ˈænθrɒpɔːz Anthropause: The period of reduced human mobility brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic Over the past few months, many countries around the world went into lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19. Brought about by the most tragic circumstances, this period of unusually reduced human mobility — which we suggest be coined ‘anthropause’ — … Continue reading Anthropause
Arthur Conan Doyle In The Arctic
It is bloody work dashing out the poor little beggars’ brains while they look up with their big dark eyes into your face. Arthur Conan Doyle, Arctic diary entry, 3 April 1880 In February 1880, a third-year medical student from Edinburgh abandoned his studies, temporarily, to sign on as the ship’s doctor of the S.S. … Continue reading Arthur Conan Doyle In The Arctic
Secondary Rainbows
In my previous post about rainbows, I described how the light of the rainbow was reflected back to our eyes by falling water droplets. For a raindrop at the top of the rainbow arc, light follows a path that enters near the top of the raindrop, bounces off the back, and then exits from the … Continue reading Secondary Rainbows
Fantastic Plastic Space Station V: Part Three
By the end of my previous post in this build log, I had my Space Station V model almost completely assembled and coated with primer. I decided to keep the station in two halves for ease of painting—the rings would mutually block access to each other once assembled. The first decision was to settle on colours … Continue reading Fantastic Plastic Space Station V: Part Three
Glen Isla: Mayar From The Southwest
Finalty Hill (NO 212750, 905m) Mayar (NO 240737, 928m) 22 kilometres 820 metres of ascent After more than a hundred days in Covid-19 lockdown, the Oikofuge was finally permitted to live up to his nom-de-blog again, and head for the hills. I’d noted the accessibility of Mayar from Glen Isla last year, during a previously … Continue reading Glen Isla: Mayar From The Southwest
Lock-down Walks: Three Ships, Two Bridges, And A Bad Poet
2.6 kilometres25 metres of ascent This one’s just a short, level stroll along one of the more interesting sections of Dundee’s waterfront on the Tay estuary. It also goes off-book a bit by being a one-way stroll—linking the two ends of the journey is left as an … ahem … exercise for the interested reader. Even while … Continue reading Lock-down Walks: Three Ships, Two Bridges, And A Bad Poet
Knee
niː knee: The joint between the thigh and lower leg; an object or structure which resembles this joint I’ve got to say, on this “taking a knee” thing—I don’t know, maybe it’s got a broader history but it seems to be taken from The Game of Thrones—feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and … Continue reading Knee
Angus MacVicar & W.E. Johns: Scottish Spaceflight In The 1950s
Apprehension flickered in his eyes. “The oxygen is escaping faster than it is coming in. I am sorry to put it so bluntly, but unless we can repair the damage there will soon be no oxygen left in the ship.”“How soon?” I said.“Three minutes.”Janet’s face paled, and I didn’t feel too good myself. Angus MacVicar, … Continue reading Angus MacVicar & W.E. Johns: Scottish Spaceflight In The 1950s
Rainbow Rays
The COVID-19 lockdown, in my part of the world, has produced an outpouring of children’s rainbow art—often stuck up in people’s windows, but sometimes sketched on the pavements, too. I’ve been struck by the generally good command of spectral colours on display, with red on the outside and an appropriate progression towards violet on the … Continue reading Rainbow Rays
Fantastic Plastic Space Station V: Part Two
In my first post for this build, I described assembling the resin parts of the kit. As a little addendum to that process, I added some little rectangles of styrene sheet to the kit. These were to reproduce the appearance of structures that are readily visible in the film, but not included in the kit. … Continue reading Fantastic Plastic Space Station V: Part Two