Presse-Rückfragen:

FJ PUKARTHOFER PR, Jakob Purkarthofer, +43-664-4121491, info@purkarthofer-pr.at

Strangely, it's not a bad look. Fitting that the appropriate headwear for worship of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is one that is used to drain spaghetti.

Tintin update

2011-07-12T20:30:00.002+10:00

Revealed, the new Tintin film poster

New trailer

Birth of a nation: Republic of South Sudan

2011-07-09T22:45:00.011+10:00

At the stroke of one minute past midnight on 9 July 2011 (local time), the new Republic of South Sudan came into existence. See video news reports

UK Daily Telegraph

AFP

Reuters

Al-Jazeera

See also reporting by France24.

Flag of the Republic of South Sudan

It is a great day for the South Sudanese people who have struggled through five decades of civil wars. In Australia, which has one of the largest South Sudanese populations outside of Africa (some 30,000), community celebrations are being held across country.

See websites of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and the Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan in Washington DC.

A good primer from PBS

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

football - round 16

2011-07-09T20:00:00.017+10:00

Hawthorn 5.2 6.5 10.8 16.9 (105)
Brisbane Lions 1.2 4.4 8.5 9.9 (63)

GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 3, Hale 3, Whitecross 2, Puopolo 2, Hodge, Smith, Shiels, Hale, Osborne, Guerra
Brisbane Lions: Brown 3, Redden 2, Karnezis 2, Power, Sheldon

BEST  
Hawthorn: Gibson, Hodge, Mitchell, Franklin, Whitecross, Bailey, Ellis, Hale
Brisbane Lions: Rockliff, Black, Redden, Hanley, Karnezis, Brown, Power

INJURIES  
Brisbane Lions: McGrath (lower leg), O'Brien replaced in selected side by Bewick

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Milne subbed on for Young (leg) in the fourth quarter
Brisbane Lions: Bewick subbed on for Retzlaff in the third quarter

Umpires: Kennedy, Grun, Pannell
Official crowd: 14,604 at Aurora Stadium

Hawthorn were a much better team. Despite defeating them in the past at this ground in Launceston, they were far too good. Match report by Stu Warren.

Jed Adcock (photo: Hamish Blair/Getty)

Pearce Hanley (photo: Hamish Blair/Getty)

Ash McGrath (photo: Hamish Blair/Getty)

Matt Maguire (photo: Sean Garnsworthy/Slattery Media)

football - round 15

2011-07-03T17:45:00.029+10:00

Brisbane Lions 4.1 7.3 13.5 15.9 (99)
Port Adelaide 4.2 8.5 13.6 13.10 (88)

GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Brown 4, Power 3, McGrath 2, Sheldon 2, Karnezis 2, Bewick, Stiller
Port Adelaide: Schulz 7, Ebert 2, Cassisi, Gray, Rodan, Phillips

BEST
Brisbane Lions: Black, Power, Brown, McGrath, Adcock, Raines
Port Adelaide: Schulz, Hartlett, Cassisi, Gray, Boak

Umpires: Chamberlain, Hay, Ryan
Official crowd: 17,276 at the Gabba

Finally a win for the Sunday afternoon game though notwithstanding the fact that Port Adelaide, like Brisbane Lions, had only won two of their last 13 games, and sitting towards the bottom of the ladder. It was still a terrible game to watch. Match report by Michael Whiting.

Niall McKeever (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Jack Redden (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

James Polkinghorne (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Joel Patfull (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

A marathon of a bridge

2011-07-02T23:40:00.006+10:00

Built by Shandong Gaosu Group or Shandong Hi-Speed Group Corporation (SDHS) 山东高速集团有限公司, the world's longest sea bridge opened to traffic on 30 June 2011. From SDHS

On June 30, 2011, the world longest cross-sea bridge Shandong Hi-speed Jiaozhou Bay Bridge which is invested and operated by SDHS is officially open to traffic. Jiang Yikang, the secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shandong Province, Jiang Daming, the deputy secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and governor of Shandong Province, general Wang Dengping, the political commissar of North China Sea Fleet, Li Qun, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and secretary of CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee, Sun Liang, the Party secretary and chairman of board of SDHS as well as other members of the leadership lineup of SDHS are present at the opening ceremony.

At 10:08 in the morning, accompanied by the martial music, the opening ceremony of Shandong Hi-speed Jiaozhou Bay Bridge grandly begins. Sun Liang and Li Qun deliver speeches in succession. At 10:30, Jiang Yikang announces the bridge is open to traffic. Immediately, the fireworks rise from all directions with doves flying into the sky. The cordial atmosphere floats over Jiaozhou Bay.

As the longest cross-sea bridge in the world, Shandong Hi-speed Bay Bridge is 41.58 Km long, whose opening to traffic realizes the dream of the people over the years in Qingdao, Huangdao and Hongdao and safeguards the economic development of Qingdao City. In addition, the construction of the bridge shows the strenth of SDHS and promotes the awareness and influence of SDHS.

No doubt, the Chinese language version sounds even more 'official' and 'lofty'.

(photo from SDHS)

Some interesting facts from UK Daily Telegraph

Length: 26.4 miles (almost 3 miles longer than the previous record holder)

Width: Six-lane expressway

Capacity: Expected to carry over 30,000 cars a day

Tensile strength: Able to withstand earthquakes of 8.0 magnitudes on the Richter scale, strong typhoons and the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel

Made up of: 450,000 tonnes of steel and 2.3 million cubic metres of concrete, supported by 5,200 columns

Built by: More than 10,000 workers

Built in: Four years

Importance: Reduces the distance between Quingdao city and the Huangdao district by around 18 miles

Further information from SDHS on construction features and other details.

Channel 4 News

Crossing 41.58km (26.4 miles) in open sea above the water? It might seem like running a marathon.

Tennis routines

2011-06-29T22:00:00.006+10:00

It's Wimbledon time and Xan Brooks writing in the Guardian has written an excellent article about tennis superstitions

Like Fight Club, it seems that the first rule of tennis superstitions is that you do not talk about tennis superstitions. "I do not have superstitions," snapped Djokovic, the man who won't use the same shower twice and who reputedly fears he can't win Wimbledon unless his poodle, Pierre, is allowed to join him in London. "I have routines. I call them routines."

Read more, particularly about the player who "insists on lining his water bottles up in a row, so that all the labels are pointing in exactly the same direction".

Of course, news about tennis player superstitions isn't new. See BBC (2003) and ABC (2007).

A video from Tennis Warehouse during BNP Paribas Open 2010

The truth about cats

2011-06-27T22:00:00.000+10:00

Cats have more secrets than humans will ever know.

Via noob.us

football - round 14

2011-06-25T22:45:00.000+10:00

Fremantle 2.5 5.6 10.8 12.16 (88)
Brisbane Lions 4.1 7.5 10.5 10.5 (65)

GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 5, Broughton 2, Hinkley 2, Crowley, Johnson, Lower?
Brisbane Lions: Brown 2, Rich 2, Retzlaff, Polkinghorne, Karnezis, Bewick, Redden, Rockliff

BEST
Fremantle: Pavlich, Broughton, Silvagni, Fyfe, Crowley, Palmer.
Brisbane Lions: Black, Stiller, Rockliff, Redden, Rich, Leuenberger.

INJURIES
Fremantle: Barlow (general soreness) replaced in selected side by Hayden, Mzungu (calf) replaced in selected side by Hinkley, McPharlin (groin), Sandilands (suspected foot).

Umpires: Ryan, Pannell, Keating
Official crowd: 30,330 at Patersons Stadium

Again, I wasn't expecting a win so the first quarter results were a pleasant surprise. A fair effort from the guys until the final quarter fade-out. Match report by Nathan Schmook.

Niall McKeever (photo: Will Russell/Slattery Media)

Rohan Bewick (photo: Will Russell/Slattery Media)

Simon Black (photo: Paul Kane/Getty)

Tom Rockliff (photo: Will Russell/Slattery Media)

Jack Redden (photo: Will Russell/Slattery Media)

How to ruin a good song

2011-06-24T20:00:00.008+10:00

The song Downtown was written by Tony Hatch and first recorded by Petula Clark in 1964. Petula Clark's rendition became a huge hit, particularly in the United States and Australia, where it reached number one in the charts.

Unfortunately, in Australia, the tune will soon be associated with a very annoying television commercial.

Sacrilege.

The Doctor's granddaughter

2011-06-20T18:30:00.006+10:00

The travelling Time Lord known as The Doctor (first incarnation) had a granddaughter called Susan Foreman (an alias). In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, set in 2164, The Doctor left Susan on Earth, somewhere in Bedford, so she could lead a 'normal' life.

Strangely, The Doctor in his future incarnations returned to Earth many times, with the third Doctor in exile there for sometime, but never made the effort to return post-2164 to check on her.

Was she actually Gallifreyan?

