INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1805, 'Cult Sonoma // Sonoma International Film Festival : day three', 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMsjkxFN7as&amp;feature=youtube_gdata', '&lt;div style=&quot;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;     font-size:12px; font-size: 12px; width: 555px;&quot;&gt;\n&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width=&quot;140&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot; rowspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;border: 1px solid #999999; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMsjkxFN7as&amp;amp;feature=youtube_gdata&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VMsjkxFN7as/default.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;\n&lt;td width=&quot;256&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&lt;a style=&quot;font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold;                  font-decoration: none;&quot; href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMsjkxFN7as&amp;amp;feature=youtube_gdata&quot;&gt;Cult Sonoma // Sonoma International Film Festival : day three&lt;/a&gt;\n&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;\n&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 12px; margin: 3px 0px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Day three of the 2011 Sonoma International Film Festival as seen through the eyes of Cult Sonoma (www.cultsonoma.com.) Features some words from Lifetime Achievement honoree Susan Sarandon as well as Dr. Frankenfurter playing ping pong.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;\n&lt;td style=&quot;font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; padding-left: 20px;             padding-top: 1px;&quot; width=&quot;146&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 11px;&quot;&gt;From:&lt;/span&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sonomanewsvideo&quot;&gt;sonomanewsvideo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;\n&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 11px;&quot;&gt;Views:&lt;/span&gt;\n34&lt;/div&gt;\n&lt;div style=&quot;white-space: nowrap;text-align: left&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;                    vertical-align: middle; font-size: 11px;&quot; align=&quot;top&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_empty_11x11.gif&quot;&gt; &lt;img style=&quot;border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;                    vertical-align: middle; font-size: 11px;&quot; align=&quot;top&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_empty_11x11.gif&quot;&gt; &lt;img style=&quot;border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;                    vertical-align: middle; font-size: 11px;&quot; align=&quot;top&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_empty_11x11.gif&quot;&gt; &lt;img style=&quot;border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;                    vertical-align: middle; font-size: 11px;&quot; align=&quot;top&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_empty_11x11.gif&quot;&gt; &lt;img style=&quot;border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;                    vertical-align: middle; font-size: 11px;&quot; align=&quot;top&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_empty_11x11.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;\n&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: 11px;&quot;&gt;0\n&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 11px;&quot;&gt;ratings&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;\n&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 11px;&quot;&gt;Time:&lt;/span&gt;\n&lt;span style=&quot;color: #000000; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;03:48&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;\n&lt;td style=&quot;font-size: 11px; padding-left: 20px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666; font-size: 11px;&quot;&gt;More in&lt;/span&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/videos?c=27&quot;&gt;Education&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:44:46+02:00', 'http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#video', 'cult sonoma // sonoma international film festival day \nday 2011 sonoma international film festival seen eyes cult sonoma wwwcultsonomacom features words lifetime achievement honoree susan sarandon dr frankenfurter playing ping style=font size 11px line height 14em padding left 20px padding 1px width=146 style=color #666666 size 11px>from\n');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1806, 'Sleights of hand, sleights of mind', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/neurophilosophy/2011/oct/14/1', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/71006?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Sleights+of+hand%2C+sleights+of+mind+%7C+Mo+Costandi+%7C+Neurophilosophy+blog%3AArticle%3A1647646&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science%2CNeuroscience%2CPsychology+%28Science%29%2CMagic%2CStage%2CTheatre&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CTheatre&amp;c6=Mo+Costandi&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1647646&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Neurophilosophy+%28blog%29&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FNeurophilosophy&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Magicians are teaching brain researchers new tricks&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Conjurer&lt;/em&gt;, by Hieronymus Bosch, depicts a medieval magician performing for a small crowd, while pickpockets steal the spectators&#039; belongings. The painting, on display at the Mus&eacute;e Municipal in St.-Germain-en-Laye, France, illustrates that magicians have long known how to hack into our mental processes. The principles of magic, refined and perfected over the centuries, provide neuroscientists with new ways to study the brain and could help them in their quest to reveal how the organ performs the greatest trick of all - consciousness itself.     &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;In principle, neuroscience and magic have little in common,&quot; says Susana Martinez-Conde, director of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com/&quot;&gt;Visual Neuroscience Laboratory&lt;/a&gt; at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. &quot;In fact, they are hugely complementary and magicians have a lot to offer us. They can manipulate the attention and consciousness of spectators so much better than we do in the lab.&quot; A few years ago, Martinez-Conde and her husband &lt;a href=&quot;http://macknik.neuralcorrelate.com/&quot;&gt;Stephen Macknik&lt;/a&gt; decided to investigate exactly how magicians fool the brain so adeptly. In doing so, they founded the exciting new discipline they refer to as &#039;neuromagic,&#039; which aims to &quot;pop the hood on your brain as you are suckered in by sleights of hand.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;It all started when Stephen and I were asked to co-chair the&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://assc2007.neuralcorrelate.com/ &quot;&gt;11th annual meeting&lt;/a&gt; of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness,&quot; Martinez-Conde explains. &quot;Traditionally, this was a very academic conference that had no impact outside the specialist field. We wanted to reach the general public as well, but we weren&#039;t sure exactly what to do.&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The wife-and-husband team went to Las Vegas, where the conference was to be held. It was then, while scouting for potential conference venues, that the idea first came to them. &quot;We saw a lot of ads for magic shows and realized that was the connection we were looking for. We contacted a number of magicians, such as Penn and Teller, James Randi and Apollo Robbins and invited them to a special symposium [at the conference], to share their insights into what makes magic work in the mind of the spectator.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Illusions on top of illusions&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Magicians have a repertoire of perhaps several dozen techniques which they use to deceive spectators and enhance perception of their tricks. One of these is &#039;misdirection,&#039; which exploits inattentional blindness and change blindness, two phenomena that psychologists have studied intensively in recent years. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Studies of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/neurophilosophy/2011/aug/11/neuroscience-psychology &quot;&gt;inattentional blindness&lt;/a&gt; show that focused attention can make us oblivious to sights that would otherwise be glaringly obvious, while studies of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/cb.html&quot;&gt;change blindness&lt;/a&gt; show that dramatic changes in a scene can go unnoticed if they occur during a brief interruption, even when we look directly at the scene.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Magicians take advantage of this to manipulate their spectators&#039; attentional spotlight. They know, for example, that the eyes give off important social cues, and that people have a natural impulse to pay attention to the objects that others are attending to. They exploit this &#039;joint attention&#039; by using their eye movements to divert the audience&#039;s attention away from the &#039;method&#039; &ndash; the secret action behind the trick &ndash; and towards the magical effect. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;They also know that the sudden appearance of a new and unusual object will immediately draw the audience&#039;s attention. Hence, producing a flying dove gives them an opportunity to perform other hidden manoeuvres. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These cognitive illusions are used together with optical illusions that exploit the properties of light; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/neurophilosophy/2011/sep/19/ghostly-gaze-illusion&quot;&gt;visual illusions&lt;/a&gt; that exploit how the brain interprets images; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/neurophilosophy/2011/oct/07/1&quot;&gt;memory illusions&lt;/a&gt; that exploit the &lt;a href=&quot;http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2007/07/reconstructive_memoryconfabula.php&quot;&gt;reconstructive&lt;/a&gt; nature of our recollections; special effects such as explosions; and various gimmicks, including secret devices and mechanical artifacts. (Both Martinez-Conde and Macknik have studied visual illusions extensively, and about 10 years ago they set up the hugely popular &lt;a href=&quot;http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/&quot;&gt;Best Illusion of the Year Contest&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Instead of isolating the specific variables and using one effect, magicians lump everything together, putting illusions on top of illusions,&quot; says Martinez-Conde. The magic show is a form of &#039;mental jujitsu&#039; that bombards the senses, overloading the brain with multiple tasks that cannot be processed simultaneously. &quot;It&#039;s a super-stimulus and we really are defenceless. It&#039;s virtually impossible for spectators to penetrate these layers and get at the method of the trick.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;For my next trick...&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;For their &lt;a href=&quot;http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com/files/publications/cui_et_al_frontiers2011.pdf&quot;&gt;latest study&lt;/a&gt;, the neuromagicians collaborated with professional magician &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mackingshow.com/ &quot;&gt;Mac King&lt;/a&gt; to investigate a trick called the coin vanish. First, they filmed him performing real and simulated coin tosses. As the film clip shows, he tosses a coin vertically with his right hand, then pretends to toss it from his right to his left hand, but secretly holds it in his right hand. A split second later, he closes his left hand, as if to catch the coin, then opens his left hand to show that it has magically disappeared.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Magicians often direct their gaze at the presumed position of the coin while performing this trick. Thus, they will look first at their right hand and then shift their gaze to the left, without looking directly at the audience. The researchers wondered if joint attention enhances perception of the trick, and if Mac King might further enhance the illlusion by looking at the audience whilst performing the simulated coin toss. They showed various versions of the film clip to their participants and used a high-speed video camera to record their eye movements. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the first experiment, nine participants watched a shortened version of clips showing Mac King performing real and simulated coin tosses, which ended before he opens his left to reveal that the coin has vanished. Each participant was shown clips of 50 real and 50 simulated coin tosses, presented randomly, and asked to press a button when they saw the coin flying between his hands. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The participants perceived more than nine out of ten of the real coin tosses across all 50 trials. In the simulated coin toss condition, they perceived about three quarters of the first 10 trials, but this dropped significantly to about half during the remaining 40 trials, showing that they quickly learned to discrimiate between the real and illusory coin tosses. Magicians sometimes say that they should never perform the same trick twice, but these results show that the coin vanish trick is resistant to repeated viewing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second experiment was almost exactly the same, except that six different participants were shown slightly longer clips that included the &#039;reveal&#039; at the end. Again, the participants saw nine out of ten of the real coin tosses, and about six of the first ten simulated tosses. This time, however, they only perceived about one fifth of the simulated tosses in the remaing 40 trials, showing that the &#039;reveal&#039; at the end of the clips significantly improved their ability to discriminate between the two after the initial ten trials. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the third and final experiment, eight more participants were shown the same clips as those used in experiment two, as well as three additional clips showing Mac King performing multiple real and simulated coin tosses. This experiment was carried out under three different conditions. In half of the trials, the magician&#039;s head was hidden from view by a black rectangle, so that the participants could not see his gaze direction. In some conditions, the participants were asked to fix their gaze on a red cross that appeared on his face (or the equivalent position in trials where it was obscured). In others, they were allowed to let their gaze wander freely, as it would during normal viewing of a magic show.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Surprisingly, the illusion was stronger when the magician&#039;s face was blocked: the participants reported seeing seven out of ten real coin tosses when they could see his face and nine out of ten when they couldn&#039;t. Analysis of their gaze dynamics showed that the participants avoided looking at the magician&#039;s face in all the experiments, doing so only at the very end of the trick. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These findings conflict with previous work showing that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.evenhappier.com/docs/Kuhn-Illusionist.pdf&quot;&gt;a magician&#039;s gaze misdirection intensifies spectators&#039; perception of illusions&lt;/a&gt;. The effects of gaze direction on the perception of magic may differ from one trick to another, and can probably enhance, lessen or leave unchanged its perception, depending on which trick is being performed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The researchers suggest that the magician&#039;s level of expertise may be a key factor in how gaze direction affects perception of the coin toss illusion. The film clips used in the study indicated that Mac King&#039;s timing during the trick is impeccable - the timing of his simulated coin tosses differed from that of his real ones by about 35 thousandths of a second. Such accuracy could, therefore, make misdirection unnecessary for master magicians performing this particular trick.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The collaborations between Martinez-Conde, Macknik and the magicians have already been very fruitful, and so far have produced numerous academic papers, as well as a successful popular science book called &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sleightsofmind.com/&quot;&gt;Sleights of Mind&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, published this time last year. Martinez-Conde believes that this is just the tip of the iceberg, though. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;This is a long-term project and we have a number of ongoing collaborations with magicians not only in the U.S. but internationally,&quot; she says. &quot;We&#039;re now pursuing their intuitive knowledge about the connection between attention and emotions, which is not understood at all in the cognitive sciences. I expect we&#039;ll be publishing regularly on magic and neuroscience.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;: Cui, J., et al. (2011). Social misdirection fails to enhance a magic illusion. &lt;em&gt;Front. Human Neurosci.&lt;/em&gt;, DOI: &lt;a href=&quot;http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com/files/publications/cui_et_al_frontiers2011.pdf&quot;&gt;10.3389/fnhum.2011.00103&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Macknik, S., et al. (2008). Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research. &lt;em&gt;Nat. Rev. Neurosci.&lt;/em&gt;, DOI: &lt;a href=&quot;http://smc.neuralcorrelate.com/files/publications/macknik_martinez-conde_nrn08.pdf&quot;&gt;10.1038/nrn2473&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Macknik, S., Martinez-Conde, S. &amp; Blakeslee, S. &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sleightsofmind.com/&quot;&gt;Sleights of Mind&lt;/a&gt;: What the neuroscience of magic reveals about our everyday deceptions&lt;/em&gt;. New York: Henry Holt, 2010.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/neuroscience&quot;&gt;Neuroscience&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/psychology&quot;&gt;Psychology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/magic&quot;&gt;Magic&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatre&quot;&gt;Theatre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/mo-costandi&quot;&gt;Mo Costandi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vqZIEv5dd6GStXsTbYSrM-eqhgE/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vqZIEv5dd6GStXsTbYSrM-eqhgE/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vqZIEv5dd6GStXsTbYSrM-eqhgE/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vqZIEv5dd6GStXsTbYSrM-eqhgE/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:44:57+02:00', 'Science', 'sleights hand sleights mind ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1807, 'Will asking a question get your science paper cited more?', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/14/does-a-question-get-science-paper-cited', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/3256?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Will+asking+a+question+get+your+science+paper+cited+more%3F+%7C+Ben+Goldacre%3AArticle%3A1647754&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Research+%28Higher+education%29%2CScience%2CScience+%28Education+subject%29%2CScience+and+scepticism&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CHigher+Education&amp;c6=Ben+Goldacre&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1647754&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Feature%2CComment&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=Bad+science&amp;c25=Comment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Lots of stuff other than content can influence why scientific papers are cited by academics&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In an ideal world, you might imagine that scientific papers were only cited by academics on the basis of their content. This might be true. But lots of other stuff can have an influence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199110173251620&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;One classic paper from 1991&lt;/a&gt;, for example, found that academic papers covered by the New York Times received more subsequent citations. Now, you might reasonably suggest a simple explanation: the journalists of the Times were good at spotting the most important work. But the researchers looking into this were lucky. They noticed the opportunity for a natural experiment when the printers &ndash; but not the journalists &ndash; of the Times went on strike.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The editorial staff continued to produce a &quot;paper of record&quot;, which was laid down in the archives, but never printed, never distributed and never read. The scientific articles covered in these unprinted newspapers didn&#039;t see a subsequent uplift in citations. That is, if we can take a moment, a very clever piece of opportunistic research.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.springerlink.com/content/a366660464t0m4x6/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;a paper&lt;/a&gt; from the latest issue of Scientometrics shows that academic papers&#039; titles might also be important. They took one year&#039;s worth of articles from six journals &ndash; 2,172 in total &ndash; and categorised their titles into three types: interrogative titles give the subject as a question, perhaps to arouse curiosity (&quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v375/n6527/abs/375109a0.html&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;how long is a giant sperm?&lt;/a&gt;&quot; is a favourite of that genre); descriptive titles give the method but not the answer (&quot;a gene linkage study of Z&quot;); declarative titles give the main conclusion (&quot;X is associated with Y&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you&#039;re feeling cute, these title styles reflect the three stages of science: the question, method and result. The descriptive titles are the most common, as you&#039;d hope, because methods are the most important thing in science. But earlier research has shown that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.springerlink.com/content/uh466q5p3722n37l/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;question marks in titles are becoming more common&lt;/a&gt;. That was done on a corpus of 20m papers, which is testament to the almost magical ability of computers to find patterns, in what looks like noise. (The paper wasn&#039;t called &quot;Are Question-mark Titles Becoming More Common?&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other previous work &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859422/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;on 9,031 papers&lt;/a&gt; in 22 journals found that studies with longer titles had more citations: perhaps they&#039;re read more, as it&#039;s easier to see that they suit your interests. And papers with titles rated as &quot;highly amusing&quot;, when presented in a list, &lt;a href=&quot;http://jis.sagepub.com/content/34/5/680.abstract&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;get fewer citations&lt;/a&gt;. You might wonder if that&#039;s because funny titles are more likely to be scientific comment pieces, rather than citation-classics of original research, but the finding stood up when&amp;nbsp;this factor was controlled for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you&#039;re interested, average &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.akademiai.com/content/gq7922h08768240u/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;title length and the prevalence of colons have both increased&lt;/a&gt; over time &ndash; this gets relevant in a moment &ndash; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.springerlink.com/content/q5464223410713u3/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;papers with more authors have longer titles&lt;/a&gt; (perhaps reflecting squabbles, or a desire for clarity; basically this field is wide open for fun post-hoc hypotheses).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.springerlink.com/content/a366660464t0m4x6/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;this new paper in Scientometrics&lt;/a&gt; had two main findings. Articles with question marks in the titles tended to be downloaded more, but cited less; and article titles containing a colon had fewer downloads, and fewer citations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As ever in science, you can&#039;t argue with the fact of these results, but you can argue over why they came out that way. Maybe question-mark titles are more ambiguous and playful, so you have to download them to see if they&#039;re relevant to your work, explaining the mismatch between downloads and citations?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That said, the only &lt;a href=&quot;http://shortreports.rsmjournals.com/content/1/1/2.full&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;previous work on this specific question&lt;/a&gt; found that longer titles, colons and the presence of an acronym in the title were associated with more citations. Since this conflicts with the colon finding in our new study, you&#039;re left with a messy contradiction. The papers compared different journals, and the older one compared the top 25 most cited articles against the 25 least cited ones from each journal, rather than chasing the entire corpus. But I can&#039;t think why either of those factors could explain the disparity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And since I&#039;m not a story-spinner, there&#039;s no gloss here: I&#039;m going to leave you with that inconsistency. The real world of evidence is often very irritating.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/research&quot;&gt;Research&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/science&quot;&gt;Science&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/science-scepticism&quot;&gt;Science and scepticism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/bengoldacre&quot;&gt;Ben Goldacre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NKi10FTbaAgAKqYNRmtnyI4aIgM/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NKi10FTbaAgAKqYNRmtnyI4aIgM/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NKi10FTbaAgAKqYNRmtnyI4aIgM/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NKi10FTbaAgAKqYNRmtnyI4aIgM/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:44:57+02:00', 'Research', 'asking question science paper cited ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1808, 'Another Earth at Oktoberfest', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/14/another-earth-sci-fi-oktoberfest', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/37343?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Another+Earth+at+Oktoberfest+%7C+Carole+Jahme%3AArticle%3A1647986&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science%2CScience+fiction+and+fantasy+%28Film+genre%29%2CFilm%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CPsychology+%28Science%29&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviews&amp;c6=Carole+Jahme&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1647986&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Review%2CBlogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Science+blog+Notes+%26+Theories+%28reporters%27+blog%29&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FScience+fiction+and+fantasy&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Carole Jahme explores the far-side of science fiction and fantasy at Oktoberfest, including a preview of Another Earth&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This year has seen a bumper crop of big-screen sci-fi, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/feb/23/apollo-18-trailer-flick-teaser&quot;&gt;Apollo 18&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/feb/13/paul-review-simon-pegg-nick-frost&quot;&gt;Paul&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/11/rise-planet-of-apes-review&quot;&gt;Rise of the Planet of the Apes&lt;/a&gt;, with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/sep/12/contagion-steven-soderbergh-movie&quot;&gt;Contagion&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637688/&quot;&gt;In Time&lt;/a&gt; soon to be released. Science fiction grosses millions of dollars at the box office, but where do the true aficionados go to see more refined, unusual sci-fi offerings?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sci-Fi-London&#039;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sci-fi-london.com/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Oktoberfest&lt;/a&gt; gives an opportunity for smaller, cult, and possibly more intelligent sci-fi and fantasy films to be viewed on the big screen. It is curated by ebullient sci-fi enthusiast Louis Savy, who founded the festival 10 years ago. To encourage new filmmakers, every year he organises a &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sci-fi-london.com/festival/2011/48-hour-film-challenge&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;48-hour film challenge&lt;/a&gt;&quot; in which teams compete to create a sci-fi film in just two days &ndash; Gareth Edwards, director of the excellent &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/02/monsters-review?INTCMP=SRCH&quot;&gt;Monsters&lt;/a&gt; started his film career here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Enduring sci-fi themes are evident in the big box office films listed above. We are still voyaging to the moon, still comparing ourselves to similar but significantly different &quot;others&quot;, still fleeing viruses and aliens and still facing up to mortality. But I went along to Oktoberfest at the Odeon cinema in London&#039;s Camden Town last Saturday night looking for something new.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I immediately noticed that the audience consisted mostly of men. I asked Georgie Knight, &lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/Londonfoodlink&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;a foodie&lt;/a&gt; and the festival&#039;s sci-fi DJ (the pride of her collection is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj7TNNb_W3U&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Cantina bar theme from the first Star Wars&lt;/a&gt; movie) why she thought so few women were attracted to the festival? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;She didn&#039;t know, but explained why she&#039;s such a fan of Oktoberfest: &quot;It is the only chance to see films of all calibres from around the world that may not get a commercial release. Science fiction examines contemporary and sensitive topics and allows the exploration of &#039;what if&#039; scenarios &hellip; I love the atmosphere at the festival&#039;s Saturday all nighters, with punters dressing up as their favourite characters.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Saturday programme had started in the afternoon and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sci-fi-london.com/festival/2011/oktoberfest/programme&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;was scheduled to finish on Sunday morning&lt;/a&gt;. I didn&#039;t last through the night, or dress up as Yoda, but I did see a few of the films on offer. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Savy personally introduces each film. His humour and passion are infectious and as the lights dim you feel welcome and in good company.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thedividethemovie.com/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;The Divide&lt;/a&gt;, set in a nuclear Armageddon, is an unrelentingly bleak American offering. Rosanna Arquette and sci-fi favourite Kyle Reese (Aliens/Terminator) were unable to save this film from its clich&eacute;d characters and obvious plot. Its take-home message? Don&#039;t get caught in a nuclear bunker with people you can&#039;t trust.