A Triumph for British Science

Although Americans seem to have swept the board by winning all of the Nobel prizes for science this year it is good to be able to report a triumph for BRITISH science. A prestigious IgNobel prize has been awarded to Howard Stapleford, managing director of Compound Security Systems in Merthyr Tydfil. Mr Stapleford had designed the a security device which emits high-frequency sounds that cannot normally be heard by adults but are easily discernible to teenagers. It could either be used by late-night shopping centres to annoy adolescents who linger for too long or as a special ring-tone so that teachers cannot hear mobile phones sneaked into class by students.

"I think it was the combination of uses that made the organisers of the awards smile. The device can be turned on when shopkeepers are being troubled by gangs of teenagers," Mr Stapleforth said. "Alternatively, the high-frequency sound can be incorporated into a mobile phone ring tone so that it is difficult for people over 30 to hear”.

The chemistry prize was awarded to a team of Spanish scientists who investigated the velocity of ultrasonic sound in cheddar cheese and the biology prize went to a team of researchers who found that female mosquitoes were equally attracted to the smells of limburger cheese and human feet.The physics prize was won by a team who studied "fragmentation in rods by cascading cracks", which can account for why bending dry spaghetti always causes it to break into more than just two pieces. The Ig Nobel literature prize was given to a study entitled: "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilised Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly."

Most importantly the winner of the Ig Nobel prize in medicine was Francis Fesmire, of University Hospital in Florida, for a study that showed that intractable hiccups can be terminated by "digital rectal massage".

"Initially, gagging and tongue pulling manoeuvres were attempted with no change in symptomatology," Dr Fesmire wrote in a study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. "Digital rectal massage was then attempted using a slow circumferential motion. The frequency of hiccups immediately began to slow, with a termination of all hiccups within 30 seconds," the valiant scientist found.

The IgNobel is awarded for research that that “makes people laugh and then makes them think” The prizes were handed to the winners by Nobel laureates Roy Glauber (Physics, 2005), Dudley Herschbach (Chemistry, 1986), William Lipscomb (Chemistry, 1976), Rich Roberts (Physiology or Medicine, 1993) and Frank Wilczek (Physics, 2004).

IgNobel
Prize

John Foxx - Shifting City (Live)

Performing live with Louid Gordon during their UK tour in July. The not wife and myself saw him at the Scala. This vid doesn't quite do justice but it is a great song and it was a great night

Goodbye British Isles, Hello Northwest European Archipelago?

Irish publisher Folens intends to produce a "more correct" version of its school atlas which will omit all references to the "British Isles".

Following a complaint by a parent to the Irish Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, her private secretary issued a letter on her behalf recommending that the aggrieved parent bring the matter to the geography teacher in question and to the publisher. It looks as is the parent took issue with the teacher and the teacher took issue with the publisher The upshot is that Folens is deleting all references to the British Isles from its school atlases from 2007.

In my view it is no big deal to lose the "British Isles” but the expression refers to those who lived on the islands in pre-Roman times (or the Pretani as they were described by the Greek traveller Pytheas). It was first used in English as a geographical term by Peter Heylin in 1621 in a collection of lectures called the Microcosmus: a little description of the great world.

The problem of course is that the main modern meaning of the word British is "of Great Britain or of the United Kingdom or its people". As a result the terms “British Isles” can be misinterpreted to show that the Irish Republic is part of the UK - even though the expression as we can see is not intended to convey any such meaning.

There is no widely accepted alternative to the British Isles although all of the following have been used in recent years:

The Islands or These Islands

IONA – the Islands of the North Atlantic

Anglo-Celtic Isles

The Northwest European Archipelago.

The West European Isles

ISLANDS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC? Give me strength!! I am sure we inhabitants could come up with something better than those ugly expressions… These Sceptered Isles?. The Bejewelled Isles? Hmm it’s not that easy… Anyone got a better idea?


British
Isles

Bebe in all her glory

Yes I know I have blogged this photo before but I thought it would be a good one for the Friday Ark and the Carnival of the Cats (see sidebar for links)

cats

Jacob Rees-Mogg: Man of the People!

