Some pilots, though probably due to the luck of the draw, always seemed to get the plane that comes apart in the air. George J. Marrett was a United States Air Force (USAF) test pilot in the Fighter Test Branch of Flight Test Operations at Edwards Air Force Base during the 1960s, and Contrails Over … Continue reading George J. Marrett: Contrails Over The Mojave
Caribbean
There is little Man has made that approaches anything in Nature, but a sailing ship does. Alan Villiers The Caribbean, in February, on a ship. We’re neither of us beach people. (We had a beach holiday in the Maldives once, in 1982, and were homicidal with boredom by the third day). And we’d never been … Continue reading Caribbean
Why Do Veins Look Blue?
The blue appearance of veins under unpigmented skin is a commonplace observation, to the extent that it has become standard coding in anatomy diagrams to colour arteries red and veins blue: But that pale blue colour is actually a bit of a puzzle. Blood gets its colour from the haemoglobin contained in the red blood … Continue reading Why Do Veins Look Blue?
Waterspouts
Last week, the Boon Companion and I were sipping sundowner cocktails in the British Virgin Islands, leaning back in our chairs, and cloud-watching. Long streets of fair-weather cumulus had been strung out over the Caribbean since midday. Now, half an hour before sunset, the cumulus was growing—boiling upwards to form towering cumulus congestus, which were … Continue reading Waterspouts
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Carrie Gibson: Empire’s Crossroads
Empire’s Crossroads is subtitled A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day. Which is what it is. It’s historian Carrie Gibson‘s first book, built around her long-standing interest in the Caribbean. It was always going to be a challenge to put together a coherent narrative, given how many islands there are in … Continue reading Carrie Gibson: Empire’s Crossroads
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February 30th
Here’s the problem: the tropical year, the time it takes the Earth to go through a complete cycle of seasons, is 365.2422 days long (to four-decimal accuracy). If every calendar year were 365 days long, then the missing 0.2422 days would add up from year to year, each year starting a little earlier relative to … Continue reading February 30th
Aegophony
iːˈɡɒfənɪ ægophony: a characteristic “bleating” quality heard in conducted voice-sounds when listening to the chest over an area of consolidated lung When I was a medical student, we spent a lot of time listening to patient’s chests with our stethoscopes. Two things we were told to listen for were bleating ægophony and whispering pectoriloquy, which … Continue reading Aegophony
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Greg Egan: The “Orthogonal” Trilogy
Greg Egan is an Australian mathematician who has been writing hard science fiction for thirty years, although his hard science is the stuff that sits at the borderland of philosophy: the relationship between mathematics and reality, the nature of consciousness, the implications of quantum mechanics. Previous novels have involved speculations on what life might be … Continue reading Greg Egan: The “Orthogonal” Trilogy
Airfix 1/72 Sikorsky SH-3D Sea King: Part 4
Go to first post of this build log So, much masking later, I got the black, silver and red detailing done on the body of the helicopter. Gad, that’s hard work on something with so much rivet detail—very difficult to mask effectively without one pesky rivet being right on the edge of the masked region, … Continue reading Airfix 1/72 Sikorsky SH-3D Sea King: Part 4
Human Exposure To Vacuum: Part 2
In my first post on this topic, I discussed some physics and physiology, in an effort to predict and explain the likely consequences for a person exposed to the vacuum of space. Go to Part 1 In this part, I’m going to look at the evidence from animal experiments and human accidents. ANIMAL DATA The … Continue reading Human Exposure To Vacuum: Part 2