Magic remixed

2011-06-19T15:00:00.001+10:00

Magic was one of Olivia Newton-John's biggest hits, written by John Farrar. It featured in the film and soundtrack of Xanadu in 1980.

It has been remixed by Dan Murphy and Steve Peach with Olivia Newton-John recording new vocals in conjunction with humanitarian group ‘We’re Australian Creative Collective Inc’ (WACCI) to raise funds for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre charity. The track is available for sale on itunes http://itunes.com/OliviaMagic.

The video clip involved over 300 volunteer dancers

See also reporting by Ten News

Additional reporting by ABC 7.30 (ACT and Victoria).

football - round 13

2011-06-18T23:30:00.001+10:00

Richmond 2.5 7.9 12.13 18.17 (125)
Brisbane Lions 4.2 7.6 10.9 14.10 (94)

GOALS
Richmond: Martin 5, Vickery 4, Miller 2, Reiwoldt 2, Grigg, Cotchin, Foley, Deledio, Nahas
Brisbane Lions: Redden 2, Karnezis 2, Brown 2, Clark 2, Banfield 2, Harwood, Bewick, Polkinghorne, Hanley

BEST
Richmond: Cotchin, Martin, Vickery, Houli, Rance, Foley
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger, Redden, Rockliff, Hanley, Banfield

INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Clark (ankle); Banfield (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Jayden Post replaced by Tom Hislop in the third quarter
Brisbane Lions: Mitch Clark replaced by Patrick Karnezis at start of third quarter

Umpires: McBurney, Schmitt, Hay
Official crowd: 21,510 at the Gabba

I hadn't expected a win but the first quarter effort from the Lions leading on the scoreboard set the scene with their gutsy effort. That was before Richmond woke up. Redden was really good and Patrick Karnezis had a good debut with a first goal with his first kick in an AFL game. Match report by Michael Whiting.

Photos by Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media

Jack Redden

Mitch Golby

Todd Banfield

Sagging pants? No fly.

2011-06-17T23:30:00.001+10:00

Four years ago, I first wrote about sagging pants and quoted media reporting from The Daily Iberian that the Delcambre in Louisiana would soon outlaw sagging pants. Early last year, I wrote about General Larry Platt's audition on American Idol with a song called Pants on the Ground. In April last year, I wrote about New York State Senator Eric Adams, who with Fully Persuaded for Children and Families Inc, launched a campaign to encourage young people to raise their pants, with six billboards in Brooklyn.

It seems that saggy pants may have resulted in a passenger being refused passage on an airline. Reported in San Francisco Chronicle

On Wednesday, San Francisco police got a call about 9 a.m. that someone was exposing himself outside a US Airways gate, Sgt. Michael Rodriguez said.

An airline employee spotted [Deshon Marman, 20, a University of New Mexico football player] before he boarded Flight 488, bound for Albuquerque, and complained that Marman's pants "were below his buttocks but above the knees, and that much of his boxer shorts were exposed," Rodriguez said.

The employee asked Marman to pull up his pants before he boarded the plane, but he refused, Rodriguez said. Marman allegedly repeated his refusal after taking his seat on the plane.

"At that point he was asked to leave the plane," Rodriguez said. "It took 15 to 20 minutes of talking to get him to leave the plane, and he was arrested for trespassing." Marman allegedly resisted officers as he was being led away.

Read more. Marman was actually arrested and taken into custody for one night before being released on bail. According to further reporting in San Francisco Chronicle, the incident has generated debate about fashion issue and whether Marman had been targeted. See also report by NPR.

San Francisco Chronicle has also acquired footage of the incident.

The question should be about undergarment exposure. In any other circumstances, would just wearing underwear in public be allowed? If so, then there is not a problem. If not, then there lies the issue. In any case, saggy pants looks ridiculous.

Apples - British to the core

2011-06-16T23:15:00.001+10:00

Horticulturalist Chris Beardshaw presented a one hour program on BBC Four about the apple in British history. He also wrote for BBC News Magazine. Excerpt

Some of the world's best-loved apples, like the Braeburn and the Bramley, were discovered growing as chance seedlings, gifts from nature that just happened to taste good. The Granny Smith was discovered growing out of a rubbish heap in Australia.

So while the apple seeks only to multiply rather than reproduce the same delicious fruits, man had to fathom how to clone it with an ancient process known as grafting, which remains the same to this day. With the discovery of grafting we could clone our favourite apple trees again and again.

The Bramley, one of Britain's most prosperous and time-honoured apples, was planted 200 years ago in Nottinghamshire. That first tree was grown from a pip by a young woman, Mary Ann Brailsford, between 1809 and 1815. Since then every single Bramley apple ever eaten and tree planted has originated from it. That's a lot, with the Bramley apple industry is worth £50m today.

The pip most probably came from an apple on a tree at the bottom of her garden. The seedling produced such fine apples that in 1837 a local nurseryman asked the next occupier of the house, Matthew Bramley, for his permission to graft scions from the tree. Bramley agreed as long as the apples bore his name. Ms Brailsford never knew the fame her apples achieved.

Read more.

The Granny Smith can be a rather tart apple but is still very popular in Australia. Other varieties such as Gala and Pink Lady are becoming more popular ahead of Red Delicious.

As much as apples are "British to the core", even the United States has its own Johnny Appleseed legend and apples in the form of apple pie are American as.

Airbus 2050 - the future of flying

2011-06-14T23:30:00.002+10:00

Airbus has revealed its concept plane of the future. Press release below

Airbus presents a panoramic view of 2050

Intelligent cabin interiors replace class system for a bespoke flying experience
14 June 2011 Press Release

Leading aircraft manufacturer Airbus, in advance of the Paris Airshow “Le Bourget”, today invited the passengers of 2050 to discover its Concept Cabin - a whole new flying experience inspired by nature.

Personalised zones replace traditional cabin classes to offer tailored levels of experience. While taking a hop between destinations, according to Airbus, passengers in 2050 could join an interactive conference; enjoy a game of virtual golf; read the kids back home a bedtime story; and recharge in a ‘vitalising seat’ whilst watching the planet spread out beneath their feet.

This latest instalment of The Future by Airbus – a vision of aviation in 2050 – follows last year’s unveiling of the revolutionary Airbus Concept Plane, packed with technologies to reduce fuel burn, emissions, waste and noise. The Airbus Concept Cabin now gives further insight into some of the innovations and technologies that will shape future passenger experiences on board.

The aircraft’s bionic structure mimics the efficiency of bird bone which is optimised to provide strength where needed, and allows for an intelligent cabin wall membrane which controls air temperature and can become transparent to give passengers open panoramic views.

The Concept Cabin has an integrated ‘neural network’ creating an intelligent interface between passenger and plane. It can identify and respond to passenger needs and enables bespoke features such as morphing seats which change to your body shape.

New personalised zones replace the traditional cabin classes in the Airbus Concept Cabin to offer new tailored levels of experience. The “vitalising zone” is all about wellbeing and relaxation allowing you to proactively recharge your batteries with vitamin and antioxidant enriched air, mood lighting, aromatherapy and acupressure treatments whilst taking in the infinite view of the world around you.

There are no limits to the kinds of social scenarios in the centre zone of the concept cabin – the “interactive zone”. The virtual pop up projections in this area can transform you to whichever social scene you want to be in, from holographic gaming to virtual changing rooms for active shoppers.

The “smart tech zone” is tailored towards the more functional oriented passenger with a chameleon style offering, to meet individual needs ranging from a simple to a complete luxury service, but all allowing you to continue life as if on the ground. By offering different levels of experience within each zone, airlines would be able to achieve price differentials and give more people access to the benefits of air travel with minimal environmental impact.

Showcasing the innovative interior design, Charles Champion, Airbus Executive Vice President Engineering, said: “Our research shows that passengers of 2050 will expect a seamless travel experience while also caring for the environment. The Airbus Concept Cabin is designed with that in mind, and shows that the journey can be as much a voyage of discovery as the destination. Whichever flight experience is chosen, the passenger of 2050 will step out of the Airbus Concept Cabin feeling revitalised and enriched.”

More than 90 percent of Airbus’ annual research & development investment of over €2 billion has environmental benefits for current and future aircraft. For example, due to advances in technologies the concept cabin will be 100% recyclable. It will have self-cleaning materials made from sustainable plant fibres which reduce waste and maintenance and will harvest passenger body heat to power cabin features.

Such technologies are already being developed and, while they may not be seen in the exact same manner as in the Airbus Concept Plane and Cabin, some of them could feature in future Airbus aircraft programmes.

Visitors to Le Bourget International Airshow in Paris will also be able to experience the Airbus’ Future of Flight film, a 360 planetarium movie – a vision of the transformations in air transport between now and the middle of the century which not only focuses on aircraft designs and innovations, but also addresses passenger expectations. The movie will be part of the planetarium’s programme at the Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace from 20 – 26 June.

