Tag: nature

Science Fiction that "Thinks"!

UK: The Genius of Terry Nation’s “Survivors” Series! (4.8.2026)

If you watch, read, or listen, to Terry Nation’s “Survivors” (1975) – you will see civilisation suddenly collapse due to a type of flu that is spread around the world via jet-liners (international travelling being a relatively new phenomena for the masses at the time). The USSR existed then and the US was engaged in a “Cold War” with it at the time (it turns out that illnesses are no respecter of political ideology). The US laughably believed that the Soviets possessed a “weather-altering machine” and would use it to usher-in a new ice-age. To this end, the US government ordered the British government (something of a US lap-dog at the time) to put-out the false propaganda that an “ice-age” was coming! The BBC made disinforming series about this whilst academics happily conformed despite all the data denying this assertion. This was the fake climate change argument of the day – and individuals lost their career when denying it.

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The Wyles Family at London Bridge!

UK: The “Engine Room” of London’s Tower Bridge! (1.8.2026)

We visited Tower Bridge on Friday July 31st, 2026. Oddly, none of us had visited this iconic site before. The Engine Room is around a hundred foot or so from the bridge proper (we actually visited the bridge proper – before we approached the Engine Room) – and features the original turbines that lifted the bridge up and down. Although the engineers that built the bridge received ridiculously good wages – the everyday workers who kept the bridge functioning safely on a daily basis received nothing like as good pay. Still, the engine is said to be similar to those found in ships like the Titanic.

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Was Stonehenge the Epi-Centre of Hyperborea?

Email: Was Stonehenge the Epicentre of “Hyperborea”? (30.6.2026)

However, I think the Druids may well be pre-Celtic – and yet still existed in Britain when the Romans arrived – living quite happily amongst the Celts. Indeed, the two cultures – the “Druid” and the “Celtic” appear to have peacefully co-existed and nourished one another. Whereas the Druids and Celts viewed the Romans as being “foreign” and “incompatible” – these two cultures viewed one another as mutually reinforcing. Greek explorers probably reached the British Isles a long time ago – when its weather was humid (even tropical), the population small, and the food plentiful. Stonehenge was built around 3000 BCE – so everything was inn-place for an idyllic interpretation and the construction in the Greek imagination of the a mythically “perfect” place. The Greek words “ὑπέρ Βορέᾱ” – can be translated as “Hyper” (“Beyond”) “Borea” (the “North”) – or perhaps “Over the Northern-Sea”.

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A screenshot from the Nature website shows the article titled "Optical fiber gripper for high-performance 3D micromanipulation".

China: Scientists Transform Fibre-Optics into “Mini Dexterous Hand”!

The study, published in Nature, introduced a three-dimensional optical fibre gripper that can manipulate opaque particles, irregular micromechanical components and diverse single-cell types. By controlling light input, the microgripper can open, close and adjust its gripping force. Experiments showed it can generate forces more than 100,000 times greater than conventional optical tweezers, enabling high-precision manipulation, microstructure assembly and microscale sampling.

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Brixham Down Wind Mill Road!

Brixham: A Photographic Strole Down “Windmill Hill”! (3.4.2026)

Gee had to park the car at the top of Wind Mill Hill – as that was the only place a parking-space was available not patrolled by militant locals who still seem to think WWII is ongoing. I jest – but one or two were a little bit prickly – commenting about “Townies” and “City-Dwellers” with “their big cars”! And so on. Still, at the end of the day, we are the visitors and we will be gone tomorrow. After carrying-out my duty – and visiting my various family relatives – I thought it would be a good idea to make a record of the journey down the hill from the parking-spot to the rented house. The view was quite beautiful and I hope I have captured our journey on foot down a steep Brixham hill – although we could not actually find a “Wind Mill”! Come to think of it – we are supposed to be near the Brixham Army Cadet Centre – but we never found this place either!

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Half-Penny from 1966

Brixham: Coins in the Wall! (2.4.2026)

Administrative matters aside – I notice the above “interior” wall looks as if it used to be an “external” wall – as it looks weather-beaten and worn. Furthermore, in the UK, builders often leave a coin featuring the year any renovations were carried-out as a form of “good luck”. Usually, we find these coins under floor-boards, carpets, and lino, etc. Sometimes they are lodged between wooden joints or under various structures. In this wall, the coins seem cemented on the outside of the wall. There is a 1966 half-penny, and a 1960 three-penny. When I was first at school in the early 1970s – these coins were still in use. The old half-penny would today possess the buying power of £5 – whilst the three-penny bit could buy about £30s worth of goods. This was before the UK joined the EEC (1.1.1973). Prior to this, a British pound was comprised of 240 pence – afterwards it was deliberately devalued to just “100” pence. What a disgrace all this was!

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