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A sucker for punishment, I was back on Sunday afternoon to see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sushi-typhoon.com/films/helldriver&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Helldriver&lt;/a&gt;, a gory Japanese zombie slasher with no introspection or subtext. It was so awful it was brilliant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next came &lt;a href=&quot;http://angelsandairwaves.com/?project_id=3&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Love&lt;/a&gt;. In the sporadic tradition of pop groups producing films, this is a movie produced and scored by the American punk band Angels and Airwaves. Apparently inspired by the writings of Carl Sagan, Love tells the story of the renewed hope of an astronaut lost in space.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Knight&#039;s Oktoberfest favourite was &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fase7.com/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Spanish Phase 7&lt;/a&gt;, &quot;an all-too-believable pandemic plot with talk of a new world order, good actors and a dose of black humour.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My highlight was &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foxsearchlight.com/anotherearth/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Another Earth&lt;/a&gt;, directed by Mike Cahill, where I finally found the newness I sought. Carl Sagan&#039;s former teaching assistant, the astrophysicist &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_E._Berendzen&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Richard E Berendzen&lt;/a&gt; was used as a consultant on the film and has a cameo role.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The premise is that with billions of planets in multitudinal universes, it is possible there is a planet out there that is an exact copy of Earth, having developed at the same time and in the same way. Berendzen discusses the possibilities with Cahill &lt;a href=&quot;http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/4938&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another Earth &ndash; shot beautifully with a compelling lead performance from Brit Marling and a haunting score &ndash; cleverly takes the familiar parallel universe idea to a new, inverted conclusion. Here nothing is idealised and the other you is a more sophisticated and refined you &ndash; a better you. Supposing the two Earths were brought together and the two of you were to meet?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The film doesn&#039;t tackle the physics of what would happen if another planet travelled into our solar system, but instead focuses on the metaphysics of existentialism. These aliens are almost exactly you; the only difference is that they are superior. Could the better you heal you and help you to rise to your higher-self? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An uncanny valley indeed. This is a film with take-away value. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118031128&quot;&gt;It won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize&lt;/a&gt; for science fiction filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will have a limited theatrical release in the UK from December. Make sure you catch it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sci-Fi-London returns next year, 1-7 May, at the BFI South Bank and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bafta.org/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Bafta&lt;/a&gt;. With &quot;geek girl&quot; events planned, hopefully more ladies will join in this time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sciencefictionandfantasy&quot;&gt;Science fiction and fantasy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals&quot;&gt;Festivals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/psychology&quot;&gt;Psychology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/carole-jahme&quot;&gt;Carole Jahme&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3OSM2DJwpy2Bi24LlJ48RAqEFkQ/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3OSM2DJwpy2Bi24LlJ48RAqEFkQ/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3OSM2DJwpy2Bi24LlJ48RAqEFkQ/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3OSM2DJwpy2Bi24LlJ48RAqEFkQ/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:44:58+02:00', 'Science', 'earth oktoberfest ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1809, 'The birds and the trees', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/14/2', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/67356?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=The+birds+and+the+trees+%7C+%40GrrlScientist+%7C+Punctuated+Equilibrium+%3AArticle%3A1647222&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Animal+behaviour+%28Science%29%2CZoology%2CScience%2CBirds+%28environment%29%2CWildlife+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironment%2CAnimals+%28News%29&amp;c5=Wildlife+Conservation%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CEthical+Living&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647222&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Gray jays hoping to survive and reproduce during Canada&#039;s harsh winters must store food in the right kinds of trees&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;float: left; padding: 5px;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.researchblogging.org&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.researchblogging.org/public/citation_icons/rb2_large_gray.png&quot; style=&quot;border:0;&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;If you&#039;ve ever met a gray jay, &lt;em&gt;Perisoreus canadensis&lt;/em&gt;, then I think you&#039;ll agree with me that this audacious and personable bird is one of the cutest corvids in the world. Like many corvids, these little birds invest most of their waking hours into preparing for a &quot;rainy day&quot; by seeking out and collecting food. But gray jays experience more than the occasional rainy day: they are year-round residents of boreal and subalpine coniferous forests in North America, so they regularly deal with cold temperatures, high winds and deep snows that blanket their food supply for long periods of time. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gray jays are omnivorous, consuming (and caching) berries, insects, titbits of meat from carcasses along with a variety of food items stolen from campsites. But there is one item that is notably absent from gray jays&#039; daily menus; conifer seeds. In fact, these birds are neither capable of prying open nor extricating seeds from conifer cones. Further, gray jay population numbers do not fluctuate with the availability of seeds as is typical for conifer seed predators. Why are gray jays so intimately associated with coniferous forests when they don&#039;t consume their seeds? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another interesting element to note is that gray jays cache &lt;em&gt;perishable&lt;/em&gt; food items into cracks in tree bark during the summer and autumn months. In fact, gray jays are the only bird species that we know about that routinely cache large amounts of perishable food items for long periods of time. How do these food items survive the warm summer months until the freezing temperatures of winter, when the birds consume their caches? Contrary to what you might expect; these birds are not merely caching food so they can &lt;em&gt;survive&lt;/em&gt; harsh winters: gray jays nest and raise their chicks in the dead of winter, too. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;What is perhaps more remarkable is that female gray jays start breeding in mid-February when temperatures are routinely below minus 15 degrees Celsius and there is very little food around, so these caches are crucial not only for over-winter survival but also for successful reproduction,&quot; says Ryan Norris, a professor in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uoguelph.ca/ib/&quot;&gt;Department of Integrative Biology&lt;/a&gt; at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uoguelph.ca/&quot;&gt;University of Guelph&lt;/a&gt;, in Ontario, Canada. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Several years ago, Dr Norris began working with Dan Strickland, retired chief park naturalist for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/&quot;&gt;Algonquin Park&lt;/a&gt;. Even though it wasn&#039;t part of his job, for decades Mr Strickland devoted his spare time to studying the park&#039;s jays; colour banding the birds in autumn and monitoring their nests and chicks in late winter. The birds became like family. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Algonquin Park is located at the most southern portion of the gray jays&#039; natural range in the eastern part of North America. However, Mr Strickland had noticed that the gray jay population in Algonquin Park had declined noticeably since the 1970s. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;When Dan and I do field research, Dan is always pointing out areas where jays used to be but haven&#039;t been used [as territories] for decades,&quot; says Dr Norris in email. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;This puzzled us. Not only were jays declining in the park but they were declining in certain types of habitats. It follows that these habitats must be of lower quality than the ones that are still occupied. But why?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is where University of Guelph geography undergrad, Brian Kielstra, came into the picture. His undergrad thesis consisted of identifying specifically what constituted high and low quality habitats for the jays. To do this, he used GIS to link habitat composition of gray jay territories to their occupancy rate over time (figure 2):&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mr Kielstra&#039;s data show that gray jays abandoned territories with lower proportions of conifers and they abandoned those territories at faster rates over time. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But what is it about the presence of a large percentage of conifer trees that made the jays remain on their territories? Knowing that the birds nested during the harshest weather of the year, the team tested whether the proportion of conifer trees in a particular territory had an effect on the residents&#039; nest success (figure 3):&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;They found that the proportion of successful gray jay nests was related to both the year (1977&ndash;2009) when the birds nested (figure 2a) and to the percentage of conifers in their territory (figure 2b). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But why are gray jays so dependent upon coniferous trees? The team did some brainstorming and identified several testable hypotheses. Knowing that these birds are so critically dependent upon their food caches, the most obvious hypothesis was that conifer trees are linked to the jays&#039; ability to successfully cache adequate amounts of food for winter. But what is it about coniferous trees that makes them so important for jay food caches? Is it just &lt;em&gt;coniferous trees&lt;/em&gt; in general, or are some coniferous species more important than others? Knowing these answers could provide the team with more clues. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Previous research had shown that most conifer trees defend themselves from the nibbling attentions of herbivores, particularly hares and deer, by growing thick bark and by producing toxic resins. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Knowing that useful food storage sites are dependent upon the physical characteristics of both birds and bark was an important consideration. For example, even though balsam fir, aspens, and young white pine are present in the gray jays&#039; territories, their smooth-barked trunks and branches provide the jays few food storage opportunities. In contrast, sugar maple and older white pine have rough bark but their surfaces are so tough that a little bird with a small beak would not be physically capable of prying up the bark to hide a morsel of food underneath. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But what about spruce trees? The team realised that spruce could be indicators of territory quality: their data seemed to suggest that higher quality gray jay territory had a greater proportion of black and white spruce, &lt;em&gt;Picea mariana&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;P. glauca&lt;/em&gt;. Additionally, spruce produce toxic resins that could act as a food preservative. Further, spruce growing in the resource-limited boreal (where gray jays are more numerous) produce more toxic resins than do more spruce growing at more southerly locations, such as Algonquin Park. Perhaps the jays were relying upon toxic spruce resins as a preservative for their cached food? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img align=&quot;right&quot; src=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6051/6243066749_25ac034fdc_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;220&quot; height=&quot;501&quot; /&gt;&quot;Jays cache tens of thousands of food items a year and rely on this cached food for overwinter survival and even reproduction&quot;, says Dr Norris. &quot;To test this hypothesis, we set out simulated cache containers on different tree species.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The team constructed artificial storage chambers of polyethylene so the food items were stored between an inner layer and outer layer of bark, mimicking gray jay food caches. Raisins were placed into the well (figure a -- well, that&#039;s a mealworm, but you get the idea), a piece of bark placed on top and the chambers were attached to the surface of the tree of the same species (figure b), creating a &quot;bark sandwich&quot;. (Controls contained the same food items in chambers with no bark disk and were mounted on trees near the black spruce site.) After the team went back to recover their cached raisins, those stored on spruce trees appeared relatively intact compared to unidentifiable small black fragments that were recovered from those stored on sugar maple (figure c). (Presumably, neither Dr Norris nor Mr Strickland subjected the spruce-cached raisins to a taste test.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The team then repeated their experiment, expanding it to include black spruce, white spruce, red pine, white pine, eastern white cedar, aspen &lt;em&gt;spp&lt;/em&gt;. (either trembling or largetooth), sugar maple, balsam fir, and white birch. They created 100 &quot;bark sandwiches&quot; for each tree species, each containing cached raisins, commercially grown blueberries or jumbo-sized mealworms that had been killed by crushing their heads with tweezers and placing these chambers on a number of tree species (figure 4): &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Later, they went back to recover the cached food items and weighed them to identify which tree species was best at preserving them. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Consistent with the hypothesis, we found that coniferous trees were much better at preserving cached food&quot;, says Dr Norris. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The team found that the proportion of original weight lost by the food items varied depending both upon the species of trees they were stored on and the length of time stored: spruce showed the least percentage of weight loss for most items stored (&lt;a href=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6093/6243105369_5f8936d65c_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;860&quot; height=&quot;789&quot;&gt;here&#039;s a larger view of these data shown above&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Different cached food items also showed differences in weight loss. As you can see in the above figure, weight loss was highest in blueberries after 115&ndash;188 days of exposure, lower in raisins after 126&ndash;134 days of exposure, and lowest in mealworms after 41&ndash;44 days of exposure. These data clearly show that different trees are better at storing food for long periods of time. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Many northern breeding animals rely on cached food for overwinter survival&quot;, says Dr Norris. &quot;What this study shows is that the type of habitat where you store your food can have a large effect on whether it is there 3-4 months later when you really need it.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The team also saw differences in the jays&#039; reproductive success between habitats: lower quality habitat meant they were less successful at fledging young. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Previous research indicates that warmer autumn temperatures associated with global warming could result in increased rotting of the jays&#039; food stores (doi:&lt;a href=&quot;http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/273/1603/2809.short&quot;&gt;10.1098/rspb.2006.3667&lt;/a&gt;). Low-quality food could compromise the physical condition of the adult birds during the winter and also reduce their ability to adequately feed their hungry nestlings. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;At the moment, we only have correlation evidence to support [these] hypotheses&quot;, explains Dr Norris. &quot;We are currently conducting an experiment to examine the effect of temperature on food in simulated caches. We&#039;ve put these simulated caches out at different latitudes, including a lower latitude where Jays are not found but [which] has temperatures that could be in Algonquin in 20-30 years from now.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This study could help scientists better understand range limits for other animals, particularly for other animals that breed in areas with extreme weather conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;If other northern-breeding or alpine-breeding species rely on cached food, then their ranges may also be limited by the ability of certain habitat types to preserve food over the winter season.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sources&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Strickland, D., Kielstra, B., &amp; Ryan Norris, D. (2011). &lt;strong&gt;Experimental evidence for a novel mechanism driving variation in habitat quality in a food-caching bird.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Oecologia&lt;/span&gt; DOI: &lt;a rev=&quot;review&quot; href=&quot;http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2040-y&quot;&gt;10.1007/s00442-011-2040-y&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ryan Norris [emails; 11 &amp; 12 October 2011]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;facebook: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;grrlscientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/animalbehaviour&quot;&gt;Animal behaviour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/zoology&quot;&gt;Zoology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/birds&quot;&gt;Birds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/wildlife&quot;&gt;Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/animals&quot;&gt;Animals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fgw8yMOL9ulKl9LdOirUfvtIIwI/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fgw8yMOL9ulKl9LdOirUfvtIIwI/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fgw8yMOL9ulKl9LdOirUfvtIIwI/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fgw8yMOL9ulKl9LdOirUfvtIIwI/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:44:59+02:00', 'Animal behaviour', 'birds trees ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1810, 'Bacteria and the power of teamwork', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/13/bacteria-power-teamwork', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/82969?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Bacteria+and+the+power+of+teamwork%3AArticle%3A1647490&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Science+writing+prize%2CMicrobiology%2CBiology%2CScience&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Tess+Shellard&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647490&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Feature&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FScience+writing+prize&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;How do simple bugs thrive? It&#039;s all about quorum-sensing. &lt;strong&gt;Tess Shellard&lt;/strong&gt;, in her winning essay for the Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, explains&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Imagine for a moment that we all have one firework and our sole purpose is simply to light it. With just one trick to last a lifetime, how would you use it? Setting it off randomly would achieve very little; few would even see it. But if you took a lesson from bacteria you would gather together to light them all at once, and illuminate the whole sky.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bacteria play a crucial role in life on this planet. They digest our food, synthesise our vitamins, help to make our wine and cheese.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Others are deadly, the cause of numerous diseases. But how have these single-celled organisms taken charge when they have no ears to hear, no sense of touch and no central intelligence to organise their assault? Their secret lies in teamwork. Each bacterium can secrete a chemical that can be read only by members of the same species; the concentration of this chemical can tell it how many of its siblings are nearby. This ability, called quorum-sensing, helps the bacteria to time how and when they express their genes. They don&#039;t just act; they wait until there are enough of them for the action to be effective and co-ordinate their moves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not only can a bacterium tell if kin are near, it can tell if it is among different types of bacteria, allowing it to build alliances that can help them all to thrive.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Professor Bonnie Bassler of Princeton University&#039;s department of molecular biology has led the research on quorum-sensing. She found that the Hawaiian bobtail squid hunts safely at night thanks to the quorum-sensing abilities of a bacterium called &lt;em&gt;Vibrio fischeri&lt;/em&gt;. By day, the squids bury themselves in the sand, coming out at night to hunt in the shallows. But they cast a shadow in the moonlit waters, which can leave them vulnerable to predators. Enter the &lt;em&gt;Vibrio fischeri&lt;/em&gt;. These live in a sac in the squids&#039; mantles and, when there are enough of them, they switch on a light. Their bioluminescence disguises the squid&#039;s silhouette on the sea bed. To get it just right, sensors on the squid&#039;s back gauge the strength of moonlight, with filters adjusting the light emitted from the sacs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In return for all this handy illumination, the bacteria are kept well-fed. In the morning, the squid purges itself of its visitors and, as the bacteria&#039;s numbers drop below the quorum threshold, they turn off their light. The remaining population then do what they do best and multiply throughout the day, reaching sufficient numbers by nightfall to start glowing all over again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not all bacteria are quite that endearing &ndash; chancing upon the wrong kind can be deadly. Modern medicine has allowed us to blitz anything lethal to us with antibiotics, but this has led to problems, too, bringing a rise in superbugs &ndash; bacteria resistant to drugs. Knowing about quorum-sensing, however, can offer hope. It is possible to interfere with the communication between individual bacterial cells  in order to ensure that they live out their days without getting too dangerous. As each species has its  own language, we can befuddle one without disturbing the rest. On the other hand, we could interfere with helpful bacteria to increase the  volume of their conversation and increase their activity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to life on Earth, we like to think that the bigger the brain, the better. Bacteria might be small but they communicate in more than one language, they strategise, they co-ordinate their efforts, they have thrived in places you wouldn&#039;t even go for a dare. It seems clear the bacteria still have a lesson or two for us big-headed folk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The inaugural &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2011/News/WTVM053130.htm&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wellcome Trust science writing prize&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;, in association with the Guardian and the Observer, was judged by: Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of Guardian News &amp; Media; Robin McKie, science editor of the Observer; Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust; Clare Matterson, director of medical humanities and engagement at the Wellcome Trust; and Dara O Briain, broadcaster and comedian&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/science-writing-prize&quot;&gt;Science writing prize&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/microbiology&quot;&gt;Microbiology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/biology&quot;&gt;Biology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nN9vt6kIHkCdaqbsElkjnz4mKAI/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nN9vt6kIHkCdaqbsElkjnz4mKAI/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nN9vt6kIHkCdaqbsElkjnz4mKAI/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nN9vt6kIHkCdaqbsElkjnz4mKAI/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:00+02:00', 'Science writing prize', 'bacteria power teamwork science writing class=terms>');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1811, 'Steven Pinker: fighting talk from the prophet of peace', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/15/steven-pinker-better-angels-violence-interview', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/49252?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Steven+Pinker%3A+fighting+talk+from+the+prophet+of+peace%3AArticle%3A1648016&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Obs&amp;c4=Steven+Pinker%2CHistory+%28Books+genre%29%2CPsychology+%28Science%29%2CPhilosophy+%28Books+genre%29%2CBooks%2CSociety%2CScience%2CSecond+world+war+%28News%29&amp;c5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=John+Naughton&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1648016&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Feature%2CInterview&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FSteven+Pinker&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Steven Pinker claims in his new book that far from being the bloodiest era in human history, ours is a time when violence has been in steep decline. Here, he explains how mankind turned its back on brutality&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Steven Pinker is one of those &lt;em&gt;wunderkinder &lt;/em&gt;that elite US universities seem to specialise in producing. Born in Canada in 1954, he&#039;s currently a professor of psychology at Harvard, but ever since he arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1976 he&#039;s been bouncing like a high-IQ tennis ball between Harvard and its prestigious neighbour, MIT (he has professorial chairs at both institutions). By profession he&#039;s an experimental psychologist who began doing research on visual cognition but eventually moved into studying language, especially language acquisition in children. He probably knows more about mankind&#039;s use of verbs, and particularly the distinction between irregular and regular ones, than any other man, living or dead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He&#039;s also a prolific and high-selling author of popular books about his subject, which has led some unkind academics to describe him as &quot;the thinking man&#039;s Malcolm Gladwell&quot;, which is unfair because Pinker, unlike Gladwell, is a distinguished scientific researcher; in fact the only characteristics he and the &lt;em&gt;New Yorker &lt;/em&gt;writer have in common are big hair and an enviable fluency that translates into publication track records as long as your arm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pinker&#039;s assault on the common reader began in 1994 with &lt;em&gt;The Language Instinct&lt;/em&gt;, an accessible introduction to the idea that humans are &quot;language animals&quot;, biologically wired for linguistic communication. In 1997 he published &lt;em&gt;How the Mind Works&lt;/em&gt;, which went beyond language to offer a similar portrayal of the rest of the mind, from vision and reasoning to emotions, humour and art. In 1999 he returned to the question of language with &lt;em&gt;Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language&lt;/em&gt;, which drew on his research on regular and irregular verbs as a way of explaining how language works in general. And in 2002 he published &lt;em&gt;The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature&lt;/em&gt;, which is basically an attack on what Pinker sees as three great misconceptions about human behaviour: the idea that the mind is a tabula rasa, a blank slate that is wholly shaped by one&#039;s environment; the notion of the &quot;noble savage&quot;, the idea that humans are intrinsically good but get warped by society; and &quot;ghost in the machine&quot; theories that postulate the existence of a non-biological agent in the brain that can alter human nature at will.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence in History and its Causes &lt;/em&gt;(Allen Lane) is Pinker&#039;s latest and most ambitious book. The title is taken from a phrase of Abraham Lincoln&#039;s. In it, Pinker challenges one of our deepest but unexamined assumptions &ndash; that current and recent times have been the most violent in human history. As evidence we cite contemporary homicide rates, the Holocaust, the death toll of two world wars and the genocide adventures orchestrated by Stalin, Mao Zedong and other tyrants. But Pinker argues that this view is radically mistaken. Violence within and between societies &ndash; both murder and warfare &ndash; has declined from prehistory to today. We are, he maintains, much less likely to die at someone else&#039;s hands than ever before. And even the horrific carnage of the last century, when seen in the long view of history, is part of this trend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a big idea if ever I saw one, and it requires a massive  tome (700 pages plus footnotes) to deal with it. In the first place, Pinker has to locate, analyse and explain the empirical and other data that support his thesis: that, however you measure it, the past was not just a different country, but also a far more violent one. And then he has to provide some explanations for why the long-term reduction in violence happened. To do that he ranges far beyond his own professional territory &ndash; into forensic archaeology, political philosophy, intellectual and social history, population dynamics, statistics and international relations. He identifies a number of forces that were key factors in curbing mankind&#039;s capacity for inhumanity: the slow emergence of states capable of playing the role of Hobbes&#039;s &quot;Leviathan&quot;; the pacifying impact of commerce and trade on behaviour; the impact of the Enlightenment on the way people thought about others; the evolution of notions of etiquette over the centuries; the way print and literacy expanded the &quot;circle of empathy&quot; beyond people&#039;s immediate family; the importance of women in civilising men; and the &quot;long peace&quot; that followed the second world war.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Better Angels &lt;/em&gt;is a long, absorbing and sometimes horrifying book, because in order to establish his case Pinker has to dwell at some length not just on the savagery of the past, but on the way brutality and cruelty was &ndash; until relatively recently &ndash; taken for granted. If you want to know about medieval forms of torture, or the favourite tools of the Inquisition, or how Tamerlane&#039;s troops operated, then you will find ample material here. The ingenuity of human barbarism knows no limits. What&#039;s even more salutary, however, is the realisation that it&#039;s not all that long ago since people were routinely hung, drawn and quartered in England; or that flogging and keelhauling were routine methods of maintaining discipline in the Royal Navy; or that nobody batted an eye at the flogging of children as late as the 1950s.