To find out more about the Airbus Concept Cabin and The Future by Airbus visit: www.thefuturebyairbus.com

Also some video reporting

Aviation Week

ITN News

UK Telegraph

The transparent membrane is perhaps the most interesting. From www.thefuturebyairbus.com

The cabin's bionic structure will be coated with a biopolymer membrane, which controls the amount of natural light, humidity and temperature, providing opacity or transparency on command and eliminating the need for windows. This smarter structure will make the aircraft lighter and more fuel-efficient while giving passengers 360 degree views of the skies. This will offer unparalleled, unobstructed views of the wonders of the five continents - where you will be able see the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower through the transparent floor of the aircraft.

Just like Wonder Woman's invisible plane. Not for the faint-hearted or those with a fear of heights.

The first journey of the TARDIS (from Earth, with passengers)

2011-06-13T21:15:00.001+10:00

The TARDIS has been journeying since 1963.

Fearing that his time machine will be discovered if he lets school teachers Barbara and Ian go, the Doctor sets the TARDIS on its first journey. When the TARDIS finally materialises, it is on a barren, rocky landscape, with an ominous shadow falling across it. Classic clip from the 1963 four-part story 'An Unearthly Child', the very first Doctor Who story starring William Hartnell as the Doctor. Watch more videos on the new Classic Doctor Who YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/bbcclassicdoctorwho and get the latest Classic Doctor Who news at http://www.twitter.com/classicdw

Shown on Top Gear, the way the TARDIS now travels is a little more colourful

football - round 12

2011-06-12T19:00:00.002+10:00

Carlton 4.4 8.8 14.9 19.10 (124) 
Brisbane Lions 2.3 3.5 4.8 9.9 (63)  

GOALS  - Carlton: Walker 5, Betts 3, Ellard 2, Garlett 2, Hampson 2, Murphy 2, Carrazzo, Russell, Garlett, Henderson, Tuohy 
Brisbane Lions: Brown 2, Clark 2, McGrath 2, Rich, Black, Collier  

BEST -  Carlton: Simpson, Judd, Murphy, Scotland, Walker, Tuohy
 Brisbane Lions: Redden, Rockliff, Black, Clark  

Umpires: Margetts, Kennedy, Ryan  
Official crowd: 43,617 at Etihad Stadium

There was almost no chance of winning this game. It was also rather painful to watch, even on television. I can be thankful not to have made the trip to Melbourne for this game. Match report.

Cheynee Stiller (photo: Andrew White/Slattery Media)

Simon Black (photo: Hamish Blair/Getty)

Tom Rockliff (photo: Hamish Blair/Getty)

Todd Banfield (photo: Greg Ford/Slattery Media)

Ash McGrath (photo: Greg Ford/Slattery Media)

Bovine beauty "a perfect Holstein"

2011-06-11T21:30:00.003+10:00

In April, I wrote about Luna the jumping cow. Again from Germany is a story of another cow, Krista, who was recently named Germany's prettiest cow. Reporting in Der Spiegel, excerpt

Forget Germany's Next Top Model and Heidi Klum. This week, the German gaze was trained on the country's most beautiful cow. "Krista" became the envy of bovine beauty queens across the land when she won the grand prize at the 2011 German Holstein Show, her second time to take the pageant's top honor.

Krista successfully defended her 2009 title against a field of much heavier competition than that faced by most other beauty contestants. Of some two million hopeful dairy dames, just over 200 were chosen to lock horns over the grand prize, which comes complete with a trophy and cow-sized sash. Eight finalists strutted their stuff for a panel of jurors in the northern German city of Oldenburg on Thursday night. But it was Krista, described by juror Matthias Zens as "a perfect Holstein," who won over the jury with her professional demeanor and pleasing physique.

Krista is indeed a bovine beauty.

(photo by dpa via Der Spiegel)

See also original reporting by Der Spiegel auf Deutsch.

Moo!

Dolphin gang murdering porpoises

2011-06-06T22:15:00.001+10:00

Marine Mammal Science (DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00474.x) has reported that a gang of dolphins were witnessed killing porpoises. Abstract

“Porpicide” in California: Killing of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) by coastal bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

Mark P. Cotter, Daniela Maldini, Thomas A. Jefferson
Article first published online: 2 MAY 2011, Society for Marine Mammalogy

Between 2007 and 2009, we witnessed three aggressive interactions between harbor porpoises and bottlenose dolphins in Monterey Bay, California. This is the first time such aggression has been documented in the Pacific, and the first time a harbor porpoise was collected immediately after witnessing its death, inflicted by bottlenose dolphins. Of the bottlenose dolphins present, 92% were males either confirmed (61%) or putative (31%). Since 2005, 44 harbor porpoise deaths inflicted by bottlenose dolphins were documented in California. Aberrant behavior was rejected as a cause of aggression, based on widespread documentation of similar behaviors in other populations of free-ranging bottlenose dolphins. The evidence for interspecies territoriality as a form of competition for prey was weak: there is little dietary overlap and there are differences in bottlenose dolphin and harbor porpoise distribution patterns in California. Object-oriented play was plausible as a form of practice to maintain intraspecific infanticidal skills or a form of play to maintain fighting skills between male associates. Contributing factors could be high-testosterone levels, as attacks occurred at the height of the breeding season, and/or a skewed operational sex ratio. Ultimately, we need more information about bottlenose dolphin social structure at the time of the aggression.

Contributing factors as cited might be speculative, hence the need for further study. Dolphin therapy might be another option.

See also reporting by New Scientist and io9.

"Plebes no more"

2011-06-05T13:30:00.000+10:00

The Herndon Climb is a long-standing tradition of the US Naval Academy. Before a freshmen class (called plebes) advances to the next class, they undertake the challenge of climbing the Herndon Monument, to replace a plebe's hat (called a dixie cup) with a midshipman's hat. From USNA FAQ

The Herndon Monument climb is a tradition for former plebes, and is also known as the "Plebe Recognition Ceremony." After the graduation ceremony where the plebes are promoted to Third Class rank, the 21 foot Herndon monument is coated in lard and one of the white plebe "dixie cup" hats is placed at the top. The former plebes must work together to climb this monument and replace the "dixie cup" hat with an upperclassmen's hat. Tradition states that the plebe who reaches the top will rise to the rank of admiral first. As any observer can recognize, climbing to the top of Herndon takes a lot of teamwork and perseverance. Ascending Herndon serves as a review for young midshipmen, reminding them of the values of teamwork, courage and discipline that are instilled throughout the year. The fastest time ever recorded for a midshipmen class to accomplish this goal was 1 minute and 30 seconds in 1969. The slowest time was 4 hours, 5 minutes, and 17 seconds in 1995.

Last year's climb was not greased, as a safety precaution. A new superintendent this year, allowed the grease to return.

See report by ABC2 Baltimore

See also reporting in The Capital (Annapolis).

(photo from Kill Your Time)

(photo by Getty via RTE)

Excellent amateur footage via YouTube showing that the t-shirts are used to wipe off the lard

Despite many years of tradition, each new class still seems to use the same strategy.

football - round 11

2011-06-04T23:30:00.031+10:00

Sydney Swans 6.7 13.8 15.9 17.14 (116)
Brisbane Lions 1.0 2.2 5.8 7.9 (51)

GOALS
Sydney Swans: Roberts-Thomson 3, Goodes 2, Mattiner 2, McGlynn 2, Seaby, Dennis-Lane, Reid, Johnson, O'Keefe, McVeigh, Kennedy, Bird
Brisbane Lions: Retzlaff 2, Banfield 2, Clark, Black, Brown

BEST
Sydney Swans: Goodes, Bolton, Mattiner, O'Keefe, Malceski, McVeigh, Roberts-Thomson
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger, Redden

SUBSTITUTES
Brisbane Lions: Rohan Bewick replaced by Jesse O'Brien in the third quarter
Sydney Swans: Trent Dennis-Lane replaced by Andrejs Everitt in the last quarter.

Umpires: Nicholls, Kamolins, Findlay
Official crowd: 22,150 at the Gabba

Thrashed best describes the game and the result. Match report.

Daniel Merrett in a tight spot (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Jack Redden (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Brye Retzlaff (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Joel Patfull (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Pearce Hanley (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Green Lantern

2011-06-04T21:00:00.001+10:00

Full trailer, with a good summary of the backstory

The penguin huddle. How to stay warm, along with a wave.

2011-06-02T21:35:00.003+10:00

The Public Library of Science's international, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication PLoS ONE has reported that Emperor penguins behave collectively to stay warm. In a huddle. Abstract

Daniel P. Zitterbart¹^,²^*, Barbara Wienecke³, James P. Butler⁴^,⁵, Ben Fabry¹
1 Department of Physics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany, 2 Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany, 3 Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Australia, 4 Molecular Integrative Physiological Sciences Program, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 5 Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

For Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri), huddling is the key to survival during the Antarctic winter. Penguins in a huddle are packed so tightly that individual movements become impossible, reminiscent of a jamming transition in compacted colloids. It is crucial, however, that the huddle structure is continuously reorganized to give each penguin a chance to spend sufficient time inside the huddle, compared with time spent on the periphery. Here we show that Emperor penguins move collectively in a highly coordinated manner to ensure mobility while at the same time keeping the huddle packed. Every 30–60 seconds, all penguins make small steps that travel as a wave through the entire huddle. Over time, these small movements lead to large-scale reorganization of the huddle. Our data show that the dynamics of penguin huddling is governed by intermittency and approach to kinetic arrest in striking analogy with inert non-equilibrium systems, including soft glasses and colloids.