First it was shadow Chancellor George Osborne and his alleged autism jibe at Gordon Brown; then it was Boris Johnson putting both feet and half a torso in his mouth over healthy food and booster seats; now it seems that prospective Tory candidate for North East Somerset (a marginal seat held by Labour) Jacob Rees Mogg thinks that anyone who didn’t receive a private education or did not go to Oxbridge is a "potted plant" To add insult to injuryhe also gave the impression that that anyone educated in the state sector is incapable of writing an "articulate" letter.

Mr Rees-Mogg was asked for his reaction to a survey by the BBC programme Newsnight which showed that 28 per cent of those on the “A-list” of people that Mr Cameron wants as future Tory MPs are from Oxford or Cambridge, and a majority - 52 per cent - were privately educated. The Eton and Oxford-educated son of the Tory peer said:

"Oxford and Cambridge are world-renowned universities that get the crème of British academic life. It would be absolutely perverse to be biased against some of the cleverest people in the country. The Tory party, when it's elected, has to be able to form a government and it's not going to be able to form a government if it has potted plants as candidates simply to make up quotas."

The Labour MP Dan Norris, who will fight him at the next election, said yesterday: "These comments show that even with one of the best educations in the world, some people still have a crass and ignorant outlook."

As someone who did not go to Eton or Oxford I will accept my status as a potted plant I would, however, like to be a Ferocactus.

Ferocactus rectispinus

As you can see the specieis is small but extremely spiny. Others are more vicious and are "ribbed for your displeasure”. I shall digress before I make a suggestion that one be inserted up his arse.

Jacob
Rees
Mogg
arrogant

Laleh Seddigh

Two years a ago Laleh Seddigh became the first woman to compete against men in any sport since the Islamic Revolution and became Iran’s national rally car rally champion. Two years on and her driving career seems to have stalled after she was banned from participating in a race by the country's motor racing authorities.

"I thought I had been given the go-ahead," she said. "I was walking towards the grid thinking, thank God this has been resolved, when they shut the door on me. They said they didn't know why, but the head of the federation said I wasn't allowed to participate."

It was the first time Seddigh, had been excluded from a contest. Senior federation officials said they had been unable to obtain permission for her participation. However, Seddigh believes she was banned to prevent her earning enough points to repeat her championship success, which won her international fame but upset Iran's male-dominated religious ruling establishment.

Seddigh says a Muslim cleric has already issued a fatwa - a legally binding religious ruling - stating that there is no religious bar to women racing against men provided Islamic dress code is observed. She plans to use the fatwa if she fails to persuade federation officials to grant her permission to take part in future races.

The federation's vice-president, Hossein Shahryari, said Seddigh had been barred because of a government circular restricting women to female-only events. That decree has now been lifted, he said. But he added: "Women are speaking highly of themselves and that causes men who sacrifice their lives in this sport. Women are not champions in this sport, they are only participants. If they observed Islamic regulations more they would not have such problems."

Laleh
Seddigh
rally
champion

Nick Cave - Weeping Song

Another much loved musician.

This Mortal Coil - Song to the Siren

Another song sung by Liz Fraser. Gotta lover her!

Children of the Kindertransport

The new Kindertransport memorial was unveiled at Liverpool Street station on Friday. Sadly I didn't have my camera with me until today. It replaces the previous memorial which sadly failed to protect the memorabilia it contained. The new memorial lacks the poignancy of its predecessor but it will last longer. Now if people can refrain from leaving coffee cups and food wrappers on it I will be happy.







Kindertransport
memorial
Liverpool
Street

Well these amused me

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has been in trouble recently over a loans scandal. Wags apparently been saying that you can now buy a T Shirt in Dublin saying "Been there, done that, bought the taoiseach."

Macuaid’s blog has a report on Ian Paisley at the Labour Party Conference. When he was at university he saw Ian Paisley at a public meeting. One heckler shouted "Paisley! You're a wanker!" Paisley replied, "Sir, my hands are on the table. Where are yours?"

I’ll get me coat…