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In one sense, this is also a consoling book, in that it describes mankind&#039;s path from unimaginable barbarism to a safer, more &quot;civilised&quot; state. Critics might describe it as an example of the Whig interpretation of history &ndash; that is, an account of inexorable progress. But that&#039;s not how I read it. Pinker&#039;s account suggests that what the great cultural historian Norbert Elias called the &quot;civilising process&quot; was a long, arduous struggle whose long-term outcome was never assured. And recent increases in violence &ndash; such as the surge in homicides in the 1960s in the US, or the chronic violence that is now disfiguring much of Latin America &ndash; suggest that it&#039;s still not assured. Perhaps the wisest thing we can say about the trajectory described by Pinker is what the guy who jumped from the 50th floor said when he was passing the 25th: so far so good.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As with all his previous books, &lt;em&gt;The Better Angels &lt;/em&gt;has been taken seriously by heavyweight reviewers and, broadly speaking, came through with lots of plaudits. Writing in the &lt;em&gt;Guardian&lt;/em&gt;, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/22/better-angels-steven-pinker-review&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Cambridge political philosopher David Runciman&lt;/a&gt; lauded it as a &quot;brilliant, mind-altering book&quot;. In his &lt;em&gt;New York Times &lt;/em&gt;review, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/books/review/the-better-angels-of-our-nature-by-steven-pinker-book-review.html?_r=1&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Princeton philosopher Peter Singer&lt;/a&gt; described it as &quot;a supremely important book. To have command of so much research, spread across so many different fields, is a masterly achievement. Pinker convincingly demonstrates that there has been a dramatic decline in violence, and he is persuasive about the causes of that decline.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/910d787a-eb91-11e0-a576-00144feab49a.html#axzz1al65Po2C&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Clive Cookson, the &lt;em&gt;Financial Times&lt;/em&gt;&#039;s science editor&lt;/a&gt;, found some passages repetitive and worried that &quot;readers of a squeamish disposition might feel that he has included too many detailed accounts of murder and excruciating torture through the ages, in his effort to illustrate how deeply brutality was once woven into the fabric of daily existence&quot;. But, overall, Cookson thought that &lt;em&gt;The Better Angels &lt;/em&gt;was &quot;a marvellous synthesis of science, history and storytelling&quot;. In the &lt;a href=&quot;http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576537813826824914.html&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wall Street Journal&lt;/em&gt;, James Q Wilson&lt;/a&gt; found the book &quot;a masterly effort to explain what Mr Pinker regards as one of the biggest changes in human history: we kill one another less frequently than before&quot; but thought that &quot;to give this project its greatest possible effect, he has one more book to write: a briefer account that ties together an argument now presented in 800 pages and that avoids the few topics about which Mr Pinker has not done careful research&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The major voice dissenting from this chorus of praise belonged to political philosopher John Gray, who was unimpressed by Pinker&#039;s claim that the Enlightenment was a key factor in civilising humanity. Writing in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2011/09/john-gray-steven-pinker-violence-review/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Prospect &lt;/em&gt;magazine, Gray attacks&lt;/a&gt; what he sees as Pinker&#039;s identification of &quot;the Enlightenment&quot; with a carefully chosen but not necessarily representative group of thinkers. &quot;These are highly disparate thinkers,&quot; says Gray, &quot;and it is far from clear that any coherent philosophy could have &#039;coalesced&#039; from their often incompatible ideas. The difficulty would be magnified if Pinker included Marx, Bakunin and Lenin, who undeniably belong within the extended family of intellectual movements that comprised the Enlightenment, but are left off the list. Like other latter-day partisans of &#039;Enlightenment values&#039;, Pinker prefers to ignore the fact that many Enlightenment thinkers have been doctrinally anti-liberal, while quite a few have favoured the large-scale use of political violence, from the Jacobins who insisted on the necessity of terror during the French revolution, to Engels who welcomed a world war in which the Slavs &mdash; &#039;aborigines in the heart of Europe&#039; &mdash; would be wiped out.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Intrigued by these reactions, I contacted Professor Pinker in his Harvard lair and exchanged some emails with him. Here is the log of our conversation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Steven Pinker and John Naughton: an exchange&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: What got you started on this huge undertaking? Was it really finding Ted Gurr&#039;s study of homicide rates in various English towns between 1200 and 2000?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: That little-known decline certainly lodged in my memory when I first read it, together with other observations I had made at various times &ndash; that tribal warfare was proportionally deadlier than our world wars; that many barbaric customs, such as slavery and heretic-burning, switched from unexceptional to abhorrent and were never defended again; that the Soviet empire vanished in a puff of smoke with very little violence. But it was only after reiterating these observations in a web forum, and then getting emails from a number of scholars telling me that there was far more evidence for a historical reduction in violence than I had cited, that I realised that something systematic was going on. Various experts told me that every European country, not just England, had enjoyed a homicide decline since the middle ages; that the number of wars and the number of deaths in wars had plummeted in recent decades; even that spousal and child abuse had declined. I realised that someone had to try to tie all these developments together.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: George Bernard Shaw was once asked at the publication of one of his books why he&#039;d written such a long tome and famously replied that it was because he wasn&#039;t clever enough to write a short one. Having read my way through your 800-odd pages I&#039;ve come to the conclusion that Shaw got it the wrong way round. Indeed, the thought that came to my mind is that &lt;em&gt;Better Angels &lt;/em&gt;feels like the kind of thing that was once produced in Britain by royal commissions &ndash; that is to say, massive investigations of big subjects conducted by committees of experts who are supported by small armies of smart civil servants. Yet your book is clearly the product of a single intelligence, so I&#039;m curious to learn how you went about producing it. Did you have a small army of research assistants? And how long did it take?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: I had one research assistant, who did the graphing, spreadsheet-crunching and internet surveys. Even with those, I scrutinised the raw numbers to make sure that nothing screwy was going on with my data sources, such as wars being double-counted (for example, the second world war in Europe versus the second world war overall) or some decline being an artefact of a shift in inclusion criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I spent a bit more than a year doing nothing but reading, to educate myself in fields I was not trained in &ndash; mainly criminology, history and international relations. The writing took 14 very intensive months. I had a sabbatical from Harvard, moved to our house in Cape Cod, and worked on it day and night seven days a week, taking time out only to exercise and spend time with my wife, novelist and philosopher Rebecca Goldstein.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I depended on guidance and feedback from Rebecca and from experts in many fields, whom I badgered for advice, clarification and feedback, on everything from which data sources to trust, to whether data in one of their graphs went from 1800 to 1824 or from 1801 to 1825.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: When you&#039;re asked by talk-show hosts to explain in a nutshell what the book is about, what do you say?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: Believe it or not, violence has been in decline for long stretches of time, and we may be living in the most peaceful era in our species&#039; existence. The decline has not been steady; it has not brought violence down to zero; and it is not guaranteed to continue. But it is a persistent historical development, visible on scales from millennia to years, from world wars and genocides to the spanking of children and the treatment of animals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The fact that violence is so pervasive in history, but nonetheless can be brought down, tells us that human nature includes both inclinations toward violence and inclinations toward peace &ndash; what Lincoln called &quot;the better angels of our nature&quot; &ndash; and that historical changes have increasingly favoured our better angels. These changes include the development of government, commerce, literacy, and the mixing of ideas and peoples, all of which encourage people to inhibit their impulses, expand their empathy, extricate themselves from their parochial vantage points, and treat violence as a problem to be solved rather than as a contest to be won.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: I have to confess that my first reaction to the book was irritation &ndash; with myself. The case it makes seemed so compelling that I felt it should have been obvious to me beforehand. After all, it wasn&#039;t as though we didn&#039;t know about, say, the technology of the Inquisition, the rack, the thumbscrew etc. What annoyed me was that I had never made the connection between that abhorrent past and our relatively civilised present.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When I started to read the first chapter, for example, what came immediately to mind was a famous passage from Samuel Pepys&#039;s diary for Saturday, 13 October, 1660: &quot;To my Lord&#039;s in the&amp;nbsp;morning, where I met with Captain Cuttance, but my Lord not being up I went out to Charing Cross, to see Major-General Harrison hanged, drawn, and quartered; which was done there, he looking as cheerful as any man could do in that condition. He was presently cut down, and his head and heart shown to the people, at which there was great shouts of joy.&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pepys goes on to describe the rest of his day as if nothing untoward had happened. He goes to the Sun tavern with two friends, and buys them oysters. Then he goes home by boat, is so annoyed by his wife&#039;s untidiness that he kicks &ndash; and breaks &ndash; her basket, after which he spends the afternoon setting up bookshelves in his study. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I&#039;ve always been struck by that diary entry (and was pleased to find it on page 145), because the sight of someone being hung, drawn and quartered would have traumatised any one of us. Imagine seeing something like that on your way to work! And yet Pepys, having been exposed to it, is able calmly to go about his daily business, and the crowd gives &quot;great shouts of joy&quot; upon being shown Harrison&#039;s heart. All of which makes your point &ndash; that cruelty we would now regard as unimaginable was once considered unremarkable.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: Though as a psychologist I like to think that nothing human is foreign to me, I admit to having been repeatedly flabbergasted by the insouciance, and sometimes relish, with which our ancestors carried out and witnessed unspeakable cruelties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: One of the most intriguing tables in the book is the one on page 195, which takes the death toll from distant atrocities, estimates what proportion of the contemporary population that toll represents and then computes what the corresponding proportion of the mid-20th century population would be. So the Mongol conquests of the 13th century, for example, killed 40 million people, which corresponds to 278 million in 1950s terms. Now although 40 million is obviously a huge number, converting it into its modern equivalent makes one see it in a rather different light. Somewhere in the book you make a similar point about 9/11: the attacks killed 3,000 people, which of course is terrible at one level. But as a proportion of the US population, the death toll from the attack on the Twin Towers is, relatively speaking, infinitesimal. (That doesn&#039;t mean, obviously, that those deaths did not have a devastating impact on the friends and families of those who died.) So maybe one reason why we have such a warped historical perspective on the history of violence is down to what you call &quot;the innumeracy of our journalistic and intellectual culture&quot;?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: I think that a failure of statistical thinking is the major intellectual shortcoming of our universities, journalism and intellectual culture. Cognitive psychology tells us that the unaided human mind is vulnerable to many fallacies and illusions because of its reliance on its memory for&amp;nbsp;vivid anecdotes rather than systematic statistics. Yet pundits continue to hallucinate trends in freak events, like the Norwegian sniper (who shot all those young people on an island) and make wildly innumerate comparisons, such as between Afghanistan and Vietnam, or between&amp;nbsp;today&#039;s human trafficking and the African slave trade. It&#039;s a holdover of the literary sensibilities of our science-flunking intellectual elite, who would be aghast if someone didn&#039;t know who Milton was, but cheerfully flaunt their ignorance of basic science and mathematics. I lobbied &ndash; unsuccessfully &ndash; for a course requirement at Harvard in statistical and logical reasoning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: I thought that your description of the Bible as &quot;a wiki&quot; is neat and your bleak recounting of the approved levels of violence in the Old Testament was sobering even to this atheist. It reminded me of anthropologist Edmund Leach&#039;s essay where he looked at the Bible through the eyes of a communications engineer and asked: what message are these authors trying to get through to the reader? The answer, Leach thought, was that they were trying to obscure the fact that mankind began through incest (Adam and Eve) and so the strategy was to compile a list of atrocities so heinous that, in the end, the original incest would come to look like a harmless act. I guess your portrayal of the Holy Book will get you into trouble in parts of the US.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: No doubt &ndash; though American evangelical Protestants are pretty un-intellectual, and are unlikely to read the book, and the conservative religious brains trust are mainly Catholic thinkers, who are less committed to the literal truth of the Bible. Nonetheless, they will not be happy with my claim that the Enlightenment (of which they are highly suspicious) was a very good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: A big puzzle for me was an apparent contradiction between the argument of the book and the thrust of your earlier book, &lt;em&gt;The Blank Slate&lt;/em&gt;, where you seemed to me to be arguing that, in understanding human behaviour, nature always trumps nurture. In &lt;em&gt;The Blank Slate&lt;/em&gt; you&#039;re very critical of the theory that we are wholly shaped by our environment, and of the belief that humans are innately good but are corrupted by society. If I read you correctly, it all comes down to our genetic inheritance as shaped by evolution. But in &lt;em&gt;Better Angels &lt;/em&gt;you seem to be arguing something quite different &ndash; that whatever our genetic composition, our environment and culture have, over aeons, altered our behaviour in very significant ways. Have I misunderstood you somewhere along the line?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: Yes, I think so. &lt;em&gt;The Blank Slate&lt;/em&gt; did not argue that nature always trumps nurture, nor that it all comes down to our genetic inheritance. Rather, it argued that in order to understand the influence of culture, experience, and socialisation, we should get rid of metaphors such as society writing on blank slates or shaping lumps of putty, and identify the innate emotions, motives, and learning mechanisms of the human brain that allow people to create, share and acquire aspects of culture. That&#039;s the strategy I pursue in &lt;em&gt;Better Angels&lt;/em&gt; &ndash; I try to explain historical changes in violent behaviour by showing how a changing historical environment (anarchy versus government, illiteracy versus literacy, parochial versus cosmopolitan milieus) engages the various parts of human nature in different ways. Sometimes our inner demons are activated, such as with greed, revenge, dominance, puritanism; at other times our better angels, such as self-control, empathy, fairness and reason have the upper hand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;JN: At the end, I was driven to ponder the attractiveness of the idea of decline in western culture. It&#039;s strange that the more &quot;civilised&quot; people become, the more convinced they are the world is going to the dogs. If your book provokes hostility from the chattering classes, it might be that it challenges this cultural narrative.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SP&lt;/strong&gt;: Yes, a hostility to modernity is shared by ideologies that have nothing else in common &ndash; a nostalgia for moral clarity, small-town intimacy, family values, primitive communism, ecological sustainability, communitarian solidarity, or harmonies with the rhythms of nature. Presumably none of the romantics would want to go back to dentistry-by-pliers or biting a stick for pain management during surgery, but they point to today&#039;s wars and shootings to imply that we&#039;re still worse off today. Showing that war and homicide are in fact in decline undermines even that indictment of modernity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Steven Pinker will give a talk at the Royal Geographical Society, London SW7, on 1 November. See &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.intelligencesquared.com/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;intelligencesquared.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/steven-pinker&quot;&gt;Steven Pinker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/history&quot;&gt;History&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/psychology&quot;&gt;Psychology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/philosophy&quot;&gt;Philosophy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/secondworldwar&quot;&gt;Second world war&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnnaughton&quot;&gt;John Naughton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/h_eQj0AJAITnww-ZwoQBJwgWgDM/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/h_eQj0AJAITnww-ZwoQBJwgWgDM/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/h_eQj0AJAITnww-ZwoQBJwgWgDM/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/h_eQj0AJAITnww-ZwoQBJwgWgDM/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:00+02:00', 'Steven Pinker', 'steven pinker fighting talk prophet peace ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1812, 'Today&#039;s mystery bird for you to identify | @GrrlScientist | Punctuated Equilibrium', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/15/5', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/26566?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Today%27s+mystery+bird+for+you+to+identify+%7C+%40GrrlScientist+%7C+Punctuated+E%3AArticle%3A1648280&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1648280&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;This African mystery bird&#039;s beak predicts its feeding habits&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6116/6246596965_9a80b9da71_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;460&quot; height=&quot;337&quot; /&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mystery Bird&lt;/strong&gt; photographed at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aregashlodge.com/&quot;&gt;Aregash Lodge&lt;/a&gt;, Ethiopia (Africa). [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image: Dan Logen, 3 February 2011 (with permission) [&lt;a href=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6116/6246596965_9a80b9da71_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;1024&quot; height=&quot;751&quot;&gt;velociraptorize&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;br /&gt;Nikon D300, 600 mm lens, ISO 1250, f/4, 1/125 sec&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This African mystery bird&#039;s beak predicts its feeding habits. Can you tell me about that? Can you identify this mystery bird&#039;s taxonomic family? Can you identify this species? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About the Daily Mystery Bird:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Rules:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1.&lt;/strong&gt; Keep in mind that people live in zillions of different time zones around the globe, and some people are following on their mobile phones. So let everyone play the game. Wait to identify the bird until 24 to 36 hours after it&#039;s been published.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.&lt;/strong&gt; If you know the bird&#039;s identity, provide subtle hints to let others know that you know. Your hints may be helpful as small clues to less experienced players. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3.&lt;/strong&gt; Describe the key field marks that distinguish this species from any similar ones.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4.&lt;/strong&gt; Comments that spoil others&#039; enjoyment may be deleted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Game:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1.&lt;/strong&gt; This is meant to be a learning experience where together we learn a few things about birds and about the process of identifying them (and maybe about ourselves, too).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.&lt;/strong&gt; Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation or ethics. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3.&lt;/strong&gt; Thoughtful comments will add to everyone&#039;s enjoyment, and will keep the suspense going until the next teaser is published. Interesting snippets may add to the knowledge of all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4.&lt;/strong&gt; Each bird species will be demystified approximately 48 hours after publication. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are invited to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/mystery-bird&quot;&gt;review all of the daily mystery birds&lt;/a&gt; by going to their dedicated graphic index page. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you&#039;d like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at &lt;em&gt;The Guardian&lt;/em&gt;, feel free to contact me to learn more. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;facebook: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;grrlscientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kGszwd16e8mX2hd-Nlpq25-sNZ4/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kGszwd16e8mX2hd-Nlpq25-sNZ4/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kGszwd16e8mX2hd-Nlpq25-sNZ4/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kGszwd16e8mX2hd-Nlpq25-sNZ4/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:01+02:00', 'Science', 'todays mystery bird identify | @grrlscientist | punctuated equilibrium ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1813, 'Mystery bird: Orange-breasted bunting, Passerina leclancherii | @GrrlScientist | Punctuated Equilibrium', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/15/3', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/90714?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Mystery+bird%3A+Orange-breasted+bunting%2C+Passerina+leclancherii+%7C+%40GrrlSci%3AArticle%3A1647378&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1647378&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;This stunning mystery bird is endemic to Mexico and has several relatives that breed in the United States (includes audio)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Orange-breasted bunting, &lt;em&gt;Passerina leclancherii&lt;/em&gt;, Lafresnaye, 1840, also known as the orange-bellied bunting or as Leclancher&#039;s bunting, photographed at &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_Zipolite&quot;&gt;Playa Zipolite&lt;/a&gt;, Oaxaca, Mexico. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image: &lt;a href=&quot;http://antpitta.com/&quot;&gt;Nick Athanas&lt;/a&gt;/&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tropicalbirding.com/&quot;&gt;Tropical Birding&lt;/a&gt; (with permission).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; This stunning mystery bird is endemic to Mexico and has several relatives that breed in the United States. What is this bird&#039;s taxonomic family and who are its North American relatives? Can you identify this species?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Response:&lt;/strong&gt; This is an adult male orange-breasted bunting, &lt;em&gt;Passerina leclancherii&lt;/em&gt;. This seemingly glow-in-the-dark passerine  is placed into the Cardinalidae family of cardinal-grosbeaks. This species is endemic to Mexico where it resides in dry forests and shrubland in the tropics and subtropics. These birds and their close relatives feed on seeds in the winter and insects in the summer, and they have correspondingly smaller bills than most cardinalids. The cardinalids are also known for being dimorphic, and the males often have dramatic, brilliant colouring (although I think the females are very beautiful as well). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This bird has a number of beautiful North American relatives, all of which are migratory; breeding in North America and wintering in Central and South America. These species include the blue grosbeak, &lt;em&gt;P. caerulea&lt;/em&gt;; lazuli bunting, &lt;em&gt;P. amoena&lt;/em&gt;; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/sep/01/4&quot;&gt;indigo bunting&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/may/05/5&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;P. cyanea&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;; varied bunting, &lt;em&gt;P. versicolor&lt;/em&gt;; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/may/04/4&quot;&gt;painted bunting, &lt;em&gt;P. ciris&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Another congener, the rose-bellied bunting, &lt;em&gt;P. rositae&lt;/em&gt;, is endemic to Mexico. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This species has a sweet, lilting song that you might enjoy. Embedded below is a 1 minute 55 second audio recording of a singing male orange-breasted bunting, thanks to the talented recordists who freely contribute their work to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xeno-canto.org/&quot;&gt;Xeno-Canto&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are invited to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/mystery-bird&quot;&gt;review all of the daily mystery birds&lt;/a&gt; by going to their dedicated graphic index page. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you&#039;d like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at &lt;em&gt;The Guardian&lt;/em&gt;, feel free to contact me to learn more. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;facebook: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;grrlscientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N-KoEM0jp4NXlAEBt8wplgTVSXM/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N-KoEM0jp4NXlAEBt8wplgTVSXM/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N-KoEM0jp4NXlAEBt8wplgTVSXM/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N-KoEM0jp4NXlAEBt8wplgTVSXM/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:02+02:00', 'Science', 'mystery bird orange breasted bunting passerina leclancherii | @grrlscientist | punctuated equilibrium ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1814, 'A creationist&#039;s &#039;scientific&#039; disproof of Darwin&#039;s theory of evolution | Andrew Brown', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2011/oct/15/creationist-disproof-darwin-evolution', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/51911?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=A+creationist%27s+%27scientific%27+disproof+of+Darwin%27s+theory+of+evolution+%7C+%3AArticle%3A1648024&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Creationism+%28News%29%2CReligion+%28News%29%2CChristianity+%28News%29%2CAtheism+%28News%29%2CEvolution+%28Science%29%2CScience&amp;c5=Environment+Conservation%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Andrew+Brown&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1648024&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Andrew+Brown%27s+blog%2CCif+belief%2CComment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FAndrew+Brown%27s+blog&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Dipping into my fan mail, I find a fundamentalist Christian&#039;s seven objections to evolution&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Something about the word &#039;creationism&#039; robs people of the capacity for rational thought. I had two notable responses to my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2011/sep/25/religion-creationism&quot; title=&quot;Andrew Brown&#039;s blog: Creationism explained&quot;&gt;last piece on the subject&lt;/a&gt;, one of which &ndash; from a fundamentalist Christian &ndash; contains arguments worth responding to. The other, from an atheist too stupid to work out that I have an email address at the Guardian, ended, &quot;you continue the 100% correlation between the character of writers and the ease with which they can be contacted. Honest and ethical writers provide contact information with their words and are not afraid of feedback. Cowards and liars post their drivel without providing a means of contact, or they make it difficult to reply. The fact that I had to search heavily to find one for you speaks volumes and matches the lack of quality in your propaganda.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But take the creationist, a presumably Penetecostal deacon from Lancashire, who lives in an alternate universe in which there is scientific disproof of evolution, suppressed by the wicked establishment. He lists seven objections, only two of which seem to me to bear any relevance to the theory of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/27/genetics.darwinbicentenary&quot; title=&quot;Guardian: Evolution and Darwin&quot;&gt;descent with modification&lt;/a&gt;; but this makes them more interesting. It&#039;s obvious that what he really objects to is a scientific account of the universe in general, which leaves no room for an intervening God. &#039;Evolution&#039; is just a shorthand for this much greater account.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The problems he lists, with their solutions below, are:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q1&lt;/strong&gt; How come something came from nothing?&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A1&lt;/strong&gt; This is interesting, but nothing to do with evolution, which is an account of how some things came from preceding things.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q2&lt;/strong&gt; How to generate life from non-life?&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A2&lt;/strong&gt; We&#039;re finding that out; and the essential point, which has been clear since the 19th century, is that life is simply a particular arrangement of non-living molecules. It&#039;s not made from qualitatively different stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q3&lt;/strong&gt; How to create intelligence from non-intelligence?