Editor: Matjaz Perc, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Received: March 22, 2011; Accepted: April 21, 2011; Published: June 1, 2011

Zitterbart DP, Wienecke B, Butler JP, Fabry B, 2011 Coordinated Movements Prevent Jamming in an Emperor Penguin Huddle. PLoS ONE 6(6):e20260.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020260

There is an art, or rather a science, to keeping warm in a huddle. The more the merrier.

See also BBC News report (with an excellent time-lapse video)

football - round 10

2011-05-29T17:30:00.002+10:00

Adelaide 3.2 5.7 6.7 8.13 (61)
Brisbane Lions 1.3 6.7 11.11 15.11 (101)

GOALS
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Walker, Smith, Jacobs, Wright, van Berlo, Knights, Henderson
Brisbane Lions: McGrath 4, Banfield 3, Clark 2, Retzlaff 2, Power, Collier, O'Brien, Rich

BEST
Adelaide: S.Thompson, Sloane, Knights, Douglas, Jacobs
Brisbane Lions: Clark, Leuenberger, Hanley, McGrath, Merrett, Black, Banfield

INJURIES
Adelaide: Walker (knee), Jacobs (finger)

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Taylor Walker (knee) replaced by Jared Petrenko in the third quarter
Brisbane Lions: Rohan Bewick replaced by Jesse O'Brien in the fourth quarter

Umpires: Donlon, Pannell, McInerney
Official crowd: 34,583 at AAMI Stadium

Two wins in a row! The game was unpleasant to watch at the start, characteristic of Adelaide's zone defence game plan, which often results in low scores. From the second quarter onwards, Brisbane Lions picked up the pace. There were some magnificent passages of play from the boys. Mitch Clark was superb up forward, as was Daniel Merrett in defence.

Match report.

Simon Black handball (photo: SMG/Slattery Media)

Rohan Bewick in a tackle (photo: Morne de Klerk/Getty)

Daniel Merrett spoiling (photo: SMG/Slattery Media)

Pearce Hanley (photo: SMG/Slattery Media)

James Polkinghorne (photo: SMG/Slattery Media)

Torchwood: Miracle Day

2011-05-29T09:15:00.002+10:00

Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood is now a BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Worldwide and Starz Entertainment co-production partnership, which extended the life of the series and moved production and locations from Wales to the United States.

Torchwood: Miracle Day will broadcast from July 2011.

Torchwood Miracle Day Full US Trailer by doctorwho-tv

Can't wait.

Vivid Sydney is vivid

2011-05-28T21:45:00.002+10:00

Sydney's annual Festival of Light, Music and Ideas - Vivid Sydney - is on from 27 May to 13 June 2011.

Vivid Sydney will colour the city with creativity and inspiration, featuring breathtaking immersive light projections on the iconic Sydney Opera House sails, performances from local and international musicians as part of Vivid LIVE and a free outdoor exhibition of interactive light sculptures.

In 2011 the festival will also include a range of artistic collaborations, public talks and debates from leading creative thinkers from Australia and around the world, celebrating Sydney as the creative hub of the Asia Pacific.

Stunning video footage from Agence France-Presse of the launch, with the Sydney Opera House and Customs House lit up with 3D projections

Brussels metro bans French and Dutch songs, plays Lady Gaga instead

2011-05-26T21:00:00.003+10:00

The Kingdom of Belgium has tenuously united Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons since 1830. Divisions between the two groups have meant that there has been no new government since the elections of 13 June 2010.

The Brussels metro previously broadcast French music (songs) at its 69 stations. Following complaints from dozens of passengers in April, the operator of the Brussels metro STIB has banned both French and Dutch music to avoid offending customers. Dutch music had actually not been broadcast because they were not popular (in music charts) anyway.

Consequently, most music broadcast by the stations have been in English. This provided an opportunity for the promotion of Lady Gaga's latest album.

Music from French and Dutch musicians is not technically banned, provided it is sung in English.

See reporting in Le Post (in French).

Report from Le Journal on Télé Bruxelles

Lady Gaga dans le métro de Bruxelles by Zoomin_France

Sesame Street's Bert interviews to comedian Andy Samberg

2011-05-22T23:30:00.002+10:00

Part 1

Part 2

Bert collects pigeons, paperclips and bottle-tops. Bert does not get the punch-line of most jokes.

This interview probably revealed more about Bert than it did Andy Samberg.

football - round 9

2011-05-21T23:15:00.002+10:00

Brisbane Lions 2.3 4.6 7.10 10.13 (73)
North Melbourne 2.1 6.7 8.9 8.11 (59)

GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Brown 4, Banfield, Clark, Retzlaff, Power, Redden, Sheldon
North Melbourne: Edwards 3, Thomas 2, Petrie 2, Harvey

BEST
Brisbane Lions: Brown, Adcock, Polkinghorne, Hanley, Banfield
North Melbourne: Rawlings, Swallow, Harvey, Edwards, Petrie

Umpires: Kennedy, Schmitt, Hay
Official crowd: 18,404 at the Gabba

Finally, a win! Admittedly, up until the scores were tied in the final quarter, I was not hopeful of a win. The skipper's return had a major impact on the game, with Brown kicking four goals himself.

Match report.

Matthew Leuenberger in the ruck contest (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Bryce Retzlaff takes a mark (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Jack Redden evading tackles (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Joel Patfull handballing (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Matt Maguire getting a kick away (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Judgment day or zombie apocalypse? Perhaps both.

2011-05-20T23:00:00.003+10:00

According to 'Christian' broadcaster Family Radio, led by Harold Camping and widely reported by media worldwide, Judgment Day (or the 'rapture') will occur on Saturday, 21 May 2011. 5500 billboards announcing the event have appeared worldwide.

Billboard in Brisbane, Australia (photo by Benjamin Nichols submitted to ABC)

See San Francisco Chronicle.

Somewhat coincidentally, on 16 May 2011, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) published in its blog a guide to the zombie apocalypse. Included in the plan are the following points:

Identify the types of emergencies that are possible in your area. Besides a zombie apocalypse, this may include floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes. If you are unsure contact your local Red Cross chapter for more information. Family members meeting by their mailbox. You should pick two meeting places, one close to your home and one farther away.

Pick a meeting place for your family to regroup in case zombies invade your home…or your town evacuates because of a hurricane. Pick one place right outside your home for sudden emergencies and one place outside of your neighborhood in case you are unable to return home right away.

Identify your emergency contacts. Make a list of local contacts like the police, fire department, and your local zombie response team. Also identify an out-of-state contact that you can call during an emergency to let the rest of your family know you are ok.

Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance! This is also helpful when natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast.

If the prediction of Judgment Day is correct, the righteous ascend to heaven. Given the timing of the CDC's notice, it is likely that the rest of us will be facing a zombie apocalypse, when the non-righteous dead, rise again.

good evening Düsseldorf

2011-05-15T22:30:00.015+10:00

The grand final of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by Germany in Düsseldorf, as last year's winner was the German entry.

While the results are known by morning Australian time, Australia's national and mostly government-funded multilingual and multicultural broadcaster SBS broadcasts the semi-finals and final at peak viewing times in the evenings.

In fact, Eurovision has a very strong and long-time following in Australia, aside from many Australians having migrated from many of the song entrant countries, there is the kitsch value, which resonates well with a broadly Australian sense of humour.

Winners, Ell and Nikki with "Running Scared" for Azerbaijan

Last year's winner Lena, for Germany, with 'Taken By a Stranger'

Moldova may not have won but those hats begged an explanation (photo not from actual final but a dress rehearsal - by Pieter Van den Berghe of EBU)

Photos below from Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) via Deutsche Welle

Sweden's Eric Saade might have been trying to be Popular by channeling the goddess Kali

Denmark's A Friend in London tried to find a New Tomorrow. Why do Danish musicians always sing in English?

Germany's Lena was Taken By a Stranger, it seems they might be extra-terrestrials

football - round 8

2011-05-14T23:00:00.009+10:00

Essendon 3.2 6.6 10.10 15.12 (102)
Brisbane Lions 3.5 6.7 6.10 9.12 (66)

GOALS
Essendon: Zaharakis 4, Crameri 3, Monfries 2, Watson 2, Hille 2, Reimers 2
Brisbane Lions: McGrath 2, Bewick, Clark, Stiller, Drummond, Rich, Adcock, Rockliff.

BEST
Essendon: Zaharakis, Hille, Monfries, Hooker, Myers
Brisbane Lions: Adcock, Rich, Merrett, Leuenberger, Hanley

INJURIES
Essendon: Michael Hurley replaced in selected side by Travis Colyer, Henry Slattery replaced in selected side by Michael Hibberd
Brisbane Lions: James Polkinghorne (concussion)

Umpires: Ritchie, Stevic, Kamolins
Official crowd: 24,921 at the Gabba

It started off as a close game until half-time, which I didn't mind are both of them are my teams. Essendon are on the way up and Brisbane Lions are still to have a win this season.

Still, there were some good signs from the Lions. Josh Drummond, having returned recently following knee surgery, still kicks with pinpoint accuracy and Daniel Merrett is a great defender.

I should have travelled to Brisbane for this game as there was also an NEAFL game on between Brisbane Lions reserves and Greater Western Sydney Giants, of which I am also a member.

Match report.

David Zaharakis tackled by Sam Sheldon (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Todd Banfield under pressure from Kyle Reimers (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Rohan Bewick taking an awesome mark (screamer) over Dustin Fletcher (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

Jobe Watson marks over Pearce Hanley (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

David Hille and Joel Patfull (spoiling) contesting a mark (photo: Bradley Kanaris/Slattery Media)

More on Vivian Maier

2011-05-13T22:00:00.016+10:00

In January, I wrote about Vivian Maier, a prolific photographer from Chicago who was largely unknown until her death when some of her work was discovered.

Mother Jones recently featured some of her work in its May/June 2011 issue, 'The Best Street Photographer You've Never Heard Of' written by Alex Kotlowitz. This sums up her work well

MAIER'S WORK IS PART OF THE decades-old genre of street photography, a field that has included such giants as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. (Judging by her collection of books on photography, Maier was likely aware of their work.) These photographers speak to the profoundly democratic impulse to acknowledge that we all have a place—that our stories matter. She took photos of the downtrodden and the well-heeled. She took photos of festive people and people in distress. She took photos of children and the aged. She took photos of whites and blacks (notable, given the times). Her work is marked by serendipity; she appeared to have no agenda, but instead captured what she stumbled upon. Joel Meyerowitz, the co-author of Bystander: A History of Street Photography and a renowned photographer in his own right, says of Maier's images: "They are full of wit and surprise and playful spirit...Her basic decent humanism is evident everywhere in her photographs."

Read more, which includes some stunning photographs.

Photograph by Vivian Maier/John Maloof Collection

Vivian Maier, photographer extraordinaire and chronicler of Chicago history.

Australian celebrity chef swears that perfectly edible food should not be thrown out

2011-05-10T22:15:00.002+10:00

I've previously written (a number of times) about wasting food, including mentioning that for commercial operations like catering and restaurants, there are charities that make good use of unsold or untouched food to help those in need, and that in Australia, OzHarvest is one such charity. Today, OzHarvest announced a new initiative

OzHarvest, Australia's leading food-rescue charity, today launches REAP, an initiative that brings the food-rescue concept to regional areas around the country. The project, the brainchild of OzHarvest founder and former Local Hero of the year 2010, Ronni Kahn, provides a toolkit for regional communities to carry out the OzHarvest mission themselves; that is, to collect excess food and feed those in need.

REAP launched with a controversial viral ad campaign featuring renowned chef Matt Moran, owner/chef of Sydney and Brisbane's Aria restaurant and also judge on Network Ten's MasterChef.

The controversial viral video, captured on an iPhone, was released onto YouTube and Twitter revealing a very irritated Moran having a heated argument with staff on set while filming a cooking segment.

The unknown staff member throws away a piece of perfectly good-to-eat 'plated-up' chicken only to have a very angry Moran shock viewers by shouting expletives at the staff member for throwing away perfectly edible food.

It is revealed through a second viral video release that this was, in fact, a hoax which brings to light the issue of food wastage in Australia with the message from Moran to think twice about throwing away food. Moran also emphasises that billions of dollars of food is thrown away every year. A community service announcement with REAP's message will also be played on Network Ten during the month of May.

Matt Moran said: 'I was more than happy to be involved in something so controversial if it meant that the message of food waste would be brought to the top of Australians' minds. REAP is a simple concept started by leading food charity OzHarvest, who have already rescued millions of meals from going to waste and who have provided millions of people with fresh food that they normally would not have access to. It's a f***ing great cause!'

The REAP regional toolkit contains a three-step process with four guiding principles for communities in feeding the needy within their own towns. Firstly, identify the need, secondly, source the food and lastly get an esky and go!

Community food rescuers collect the food from the donor, delivering it to the client, who provides the food to the needy. Central to the program's effectiveness is that it is an entirely free service, aligned with the OzHarvest mission. The NSW Premier's Department provided funding to OzHarvest for this project.

Ronni Kahn, CEO and founder of OzHarvest said: 'The issue of feeding those in need goes well beyond the areas we currently service which is Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle, Wollongong and most recently Adelaide. We have been working hard to create ways to help regional areas where our yellow OzHarvest vans just don't have the capability to reach on a day-to-day basis.'

Kahn said: 'REAP provides regional areas with all the necessary tools that they need to rescue food and deliver it to the disadvantaged. On top of that, it also serves to stop good food from ending up as landfill.'

The 'viral' video

The follow-up video

Aside from the gimmicky manner in which this was announced such as prematurely labelling of a 'controversial viral' video (see reporting in Sydney Morning Herald, which played along), this is a great initiative.

See also public relations company Liquid Ideas' news release, which also includes details of 'food facts'.

Einstein's general theory of relativity and the space-time vortex around the Earth

2011-05-08T17:45:00.004+10:00

Scientists have confirmed that Albert Einstein was right. From Stanford University's Stanford Report of 4 May 2011

Stanford and NASA researchers have confirmed two predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, concluding one of the space agency's longest-running projects.

Known as Gravity Probe B, the experiment used four ultra-precise gyroscopes housed in a satellite to measure two aspects of Einstein's theory about gravity. The first is the geodetic effect, or the warping of space and time around a gravitational body. The second is frame-dragging, which is the amount a spinning object pulls space and time with it as it rotates.

After 52 years of conceiving, building, testing and waiting, the science satellite has determined both effects with unprecedented precision by pointing at a single star, IM Pegasi, while in a polar orbit around Earth. If gravity did not affect space and time, Gravity Probe B's gyroscopes would point in the same direction forever while in orbit. But in confirmation of Einstein's general theory of relativity, the gyroscopes experienced measurable, minute changes in the direction of their spin as they were pulled by Earth's gravity.

The findings appear online in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Read more. See also NASA Science News, and reporting from NPR, New York Times, The Guardian and AFP (via The Age).

Now for quantum gravity.

football - round 7 - QClash 1

2011-05-07T23:15:00.007+10:00

Gold Coast: 6.3 10.8 13.13 18.16 (124)
Brisbane Lions: 3.2 6.5 11.7 17.14 (116)

GOALS
Gold Coast: Krakouer 5, Matera 2, Patrick 2, Lynch 2, Stanley, Shaw, McKenzie, Iles, Harris, Daye, Brennan
Brisbane Lions: McGrath 6, Rich 3, Banfield 2, Clark 2, Polkinghorne, Black, Beams, Adcock

BEST
Gold Coast: Brennan, Krakouer, Smith, Rischitelli, Ablett, Harris
Brisbane Lions: Rich, Black, McGrath, Leuenberger, Hanley

INJURIESGold Coast: Gorringe (hamstring)
Brisbane Lions: Raines (concussion)

Umpires: Jennings, Ryan, McInerney
Official crowd: 25,504 at the Gabba

Dubbed the 'QClash' - Q for Queensland for the two teams in the state, the inaugural rivalry game was lost by the Brisbane Lions. Gold Coast Suns led for most of the game until the final quarter when the score was even on two occasions. While a disappointing loss, there were glimmers of hope such as some of Ash McGrath's seemingly impossible goals.

The Australian Football League (AFL) wanted to generate interest in the game and develop a rivalry and have succeeded in doing so. The loss is going to hurt and the Lions would not ever want to lose to the upstarts down the road again if they can help it.

Match report.

Todd Banfield getting a handball away (photo: Jason O'Brien/Slattery Media)

Ash McGrath with a strong mark (photo: Jason O'Brien/Slattery Media)

Joel Patfull getting a kick away before being tackled (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

Daniel Rich under siege (photo: Chris Hyde/Getty)

In other news, I did attend a live game this afternoon between the Western Bulldogs and Sydney Swans. While the game was dull, I met the legendary Kevin Sheedy.

UK votes no to change

2011-05-07T21:45:00.001+10:00

From the Electoral Commission (UK) news release

First UK-wide referendum in over 35 years delivers a "No" to changing the UK Parliament voting system

07 May 2011

Jenny Watson, the Chief Counting Officer and Chair of the Electoral Commission, the independent elections and referendum watchdog, announced the result of the first UK-wide referendum in over 35 years at 1am today, Saturday 7 May.