&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A3&lt;/strong&gt; It&#039;s true that we find it easier to create stupidity. But given the extraordinary variety of intelligences on earth, it&#039;s clear that you can progress from simple forms to more complicated ones given enough time. And we have had enough time. It&#039;s one of the main difficulties when you&#039;re trying to grasp the fact of evolution that the time involved is so immense.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q4&lt;/strong&gt; Where did information come from?&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A4&lt;/strong&gt; This is an interesting question. But it has nothing to do with proving or disproving the facts of evolution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q5&lt;/strong&gt; How can you have &#039;design&#039; without a designer?&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A5&lt;/strong&gt; By not being confused by language: you get design without a designer the same way the wind blows without a blower.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q6&lt;/strong&gt; How can you have an effect without a cause?&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A6&lt;/strong&gt; I don&#039;t know how, but that you have them in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncountable_set&quot; title=&quot;Wikipedia: Uncountable set&quot;&gt;uncountable numbers&lt;/a&gt; seems perfectly clear at the quantum level. Completely random events do occur and we have to wrap our minds round this fact. In any case, the theory of evolution is all about the effects of particular causes, so this doesn&#039;t really come into it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q7&lt;/strong&gt; How can you overcome the second law of thermodynamics?&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A7&lt;/strong&gt; You can&#039;t. But it doesn&#039;t apply to open systems, like life. Next!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is no next.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As I say, the interesting thing about all these objections is that hardly any of them bear directly on the theory of descent with modification. They are all variations of &quot;Why are we here?&quot; with different kinds of &quot;Why&quot; for an answer. Two of them do bear directly on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/22/darwinbicentenary.evolution&quot; title=&quot;Guardian: How Darwin won the evolution race&quot;&gt;Darwin&#039;s theory of evolution&lt;/a&gt; and have been conclusively answered by it: &quot;How can you have design without a designer?&quot; and &quot;How to create intelligence from non-intelligence?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Question seven is completely bogus.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other four seem to operate in the disputed marshlands between science and philosophy. But his crucial argument seems to be &#039;The atheist sees design but refuses to accept that there can be a designer&#039;. If I wanted to refute that, I wouldn&#039;t send him to Richard Dawkins, but the American &lt;a href=&quot;http://carlzimmer.com/&quot; title=&quot;Carl Zimmer: Homepage&quot;&gt;Carl Zimmer&lt;/a&gt;, whose book &lt;em&gt;Parasite Rex&lt;/em&gt; is a glorious, terrifying, and intermittently disgusting romp through the roots, the intestines, and even the eyeballs of almost all living things to discover what else lives inside them. These parasites are unquestionably designed for their purpose, and designed with extraordinary ingenuity. They kill millions of children every year. I really cannot imagine that anyone, knowing the facts of their existence, could believe they were designed by a loving creator for a moral purpose. Evolution is not God&#039;s enemy but his greatest alibi.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/creationism&quot;&gt;Creationism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/religion&quot;&gt;Religion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/christianity&quot;&gt;Christianity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/atheism&quot;&gt;Atheism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/evolution&quot;&gt;Evolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andrewbrown&quot;&gt;Andrew Brown&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/EZ-QX71R84woLlQWB-aMdSQuISU/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/EZ-QX71R84woLlQWB-aMdSQuISU/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/EZ-QX71R84woLlQWB-aMdSQuISU/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/EZ-QX71R84woLlQWB-aMdSQuISU/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:03+02:00', 'Creationism', 'creationists scientific disproof darwins theory evolution | andrew brown ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1815, 'Double Trouble [video] | @GrrlScientist | Punctuated Equilibrium', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/15/1', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/30160?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Double+Trouble+%5Bvideo%5D+%7C+%40GrrlScientist+%7C+Punctuated+Equilibrium+%3AArticle%3A1648178&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1648178&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Today&#039;s Caturday video smile shows what it is like to go from a one-cat household to a multi-cat household&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img align=&quot;left&quot; src=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6052/6245832028_e279fe7253_t.jpg&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;Have you gone from being a one-cat household to a multi-cat household? How did that work for you? Did it release untold amounts of chaos into your formerly quiet and orderly abode? Today&#039;s caturday video smile captures what that process can be like:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#039;s interesting to note that these two cats don&#039;t agree on anything except, well ... &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; thing! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.simonscat.com/&quot;&gt;Simon&#039;s Cat&lt;/a&gt; is on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/simonscat&quot;&gt;facebook&lt;/a&gt; and can also be found on twitter @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/simonscat&quot;&gt;simonscat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: the silly cat/pet/animal videos that are shared here on Saturday (Caturday) mornings are intended to amuse. This feature is designed to help hard-working and stressed-out people shed their professional fa&ccedil;ade so they can be better friends, companions, parents, family members and drinking pals to those in their personal lives. Any relationship between these videos and science or any scientific principle is sweet when I manage to present a solid connection to you, but is random, mostly unintended and usually coincidental. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;facebook: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;grrlscientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/F0AwLmj9viLHGK6qGNv4pf5nMZU/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/F0AwLmj9viLHGK6qGNv4pf5nMZU/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/F0AwLmj9viLHGK6qGNv4pf5nMZU/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/F0AwLmj9viLHGK6qGNv4pf5nMZU/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:03+02:00', 'Science', 'double trouble video | @grrlscientist | punctuated equilibrium have gone cat household multi cat household did work did release untold amounts chaos quiet orderly abode todays caturday video smile captures process like  its interesting note cats agree one thing ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1816, 'Mystery bird: Malay eagle-owl, Bubo sumatranus | @GrrlScientist | Punctuated Equilibrium', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/14/5', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/16435?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Mystery+bird%3A+Malay+eagle-owl%2C+Bubo+sumatranus+%7C+%40GrrlScientist+%7C+Punctu%3AArticle%3A1646712&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1646712&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;This southeast Asian mystery bird is part of a family whose taxonomic relationships are still unresolved&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Malay eagle-owl, &lt;em&gt;Bubo sumatranus&lt;/em&gt; (formerly, &lt;em&gt;Bubo sumatrana&lt;/em&gt;; protonym, &lt;em&gt;Strix Sumatrana&lt;/em&gt;), also known as the Malaysian eagle-owl, the Oriental eagle-owl, or as the barred eagle-owl, photographed at &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taman_Negara&quot;&gt;Taman Negara&lt;/a&gt;, Malaysia. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image: &lt;a href=&quot;http://kadambarid.in/&quot;&gt;Kadambari Devarajan&lt;/a&gt;, June 2011 (with permission) [&lt;a href=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6111/6237944868_770288c614_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; height=&quot;529&quot;&gt;velociraptorize&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;br /&gt;Sony A550, Sigma 150-500mm, ISO 1600, 1/250 second, f/5, focal length 200mm&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; This southeast Asian mystery bird is part of a family whose taxonomic relationships are still unresolved. Can you identify this bird&#039;s taxonomic family and species? What might be the function of those funny-looking &quot;horns&quot; on this bird&#039;s head?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Response:&lt;/strong&gt; This is a Malay eagle-owl, &lt;em&gt;Bubo sumatranus&lt;/em&gt;, a resident of moist lowland forests throughout the south Pacific: Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, and the Cocos Islands. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This large owl is placed in the taxonomic family, Strigidae. Originally, only owls with ear-tufts or &quot;horns&quot; were included in the genus, &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt;, but that is no longer the case. Interestingly, &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt; species are found in North and South America (&quot;horned&quot; owls) and in the Old World (&quot;eagle-owls&quot;). However, mtDNA sequence data shows that the snowy owl another eagle-owl species that has adapted to Arctic conditions, so it now considered to be a &quot;hornless&quot; &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;mtDNA data also show that the four fish-owls (&lt;em&gt;Ketupa&lt;/em&gt;) should also be placed in &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt;, too. But if that is done, then &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt; become a bit of a mess -- a mess that is resolved by removing the &lt;em&gt;Scotopelia&lt;/em&gt; fishing owls into &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt;, too. Well, at that point, you&#039;ve got dozens of owls species crammed into &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt; -- is this really proper? Further, if you&#039;ve been paying attention to the topology of the phylogenetic trees, then you&#039;ll know that the new and expanded &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt; looks like it has two distinct clades in it -- based on the species we&#039;ve looked at! Of course, there are some eagle-owls that no one has looked at yet, so adding them to the analyses could really change things. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, all that said, I did ask you what those &quot;horns&quot; on owls&#039; heads are all about and really, no one seems to know the answer to this question. We do know they are not ears, nor are they horns: they&#039;re actually feather tufts, more properly known as &lt;em&gt;plumicorns&lt;/em&gt;. But what is their function? To break up the birds&#039; outlines? Mate selection? To frighten enemies? To channel sound waves to their real ears (down lower)? Considering that this character is preserved in many owl &lt;em&gt;Bubo&lt;/em&gt; species, there must be a good reason for it and that reason must be consistent with owl lifestyles. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are invited to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/mystery-bird&quot;&gt;review all of the daily mystery birds&lt;/a&gt; by going to their dedicated graphic index page. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you&#039;d like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at &lt;em&gt;The Guardian&lt;/em&gt;, feel free to contact me to learn more. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;facebook: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;grrlscientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/FmqQWqyGhgq7cPFw5qewBleBISQ/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/FmqQWqyGhgq7cPFw5qewBleBISQ/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/FmqQWqyGhgq7cPFw5qewBleBISQ/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/FmqQWqyGhgq7cPFw5qewBleBISQ/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:04+02:00', 'Science', 'mystery bird malay eagle owl bubo sumatranus | @grrlscientist | punctuated equilibrium ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1817, 'Frieze talks 2011: Do you speak Globish?', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/oct/14/frieze-talks-globish-art-world', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/79606?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Frieze+talks+2011%3A+Do+you+speak+Globish%3F%3AArticle%3A1647964&amp;ch=Art+and+design&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Frieze+art+fair%2CFrieze+art+fair+2011%2CArt+%28visual+arts+only%29%2CExhibitions%2CArt+and+design%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CCulture%2CLanguage&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CArt%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Jennifer+Allen&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647964&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Art+and+design&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FArt+and+design%2FFrieze+art+fair&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;With its catchy phrases and light vocabulary, Globish is fast becoming the art world&#039;s dominant language. But is it changing the way we see art?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;English is the main language of the art world &ndash; and not just in London and New York. Go to an exhibition opening in Berlin, Mexico City or Beijing, and you&#039;re sure to hear English spoken with a wide array of foreign accents. Artists, curators, gallerists &ndash; whatever their native tongues &ndash; no longer even ask if you speak English. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalartlab.org.il/ArchiveVideo.asp?id=516&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Kosovan artist Jakup Ferri&#039;s confessional video &ndash; An Artist Who Cannot Speak English is No Artist (2003)&lt;/a&gt; &ndash; suggests artists should study English alongside drawing, sculpture and photography.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jpn-globish.com/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;French businessman Jean-Paul Nerri&egrave;re&lt;/a&gt; argues that the art world doesn&#039;t speak English so much as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/speak-easy/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Globish (short for Global English)&lt;/a&gt;. It&#039;s how non-native English speakers communicate with each other. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/21/arts/21iht-Blume22.html?pagewanted=all&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Nerri&egrave;re&lt;/a&gt; wrote Don&#039;t Speak English &hellip; Parlez Globish! (2004) as both a manifesto and a guide to learning the new language with a lightweight vocabulary of only 1,500 words. There are trees but no species; there are vegetables but &quot;potato&quot; seems to be the only one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To make up for the 600,000-plus words in the Oxford English Dictionary, Globish uses simpler yet longer formulations: &quot;kitchen&quot; becomes &quot;the room where you cook&quot;. Niece, &quot;the daughter of my brother&quot;. Native anglophones often have trouble communicating with globophones, who use a more inventive vocabulary. &quot;We have an understandment,&quot; two globophones &ndash; one Swedish, the other German &ndash; once confided to me about their exchanges. Given these differences, could British schools soon be teaching Globish as a foreign language alongside French, Spanish or Chinese?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Globish seems to have filled the art world with a more specialised vocabulary. Fashionable terms such as transgression, dystopia and disobedience have bled into the titles of works while losing meaning for artists and audiences. That&#039;s what the Dutch artist Nicoline van Harskamp argues &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vanharskamp.net/pages/work-newlatin.html&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;in her video The New Latin (2010)&lt;/a&gt;. An artist&#039;s native tongue often becomes weighed down by English art jargon in the wall captions, press releases and magazine reviews which accompany their work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It seems likely, then, that Globish has contributed to the rise of theory and concepts in contemporary art and criticism. What debate is complete without a nod to Michel Foucault&#039;s biopolitics, Jacques Ranci&egrave;re&#039;s aesthetic unconscious and everybody&#039;s &quot;criticality&quot;? The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.newleftreview.org/?view=2398&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;American literary scholar Jonathan Arac&lt;/a&gt; has made a similar argument about literary criticism in a global age. Theories and concepts lend themselves to abstractions which are easier to communicate than feelings and individual preferences.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Culinary taste offers a good comparison. You can probably name your favourite French wine, but try explaining &ndash; in French &ndash; its particular bouquet and why you love it. Like food, art has an impact on our bodily senses through colours, shapes and endless associations. By contrast, a theory can always be reduced to a one-liner: transgression, dystopia, disobedience.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Harskamp, however wary of jargon, embraces English. &quot;[It] belongs to me as much as it belongs to an American,&quot; she says in her video. &quot;Why not reclaim and co-opt the language that was imposed on us? And then celebrate it?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I can only agree, as editor of the fully bilingual frieze d/e (d stands for Deutsch and e for English). A new publication of frieze, frieze d/e focuses on Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Those who read our German texts are native speakers, but the majority of our English readers are globophones, including many Germans. I try to cut down on the art jargon &ndash; not just words such as &quot;criticality&quot; but curiosities such as &quot;spatial interventions&quot; &ndash; while ensuring that the English remains accessible. To date, we&#039;ve used more than 1,500 words. But we try to put them together in the most readable way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/friezeartfair&quot;&gt;Frieze art fair&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/frieze-art-fair-2011&quot;&gt;Frieze art fair 2011&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/art&quot;&gt;Art&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/exhibition&quot;&gt;Exhibitions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals&quot;&gt;Festivals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/language&quot;&gt;Language&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uCLeBWQza_iJFgLdiyOG1aEy0Ic/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uCLeBWQza_iJFgLdiyOG1aEy0Ic/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uCLeBWQza_iJFgLdiyOG1aEy0Ic/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uCLeBWQza_iJFgLdiyOG1aEy0Ic/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:04+02:00', 'Frieze art fair', 'frieze talks 2011 speak globish ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1818, 'Rick Perry officials spark revolt after doctoring environment report', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/14/rick-perry-texas-censorship-environment-report', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/36211?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Rick+Perry+officials+spark+revolt+after+doctoring+environment+report%3AArticle%3A1647750&amp;ch=Environment&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Climate+change+scepticism+%28environment%29%2CRick+Perry%2CSea+level+%28environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CTexas+%28News%29%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2COceans+%28environment%29%2CVirginia+%28News%29%2CUtah+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CScience%2CEnvironment%2CWorld+news&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living%2CUS+Elections&amp;c6=Suzanne+Goldenberg&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647750&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Environment&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FClimate+change+scepticism&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Scientists ask for names to be removed after mentions of climate change and sea-level rise taken out by Texas officials&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Officials in Rick Perry&#039;s home state of Texas have set off a scientists&#039; revolt after purging mentions of climate change and sea-level rise from what was supposed to be a landmark environmental report. The scientists said they were disowning the report on the state of Galveston Bay because of political interference and censorship from Perry appointees at the state&#039;s environmental agency.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;By academic standards, the protest amounts to the beginnings of a rebellion: every single scientist associated with the 200-page report has demanded their names be struck from the document. &quot;None of us can be party to scientific censorship so we would all have our names removed,&quot; said Jim Lester, a co-author of the report and vice-president of the Houston Advanced Research Centre.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;To me it is simply a question of maintaining scientific credibility. This is simply antithetical to what a scientist does,&quot; Lester said. &quot;We can&#039;t be censored.&quot; Scientists see Texas as at high risk because of climate change, from the increased exposure to hurricanes and extreme weather on its long coastline to this summer&#039;s season of wildfires and drought.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, Perry, in his run for the Republican nomination, has elevated denial of science, from climate change to evolution, to an art form. He opposes any regulation of industry, and has repeatedly challenged the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Texas is the only state to refuse to sign on to the federal government&#039;s new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. &quot;I like to tell people we live in a state of denial in the state of Texas,&quot; said John Anderson, an oceanography at Rice University, and author of the chapter targeted by the government censors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That state of denial percolated down to the leadership of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The agency chief, who was appointed by Perry, is known to doubt the science of climate change. &quot;The current chair of the commission, Bryan Shaw, commonly talks about how human-induced climate change is a hoax,&quot; said Anderson.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But scientists said they still hoped to avoid a clash by simply avoiding direct reference to human causes of climate change and by sticking to materials from peer-reviewed journals. However, that plan began to unravel when officials from the agency made numerous unauthorised changes to Anderson&#039;s chapter, deleting references to climate change, sea-level rise and wetlands destruction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It is basically saying that the state of Texas doesn&#039;t accept science results published in Science magazine,&quot; Anderson said. &quot;That&#039;s going pretty far.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Officials even deleted a reference to the sea level at Galveston Bay rising five times faster than the long-term average &ndash; 3mm a year compared to .5mm a year &ndash; which Anderson noted was a scientific fact. &quot;They just simply went through and summarily struck out any reference to climate change, any reference to sea level rise, any reference to human influence &ndash; it was edited or eliminated,&quot; said Anderson. &quot;That&#039;s not scientific review that&#039;s just straight forward censorship.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mother Jones has &lt;a href=&quot;http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/perry-officials-censored-climate-report&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;tracked the changes&lt;/a&gt;. The agency has defended its actions. &quot;It would be irresponsible to take whatever is sent to us and publish it,&quot; Andrea Morrow, a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. &quot;Information was included in a report that we disagree with.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;She said Anderson&#039;s report had been &quot;inconsistent with current agency policy&quot;, and that he had refused to change it. She refused to answer any questions. Campaigners said the censorship by the Texas state authorities was a throwback to the George Bush era when White House officials also interfered with scientific reports on climate change.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the last few years, however, such politicisation of science has spread to the states. In the most notorious case,  Virginia&#039;s attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who is a professed doubter of climate science, has spent a year investigating grants made to a prominent climate scientist Michael Mann, when he was at a state university in Virginia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Several courts have rejected Cuccinelli&#039;s demands for a subpoena for the emails. In Utah, meanwhile, Mike Noel, a Republican member of the Utah state legislature called on the state university to sack a physicist who had criticised climate science doubters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The university rejected Noel&#039;s demand, but the physicist, Robert Davies said such actions had had a chilling effect on the state of climate science. &quot;We do have very accomplished scientists in this state who are quite fearful of retribution from lawmakers, and who consequently refuse to speak up on this very important topic. And the loser is the public,&quot; Davies said in an email.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;By employing these intimidation tactics, these policymakers are, in fact, successful in censoring the message coming from the very institutions whose expertise we need.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change-scepticism&quot;&gt;Climate change scepticism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/rick-perry&quot;&gt;Rick Perry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/sea-level&quot;&gt;Sea level&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change&quot;&gt;Climate change&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/texas&quot;&gt;Texas&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange&quot;&gt;Climate change&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/oceans&quot;&gt;Oceans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/virginia&quot;&gt;Virginia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/utah&quot;&gt;Utah&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa&quot;&gt;United States&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/suzannegoldenberg&quot;&gt;Suzanne Goldenberg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vU9i5Eu-UYFFa1IiB9jtsDPopr8/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vU9i5Eu-UYFFa1IiB9jtsDPopr8/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vU9i5Eu-UYFFa1IiB9jtsDPopr8/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vU9i5Eu-UYFFa1IiB9jtsDPopr8/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:06+02:00', 'Climate change scepticism', 'rick perry officials spark revolt doctoring environment report rick level>sea change>climate class=author>');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1819, 'Religion&#039;s truce with science can&#039;t hold | Julian Baggini', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/oct/14/religion-truce-science-universe', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/76649?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Religion%27s+truce+with+science+can%27t+hold+%7C+Julian+Baggini%3AArticle%3A1647598&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Atheism+%28News%29%2CReligion+%28News%29%2CScience%2CWorld+news&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Julian+Baggini&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647598&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Comment&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=Heathen%27s+progress&amp;c25=Cif+belief%2CComment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FAtheism&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Any religious belief seeking to explain the &#039;how&#039;s of the universe is competing with science &ndash; and in this sphere science will always win&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the most tedious recurring questions in the public debate about faith has been &quot;is religion compatible with science?&quot; Why won&#039;t it just go away?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I&#039;m convinced that one reason is that the standard affirmative answer is sophisticated enough to persuade those willing to be persuaded, but fishy enough for those less sure to keep sniffing away at it. That defence is that religion and science are compatible because they are not talking about the same things. Religion does not make empirical claims about how the universe works, and to treat it as though it did is to make a category mistake of the worst kind. So we should just leave science and religion to get on with their different jobs free from mutual molestation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The biologist Stephen Jay Gould made just this kind of move when he argued that science and religion have non-overlapping magisteria (noma). In &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.com/books/about/Rocks_of_ages.html?id=QmDXAAAAMAAJ&quot; title=&quot;Google books: Rock of Ages&quot;&gt;Rock of Ages&lt;/a&gt;, Gould wrote that science deals with &quot;the empirical realm: what the universe is made of (fact) and why does it work in this way (theory). The magisterium of religion extends over questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. These two magisteria do not overlap, nor do they encompass all inquiry.&quot; In short, science is empirical, religion is ethical.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A version of this strategy was also adopted by the physicist John Polkinghorne and the mathematician Nicholas Beale in their book, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.questionsoftruth.org/&quot; title=&quot;Questions of Truth&quot;&gt;Questions of Truth&lt;/a&gt;. As they put it: &quot;Science is concerned with the question, How? &ndash; By what process do things happen? Theology is concerned with the question, Why? &ndash; Is there a meaning and purpose behind what is happening?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like a clear enough distinction, but maintaining it proves to be very difficult indeed. Many &quot;why&quot; questions are really &quot;how&quot; questions in disguise. For instance, if you ask: &quot;Why does water boil at 100C?&quot; what you are really asking is: &quot;What are the processes that explain it has this boiling point?&quot; &ndash; which is a question of how.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Critically, however, scientific &quot;why&quot; questions do not imply any agency &ndash; deliberate action &ndash; and hence no intention. We can ask why the dinosaurs died out, why smoking causes cancer and so on without implying any intentions. In the theistic context, however, &quot;why&quot; is usually what I call &quot;agency-why&quot;: it&#039;s an explanation involving causation with intention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So not only do the hows and whys get mixed up, religion can end up smuggling in a non-scientific agency-why where it doesn&#039;t belong.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This means that if someone asks why things are as they are, what their meaning and purpose is, and puts God in the answer, they are almost inevitably going to make an at least implicit claim about the how: God has set things up in some way, or intervened in some way, to make sure that purpose is achieved or meaning realised. The neat division between scientific &quot;how&quot; and religious &quot;why&quot; questions therefore turns out to be unsustainable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider, for example, anthropic fine-tuning, which the religious physicist, Paul Davies, calls &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/6035233.stm&quot; title=&quot;BBC Newsnight: The Goldilocks Enigma &quot;&gt;The Goldilocks Enigma&lt;/a&gt;&quot;: the conditions in the universe are just right for life to have evolved, and had a few things been just slightly different at the Big Bang, none of us would be here. At the moment, there is no generally accepted scientific explanation for why or how this is so. Taking off his physicist&#039;s coat and donning his theologian&#039;s hat, Polkinghorne answers the &quot;why&quot; question by saying that the life-enabling laws of physics are &quot;graciously provided by the creator&quot;. Not only does this introduce agency-why where we&#039;d normally just look for scientific-why, it is also a claim about how the universe came to be this way, namely, by divine fiat. It trespasses onto the &quot;how&quot; territory of science, but since it cannot explain the mechanism by which God intervened, nor test the hypothesis that he did so, it is no substitute for a proper scientific answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, there are ways of understanding religion that do not fall into this trap. A Spinozistic &quot;God-or-nature&quot; could act with a purpose that was, at root, simply the playing out of natural forces. But the theistic God is &quot;behind&quot; what happens, not simply part of it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you might say &ndash; indeed many do &ndash; that religion is not about belief at all, and so never explains anything in terms of agency-why. I&#039;ll be saying more about this approach in future posts. But for the moment, we can say that any religious belief that involves an activist, really-existing God and claims that religion has something to say about why things happen, must also be encroaching on questions of how they happen, too. And if that&#039;s true, the easy peace which many claim should exist between science and religion just isn&#039;t possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The religious believer could bite the bullet, accept that religion does make some empirical claims, and then defend their compatibility with science one by one. But the fact that two beliefs are compatible with each other is the most minimal test of their reasonableness imaginable. All sorts of outlandish beliefs &ndash; that the Apollo moon landings never happened, for instance &ndash; are compatible with science, but that hardly makes them credible. What really counts, what should really make the difference between assent and rejection of an empirical claim, is not whether it is compatible with science, but whether an evidence-led, rational examination of a view supports it better than competing alternatives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So the fact that science is compatible with religion turns out to be a comforting red herring.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The less comfortable wet fish slapped around the face is that how easily science and religion can rub on together depends very much on what kind of religion we&#039;re talking about. If it is a kind that seeks to explain the hows of the universe, or ends up doing so by stealth, then it is competing with science. In such contests science always wins, hands down, and the only way out is to claim a priority for faith over evidence, or the Bible over the lab. If it is of a kind that doesn&#039;t attempt to explain the hows of the universe, then it has to be very careful not to make any claims that end up doing just that. Only then can the science v religion debate move on, free from the illusion that it rests on one question with one answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/atheism&quot;&gt;Atheism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/religion&quot;&gt;Religion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/julianbaggini&quot;&gt;Julian Baggini&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VsK_zBfr6q0rGugtMqR49F7qnog/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VsK_zBfr6q0rGugtMqR49F7qnog/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VsK_zBfr6q0rGugtMqR49F7qnog/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VsK_zBfr6q0rGugtMqR49F7qnog/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:06+02:00', 'Atheism', 'religions truce science hold | julian baggini ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1820, 'Arsenic [videos] | @GrrlScientist | Punctuated Equilibrium', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/14/1', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/26946?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Arsenic+%5Bvideos%5D+%7C+%40GrrlScientist+%7C+Punctuated+Equilibrium+%3AArticle%3A1647590&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Periodic+table%2CChemistry+%28Science%29%2CScience&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647590&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=The+elements+%28series%29&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;What do wallpaper, chicken feed and Agatha Christie have in common?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Today, we&#039;re meeting yet another grey material, but unlike the other elements we&#039;ve learned about, this one often has a starring role in a number of Agatha Christie&#039;s novels. Arsenic is a metalloid, which means it has qualities of both metals and of nonmetals. Arsenic has the atomic symbol, As, and the atomic number 33. Arsenic is located directly below &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/03/1&quot;&gt;Phosphorus&lt;/a&gt; (which is an essential element for life) on the periodic table. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Arsenic atoms can assume several different bonding patterns which are the basis of its allotropes, each of which has a different colour; metallic grey, yellow and black arsenic. Interestingly, using a hammer to bang on arsenide minerals releases a garlic-like odour, which is the result of toxic fumes created by the oxidation of arsenic to arsenic trioxide. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img align=&quot;right&quot; src=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6110/6242496523_c25dfaa856_m.jpg&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;114&quot; /&gt;Arsenic has an interesting history. It was commonly used as a rodent poison in English households, and it was also a convenient murder weapon, particularly amongst the ruling classes. However, Victorian England used arsenic in a variety of ways; it was incorporated into wallpaper to prevent the growth of mould during the dark, damp English winters, it was used as the green colouring in paints, candies and candles, and as a preservative in lace. Unfortunately, the white powder was easily mistaken for sugar or flour and was incorporated into family dinners, resulting in numerous accidental poisonings, as we learn in the fascinating book, &lt;em&gt;The &lt;img align=&quot;right&quot; src=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6154/6243122818_a12c97982b_t.jpg&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; height=&quot;99&quot; /&gt;Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play&lt;/em&gt; by James C. Whorton [&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0199605998/livithescieli-21/&quot;&gt;Amazon UK&lt;/a&gt;; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0199605998/livingthescie-20/&quot;&gt;Amazon US&lt;/a&gt;]. Unfortunately, &quot;Mr Yuck&quot; did not appear for another 100 years. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Considering the toxicity of arsenic, it was very surprising when an &lt;a href=&quot;http://rrresearch.fieldofscience.com/2010/12/arsenic-associated-bacteria-nasas.html&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;extremely&lt;/em&gt; dubious bit of research&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; was published in the journal &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencemag.org/&quot;&gt;Science&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; a few months ago about arsenic-associated bacterial life. Within a day or two, scientist Rosie Redfield wrote &lt;a href=&quot;http://rrresearch.fieldofscience.com/2010/12/arsenic-associated-bacteria-nasas.html&quot;&gt;a long and detailed analysis of the paper&#039;s methods and findings and published it on her blog&lt;/a&gt; -- that piece was later published as a letter in &lt;em&gt;Science&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless, our favourite chemistry professor explains what that disputed research claimed to find: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Somewhat astonishingly, arsenic is used as an additive in commercial chicken feed in the United States after it was discovered that low concentrations act as a growth stimulant and prevent infection with the intestinal parasite, coccidia. But besides being a poison when consumed in large doses, chronic ingestion of low levels of arsenic is a health hazard too, potentially acting as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/06/arsenic-chicken-fda-roxarsone-pfizer&quot;&gt;carcinogen in humans who consume farmed chickens or drink water contaminated with chicken faeces&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Video journalist &lt;a href=&quot;http://periodicvideos.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;Brady Haran&lt;/a&gt; is the man with the camera and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/&quot;&gt;University of Nottingham&lt;/a&gt; is the place with the chemists. You can follow Brady on twitter @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/periodicvideos&quot;&gt;periodicvideos&lt;/a&gt; and the University of Nottingham on twitter @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/UniNottingham&quot;&gt;UniNottingham&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You&#039;ve already met these elements:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/07/1&quot;&gt;Germanium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Ge&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;32&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/sep/30/1&quot;&gt;Gallium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Ga&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;31&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/sep/23/1&quot;&gt;Zinc&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Zn&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;30&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/sep/16/1&quot;&gt;Copper&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Cu&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;29&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/sep/09/1&quot;&gt;Nickel&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Ni&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;28&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/sep/02/1&quot;&gt;Cobalt&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Co&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;27&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/aug/26/1&quot;&gt;Iron&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;strong&gt; Fe&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;26&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/aug/19/1&quot;&gt;Manganese&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Mn&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;25&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/aug/12/1&quot;&gt;Chromium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Cr&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;24&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/aug/05/1&quot;&gt;Vanadium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;V&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;23&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jul/29/1&quot;&gt;Titanium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Ti&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;22&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jul/15/1&quot;&gt;Scandium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Sc&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;21&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jul/08/1&quot;&gt;Calcium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Ca&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;20&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jul/01/1&quot;&gt;Potassium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;K&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;19&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/24/1&quot;&gt;Argon&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Ar&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;18&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/17/1&quot;&gt;Chlorine&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Cl&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;17&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/10/2&quot;&gt;Sulfur&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;S&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;16&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/03/1&quot;&gt;Phosphorus&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;P&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;15&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/may/27/chemistry-chemistry&quot;&gt;Silicon&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Si&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;14&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/may/20/1&quot;&gt;Aluminium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Al&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;13&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/may/13/1&quot;&gt;Magnesium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Mg&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;12&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/may/06/1&quot;&gt;Sodium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Na&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;11&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/apr/15/1&quot;&gt;Neon&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Ne&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;10&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/apr/08/1&quot;&gt;Fluorine&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;F&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;9&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/apr/01/1&quot;&gt;Oxygen&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;O&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;8&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/mar/25/1&quot;&gt;Nitrogen&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;N&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;7&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/mar/18/1&quot;&gt;Carbon&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;6&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/mar/11/1&quot;&gt;Boron&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;5&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/mar/04/1&quot;&gt;Beryllium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Be&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;4&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/feb/18/1&quot;&gt;Lithium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Li&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;3&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/feb/11/1&quot;&gt;Helium&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;He&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;2&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/feb/04/1&quot;&gt;Hydrogen&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;H&lt;/strong&gt;, atomic number &lt;strong&gt;1&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&#039;s a wonderful interactive &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ptable.com/&quot;&gt;Periodic Table of the Elements&lt;/a&gt; that is just really &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; fun to play with! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;facebook: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;grrlscientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/periodic-table&quot;&gt;Periodic Table&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/chemistry&quot;&gt;Chemistry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/o9P509m5DipAIoghH78oehm8HB8/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/o9P509m5DipAIoghH78oehm8HB8/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/o9P509m5DipAIoghH78oehm8HB8/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/o9P509m5DipAIoghH78oehm8HB8/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:07+02:00', 'Periodic Table', 'arsenic videos | @grrlscientist | punctuated equilibrium ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1821, 'Dolphin therapy is a scam | Dea Birkett', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/14/dolphin-tale-swimming-disabled-people', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/20834?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Dolphin+therapy+is+a+scam+%7C+Dea+Birkett%3AArticle%3A1647407&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Disability+%28Society%29%2CAnimal+behaviour+%28Science%29%2CMarine+life+%28environment%29%2CWildlife+%28Environment%29%2CAnimal+welfare+%28News%29%2CAnimals+%28News%29%2CEnvironment%2CWorld+news%2CSociety%2CHealth+%28Society%29%2CHealth+and+wellbeing+%28Life+and+style%29&amp;c5=Environment+Conservation%2CSociety+Weekly%2CWildlife+Conservation%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CEthical+Living%2CHealth+Society%2CHealth&amp;c6=Dea+Birkett&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647407&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Comment&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Comment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;The film Dolphin Tale perpetuates a myth that swimming with dolphins will &#039;restore&#039; disabled people such as my daughter&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I&#039;ve lost track how many times my disabled daughter has been offered a swim with a dolphin. While disabled people struggle to get a hoist or a few hours&#039; home help, numerous charities will fly them to Florida to experience the miraculous feeling of frolicking in the water with a friend of Flipper. According to organisations that sell such snake oil, &quot;dolphin therapy&quot; alleviates a wide range of disabilities, from increasing the attention span of a child with attention deficit disorder to curing paralysis. &lt;a href=&quot;http://dolphintalemovie.warnerbros.com/index.html&quot; title=&quot;Dolphin Tale&quot;&gt;Dolphin Tale&lt;/a&gt; is the latest vehicle to peddle this propaganda. This family film is about the remarkable, restorative powers a dolphin called Winter brings to troubled and disabled youngsters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two great myths buoy up this linking of a marine mammal with a person with an impairment. There&#039;s the myth that dolphins share human characteristics; in the film, the dolphin Winter conducts lively conversations with people in squeak language. And there&#039;s the myth that all disabled people need to be whole again is a good dose of inspiration &ndash; even from an animal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There&#039;s an international industry that works on the assumption that dolphins are less than a ripple away from us. Arts organisation &lt;a href=&quot;http://dolphin-dance.org/dolphin-dance/Home.html&quot; title=&quot;Dolphin Dance Project&quot;&gt;Dolphin Dance Project&lt;/a&gt; makes films of humans and dolphins dancing together in the oceans. It says &quot;we approach the work as the collaboration between equal minds&quot; and states, with no sense of irony, &quot;we would like to imagine everyone who watches our dance to recognise that dolphins are people too&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are dolphins really humans with slippery skins? Scientific concerns argue the opposite. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wdcs.org.uk/&quot; title=&quot;WDCS&quot;&gt;Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society&lt;/a&gt; (WDCS) says it&#039;s unnatural for dolphins to loiter around harbours, banter with bathers and strike up friendships with fishermen. Rather than revealing that dolphins long to communicate with us, this behaviour is aberrant. &quot;Social misfit&quot; would be an appropriate description for an animal apparently preferring the company of a different species. Instead of jumping in, we should back off, says WDCS, and let dolphins hang out with other dolphins.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the film, Winter is depicted as displaying fond feelings towards her human carers &quot;Winter and I are family,&quot; says the boy hero. Dolphin Tale claims to be &quot;inspired by a true amazing story&quot;, Winter is &quot;played by herself&quot;, and documentary footage is included at the end to prove it. But although we like being with dolphins, the feeling isn&#039;t always mutual. Every year, dozens of injuries are inflicted by irate dolphins on people who have &quot;enjoyed a dolphin encounter&quot;. Nor are dolphins particularly loving and sensitive. Male bottlenose dolphins have been known to commit infanticide, coerce females to mate and kill harbour porpoises without provocation. It is dangerous to swim with them and not good for the dolphin either, says the WDCS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Winter is a rescued female dolphin &ndash; her tail was torn in a crab trap and she can no longer swim. In the film, a young girl comes to visit her at the marine centre. At first we just see the girl&#039;s smiling face. Then the camera pans down, and we realise she&#039;s in a wheelchair. &quot;Mommy, she&#039;s just like me!&quot; she says, pointing at Winter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No she&#039;s not just like her. She&#039;s not like her at all. Winter may have been part of a shoal, but she&#039;s never been to school, or to a birthday party, or on a sleepover at a friend&#039;s. But the young girl is reduced to nothing but her disability. The only way in which dolphin and girl are remotely &ndash; and only remotely &ndash; alike is that they both have a disability. It reminds me of a young woman I met who had no arms. She complained that she was constantly being paired off with a young man in her neighbourhood who had Down&#039;s syndrome &quot;because you are so alike&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The film follows Winter&#039;s struggle to &quot;overcome&quot; her disability by having a prosthetic tail fitted, learning to swim all over again. The film&#039;s publicity claims Winter&#039;s story &quot;serves as a symbol of courage, perseverance and hope to millions of people&quot;. The message to my disabled daughter is clear. If a dolphin can do it, so can you. But she can&#039;t, and it&#039;s an insult to think that diving in with a marine mammal will make a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There&#039;s nothing wrong with a paddle; it might even make you feel a bit better. But the claim that swimming with a dolphin has restorative powers is a scam that ought to be sunk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/disability&quot;&gt;Disability&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/animalbehaviour&quot;&gt;Animal behaviour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/marine-life&quot;&gt;Marine life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/wildlife&quot;&gt;Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/animal-welfare&quot;&gt;Animal welfare&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/animals&quot;&gt;Animals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/health&quot;&gt;Health&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/health-and-wellbeing&quot;&gt;Health &amp; wellbeing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/deabirkett&quot;&gt;Dea Birkett&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vjdSw7bwkmO_MIQmTNDr2LXPNP0/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vjdSw7bwkmO_MIQmTNDr2LXPNP0/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vjdSw7bwkmO_MIQmTNDr2LXPNP0/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/vjdSw7bwkmO_MIQmTNDr2LXPNP0/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:08+02:00', 'Disability', 'dolphin therapy scam | dea birkett health & class=author>');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1822, 'Your next box set: How The Earth Was Made', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/oct/13/how-the-earth-was-made', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/93147?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Your+next+box+set%3A+How+The+Earth+Was+Made%3AArticle%3A1647357&amp;ch=Television+%26amp%3B+radio&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Television+%28Culture%29%2CTelevision+and+radio+TV%2CCulture%2CGeology+%28Science%29&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CTelevision+Media&amp;c6=Andrew+Gilchrist&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1647357&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Feature%2CReview&amp;c11=Television+%26amp%3B+radio&amp;c13=Your+next+box+set+%28series%29&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FTelevision+%26amp%3B+radio%2FTelevision&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;From the floor of the Atlantic to volcanic Iceland, this epic series rips through the noisy history of the Earth&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Oh, the joys of a presenter-free science series: all those gripping facts and exploding graphics; all that epic music, fast-cut footage and bombastic voiceover; all those chunky 4x4s bearing even chunkier geologists &ndash; and not a self-obsessed semi-celebrity in sight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although it first aired on the History channel in 2007, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzc4sdbHjig&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;How The Earth Was Made&lt;/a&gt; already feels like a relic, although not quite as old as the sea fossils &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/davinci&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Leonardo da Vinci&lt;/a&gt; finds atop a breezy alp in 1510 in the first series. How did they get there? The same way a sea lily scaled &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/everest&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Everest&lt;/a&gt;. And the show&#039;s great strength lies in the fact that it&#039;s in no great hurry to tell you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Instead, each episode begins with a mystery (or rather a &quot;geological BOMBSHELL&quot;), covering everything from when the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/14/earthquake-san-andreas-fault-california&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;San Andreas Fault&lt;/a&gt; will next let rip (&quot;It waits quietly, deep under our cities, building up the stress to STRIKE ONCE AGAIN&quot;) to why a slice of north America ended up on one side of Loch Ness (&quot;Rocks round here have gone to a depth of 50 miles &ndash; TO HELL AND BACK&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#039;s all hugely entertaining and boasts some fabulous footage, not least the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theskyeguide.com/see-and-do-mainmenu-35/27-natural-wonders/174-dinosaurs-at-staffin&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;three-toed dinosaur footprint&lt;/a&gt; on a Scottish beach that went unnoticed until 1994 (oh well, it had only been there 165m years). And the enthusiasm of the geologists is infectious. &quot;Here,&quot; says one, pointing to a faint stain on an otherwise featureless boulder, &quot;a bush was burned by a prehistoric wildfire.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To the sound of stirring strings, insistent drums and eerie guitar noodling, we journey to the floor of the Atlantic, the sands of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6vvqCJPws&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Sahara&lt;/a&gt; and volcanic &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhRK-RUGwbE&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Iceland&lt;/a&gt; (&quot;where fire meets its nemesis, ICE&quot;). My only criticism is that they&#039;re a little uneven on myths. Noah and the flood get some thrilling graphics and an awful lot of leeway, while &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2008/nov/12/scotland&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Nessie&lt;/a&gt; is dismissed in two sentences: &quot;There&#039;s no chance you could have, preserved in this loch, an ancient monster from millions of years ago. The loch&#039;s too young.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not the sort of thing you want to say too loud in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visitlochness.com/around-loch-ness/drumnadrochit.php&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Drumnadrochit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television&quot;&gt;Television&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/geology&quot;&gt;Geology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andrewgilchrist&quot;&gt;Andrew Gilchrist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a4YXxftMaYkYMHRg3Hj7UnghFLE/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a4YXxftMaYkYMHRg3Hj7UnghFLE/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a4YXxftMaYkYMHRg3Hj7UnghFLE/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a4YXxftMaYkYMHRg3Hj7UnghFLE/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:08+02:00', 'Television', 'box set earth ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1823, 'Stone Age painting kits found in cave', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/13/stone-age-painting-kits', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/86723?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Stone+Age+painting+kits+found+in+cave%3AArticle%3A1647461&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Anthropology%2CEvolution+%28Science%29%2CChemistry+%28Science%29%2CPainting+%28Art+and+design%29%2CArt+%28visual+arts+only%29%2CArt+and+design%2CSouth+Africa+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CScience&amp;c5=Environment+Conservation%2CArt%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Ian+Sample&amp;c7=11-Oct-14&amp;c8=1647461&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FAnthropology&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Bone and stone tools were apparently used for crushing pigments and mixing them in the shells of giant sea snails&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The oldest known painting kits, used 100,000 years ago in the stone age, have been unearthed in a cave in South Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two sets of implements for preparing red and yellow ochres to decorate animal skins, body parts or perhaps cave walls were excavated at the Blombos cave on the Southern Cape near the Indian Ocean.