In response to the question: "At present, the UK uses the ‘first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?". The number of votes cast in favour of "Yes" was 6,152,607 and the number of votes cast in favour of "No" was 13,013,123.

For further information including local and regional breakdowns please see the Comm ission’s results website.

Announcing the result, Chief Counting Officer and Chair of the Electoral Commission Jenny Watson said: " I'd like to thank all the Counting Officers and their staff for their work over the past weeks and months, preparing for the elections and this referendum, staffing polling stations on Thursday and counting the votes."

ENDS

For more information contact
Office hours: 020 7271 0704
Out of office hours: 07789 920414
Follow the Commission on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ElectoralCommUK

The people have spoken and the current system in all its simplicity - counting of votes, no preference deals etc - is maintained.

Patrick Wintour, writing in The Guardian, sums up the political response from the 'defeated'

In a rejection of the Liberal Democrats' 90-year quest for electoral reform and Nick Clegg's supposed big prize of the coalition, the yes camp won only 11 of the 440 voting areas and not a single region in the AV referendum.

Clegg accepted the result without complaint. "When you have such a overwhelmingly clear answer you just have to accept it and move on. This is a bitter blow for all those people who believe in the need for political reform, but the answer is clear and the wider job of the government, and the Liberal Democrats in government will continue, to repair the economy, to restore prosperity and jobs and a sense of optimism in the country. That is the job we started and we will see it though. We will dust ourselves off and move on."

Labour leader Ed Miliband, who also campaigned for a yes vote, said: "I am disappointed, but the people have spoken clearly on this issue, and it is a verdict I accept."

One of the best analysis of the implications is from Jonathan Freedland, also in The Guardian

The immediate impact will be on the coalition. Lib Dems now understand exactly why the Tories were so eager to make that "comprehensive and generous offer" a year ago this weekend. It was not so much a power-sharing arrangement as a blame-taking one: the Lib Dems' role is to be the Conservatives' human shield and on Thursday they played the part perfectly. They took the heat while the Tories remained unscathed, their share of the vote unchanged since 2010, with even some council gains in England. For the senior partner, coalition is working out very nicely.

Conventional wisdom says Clegg will now demand a consolation prize or two, goodies to soothe his battered party and keep it content with coalition. But Cameron has no pressing reason to be emollient. For what leverage does Clegg have? He can't threaten to walk out, knowing that in an early general election only annihilation awaits. The Lib Dems are now hostages in this coalition, chained to the cabinet table, fated merely to hope that something turns up between now and 2015.

It was always a shaky coalition from the beginning. Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats have another four long years in politics.

Referendum on the voting system for the UK Parliament: not alternative but preferential

2011-05-03T23:15:00.004+10:00

On Thursday 5 May 2011, there will be a referendum on the voting system used to elect MPs (members of parliament) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.

The referendum will ask eligible British voters to vote yes or no to a proposal. For this referendum, there will be a ballot paper with the question:

At present, the UK uses the ‘first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?

Put simply, British voters will decide whether to maintain the existing voting system or reform it.

In addition to the official explanation video above, there are a number of other simple video guides about the 'alternative vote' (AV) system.

One with cats (vote meow)

From historian and television presenter Dan Snow

The 'alternative vote' system is very similar to Australia's preferential voting system.

Indeed, the system is already used in the United Kingdom but not currently to elect members to the House of Commons. First past the post is a very simple system to count but is not totally democratic.

If you are a British voter, consider voting Yes.

Superman, world citizen

2011-05-02T08:00:00.001+10:00

In issue #900 of Action Comics published on 27 April 2011, Superman discusses his intention to renounce his American citizenship.

This has generated considerable discussion - see NPR, Reuters, The Weekly Standard, io9, Wired, etc

Associated Press report

Clark Kent may have a fake birth certificate and fake adoption papers arranged by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Surely Clark Kent's real persona Kal-El would not have an equivalent birth certificate from Krypton and then a naturalization certificate and nor would his alter ego Superman.

Questions need to be asked about how Superman, as an alien, became a naturalized US citizen. As a super human of non-Earth origin with special abilities, he must be above politics.

2011 White House Correspondents' Association dinner

2011-05-01T20:00:00.006+10:00

Last year, I wrote about the 2010 White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner. Last year, President Obama's speech was fairly light-hearted. This year, it was still light-hearted but very poignant.

The video of this year's speech is worth watching, if only for the references to Donald Trump (via C-SPAN).

Seth Meyers spoke after Obama (via Politico) and punched even harder.

This is President Obama's third WHCA address and they are improving every year.

football - round 6

2011-04-30T23:00:00.000+10:00

Richmond 4.3 9.6 14.8 18.16 (124)
Brisbane Lions 5.3 5.7 12.12 14.14 (98)

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 5, Nahas 3, King 3, Nason 2, Vickery 2, White 2, Foley
Brisbane Lions: Power 4, Beams 2, Rich 2, Banfield, Leuenberger, Redden, Rockliff, Polkinghorne, Clark

BEST
Richmond: Foley, Martin, King, Cotchin, Houli, Nahas
Brisbane Lions: Black, Rockliff, Adcock, O'Brien, Power, Redden

Umpires: Bowen, Meredith, Wenn
Official crowd: 37,438 at the MCG

My team (Lions) would have been poorer without Luke Power or Simon Black. Richmond Tigers are a team on their way up though this was a more even match. Either side could have won it but our forwards seem to be disadvantaged in a contest. I nearly made the trip to attend this game for a long weekend, but had to commit to a meeting on Monday instead of taking that day off.

Match report.

Photos below from Getty Images by Mark Dadswell.

Mitch Clark flying for a mark

Simon Black getting a handball away before being tackled

Tom Collier being tackled before disposal

Photos below from Slattery Images by Michael Willson

Daniel Merrett taking a hanger

Jesse O'Brien about to lose the ball

Animal language needs rethinking

2011-04-28T22:45:00.003+10:00

From Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics news release 'Animal Language Sends Wrong Message' of 26 April 2011

A call for a new “animal language” has been made by some of the world’s leading animal ethicists who say words like “pests” and “vermin” send out the wrong message and even our most common terms such as ”pets” and “wild animals” need updating.

The editors of a new Journal of Animal Ethics (JAE) published this month by the University of Illinois Press say derogatory words like “pests” and “vermin” should be dropped altogether and “pets” replaced by “companion animals”, while “wild animals” should be termed “free living or free ranging animals”.

“Despite its prevalence, “pets” is surely a derogatory term both of the animals concerned and their human carers. Again the word “owners”, whilst technically correct in law, harks back to a previous age when animals were regarded as just that: property, machines or things to use without moral constraint … In addition, we invite authors to use the words “free-living”, “free-ranging” or “free-roaming” rather than “wild animals”… For most, “wildness” is synonymous with uncivilized, unrestrained, barbarous existence. There is an obvious prejudgment here that should be avoided.”

“Our existing language about animals is the language of past thought – and the crucial point is that the past is littered with derogatory terminology: “brutes”, “beasts”, “bestial”, “critters”, “sub-humans”, and the like. We shall not be able to think clearly unless we discipline ourselves to use less than partial adjectives in our exploration of animals and our moral relations with them,” they argue.

Read more, including details about the journal.

Some of the suggestions may seem far-fetched to some people. The notion of 'ownership' of 'pets' is worth thinking about. I have often been uneasy about the concept of 'owning' other living creatures, which is basically, the lives of other sentient beings. Hence, the alternative notion of humans as 'carers' or 'guardians' of pets and other domesticated animals make more sense. This reinforces the need to treat other creatures with respect and dignity, free from cruelty.

'Pets' or rather 'canine or feline companions' then become adopted rather than bought.

The question isn't academic but rather an ethical one.

Much of our values concerning animals are based on cultural and religious views. In Judeo-Christian-Islam ('people of the book') traditions, living creatures have been given to humans by God. In most native American cultures, animals have spirits (or souls). It might be time to re-examine our views.

The secret of royal jelly

2011-04-26T21:15:00.014+10:00

Queen bees are created when designated larvae are fed royal jelly by worker bees. Until now, the exact active ingredient was not known. Masaki Kamakura of Biotechnology Research Center, Toyama Prefectural University has found that the active ingredient is royalactin. The study was a challenge as royal jelly itself degrades very quickly. Abstract from Nature

The honeybee (Apis mellifera) forms two female castes: the queen and the worker. This dimorphism depends not on genetic differences, but on ingestion of royal jelly, although the mechanism through which royal jelly regulates caste differentiation has long remained unknown. Here I show that a 57-kDa protein in royal jelly, previously designated as royalactin, induces the differentiation of honeybee larvae into queens. Royalactin increased body size and ovary development and shortened developmental time in honeybees. Surprisingly, it also showed similar effects in the fruitfly (Drosophila melanogaster). Mechanistic studies revealed that royalactin activated p70 S6 kinase, which was responsible for the increase of body size, increased the activity of mitogen-activated protein kinase, which was involved in the decreased developmental time, and increased the titre of juvenile hormone, an essential hormone for ovary development. Knockdown of epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) expression in the fat body of honeybees and fruitflies resulted in a defect of all phenotypes induced by royalactin, showing that Egfr mediates these actions. These findings indicate that a specific factor in royal jelly, royalactin, drives queen development through an Egfr-mediated signalling pathway.