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The stone and bone tools for crushing, mixing and applying the pigments were uncovered alongside the shells of giant sea snails that had been used as primitive mixing pots. The snails are indigenous to South African waters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other bones, including the shoulder blade of a seal, were among the ingredients for making the pigments. The bones were probably heated in a fire and the marrow fat used as a binder for the paint.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Along with ancient flakes of charcoal, researchers found a &quot;high water mark&quot; on the shells&#039; inner wall, evidence that an unknown liquid, probably urine or water, was added to make the paint more fluid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The remarkable discovery, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencemag.org&quot; title=&quot;Science magazine&quot;&gt;reported in the journal Science&lt;/a&gt;, throws light on the capabilities and rituals of &lt;em&gt;Homo sapiens&lt;/em&gt; who occupied the cave from at least 140,000 years ago. The cave&#039;s entrance was blocked by sand 70,000 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;This is the first known instance for deliberate planning, production and curation of a compound,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://uib.academia.edu/ChrisHenshilwood&quot; title=&quot;U. Bergen: Christopher Henshilwood&quot;&gt;Christopher Henshilwood at the University of Bergen&lt;/a&gt; told Science, adding that the finding also marked the first known use of containers. &quot;It&#039;s early chemistry. It casts a whole new light on early &lt;em&gt;Homo sapiens&lt;/em&gt; and tells us they were probably a lot more intelligent than we think, and capable of carrying out quite sophisticated acts at least 40,000 to 50,000 years before any other known example of this kind of basic chemistry,&quot; he added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the toolkits, which was found next to a pile of different instruments, was more complex and particularly well preserved, with its intact shell coated with red pigment. A second shell, found close by, was broken, but its grinding stone was coated with red and yellow pigments, suggesting it had been used more than once.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Henshilwood&#039;s team said the tools were evidence for an &quot;ochre-processing workshop&quot; run by early humans, who gathered the colourful mineral oxides from sites about 20 miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Piecing together the process from the instruments they found, Henshilwood said the artists used small quartzite cobbles to hammer and grind the ochres into a powder, which was then poured into the shell and mixed with charcoal, burnt and broken bone, and the unidentified liquid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the artists&#039; kits came with a slender bone from the front leg of a dog or wolf. One end of the bone had been dipped in ochre, leading the scientists to conclude it was used as a primitive paintbrush.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;You could use this type of mixture to prepare animal skins, to put on as body paint, or to paint on the walls of the cave, but it is difficult to be sure how it was used,&quot; said &lt;a href=&quot;http://heritage-key.com/category/tags/francesco-derrico&quot; title=&quot;Francesco d&#039;Errico&quot;&gt;Francesco d&#039;Errico&lt;/a&gt;, a study co-author at the University of Bordeaux. &quot;The discovery is a paradox because we now know much better how the pigment was made than what it is used for.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tiny grooves at the bottom of the shells may be scratch marks caused by sand grains when the artist mixed the paint with a finger. &quot;From time to time they were scratching the bottom when their finger was moving some of these little grains,&quot; said d&#039;Errico.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The team has unearthed other artefacts from early humans at the cave. In 2004, it &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencemag.org/content/304/5669/404.citation&quot; title=&quot;Middle Stone Age Shell Beads from South Africa&quot;&gt;uncovered a collection of 75,000-year-old decorative shell beads&lt;/a&gt; at Blombos cave, some of which had been painted with ochre.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Twenty thousand years after these painting kits were left behind, humans at Blombos were certainly using pigments for symbolic purposes. It is clear they knew all the sources for these red and yellow pigments. This was a tradition for them,&quot; said d&#039;Errico.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/anthropology&quot;&gt;Anthropology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/evolution&quot;&gt;Evolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/chemistry&quot;&gt;Chemistry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/painting&quot;&gt;Painting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/art&quot;&gt;Art&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/southafrica&quot;&gt;South Africa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/iansample&quot;&gt;Ian Sample&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rUKhL-dgCwW-u59FJvet5DmiLFg/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rUKhL-dgCwW-u59FJvet5DmiLFg/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rUKhL-dgCwW-u59FJvet5DmiLFg/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rUKhL-dgCwW-u59FJvet5DmiLFg/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:09+02:00', 'Anthropology', 'stone age painting kits cave ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1824, 'Yeti hair and footprints found, claim scientists - video', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/oct/13/yeti-hair-footprints-found-russia-video', '&lt;p&gt;A group of scientists claim they may have found evidence of the mythical yeti, also known as the abominable snowman. Following a two-day expedition to the Azassky cave in Siberia&#039;s Kemerovo region, they documented footprints and stray pieces of hair in addition to other territorial markers such as a possible sleeping area&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LPcd2KqoOVoM3xEVSpodWEFV9fM/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LPcd2KqoOVoM3xEVSpodWEFV9fM/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LPcd2KqoOVoM3xEVSpodWEFV9fM/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LPcd2KqoOVoM3xEVSpodWEFV9fM/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:10+02:00', 'Animals', 'yeti hair footprints claim scientists video a group scientists claim evidence mythical yeti known abominable snowman following day expedition azassky cave siberias kemerovo region documented footprints stray pieces hair addition territorial markers possible sleeping area\n');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1825, 'Richard Hall obituary', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/13/richard-hall-obituary', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/86316?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Richard+Hall+obituary%3AArticle%3A1647432&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Archaeology%2CScience&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Brian+Ayers&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1647432&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Obituary&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FArchaeology&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Leading archaeologist of the Viking age with&amp;nbsp;a key role in the excavation at York&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Richard Hall, who has died of cancer aged 62, was one of the foremost archaeologists of the Viking age. In a career spent almost entirely in&amp;nbsp;the city of York, he&amp;nbsp;not only transformed understanding of pre-Norman urban development, but did so in a manner that combined scholarship and meticulous archaeological technique with a flair for enhancing public awareness and understanding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Only an archaeologist with Hall&#039;s dedication, dry wit and ability to lead a&amp;nbsp;team by example could have delivered on the greatest challenge of&amp;nbsp;his career, excavation of the major site at 16-22 Coppergate in York, between 1975 and 1981. His work there, utilising open-area excavation methodologies within archaeologically unprecedented cofferdam shoring, ensured detailed recording of deep and waterlogged deposits from the Roman period onwards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Viking age results were spectacular, notably the remains of timber buildings lying within tenements running away from the street towards the river Foss, together with a remarkable range of finds within them. In all, some 230,000 pieces of pottery were recovered from the excavation, together with five tonnes of animal bones and more than 15,000 &quot;small finds&quot;, many being exotic imports such as amber from the Baltic or a silk purse from the Middle East.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Excavating and recording such a complexity of material was only the first step. Marshalling the data, overseeing its analysis, producing a synthesis and, most importantly, publishing the information was also critical. Hall managed all these aspects with determination, drive and a&amp;nbsp;comprehensive attention to detail. The&amp;nbsp;excavation itself was conducted with as much access for the public as&amp;nbsp;possible, with on-site viewing platforms, exhibitions, guided tours and lectures all forming part of the project. Hall summarised the results of&amp;nbsp;the excavation in a bestselling book, The Viking Dig (1984), and also provided the academic oversight for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Jorvik Viking Centre&lt;/a&gt;, which opened within the&amp;nbsp;Coppergate development in 1984 and immediately became one of the UK&#039;s top 10 visitor attractions. Academic&amp;nbsp;publication followed in a&amp;nbsp;series of reports.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hall&#039;s work at Coppergate was seminal in a number of ways. It revealed the rich contribution of Scandinavian settlers to the development of&amp;nbsp;urban life in England; it enhanced understanding of the extensive (and largely undocumented) trade contacts of early medieval Europe; it utilised a range of innovatory techniques, notably paleoenvironmental research, then in its infancy; it fostered awareness of&amp;nbsp;archaeology, exciting the general public; and it entered partnerships that enabled that excitement to be transformed into landmark presentations through the Jorvik Centre. For Hall personally, Coppergate helped him to build on his personal interest in the Viking age, not only in Britain but further afield, in Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland and the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hall was born in Ilford, Essex, but moved as a child to Northern Ireland, where his father worked in the linen industry. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and then Queen&#039;s University, Belfast, where he prepared an undergraduate study of Irish Viking age finds. He followed this with a doctorate at Southampton University on the Anglo-Scandinavian towns of the Danelaw, under the supervision of Peter Addyman, who shortly thereafter left the university to&amp;nbsp;become director of the newly formed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;York Archaeological Trust&lt;/a&gt;. Hall, after excavations in Dublin, Derby and at Mount Grace priory in North Yorkshire, followed Addyman to York in 1974 as&amp;nbsp;excavations supervisor. He worked for the trust for the rest of his life, becoming deputy director and then director of archaeology.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His role with the trust meant that he could not confine his attention to the Anglo-Scandinavian period. Indeed, he probably oversaw more than 1,000 different archaeological projects and was directly responsible for several significant excavations, such as the Roman sites at Blake Street and Coney Street. He also worked outside York, notably at Ripon, where he recorded the 7th-century Saxon crypt in 1974 and eventually became chairman of the fabric advisory committee and then consultant cathedral archaeologist. Here, he directed excavations that allowed him to reconstruct the topography of the Anglo-Saxon monastery. Hall&#039;s growing expertise led to work on the Cathedrals Fabric Commission and as consultant archaeologist to York Minster.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His stature within the profession meant he was increasingly in demand for other roles. Elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1981, Hall served on its council in the 1980s and 1990s. He was chairman of the Institute of Field Archaeologists (now the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.archaeologists.net/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Institute for Archaeologists&lt;/a&gt;) from 1987 until 1989, during its formative years. He was also president of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medievalarchaeology.org/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Society for Medieval Archaeology&lt;/a&gt;, president of&amp;nbsp;the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yas.org.uk/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Yorkshire Archaeological Society&lt;/a&gt; and a trustee and secretary of&amp;nbsp;the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.britarch.ac.uk/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Council for British Archaeology&lt;/a&gt;. His&amp;nbsp;committee work was not confined to Britain. In&amp;nbsp;recent years he served on the Kaupang Excavation Project council in Norway and as consultant to the Swedish state archaeological service&#039;s excavations at the Viking age town of&amp;nbsp;Birka. He was also in demand as a guest lecturer on cruises, from the Canadian Arctic to the Middle East.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hall continued to publish widely, be it papers for academic journals, contributions to conferences (he attended the biennial series of&amp;nbsp;conferences on urban archaeology at L&uuml;beck in Germany from their inception in 1995) or synthetic works such as the recently published Exploring the World of the Vikings (2007). Discharged from hospital one week before his death, he&amp;nbsp;expressed himself pleased because &quot;I&amp;nbsp;have some articles to write.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hall&#039;s first marriage was dissolved. His second, to Ailsa Mainman, the head of artefact research at the York Archaeological Trust in 1991, was an exceptionally happy union. She survives him, as do his sons, Alasdair and Guy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&bull; Richard Andrew Hall, archaeologist, born 17 May 1949; died 13 September 2011&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/archaeology&quot;&gt;Archaeology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZgWuFieaHi2lOQzBBOKEZVmDy7w/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZgWuFieaHi2lOQzBBOKEZVmDy7w/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZgWuFieaHi2lOQzBBOKEZVmDy7w/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZgWuFieaHi2lOQzBBOKEZVmDy7w/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:10+02:00', 'Archaeology', 'richard hall obituary ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1826, 'Mystery bird: Greylag goose, Anser anser | @GrrlScientist | Punctuated Equilibrium', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/oct/13/5', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/71175?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Mystery+bird%3A+Greylag+goose%2C+Anser+anser+%7C+%40GrrlScientist+%7C+Punctuated+E%3AArticle%3A1646062&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1646062&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;This lovely bird gave Konrad Lorenz his Nobel Prize -- the only Nobel ever awarded for behavioural research (includes videos!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Greylag goose, &lt;em&gt;Anser anser&lt;/em&gt;, Linnaeus, 1758, also known as the Eastern (or Western!) greylag goose, grey goose, grey lag-goose, or as the greylag, photographed at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.macclesfieldrspb.org.uk/naturesites/redesmere/redesmere.htm&quot;&gt;Redesmere&lt;/a&gt;, near Siddington, Cheshire, UK. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pixin.co.uk/&quot;&gt;Roy Hill&lt;/a&gt; (with permission) [&lt;a href=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/6234633318_a2f85c9f0b_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; height=&quot;533&quot;&gt;velociraptorize&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;br /&gt;Canon 5D mkII, Canon 70-200mm EF f/4 L USM, ISO 200, 1/320 second, f/8, focal length 200mm&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&#039;s the original photograph that I showed as the mystery bird two days ago:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Greylag goose, &lt;em&gt;Anser anser&lt;/em&gt;, Linnaeus, 1758, photographed at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.macclesfieldrspb.org.uk/naturesites/redesmere/redesmere.htm&quot;&gt;Redesmere&lt;/a&gt;, near Siddington, Cheshire, UK. NOTE: this image has been altered. It has been cropped from the original (at top).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pixin.co.uk/&quot;&gt;Roy Hill&lt;/a&gt; (with permission) [&lt;a href=&quot;http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/6234633318_a2f85c9f0b_b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;800&quot; height=&quot;533&quot;&gt;velociraptorize&lt;/a&gt; to see the complete unaltered image].&lt;br /&gt;Canon 5D mkII, Canon 70-200mm EF f/4 L USM, ISO 200, 1/320 second, f/8, focal length 200mm&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; This common British mystery bird is so easy to identify that I am only showing you a little portion of it. Can you name the taxonomic family and species? Can you tell me why this mystery bird was given its strange common name?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Response:&lt;/strong&gt; This is an adult greylag goose, &lt;em&gt;Anser anser&lt;/em&gt;. This large bodied Old World goose is the type species for the genus, &lt;em&gt;Anser&lt;/em&gt;. It also is the foundation from which the domestic (&quot;barnyard&quot;) goose was selectively bred by humans.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This species is notable because they were the subject of a significant proportion of ethologist Konrad Lorenz&#039;s research into the behavioural phenomenon of imprinting. Not only are these behavioural researches fascinating in their own right, but this is the only instance in the history of the world where ornithological/zoological research was ever recognised with a Nobel Prize, even though there is plenty more such work that changes how we view the world and ourselves and thus, is equally worthy of this honour. (I&#039;ll never understand why there isn&#039;t a Nobel Prize for animal behaviour when there is one for the behaviour of &uuml;ber-rich humans. And don&#039;t even get me started on that worthless late-comer to the Nobels, the Prize in economics, which I view as &quot;voodoo science&quot;!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&#039;s a couple videos about Konrad Lorenz and his wonderful geese:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This second vide lacks sound:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The migratory greylag goose was given its strange common name because its migration lags behind that of other wild geese. (Keep in mind that feral greylag goose populations are primarily resident.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are invited to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/mystery-bird&quot;&gt;review all of the daily mystery birds&lt;/a&gt; by going to their dedicated graphic index page. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you&#039;d like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at &lt;em&gt;The Guardian&lt;/em&gt;, feel free to contact me to learn more. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;facebook: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;grrlscientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/t3A4lGvlot8PrtBp4BGdpXeOZ7c/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/t3A4lGvlot8PrtBp4BGdpXeOZ7c/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/t3A4lGvlot8PrtBp4BGdpXeOZ7c/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/t3A4lGvlot8PrtBp4BGdpXeOZ7c/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:11+02:00', 'Science', 'mystery bird greylag goose anser anser | @grrlscientist | punctuated equilibrium ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1827, 'Piranha for beginners - audio', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/audio/2011/oct/13/animalbehaviour-zoology', '&lt;p&gt;What researchers heard when they lowered a microphone into the tank of aggressive red-bellied piranha&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RxGvz-3BqJinHl5LFzHtRSCAiWY/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RxGvz-3BqJinHl5LFzHtRSCAiWY/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RxGvz-3BqJinHl5LFzHtRSCAiWY/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RxGvz-3BqJinHl5LFzHtRSCAiWY/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:11+02:00', 'Animal behaviour', 'piranha beginners audio what researchers heard lowered microphone tank aggressive red bellied piranha\n');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1828, '&#039;Bossy women have less sex&#039;: not proved by science  | Sarah Ditum', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/13/bossy-women-less-sex', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/71074?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=%27Bossy+women+have+less+sex%27%3A+not+proved+by+science++%7C+Sarah+Ditum%3AArticle%3A1647236&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Gender+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CAfrica+%28News%29%2CSex+%28Life+%26+style%29%2CWomen+and+women%27s+interests%2CLife+and+style%2CHealth+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CMedia%2CPress+and+publishing%2CScience%2CGlobal+development&amp;c5=Press+Media%2CSociety+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CWomen%2CHealth+Society%2CFamily+and+Relationships&amp;c6=Sarah+Ditum&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1647236&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Comment&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Comment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Data on African women&#039;s decision-making has become journalistic fuel for western gender angst&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Journalism is a weird branch of alchemy sometimes. Information is lobbed in the fact cauldron, passes through several distillations of reporting, editing and commentary, and finally gets scraped from the bottom of a boiling flask in a mysterious powdery form that bears little or no relation to the original material. You start with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2011.554918&quot; title=&quot;Taylor Francis Online: Women&#039;s Autonomy and Timing of Most Recent Sexual Intercourse in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Multi-Country Analysis&quot;&gt;statistical analysis of the link between sub-Saharan African women&#039;s decision-making power and how frequently they have sex&lt;/a&gt;; you end up with two male writers debating whether bossy women are hot on &lt;a href=&quot;http://sciencehastheanswer.blogspot.com/2011/10/no-grazie-grazia.html&quot; title=&quot;Happy Science blog: No Grazie, Grazia &quot;&gt;page 38 of Grazia&lt;/a&gt;, underneath a picture of Desperate Housewife and queen Wasp Bree Van de Kamp.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#039;s quite the transformation. In the process, the African women at the centre of the original study are spirited away. Almost &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/world/531280/bossy-women-have-less-sex.html&quot; title=&quot;Marie Claire online: Bossy women have less sex&quot;&gt;every&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://lifestyle.aol.co.uk/2011/09/23/bossy-women-have-less-sex&quot; title=&quot;AOL Lifestyle: Bossy women have less sex&quot;&gt;single&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2040634/Desperate-housewives-Bossy-women-sex.html&quot; title=&quot;Mail Online: Too bossy to make love: Women who make all the decisions at home pay the price in passion  Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2040634/Desperate-housewives-Bossy-women-sex.html#ixzz1af37ZbjV &quot;&gt;version&lt;/a&gt; of the story that has appeared online since the press release circulating the results of the analysis is illustrated with a picture of a white couple in a bedroom from a shopping catalogue &ndash; including the article in &lt;a href=&quot;http://news1.ghananation.com/femail-stuff/218167-desperate-housewives-bossy-women-have-less-sex.html&quot; title=&quot;Ghana Nation: Desperate housewives: Bossy women &#039;have less sex&#039;&quot;&gt;Ghana Nation&lt;/a&gt;, although the Telegraph opted for a nice photo of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/relationships/8784546/Marriage-a-survey-of-surveys.html&quot; title=&quot;Telegraph: Marriage: a survey of surveys&quot;&gt;Kate Middleton&lt;/a&gt; (so incongruous, yet so very, very Telegraph).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The authors&#039; actual conclusions have disappeared, too. The study did find &quot;a strong relationship between women&#039;s decision-making autonomy and time since last sexual intercourse&quot; &ndash; but the definition of &quot;autonomy&quot; falls a long way short of &quot;bossiness&quot;. Women included in the survey were asked, for instance, whether they or their husband had the last say on the woman&#039;s healthcare, or when the wife could visit family and friends.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, exercising those choices isn&#039;t the preserve of the henpecker &ndash; they&#039;re the bare minimum for a non-abusive relationship. That they&#039;re meaningful markers of self-determination for sub-Saharan African women ought to tell us something about the cultural differences involved, and why these findings can&#039;t be wilfully transplanted to other settings. And there&#039;s the fact that sexual norms in the countries involved mean intercourse often isn&#039;t a bucket of fun for the female partner. &quot;For some women,&quot; the authors note, &quot;sexual pleasure was the absence of pain.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Understanding how women&#039;s position in the household influences their sexual activity may be an essential piece in protecting the sexual rights of women and helping them to achieve a sexual life that is both safe and pleasurable,&quot; the study concludes. &quot;WHATEVER!&quot; hoots the mainstream coverage, &quot;We&#039;re going to use this to show those uppity broads that if they don&#039;t quit their nagging, no man will ever fancy them!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And so to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/berman/8049268-452/bossy-women-miss-out-in-the-bedroom.html&quot; title=&quot;Chicago Sun-Times: Bossy women miss out in the bedroom&quot;&gt;Laura Berman in the Chicago Sun-Times&lt;/a&gt; tersely counselling that when women make the bulk of the household decisions, they &quot;chip away at [the marital] bond and at [their husbands&#039;] masculinity&quot;. (She uses wet towels and food hygiene as examples of potential conflicts; no word on whether she thinks ladies can pop to the GP on their own and still be sexy.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It doesn&#039;t have to be like this, says Dr Petra Boynton, lecturer at UCL and sometime agony aunt: &quot;Another way to treat the study would be to use the finding of women having more autonomy in their relationship feeling more in control over their sex lives. That could extend to talking about what that might look like, how it might feel, and how women and their partners might enjoy this together.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What we got instead wasn&#039;t news, and it wasn&#039;t even useful information about sex &ndash; it was the obliteration of African women in the service of western gender angst. Bossiness has its fanciers (hey, there&#039;s that guy in Grazia, for a start), but excruciating self-involvement? That&#039;s never a turn-on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gender&quot;&gt;Gender&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africa&quot;&gt;Africa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/sex&quot;&gt;Sex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/women&quot;&gt;Women&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/health&quot;&gt;Health&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pressandpublishing&quot;&gt;Newspapers &amp; magazines&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/sarah-ditum&quot;&gt;Sarah Ditum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q4x5owmPVDRxnSy9d1HyHkXS768/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q4x5owmPVDRxnSy9d1HyHkXS768/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q4x5owmPVDRxnSy9d1HyHkXS768/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q4x5owmPVDRxnSy9d1HyHkXS768/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:12+02:00', 'Gender', 'bossy women sex proved science | sarah ditum ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1829, 'Hats off to Ampelm&auml;nnchen, 50 today', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/13/ampelmannchen-germany-traffic-light-50', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/44000?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Hats+off+to+Ampelmannchen%2C+50+today%3AArticle%3A1647368&amp;ch=World+news&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Germany%2CMotoring+%28Technology%29%2CRoad+transport+%28News%29%2CPsychology+%28Science%29%2CEurope%2CWorld+news&amp;c5=Motoring%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Helen+Pidd&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1647368&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=World+news&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FGermany&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;How GDR psychologist&#039;s design became traffic light of choice after reunification &ndash; and a cult figure in Germany and beyond&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is one of the few enduring symbols of East Germany: a jaunty little man in a hat, showing pedestrians in the socialist republic whether it was safe to cross the&amp;nbsp;road.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fifty years after a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,790133,00.html&quot; title=&quot;traffic psychologist in the GDR&quot;&gt;traffic psychologist in the GDR&lt;/a&gt; came up with the design for pedestrian crossing signals that would be easily distinguishable for the visually impaired, the Ampelm&auml;nnchen has become a cult figure around the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thursday was the 50th birthday of the East German design, which, like the Brandenburg-reared chancellor, Angela Merkel, is a rare example of a product of the GDR triumphing in a united Germany and beyond.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These days, the Ampelm&auml;nnchen can be seen across Germany. It nearly wasn&#039;t thus. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, there was a desire, fuelled by the mantra that &quot;west is best&quot;, to dismantle as quickly as possible the remains of the GDR, from the hated Stasi secret police to the street furniture.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unified Germans were to not only use the same currency but also the same traffic lights, with the introduction of a standard &quot;euro&quot; light based on the more staid (and hatless) western design.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the mid-90s, when the euphoria of reunification had worn off, a group of East Germans decided they were not prepared to see another piece of their history thrown onto the scrap heap.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;They formed a committee called Rescue the Ampelm&auml;nnchen!, which lobbied Berlin&#039;s traffic minister until he allowed the Ampelm&auml;nnchen to rise again. The David of traffic signalling had triumphed over the imperialist Goliath.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since 2005, many traffic lights in the west of Berlin have been converted to the eastern style and, according to the Berliner Zeitung, in June 2010 the town of H&uuml;ckeswagen, near Cologne, became the first former West German municipality to switch to the eastern design.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Ampelm&auml;nnchen is not just seen at road intersections. In 1995, an enterprising West German patented the design and his company now sells a range of 500 branded items, from dog collars to earrings and, predictably, an iPhone app.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The firm has a turnover of about &euro;8m (&pound;7m) per year, and has four shops in Berlin as well as one in Seoul and another in Tokyo.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The company is run by graphic designer Markus Heckhausen, who bought the patent from the original designer, Karl Peglau.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A precise sort of man, Peglau had worked out that many of the 10,000 road deaths between 1955 and 1960 were due to unclear traffic lights &ndash; specifically that pedestrians were having to follow the same signals as cars.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In bad weather, or for people with poor eyesight, the red, amber and green were hard to distinguish. The Ampelm&auml;nnchen was Peglau&#039;s solution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 1969 the first of Peglau&#039;s designs was installed on Unter den Linden, East Berlin&#039;s grandest boulevard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/germany&quot;&gt;Germany&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/motoring&quot;&gt;Motoring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/road-transport&quot;&gt;Road transport&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/psychology&quot;&gt;Psychology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/europe-news&quot;&gt;Europe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/helenpidd&quot;&gt;Helen Pidd&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/8Y2r9jmeKtO4T8pSr1-S_F0A5Hc/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/8Y2r9jmeKtO4T8pSr1-S_F0A5Hc/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/8Y2r9jmeKtO4T8pSr1-S_F0A5Hc/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/8Y2r9jmeKtO4T8pSr1-S_F0A5Hc/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:13+02:00', 'Germany', 'hats ampelmannchen 50 today ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1830, 'Afraid of being hit by a meteorite? You&#039;re more likely to win the lottery | David Spiegelhalter', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/13/meteorite-space-earth', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/80563?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Afraid+of+being+hit+by+a+meteorite%3F+You%27re+more+likely+to+win+the+lotter%3AArticle%3A1647277&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Meteors%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CScience%2CNasa&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=David+Spiegelhalter&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1647277&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Comment&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Comment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Objects fall to Earth all the time, but it&#039;s a big place &ndash; the statistical chances of being hit are extremely low&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Things seem to be crashing down to Earth all over the place at the moment, what with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/10/comette-family-home-damaged-meteorite&quot; title=&quot;Guardian:  Comette family home damaged by egg-sized meteorite&quot;&gt;the house of the suitably named Comette family&lt;/a&gt; getting hit by an egg-sized meteorite, last month&#039;s Nasa satellite falling somewhere off the west coast of America and Lars von Trier envisioning Earth colliding with an even larger planet in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/sep/29/melancholia-film-review&quot; title=&quot;Guardian: Melancholia  review&quot;&gt;Melancholia&lt;/a&gt;. It prompts the question: what are the actual chances of something solid dropping from space and landing on our heads?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let&#039;s start with natural stuff. The US National Research Council (NRC) has released the riveting &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12842&quot; title=&quot;The National Academies Press: Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies&quot;&gt;Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies&lt;/a&gt;, which tells us that around 100 tonnes of &quot;very small objects&quot;, mainly dust, drops on Earth every day. There is no recent record of anyone killed by bigger bits, although a few cars in the US have been damaged this century and one, the famous &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Peekskill+meteorite+car&amp;hl=en&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;hs=4KM&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&amp;prmd=imvns&amp;tbm=isch&amp;tbo=u&amp;source=univ&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=Y-eWTpukDIKq8APdtI3RBQ&amp;ved=0CFAQsAQ&amp;biw=1916&amp;bih=978&quot; title=&quot;Google Images: Peekskill meteorite car&quot;&gt;Peekskill meteorite car&lt;/a&gt;, has toured the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, &lt;a href=&quot;http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/&quot; title=&quot;Nasa: Near Earth Object Programme&quot;&gt;Nasa&#039;s Near Earth Object Programme&lt;/a&gt; is watching over us so we can find, for example, that object 2009TM8, about 10 metres across, is due to pass closer than the moon on Monday 17 October. Airbursts from objects only 30 metres across can be serious &ndash; the one over Siberia in 1908 devastated the area of a large city &ndash; the NRC estimate a one in 200 chance per year of this happening somewhere on Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The biggest recent scare was from &lt;a href=&quot;http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/&quot; title=&quot;Nasa: Predicting Apophis&#039; Earth Encounters in 2029 and 2036&quot;&gt;Apophis&lt;/a&gt;, which is around 200 metres across. When it was discovered in 2004, it was estimated there was a 2.7% chance of impact in 2029, but new information has shown we&#039;re safe after all. The current frontrunner is &lt;a href=&quot;http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/&quot; title=&quot;Nasa: Sentry risk table&quot;&gt;2011AG5&lt;/a&gt;, which is 140 metres across and has a cumulative impact probability of around 2% between 2040 and 2047.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nasa is tracking over &lt;a href=&quot;http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/&quot; title=&quot;Nasa: NEO discovery statistics &quot;&gt;800 objects of more than 1km across&lt;/a&gt;, and anything with a diameter of over 3km is considered a global catastrophic risk. Still, a clash with debris of that calibre is only expected to happen every few million years: the NRC stoically points out that &quot;while this apocalyptic possibility is extraordinarily unlikely to happen in the lifetime of anyone living now, traditional approaches to preparing for disaster would become irrelevant&quot;. Have they not heard of Bruce Willis?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What about man-made junk? About &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aero.org/capabilities/cords/faq10.html&quot; title=&quot;Aerospace: What is the overall risk from reentry debris? &quot;&gt;5,400 tonnes&lt;/a&gt; worth of rubbish has come back down over the last 40 years and there have been 28 re-entries of satellites so far this year. So far nobody has been injured, even when 40 tonnes rained down on the US after the Columbia shuttle broke up &ndash; Nasa afterwards estimated that there was a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/caib/PDFS/VOL2/D16.PDF&quot; title=&quot;Determination of Debris Risk to the Public  Due to the Columbia Breakup During Reentry (pdf)&quot;&gt;one in four chance someone would have been hit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When the remnants of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) came to Earth last month &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/585584main_UARS_Status.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Nasa: Re-entry and Risk Assessment for  the NASA Upper Atmosphere  Research Satellite (pdf)&quot;&gt;Nasa said&lt;/a&gt; there was a &quot;one in 3,200 chance of anyone being hit&quot;. Where did they get this number from?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The satellite had been up 20 years, stopped working in 2005 and weighed 5,700kg, about the size and weight of a double-decker bus. Nasa said it would break into 26 objects that would survive re-entry, weighing 532kg in total, about the weight of eight washing machines. These would be spread over about 300 miles, but cover a total damage area of around 22 sq metres (around three parking places), but they had no idea where it would land. As &lt;a href=&quot;http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/no-one-reported-injured-by-falling-satellite-50005330/&quot; title=&quot;Cnet UK: No one reported injured by falling satellite&quot;&gt;one commentator said&lt;/a&gt;, you&#039;d think these boffins would have better control of their satellites &ndash; it&#039;s not rocket science.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The largest object weighed 158kg, about the weight of an adult gorilla (though that sounds a bit soft &ndash; better to think of a couple of washing machines tied together, travelling at 100mph). This does not sound encouraging, but the Earth is a big place with a surface area of 500,000,000 sq km, and so assuming the bits can land anywhere, there is around a one in 20,000,000,000,000 chance of any particular square metre being hit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If an individual makes a target of say around 1 sq metre, then assuming a random landing place there is around a one in 20,000,000,000,000 chance of them being hit &ndash; that&#039;s the same chance as flipping a coin 44 times in a row and it coming up heads every time. Or slightly better than the chance of winning the lottery twice in a row.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But there are 6,700,000,000 people on Earth, and so the chance of anybody at all being hit is 6,700,000,000/20,000,000,000,000 which is one in 3,000, very close to Nasa&#039;s quoted figure of one in 3,200. So really this is a back-of-an-envelope calculation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The chances of hitting anyone is so low because people don&#039;t cover much of the Earth. It may not seem like that when you are jammed against a stranger&#039;s armpit on the northern line, but as anyone taking an intercontinental flight will notice, this globe is covered by an awful lot of not-very-much. If each of us take our 1 sq metre, that&#039;s 6,700 sq km, which is only 1/80,000 of the Earth&#039;s surface. So if everyone in the world went to the Glastonbury festival, they would only take up Somerset and Wiltshire combined (although you can&#039;t even start to imagine the state of the toilets).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/meteors&quot;&gt;Meteors&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nasa&quot;&gt;Nasa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/david-spiegelhalter&quot;&gt;David Spiegelhalter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wf-6bGKdEGiu75YTt_7rYoookGU/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wf-6bGKdEGiu75YTt_7rYoookGU/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wf-6bGKdEGiu75YTt_7rYoookGU/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wf-6bGKdEGiu75YTt_7rYoookGU/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:14+02:00', 'Meteors', 'afraid hit meteorite youre likely win lottery | david spiegelhalter ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1831, 'Aggressive piranhas bark, croak and make drumbeat sounds', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/13/aggressive-piranha-bark-croak-drumbeat-sounds', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/79696?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Aggressive+piranha+bark%2C+croak+and+make+drumbeat+sounds%3AArticle%3A1647238&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Animal+behaviour+%28Science%29%2CZoology%2CBiology%2CScience%2CAnimals+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CUK+news&amp;c5=Wildlife+Conservation%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Ian+Sample&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1647238&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FAnimal+behaviour&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Researchers eavesdrop on piranhas as they squabble over food, square up for a fight and bite each other&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Recordings of piranha fish squabbling over morsels of food reveal that there is much more to the meat-eaters than their famous bite.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Microphones lowered into a tank of aggressive red-bellied piranha picked up an impressive repertoire of barks, croaks and drumbeat sounds, each of which is thought to convey a different message.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though silent most of the time, the fish broke into aquatic barks at the first sign of trouble, such as when they confronted other fish over lunch, or were &ndash; cautiously &ndash; handled by researchers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fish are known to use sounds to communicate, and especially to attract a mate, but the variety of noises and their meanings is poorly understood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.ulg.ac.be/morfonct/eric_parmentier/fm_ericparmentier.html&quot; title=&quot;U. Liege: Eric Parmentier&quot;&gt;Eric Parmentier, at the University of Li&egrave;ge&lt;/a&gt;, in Belgium, used hydrophones and a video camera to record the piranha as they cruised around their tank and occasionally competed for food.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The footage revealed that the piranha barked at each other as an intimidation tactic before any fights broke out. They made drumbeat noises when they chased one another and more gentle croaking sounds when biting another piranha.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The study was not without its hazards for Parmentier and his colleague, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.ulg.ac.be/morfonct/sandie_millot/fm_sandie_millot.html&quot; title=&quot;U. Liege: Sandie Millot&quot;&gt;Sandie Millot&lt;/a&gt;. &quot;We both visited the hospital because we were bitten and Sandie&#039;s finger was nearly cut in half,&quot; Parmentier said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like other vocal fish, piranha produce sounds by rapidly tensing muscles connected to their swim bladders, the organ used to control buoyancy. The fish alter the pitch of their croaks and barks by the changing the frequency at which the muscles contract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Parmentier and his colleagues &lt;a href=&quot;http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/21/3613&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;describe the study in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology&lt;/a&gt;. The piranha were kept in small groups in a tank in the researchers&#039; laboratory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Adult red-bellied piranha grow up to 30cm (1ft) long and have a single row of teeth on their upper and lower jaws. Their bite is effective at puncturing and tearing flesh because their teeth are shaped like sharp blades and they interlock when the jaws close.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The fish pick up sounds as they travel through the water using the lateral line. This sensory organ picks up changes in water pressure, currents and the movements of other animals in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While piranha live in shoals, they do not hunt in an organised manner. The feeding frenzies they are associated with occur only when starved shoals encounter a rare feast in the form of a stricken animal in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other fish produce sounds to lure mates into nests and defend their territories. In 2008, Andrew Bass, at Cornell University, in New York, recorded nocturnal toadfish and closely-related midshipman fish, and found that the males made a deep humming sound to attract females into their lairs, but saw off intruders with short, sharp, grunts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Examinations of the parts of the fish brain controlling the pitch and duration of their calls have led scientists to track the origins of vocal communication back in time along the evolutionary tree.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having eavesdropped on hours of aggressive piranha chatter, Parmentier&#039;s team now hopes to record more amorous piranha in Brazil. &quot;It is difficult for the fish to reproduce in the tank, so I am sure we have to deploy hydrophones in the field to [get] the sounds produced during mating,&quot; Parmentier said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/animalbehaviour&quot;&gt;Animal behaviour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/zoology&quot;&gt;Zoology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/biology&quot;&gt;Biology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/animals&quot;&gt;Animals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/iansample&quot;&gt;Ian Sample&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/MuVDYIaiuz3WcRBSfZqeUfIddbA/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/MuVDYIaiuz3WcRBSfZqeUfIddbA/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/MuVDYIaiuz3WcRBSfZqeUfIddbA/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/MuVDYIaiuz3WcRBSfZqeUfIddbA/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:14+02:00', 'Animal behaviour', 'aggressive piranhas bark croak make drumbeat sounds ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1832, 'We&#039;re giving Sally Morgan the chance to prove her psychic powers | Simon Singh', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/13/sally-morgan-prove-psychic-powers', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/54587?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=We%27re+giving+Sally+Morgan+the+chance+to+prove+her+psychic+powers+%7C+Simon%3AArticle%3A1647172&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Psychology+%28Science%29%2CScience+and+scepticism%2CScience%2CTheatre%2CStage&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTheatre&amp;c6=Simon+Singh+%28contributor%29&amp;c7=11-Oct-15&amp;c8=1647172&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Comment&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FPsychology&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Simon Singh&lt;/strong&gt; explains why he hopes psychic Sally Morgan will take up an offer to demonstrate her powers in a scientific test&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After concerns raised last month that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sallymorgan.tv/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;celebrity psychic Sally Morgan&lt;/a&gt; may not be quite what she claims to be, it is perhaps not a surprise that she has now announced &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/sallymorgantv&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;on her Facebook page&lt;/a&gt; that she is &quot;to commence libel action in relation to press allegations that she is a cheat&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/apr/15/simon-singh-libel-case-dropped&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Having myself been sued for libel,&lt;/a&gt; by the British Chiropractic Association, I am always interested when a wealthy corporation or individual threatens a defamation action after criticism that they might promote a controversial or ineffective service. I decided to probe a bit deeper. In particular, is there any way to find out whether Psychic Sally is a cheat, deluded or endowed with supernatural gifts?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The story began on 11 September, when Sally hosted one of her &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grandcanaltheatre.ie/eventDetail.aspx?mid=188&amp;eventId=180&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;psychic shows&lt;/a&gt; at the packed Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. As usual, she appeared to put members of the audience in touch with the spirit world, but the following night three women who had seen the performance independently &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2011/pc/pod-v-12091117m02slivelinepsychic-pid0-1022352.mp3&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;called RT&Eacute;&#039;s Liveline radio show&lt;/a&gt; to express concerns. They stated that they had heard a voice through a window behind them, which had been left open. They believed that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/20/psychic-sally-morgan-hears-voices&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;the voice was feeding Sally information via a radio link to an earpiece&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sally published &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sallymorgan.tv/official-statement-in-regards-to-the-guardian/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;a statement&lt;/a&gt; strenuously denying any fakery, and instead blamed the overheard voice on technicians talking to each other: &quot;I have never met these two boys before in my life and more importantly, they have nothing to do with my show. I have no communication with them and there is no way they would have been able to talk to me when I was on stage.&quot; The theatre supported this account in its own statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like a reasonable explanation, but does it explain what the women heard? I contacted two of the women who had phoned RT&Eacute; Radio. Both Sue and Dorrie are surprised at the hostility expressed by some of Sally&#039;s supporters, so they have asked me not to disclose their surnames.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;They remain adamant that the voice they heard was not the result of innocent chit chat. Indeed, there are a number of points that still require explanation. For example, Sue and Dorrie heard the voice mention &quot;David&quot;, &quot;pain in the back&quot; and &quot;passed quickly&quot;, and they both claim that Sally then repeated this word-for-word on stage, but in a more dramatic fashion. When Sally repeated the words, Sue says that the voice confirmed by stating &quot;Yes&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The mystery voice then talked about &quot;Stephen&quot;, &quot;pain in back&quot; and &quot;passed quickly&quot;, and again this was repeated. They claim several others heard the voice, and the resulting fuss caused an usherette to leave the auditorium and the window was then closed. According to their recollection, the show came to an abrupt end soon after this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;They have provided me with other details, such as the type of sleeve around the hand that closed the window and the accent of the voice. Do these details match the theatre staff blamed for the incident? Unfortunately, this remains unknown, because the theatre has refused to comment further and would not agree to an interview.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I should stress that Sue and Dorrie did not attend the show together, so their accounts appear to be independent. Also, both hoped to receive reassurance from loved ones on the other side, so at the time they were certainly sympathetic towards the idea of Sally&#039;s purported gift.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I am certainly not suggesting that we should judge Sally to be a cheat based on the accounts of just two people. Also, like any rationalist, I would be sufficiently open-minded to accept that psychic powers exist if I were to be presented with strong evidence. However, we have a problem because Sally is adamant that she is not fed information via an earpiece, while Sue and Dorrie are confident that they heard a voice giving information consistent with Sally&#039;s subsequent channelling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before discussing how to move forward, it is worth bearing in mind why this is important.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many people who attend psychic shows are vulnerable, desperate or recently bereaved, and it is important that they are not being exploited. From a purely financial point of view, Sue feels let down, having spent &euro;40 (&pound;35) to see Sally instead of spending it on her toddler. My best estimate is that Sally sells over 100,000 tickets each year, which generate at least &pound;2m.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Given that psychic shows are big business and in light of a long history of fraudulent mediums, surely Sally and other high-profile psychics should be doing more to reassure their fans, perhaps by proving their psychic abilities in rigorous scientific tests.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sally&#039;s response to recent articles raising concerns has been to start a defamation action against her critics. Her solicitor is unwilling to say who is being sued for libel, but we can be sure that the law is unlikely to shed much light on whether or not Sally is genuinely psychic. English libel law tends to quash debate and scare off critics, and we are unlikely to ever see a trial in which Sally will be asked to prove her psychic powers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, Sally herself, on several occasions and in her recent statement, has said: &quot;I totally respect cynics and sceptics as if we don&#039;t ask questions we don&#039;t get answers.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So the solution is simple. Sally should agree to scientific testing of her psychic abilities. Her consistent successful channelling on television and in theatres should mean that she will pass any test with flying colours. If Sally is a genuine psychic, then the result can only be positive, inasmuch as it would provide credibility for her psychic colleagues and push forward our understanding of the universe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I hope Sally will be glad to hear that I am working with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Merseyside Skeptics Society&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/french/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Professor Chris French&lt;/a&gt; at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths, University of London, to construct a suitable test that would offer a chance to demonstrate whether or not she has psychic powers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We will announce details later this month, probably in the run-up to Halloween when the spirits will be particularly active. I genuinely hope that Sally accepts the challenge, and I would be even more delighted if she passes. However, if she declines our invitation, then perhaps her greatest gift is the ability to foretell her own failure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/psychology&quot;&gt;Psychology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/science-scepticism&quot;&gt;Science and scepticism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatre&quot;&gt;Theatre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/simon-singh&quot;&gt;Simon Singh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ghil3dsklkAqe96RtDw0du3xvyk/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ghil3dsklkAqe96RtDw0du3xvyk/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ghil3dsklkAqe96RtDw0du3xvyk/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ghil3dsklkAqe96RtDw0du3xvyk/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:15+02:00', 'Psychology', 'giving sally morgan chance prove psychic powers | simon singh simon class=terms>');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1833, 'From the archive, 13 October 1908: Reading in bed is dangerous, warns Lancet', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/oct/13/archive-bed-reading-dangers-lancet-1908', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/21259?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=From+the+archive%2C+13+October+1908%3A+Reading+in+bed+is+dangerous%2C+warns+La%3AArticle%3A1647032&amp;ch=From+the+Guardian&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Books%2CTypography+%28Art+and+design%29%2CMedical+research+%28Science%29%2CCulture%2CHealth+and+wellbeing+%28Life+and+style%29&amp;c5=Art%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CHealth&amp;c6=&amp;c7=11-Oct-13&amp;c8=1647032&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=&amp;c11=From+the+Guardian&amp;c13=From+the+archive+%28Guardian+series%29&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FFrom+the+Guardian%2FTypography&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 13 October 1908&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Lancet&quot; returns to its warnings against reading in bed. Dr. Hugo&amp;nbsp;Feilchenfeld, of Berlin, has recently published the results of an investigation into the effects of the practice, and he finds that the chief danger is to the eyes, for the familiar&amp;nbsp;reasons, first, that it is difficult to arrange the lighting so that it is sufficient and yet does not fall directly on&amp;nbsp;the eyes, and, secondly, that it is difficult to hold the book in an optically correct position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is certainly a tendency to trust to a distant light, the position of&amp;nbsp;which is rarely suitable for a person&amp;nbsp;lying on one side. Then the reader,&amp;nbsp;intent on his book and careless&amp;nbsp;of his&amp;nbsp;eyesight, will continue reading&amp;nbsp;with one eye fixed on the book and the other buried in the pillow; that is the commonest mistake&amp;nbsp;of all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These things tend to produce short sight and to aggravate it where it exists. Young people, therefore,&amp;nbsp;whose eyes are not yet set hard,&amp;nbsp;as in adult life, should avoid reading in bed if they can, and the &quot;Lancet&quot; deprecates it in all.  Probably most bed-readers will continue to indulge the vice, whether&amp;nbsp;its object is to weary the resistance of the wakeful mind by severely exercising its attention, or to&amp;nbsp;pass pleasantly into the extinction of slumber &ndash; which many people&amp;nbsp;instinctively shrink from &ndash; amid the diversions of an imaginary&amp;nbsp;world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These hardened sinners should make careful arrangements for the indulgence. It is not really difficult or expensive to fix a light candle, gas, or electric lamp, of sufficient&amp;nbsp;brilliancy, well above the head and behind it. To&amp;nbsp;keep both eyes on the book (a practical hint not given in the &quot;Lancet&quot;), rest the head at the end of a&amp;nbsp;hard pillow, and, as it were,&amp;nbsp;look&amp;nbsp;from the edge of it clear of&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;page. Perhaps some day publishers will issue bed-books &ndash; not the kind of books one ought to read in bed; one can only choose those oneself &ndash; but books suitable in typography and binding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The ideal bed-book must open quite&amp;nbsp;flat; it must have stiff covers to prevent the page from bending, and small pages for the same reason;&amp;nbsp;it must be of very light paper so as not to fatigue the hand; the type must&amp;nbsp;be&amp;nbsp;large; the margin must be very wide, especially on the outer&amp;nbsp;sides, on one or other of&amp;nbsp;which&amp;nbsp;the book rests according to&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;side one lies on. Perhaps&amp;nbsp;most&amp;nbsp;of&amp;nbsp;these requirements&amp;nbsp;are not undesirable in&amp;nbsp;a&amp;nbsp;book for daylight reading.