See also Nature's The Great Beyond and New Scientist.

Royal Jelly is also used a health supplement, although it may induce allergies in some people. Identification of the active ingredient could result in it being synthesized rather than being harvested from hives.

For those of us who have studied undergraduate biology, biochemistry or genetics, Drosophila melanogaster is still the ubiquitous object of study.

football - round 5

2011-04-21T23:45:00.028+10:00

Brisbane 4.4 5.6 9.9 11.10 (76)
St Kilda 5.2 6.4 9.4 13.11 (89)

GOALS
Brisbane: Clark 4, Redden 2, Polkinghorne, Polec, Adcock, Power, Rockliff
St Kilda: Schneider 3, Milne 2, Gram 2, Steven 2, Ray, Goddard, Riewoldt, Dal Santo

BEST
Brisbane: Adcock, Leuenberger, Rockliff, Merrett, Redden, Clark
St Kilda: Montagna, Goddard, Schneider, Gram, Steven, Riewoldt

INJURIES
Brisbane: Bewick (back)

Umpires: Donlon, Kamolins, Jeffery
Official crowd: 22,520

Last weekend (Round 4) was a bye so both teams were well rested. Tonight's game was scrappy but the Brisbane Lions were persistent, leading on the scoreboard towards the final quarter. The game could have been won if goal-kicking was more accurate. Mitch Clark has been consistently good as a forward.

Match report.

Jack Redden with a goal celebration (photo by Slattery Media, Bradley Kanaris)

Jed Adcock (photo by Getty Images, Jonathan Wood)

Matthew Leuenberger takes a mark (photo by Slattery Media, Bradley Kanaris)

Simon Black about to handball (photo by Getty Images, Jonathan Wood)

Elisabeth Sladen 1948-2011

2011-04-20T21:30:00.014+10:00

Elisabeth Sladen (1 February 1948 - 19 April 2011)

(with K9 - photo from BBC/Radio Times)

Elisabeth Sladen portrayed Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and was probably considered to be one of the most favourite of the Doctor's companions.

She first became The Doctor's companion in 1973 in The Time Warrior, which also introduced a Sontaran warrior Linx (Jon Pertwee as the Doctor)

When Doctor Who was revived by the BBC, Sarah Jane Smith would be reunited with the Doctor (David Tennant) on a number of 'adventures' as well has her own spin-off show.

See obituaries in BBC, NPR, The Telegraph, The Guardian and The First Post.

BBC News

ITN report

The io9 website features an excellent article by Charlie Jane Anders, which analyses how the Sarah Jane Smith character developed over the years.

EDIT (Added 24 April 2011). A tribute by CBBC broadcast in UK on 23 April

Why Daleks are feared

2011-04-19T21:30:00.020+10:00

(photo from BBC)

Cambridge University researcher Dr Robin Bunce has examined why Daleks scare people. From Cambridge University Research News published on 19 April 2011

It shouldn’t work, but somehow it does. Ever since Doctor Who first aired in 1963, the series has been internationally recognisable thanks to one of the most ridiculous space-creatures ever conceived; a master race of intergalactic pepperpots, armed with a sink plunger and an egg whisk, who (according to popular mythology), are hell-bent on conquering anywhere, provided it doesn’t involve stairs.

But don’t let that fool you. For more than 45 years, the Doctor’s arch-enemies, the Daleks, have been striking fear into young viewers with their chilling war-cry of “Exterminate!”. Like the Doctor himself, they have become an icon of British culture. For many, hiding behind the sofa when they appear is virtually a rite of passage.

Now, with the new season of Doctor Who nearly upon us, a Cambridge University academic has turned his mind to what makes the Daleks so terrifying. Writing in a new paper, Dr Robin Bunce – normally a researcher in intellectual history – explores why these unlikeliest of sci-fi foes bettered the rest, and became the most menacing alien ever to invade the small screen.

His answer has nothing to do with their often-cited, non-human appearance, nor their weird, electronic voices. In fact, Dr Bunce believes that the Daleks succeed because they offer us a moral lesson in what it means to be human in the first place. They terrify us because the evil they represent is a more precise definition than that of philosophers stretching from Socrates to Kant. They are chilling, he argues, because they are a vision of what we ourselves might become.

“The reason the Daleks are evil is because we recognise that they were once better,” Dr Bunce explained. “They are the nightmare future we dread.”

“According to their back-story, once they were capable of genuine emotion and real moral good. Now they are sexless, heartless brains, shut up in machines incapable of intimacy, who have forgotten what it means to laugh and no longer think of themselves as individuals. We recognise the Daleks as evil because they have lost all that we hold most dear.”

Read more.

Actually, Daleks are scary because they want to ex-ter-min-ate humans. Should a 'fictitious' Dalek approach you, it has only one purpose in mind. Surely no potential fatal victim of a Dalek is going to be thinking about what Daleks once were but instead flee for their lives. Now that is scary.

Dr Robin Bunce's paper is actually a chapter in the book, Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside, which has been out for sometime (this year) in the United States.

Finally, real coffee in Paris

2011-04-17T20:15:00.000+10:00

About 12 months ago, I wrote about New Yorkers finally getting the real taste of coffee, with Australian baristas from Melbourne, which has a well-known cafe and coffee culture, sharing their expertise.

AFP (through France24) has reported that Paris is now finally getting 'gourmet' coffee, also courtesy of experienced Australian baristas. Excerpt

It's famous for its sun-kissed sidewalk cafes, but Paris has lagged well behind New York, London and Sydney as a Mecca for connoisseurs of fine coffee -- until now.

Gourmet coffee bars and small-batch roasteries are popping up in the French capital, introducing locals to thick rich espressos, artful lattes and the idea that a cup of Joe can be savoured like fine wine.

"Coffee is a big part of the culture" in Paris, said Tom Clark, co-owner of the Coutume Cafe, which recently became the city's newest coffee bar and specialty roaster when it opened its doors on the Left Bank.

"It's just that it's not been respected... It is a living product. It has to be handled with care."

Driving the trend is an entrepreneurial network of young expats like Clark, an Australian living in France for three years who grew up on artisanal coffee, and well-travelled French contemporaries like his business partner Antoine Netien, a champion roaster in Melbourne before his return home.

"Before I went to Australia, I was drinking coffee with no idea how it was made," said French bartender-turned-barista Thomas Lehoux, who now mans the coffee machine at Eggs&Co, a hip Left Bank brunch spot.

"Most French people don't have any idea that coffee can be like wine."

Read more. It may come as a surprise to many people that despite its cafe society, the coffee in Paris is not that good at all. It would be much the same in Germany, where the coffee is also 'industrial' served with cream and sugar.

Jumping peacock spider

2011-04-16T16:30:00.002+10:00

(photo from ABC)

The peacock spider (Maratus volans) is native to the east coast of Australia. Dr Jurgen Otto captured the unique peacock-like display of the male spider, which was featured in ABC's Catalyst program last month.

In detail (see after the 3.00 minute mark).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GgAbyYDFeg
See also Dr Otto's flickr (excellent photos) and Spiders of Australia website.

Yes, spiders can be very attractive.

Whale songs trend across Pacific

2011-04-15T23:30:00.003+10:00

Australian researchers have found that male humpback whales in the same population group sing the same song but that any changes to the tune spreads to other pods. Abstract from Current Biology

Highlights

- Humpback whale songs have repeatedly moved east across the South Pacific
- The songs moved across the region in a series of cultural waves
- The waves frequently caused complete “cultural revolution” of the song
- The scale, rate, and repetition of these cultural changes are unparalleled

Summary

Cultural transmission, the social learning of information or behaviors from conspecifics, is believed to occur in a number of groups of animals, including primates, cetaceans, and birds. Cultural traits can be passed vertically (from parents to offspring), obliquely (from the previous generation via a nonparent model to younger individuals), or horizontally (between unrelated individuals from similar age classes or within generations). Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have a highly stereotyped, repetitive, and progressively evolving vocal sexual display or “song” that functions in sexual selection (through mate attraction and/or male social sorting). All males within a population conform to the current version of the display (song type), and similarities may exist among the songs of populations within an ocean basin. Here we present a striking pattern of horizontal transmission: multiple song types spread rapidly and repeatedly in a unidirectional manner, like cultural ripples, eastward through the populations in the western and central South Pacific over an 11-year period. This is the first documentation of a repeated, dynamic cultural change occurring across multiple populations at such a large geographic scale.

Media release from the University of Queensland

Humpback whales spread songs across the Pacific

Researchers at The University of Queensland have found that male humpback whales ‘change their tune' every year during their migration across the Pacific.

A study on whale song published today in the US journal, Current Biology, reveals a striking pattern of cultural change over a large distance, with the rate, scale and repetition unmatched in non-human culture.

UQ PhD student Ellen Garland said 11 different humpback whale song types were identified, which typically started in the eastern Australian population and spread in a step-wise fashion across the region to French Polynesia.

“I noticed that the songs moved quite rapidly through the six populations, usually taking two years to spread all the way across the region,” she said.

“This can compare to the game of Chinese whispers, except the song appears to be transmitted with little changes unlike a human sentence in the game.”

Ms Garland said songs had spread across whale populations suggesting acoustic contact or male dispersal between populations in the region.

“The reason we believe the song tends to travel east is because the eastern Australian population is the largest in the region and has a greater influence than the smaller Oceania ones,” she said.

Previous research has revealed that only male humpback whales sing and that song is a behaviour used in courtship and mating.

Ms Garland said all of the males in a population sang a similar song, but it was continually changing and evolving over time.

“Song can undergo evolutionary change, which occurs over a long period of time, or revolutionary change, where the males start singing a completely new song,” she said.

“We believe the song is continually changing because the males wish to be novel or slightly different to the male singing next to them.

“The way whales change their song can be compared to how humans follow fashion trends – someone starts a new trend and before you know it everyone starts wearing the same thing.”

The study is the first documentation of a repeated, dynamic cultural change occurring across multiple humpback whale populations across a large geographical scale.

It was undertaken in collaboration with the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium and investigated song similarity over an 11-year period within the South Pacific region focusing on the populations of eastern Australia, New Caledonia, Tonga, American Samoa, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia.

Media: Ellen Garland, 0406 965 475 or e.garland@uq.edu.au; or Erin Pearl (UQ Communications) 07 5460 1229 or e.pearl@uq.edu.au

See also reporting by

- ABC (Australia)
- Sydney Morning Herald
- BBC
- PhysOrg.com™ (this is worth a read)

Australian whales. Music trendsetters.

more hot than hotter

2011-04-13T21:30:00.001+10:00

In August 2007, I wrote (rather reproduced an Associated Press report) about bhut jolokia (the "ghost chilli") grown in northeastern India and claimed to be the hottest, rated at 1,000,000 Scoville units. The previous record holder, the Red Savina habanero, was tested at up to 580,000 Scovilles.

Bhut jolokia held the record for nearly three years until the end of last year when it was superceded by the Infinity chilli at nearly 1.18 million Scovilles then the Naga Viper at just over 1.38 million Scovilles, both grown in the United Kingdom.

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that an even hotter chilli has been grown in Australia called the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T rated at 1.46 million Scovilles.

See also The Independent (UK).

football - round 3

2011-04-10T21:00:00.001+10:00

Melbourne 1.1 6.3 11.7 12.10 (82)
Brisbane Lions 5.2 7.3 9.3 11.5 (71)

GOALS
Melbourne: Jurrah 5, Wonaeamirri, Gysberts, Grimes, Sylvia, Bennell, Dunn, Moloney
Brisbane Lions: Power 4, Banfield 2, Polkinghorne, Leuenberger, Redden, Clark, Rockliff

BEST
Melbourne: Jamar, Jurrah, Moloney, Gysberts, Sylvia, Jones, Frawley
Brisbane Lions: Clark, Power, Adcock, Banfield, Black, Raines, Polec

INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Clark (dislocated finger)

Umpires: Schmitt, Chamberlain, Keating
Official crowd: 24, 380 at MCG

The first quarter was good but the Lions could not sustain the momentum. I had not expected a win given Melbourne is supposedly a team on the way up, while the Lions are on the way down compared to last year. Still, it was messy game in the rain. Mitch Clark was everywhere and did some great things but was let down on a few occasions by ineffective disposals. Luke Power was outstanding.

Match report.

Tom Rockliff (photo by Slattery Media, Darrian Traynor)

Mitch Clark (photo by Slattery Media, Sean Garnsworthy)

Luke Power (photo by Slattery Media, Sean Garnsworthy)

Jack Redden (photo by Slattery Media, Sean Garnsworthy)

In other news, my other team, Essendon, won their game.

Some species aren't worth saving according to scientists

2011-04-09T21:30:00.000+10:00

A new tool has been developed by Australian scientists to enable prioritisation in the attempt to save species at risk of extinction. When these species fall below a population threshold, they may not be worth saving. Abstract from Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List is arguably the most popular measure of relative species threat, but its threat categories can be ambiguous (eg “Endangered” versus “Vulnerable”) and subjective, have weak quantification, and do not convey the threat status of species in relation to a minimum viable population target. We propose a heuristic measure that describes a “species' ability to forestall extinction”, or the SAFE index. We compared the abilities of the SAFE index with those of another numerically explicit metric – percentage range loss – to predict IUCN threat categories using binary and ordinal logistic regression. Generalized linear models showed that the SAFE index was a better predictor of IUCN threat categories than was percentage range loss. We therefore advocate use of the SAFE index, possibly in conjunction with IUCN threat categories, because the former indicates the “distance from extinction” of a species, while implicitly incorporating population viability as a variable.

Media release from University of Adelaide

Scientists have new measure for species threat

According to the authors of the SAFE (Species Ability to Forestall Extinction) index, conservationists with limited resources may want to channel their efforts on saving the tiger, a species that is at the 'tipping point' and could have reasonable chance of survival.
Photo by Juliane Riedl.
Full Image (175.46K)

Thursday, 7 April 2011

A new index has been developed to help conservationists better understand how close species are to extinction.

The index, developed by a team of Australian researchers from the University of Adelaide and James Cook University, is called SAFE (Species Ability to Forestall Extinction).

The SAFE index builds on previous studies into the minimum population sizes needed by species to survive in the wild. It measures how close species are to their minimum viable population size.

"SAFE is a leap forward in how we measure relative threat risk among species," says co-author Professor Corey Bradshaw, Director of Ecological Modelling at the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute.

"The idea is fairly simple - it's the distance a population is (in terms of abundance) from its minimum viable population size. While we provide a formula for working this out, it's more than just a formula - we've shown that SAFE is the best predictor yet of the vulnerability of mammal species to extinction."

Professor Bradshaw says SAFE is designed to be an adjunct to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, not a replacement.

"Our index shows that not all Critically Endangered species are equal. A combined approach - using the IUCN Red List threat categories together with the SAFE index - is more informative than the IUCN categories alone, and provides a good method for gauging the relative 'safety' of a species from extinction," he says.

Of the 95 mammal species considered in the team's analysis, more than one in five are close to extinction, and more than half of them are at 'tipping points' that could take their populations to the point of no return.

"For example, our studies show that practitioners of conservation triage may want to prioritise resources on the Sumatran rhinoceros instead of the Javan rhinoceros. Both species are Critically Endangered, but the Sumatran rhino is more likely to be brought back from the brink of extinction based on its SAFE index," Professor Bradshaw says.

"Alternatively, conservationists with limited resources may want to channel their efforts on saving the tiger, a species that is at the 'tipping point' and could have reasonable chance of survival."

The SAFE index is detailed in a new paper published this month in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Environment (http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/100177). It is co-authored by Reuben Clements (James Cook University), Professor Corey Bradshaw and Professor Barry Brook (The University of Adelaide) and Professor Bill Laurance (James Cook University).

Canadian Digital Journal (Kimberley Pollock) has a good well-sourced write-up. According to the SAFE index, the ten species most at risk of extinction are

1. Javan rhinoceros (Indonesia)
2. Kouprey (Cambodia)
3. African wild ass (Eritrea and Ethiopia)
4. Iberian lynx (Spain)
5. Northern hairy-nosed wombat (Australia)
6. Sumatran rhinoceros (Malaysia and Indonesia)
7. Ethiopian wolf (Ethiopia)
8. Addax (Sahara Desert)
9. Dibbler (Australia)
10. Riverine rabbit (South Africa)

Australia's ABC interviewed Professor Corey Bradshaw, focusing on the northern hairy-nosed wombat (article, radio interview transcript, audio).

While the SAFE index provides a rational approach, this is not always going to be the case. If tigers and pandas fell below the viable population for saving, there is no doubt that extra effort including cloning would be made to save them. Today, species like the dodo or Tasmanian tiger would certainly attract considerable effort for saving.

This cowgirl's cow jumps and she's over the moon

2011-04-06T22:00:00.003+10:00

From the town of Laufen in Bavaria, 15-year-old Regina Mayer, whose parents are farmers declined her request for a horse, so she did the next best thing, which was to train one of their cows called Luna like a horse. Luna also thinks she is a horse.

Associated Press

Antenne (Bayern)

See also reporting in
- Der Spiegel (English)
- Der Spiegel (Deutsch)
- Nürnberger Nachrichten

Moo!