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/typography&quot;&gt;Typography&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/medical-research&quot;&gt;Medical research&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/health-and-wellbeing&quot;&gt;Health &amp; wellbeing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BosZ9LmsxoMUv92GflzJ_daBLyo/0/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BosZ9LmsxoMUv92GflzJ_daBLyo/0/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;\n&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BosZ9LmsxoMUv92GflzJ_daBLyo/1/da&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/BosZ9LmsxoMUv92GflzJ_daBLyo/1/di&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; ismap=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:16+02:00', 'Books', 'archive 13 october 1908 reading bed dangerous warns lancet health & class=terms>');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1834, 'Science Weekly Podcast: Science Uncovered at the Natural History Museum', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/audio/2011/oct/03/science-weekly-podcast-science-uncovered', '&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alok Jha&lt;/strong&gt; presents a special edition of Science Weekly from the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhm.ac.uk/&quot;&gt;Natural History Museum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; in London. He was joined by &lt;strong&gt;Dr Johannes Vogel&lt;/strong&gt;, Keeper of Botany at the museum, &lt;strong&gt;Dr Caroline Smith&lt;/strong&gt;, Keeper of Meteorites, &lt;strong&gt;astrobiologist Zita Martins&lt;/strong&gt; from Imperial College London and Guardian science blogger &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist&quot;&gt;Martin Robbins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Martin has written a blog about returning to the museum for the first time since childhood. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/oct/01/natural-history-museum-gimmicks&quot;&gt;How has the old place changed?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reporter &lt;strong&gt;Camila Ruz&lt;/strong&gt; investigates the &lt;strong&gt;Science Fight Club&lt;/strong&gt; event at the museum, which pitched scientists against each other in verbal battle &ndash; with gloves off of course. We also delve into the work done by the preservation team at the museum, who keep the displays in tip-top condition for visitors and scientists alike.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Subscribe for free &lt;a href=&quot;http://bit.ly/science-weekly&quot;&gt;via iTunes&lt;/a&gt; to ensure every episode gets delivered. (Here is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://bit.ly/sw-xml&quot;&gt;non-iTunes URL feed&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow the podcast on our &lt;a href=&quot;http://bit.ly/sw-twitter&quot;&gt;Science Weekly Twitter feed&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://bit.ly/g-sci-twitter&quot;&gt;receive updates &lt;/a&gt;on all breaking science news stories from Guardian Science. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Email &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:scienceweeklypodcast@gmail.com&quot;&gt;scienceweeklypodcast@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://on.fb.me/g-sci-fb&quot;&gt;Guardian Science is now on Facebook&lt;/a&gt;. You can also join our &lt;a href=&quot;http://on.fb.me/sw-fb&quot;&gt;Science Weekly Facebook group&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We&#039;re always here when you need us. Listen back through &lt;a href=&quot;http://bit.ly/sci-weekly&quot;&gt;our archive&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alokjha&quot;&gt;Alok Jha&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jason-phipps&quot;&gt;Jason Phipps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:20+02:00', 'Science', 'science weekly podcast science uncovered natural history museum alok jha presents special edition science weekly ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1835, 'Lee Cronin: &#039;Aliens could be made from iron&#039;', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/aug/28/aliens-iron-evolution-lee-cronin', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/36386?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Lee+Cronin%3A+%27Aliens+could+be+made+from+iron%27%3AArticle%3A1624711&amp;ch=Technology&amp;c3=Obs&amp;c4=Alien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CEvolution+%28Science%29%2CCraig+Venter%2CBiology%2CChemistry+%28Science%29%2CScience&amp;c5=Environment+Conservation%2CNot+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Ian+Tucker&amp;c7=11-Aug-31&amp;c8=1624711&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Feature%2CInterview&amp;c11=Technology&amp;c13=My+bright+idea+%28series%29&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FTechnology%2FAlien+life&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Lee Cronin explains the potential benefits of evolving inorganic materials&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lee Cronin is the Gardiner professor of chemistry at the University of Glasgow. He also runs the Cronin Group, which is involved in work to &quot;construct complex functional molecular architectures that are not based on biologically derived building blocks&quot;. Earlier this year, he gave a talk at &lt;a href=&quot;http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2011/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;TEDGlobal&lt;/a&gt; in Edinburgh.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is inorganic biology?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Inorganic biology is my attempt to try to ask a very basic question about the nature of matter in the universe: can we do biology outside of organic chemistry?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You think biology is defined by evolution? &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, evolution occurs in biology but it doesn&#039;t occur anywhere else in the natural world. What I mean by evolution is this idea of survival of the fittest and adaptation by replication or birth of offspring. Evolution is a very good way to make complex systems that are robust and function in an environment. Darwin&#039;s theory of evolution is in fact a special theory of evolution because it only applies to biology, it only applies to carbon-based life. But four-and-a-half billion years ago there was no life. So I wanted to ask the question: what is the most basic unit of stuff that can independently undergo evolution? You could probably tell me the answer&hellip;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bacteria?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Exactly, a biologist might say bacteria are too complex but basically they are single-cell creatures of some description. And so when you set up that you come up with three questions, which are: what is life?; is biology special?; is matter evolvable? If we answer them in reverse order: we know matter is evolvable because biology is made of matter and it needs chemistry material to do its stuff. And if we could make general stuff outside of biology evolve, then we would know how special it is. And then that would lead us to question what is life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So what would be an example of the general stuff?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All stuff that we have on Earth that isn&#039;t replicating.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So you would like to turn the material world into the living world?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We can use the phenomenon of evolution to improve stuff as well as discovering new materials, devices or systems. And that has a profound consequence in itself: not only can we develop a whole new technology, but we might be able to understand how we got here in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even a few decades ago, scientists thought that life was incredibly difficult to assemble from nothing and that we were a once-in-a-universe achievement. But actually I think, and I am not alone in this thought, that the emergence of life on Earth is as probable as the emergence of life elsewhere. And so there are many life-forms in the universe but on Earth we are constrained by our bias of carbon and organic chemistry because organic chemistry works brilliantly here. If we were able to prove our assertion that biology is a general phenomenon, not just based on the organic, then we know there is probably other life in the universe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What I am saying is that all universes can come alive, they just do it in different ways. And in fact in  this universe there will be life based  on iron or silicon &ndash; we just can&#039;t conceive of it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How far have you got in trying to prove biology is a general phenomenon?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We are starting to make inorganic cells in my lab that can start to encapsulate complex chemical reactions. What we are trying to do at the moment is make those cells replicate and basically evolve to establish inorganic biology in the laboratory. So, for example, let&#039;s just say we have a material that would normally die or decompose under acidic physical conditions &ndash; we keep tinkering with it until it survives, then we move into another environment where we make it really hot and make it survive there. Then we put it into another system where we have a lot of salt where normally it would die, and it survives there. And if we put it in three environments in a row we would get an object that survives under acidic conditions, withstands heat and also high salt concentrations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We might do this because we want to evolve a sunscreen that is water-resistant for several hours, that gives you factor 30 and when it starts to degrade it starts to change colour so we can see our skin change colour, which tells us we need to reapply it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How does what you do differ from synthetic biology?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;People such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/may/20/craig-venter-synthetic-life-form&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Craig Venter&lt;/a&gt; are using existing biological building blocks to make new stuff. They are taking a mysterious machine with mysterious parts they don&#039;t fully understand, because evolution has put it there, and they are trying to reprogram the stuff. We don&#039;t know what pathways exist in bacterial cells that can be turned on by the deconstruction that synthetic biologists are doing and that worries me a little.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you reassure the wider public that this kind of science is not scary?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We&#039;re not suggesting that your pen will start to replicate spontaneously. What I would say to the public is we are trying to understand how evolution constructs complex systems so we will be able to predict, say, when the next HN1 virus will emerge.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Evolvable matter will not enslave us because we set the fitness function. We decide what lives and dies, and it won&#039;t be set free in the environment. With evolvable matter we have to use extremely sophisticated mechanisms to build our inorganic cell and they simply won&#039;t exist in our environment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To sum up?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I wanted to pare it back to this fundamental question: Darwin observed evolution in biology, but how do we observe evolution outside biology? I am willing to bet that there were some non-biological life-forms present on Earth. They just didn&#039;t get very far because biology was so good, it took all the available resources and did its own thing. However, I think that examples of inorganic biology do exist somewhere in our universe. If I am right, then the universe is wired to become alive through evolution and this is a general property of all matter in the universe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/evolution&quot;&gt;Evolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/venter&quot;&gt;Craig Venter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/biology&quot;&gt;Biology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/chemistry&quot;&gt;Chemistry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/iantucker&quot;&gt;Ian Tucker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:20+02:00', 'Alien life', 'lee cronin aliens iron ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1836, 'We need to talk about aliens | Alan Penny', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/aug/22/talk-aliens-intelligence-contact', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/80433?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=We+need+to+talk+about+aliens+%7C+Alan+Penny%3AArticle%3A1623171&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Alien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CScience%2CAstronomy+%28Science%29%2CSpace+%28Science%29&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Alan+Penny&amp;c7=11-Aug-23&amp;c8=1623171&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Science+blog+Notes+%26+Theories+%28reporters%27+blog%29&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FAlien+life&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;The more we consider the possible consequences of contact with an alien intelligence, the better prepared we will be&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;quoted&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man&#039;s.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;So starts H G Wells&#039;s 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, which continues with a military invasion by Martians. While contact with aliens may be a common theme in science fiction, could it also be a serious topic in science?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Indeed it could. Ever since 1960 with the first serious search for radio transmissions from other civilisations (known as SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), scientists have been thinking about what would happen if evidence for ET were found. Examples of their efforts include &lt;a href=&quot;http://royalsociety.org/Event.aspx?ID=1887&quot; title=&quot;Royal Society: The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society&quot;&gt;the 2010 Royal Society conference on &quot;The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last week &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/18/aliens-destroy-humanity-protect-civilisations&quot; title=&quot;Guardian:  Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists&quot;&gt;the Guardian reported&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.4462&quot; title=&quot;Baum et al: Would contact with extraterrestrials benefit or harm humanity? A scenario analysis&quot;&gt;a recent paper led by Seth Baum of Pennsylvania State University on this topic&lt;/a&gt;, categorising some of the possible consequences &ndash; ranging from beneficial through neutral to harmful.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So what&#039;s the point? We have never seen these Little Green Men, so why expend effort thinking about what might happen? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Scientists have already had to face this problem in real life. An early occasion was in 1967 when astronomers at Cambridge University using a new radio telescope detected regular blips coming from deep space. They were puzzled because no known source should do that. One possible explanation was ET and the director of the group, Nobel prizewinner Sir Martin Ryle, suggested that they should keep quiet about their discovery and dismantle the telescope, because if it was ET then sooner or later someone on Earth would start signalling back, alerting a possibly evil-minded alien intelligence to our existence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, they soon concluded that it was a natural source &ndash; they had in fact discovered pulsars. But there is a continuing controversy in the SETI community about whether it is wise to try and contact ET by sending out messages. For example, the main SETI searchers have agreed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coseti.org/setiprot.htm&quot; title=&quot;The Post-Detection SETI Protocol&quot;&gt;a protocol for how to spread the news if and when they discover ET&lt;/a&gt;, but have not yet been able to agree a common position on the wisdom of sending out messages.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The main problem is the nature of ETs. What are they like? To be able to influence us, they must be more advanced than us, so will they be wise and benevolent, since otherwise they would have destroyed themselves by now? Or perhaps as a result of a Hobbesian all-against-all struggle the only ET now out there has become dominant by destroying any potential competitors. But even if they were evil would they be able to get at us given the vast distances between the stars?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And it goes wider. Is it wise even to use our radio telescopes to try and detect ET? In 1962 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2001/aug/23/guardianobituaries.spaceexploration&quot; title=&quot;Guardian: Fred Hoyle&quot;&gt;the famous astronomer Fred Hoyle&lt;/a&gt; and John Elliot dramatised the risk in a TV series &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_for_Andromeda&quot; title=&quot;A&quot; for Andromeda&gt;A for Andromeda&lt;/a&gt;&quot; starring Julie Christie. A message from ET was detected which turned out to contain instructions for building a computer. After this was assembled it set about destroying the human race, before being thwarted by the scientist hero. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Considering dangers like that, and applying the precautionary principle, should we shut down all our SETI searches?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can we tell anything about ET that would guide us, first of all in deciding whether to search at all, then in matching our searches to its nature, and finally in whether to send out signals? My own position, as I argued in a paper presented at the Royal Society Kavli Centre last year, is that our total ignorance about the nature of ET means that we cannot say whether listening or talking is good or bad. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For example, sending a message may cause an evil ET to come and destroy us. Alternatively it may preserve us from destruction by an ET that has become aware of us from seeing our cities and is worried by the aggressive nature of new civilisations, but would be reassured by the peaceful content of a message.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We cannot tell which of the many possible benefits and dangers are more likely, and so we SETI folk can go about our business without reproach. But the more thinking, such as the Baum paper, we do about possible outcomes, the better prepared we may be for the actual outcome after the day of discovery, if and when it ever comes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It may be good to do this, but is it worth spending real money on? Well, in fact very little money is spent on SETI. There are probably about the equivalent of 20 full-time people worldwide working on SETI, most funded from private sources, together with a little money from individual universities, supplemented with a very small amount from governments. And like all high-tech work it has spinoffs, &lt;a href=&quot;http://boinc.berkeley.edu/&quot; title=&quot;Berkeley: BOINC&quot;&gt;most noticeably the Berkeley BOINC distributed computing system&lt;/a&gt; which started as &lt;a href=&quot;http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/&quot; title=&quot;SETI at home&quot;&gt;Seti@home&lt;/a&gt;, but is now used widely from biotechnology to meteorology. SETI is used as part of university teaching in the sciences, and it provokes thinking in allied sciences from sociology to linguistics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of the chances of success, SETI is of real value. But here in the UK, practically no private or government money goes into it. With around 0.5% of the government funds that now go into astronomy (the 1-in-200 effort, I call it) the UK could make a big splash in the Seti world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~ap22/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Alan Penny&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; is an honorary reader in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St Andrews, using the Lofar telescope to search for low-frequency radio signals from ET&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/astronomy&quot;&gt;Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:21+02:00', 'Alien life', 'need talk aliens | alan penny ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1837, 'Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/18/aliens-destroy-humanity-protect-civilisations', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/17553?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Aliens+may+destroy+humanity+to+protect+other+civilisations%2C+say+scientis%3AArticle%3A1622055&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Alien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CNasa%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CScience%2CWorld+news%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironment&amp;c5=Climate+Change%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CEthical+Living&amp;c6=Ian+Sample&amp;c7=11-Aug-19&amp;c8=1622055&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FAlien+life&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Rising greenhouse emissions could tip off aliens that we are a rapidly expanding threat, warns a report&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth&#039;s atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control &ndash; and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by a Nasa-affiliated scientist and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/directory/profile/1107/shawn/domagal-goldman/&quot; title=&quot;Shawn Domagal-Goldman&quot;&gt;Shawn Domagal-Goldman&lt;/a&gt; of Nasa&#039;s Planetary Science Division and his colleagues compiled a list of plausible outcomes that could unfold in the aftermath of a close encounter, to help humanity &quot;prepare for actual contact&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In their report, &lt;a href=&quot;http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.4462&quot; title=&quot;Would contact with Extraterrestrials benefit or harm humanity? A scenario analysis&quot;&gt;Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis&lt;/a&gt;, the researchers divide alien contacts into three broad categories: beneficial, neutral or harmful.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Beneficial encounters ranged from the mere detection of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), for example through the interception of alien broadcasts, to contact with cooperative organisms that help us advance our knowledge and solve global problems such as hunger, poverty and disease.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another beneficial outcome the authors entertain sees humanity triumph over a more powerful alien aggressor, or even being saved by a second group of ETs. &quot;In these scenarios, humanity benefits not only from the major moral victory of having defeated a daunting rival, but also from the opportunity to reverse-engineer ETI technology,&quot; the authors write.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other kinds of close encounter may be less rewarding and leave much of human society feeling indifferent towards alien life. The extraterrestrials may be too different from us to communicate with usefully. They might invite humanity to join the &quot;Galactic Club&quot; only for the entry requirements to be too bureaucratic and tedious for humans to bother with. They could even become a nuisance, like the stranded, prawn-like creatures that are kept in a refugee camp in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/&quot; title=&quot;IMDB: District 9&quot;&gt;2009 South African movie, District 9&lt;/a&gt;, the report explains.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The most unappealing outcomes would arise if extraterrestrials caused harm to humanity, even if by accident. While aliens may arrive to eat, enslave or attack us, the report adds that people might also suffer from being physically crushed or by contracting diseases carried by the visitors. In especially unfortunate incidents, humanity could be wiped out when a more advanced civilisation accidentally unleashes an unfriendly artificial intelligence, or performs a catastrophic physics experiment that renders a portion of the galaxy uninhabitable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To bolster humanity&#039;s chances of survival, the researchers call for caution in sending signals into space, and in particular warn against broadcasting information about our biological make-up, which could be used to manufacture weapons that target humans. Instead, any contact with ETs should be limited to mathematical discourse &quot;until we have a better idea of the type of ETI we are dealing with.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The authors warn that extraterrestrials may be wary of civilisations that expand very rapidly, as these may be prone to destroy other life as they grow, just as humans have pushed species to extinction on Earth. In the most extreme scenario, aliens might choose to destroy humanity to protect other civilisations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;A preemptive strike would be particularly likely in the early phases of our expansion because a civilisation may become increasingly difficult to destroy as it continues to expand. Humanity may just now be entering the period in which its rapid civilisational expansion could be detected by an ETI because our expansion is changing the composition of the Earth&#039;s atmosphere, via greenhouse gas emissions,&quot; the report states.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Green&quot; aliens might object to the environmental damage humans have caused on Earth and wipe us out to save the planet. &quot;These scenarios give us reason to limit our growth and reduce our impact on global ecosystems. It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets,&quot; the authors write.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even if we never make contact with extraterrestrials, the report argues that considering the potential scenarios may help to plot the future path of human civilisation, avoid collapse and achieve long-term survival.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&bull; This article was amended on 19 August 2011. The subhead said the report was &quot;for Nasa&quot;. This has been corrected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nasa&quot;&gt;Nasa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change&quot;&gt;Climate change&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/iansample&quot;&gt;Ian Sample&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:21+02:00', 'Alien life', 'aliens destroy humanity protect civilisations say scientists ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1838, 'Jodie Foster keeps real-life alien hunt alive', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/17/jodie-foster-hunt-aliens-donation', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/35827?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Jodie+Foster+keeps+real-life+alien+hunt+alive%3AArticle%3A1621113&amp;ch=Film&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Jodie+Foster%2CScience+fiction+and+fantasy+%28Film+genre%29%2CFilm%2CCulture%2CAlien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CScience&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviews&amp;c6=Ben+Child&amp;c7=11-Aug-18&amp;c8=1621113&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Film&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FFilm%2FJodie+Foster&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Actor who played a scientist in sci-fi movie Contact makes donation to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;She played a scientist who uncovers evidence of extraterrestrial life in 1997&#039;s Contact. Yesterday it was revealed that the Oscar-winning actor Jodie Foster is engaged in a real-life bid to prove that we are not alone in the universe after the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California said she had &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/199026/20110817/jodie-foster-seti-alien-extra-terrestrial-intelligence-donation-allen-telescope-array-paul-allen-mic.htm&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;made a donation to help it continue its work in the face of funding cuts&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Foster&#039;s undisclosed donation helped the organisation, which monitors radio transmissions in the hope of finding transmissions from other worlds, to raise $223,000 &ndash; exceeding its $200,000 goal &ndash; from 2,557 donors. The fund-raising campaign was launched after US federal and California state cuts left the institute facing a severe shortfall. SETI was forced to halt operations in April, but its 42 radio telescope dishes (named the Allen Telescope Array or ATA) will now be pointed once again towards outer space.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/jodie-foster-helps-keep-search-for-aliens-alive&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;&quot;It is good to go and we need to return it to the task of searching newly discovered planetary worlds for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence,&quot;&lt;/a&gt; Foster told AFP. She said the telescopes &quot;could turn science fiction into science fact, but only if it is actively searching the skies. I support the effort to bring the array out of hibernation.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Apollo 8 mission astronaut Bill Anders, who also made a donation, said it was &quot;absolutely irresponsible of the human race not to be searching for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;We are so grateful to our donors,&quot; said SETI co-founder Tom Pierson. &quot;We believe we will be back on the air in September.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;California-based SETI is now looking towards other options to secure its long-term future &ndash; it needs an estimated $5m to operate for the next two years but has struggled to secure cash after failing to unearth any sign of the existence of aliens in its 26 years of operation. One potential source of funds could be a government contract to track orbiting space debris that could damage satellites and the international space station.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/jodie-foster&quot;&gt;Jodie Foster&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sciencefictionandfantasy&quot;&gt;Science fiction and fantasy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/benchild&quot;&gt;Ben Child&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:22+02:00', 'Jodie Foster', 'jodie foster keeps real life alien hunt alive alien class=author>');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1839, 'TED Global 2011: Forget Glastonbury, this is Nerdstock', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/jul/13/ted-global-2011-glastonbury-nerdstock', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/86460?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=TED+Global+2011%3A+Forget+Glastonbury%2C+this+is+Nerdstock%3AArticle%3A1606439&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Evolution+%28Science%29%2CAlien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CBiology%2CMathematics+%28science%29%2CTED+%28Technology%29%2CInternet%2CTechnology%2CSocial+mobility+%28Society%29%2CSociety&amp;c5=Environment+Conservation%2CSociety+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTechnology+Gadgets%2CSocial+Care+Society%2CCorporate+IT&amp;c6=Carole+Cadwalladr&amp;c7=11-Jul-27&amp;c8=1606439&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=TED+Global+2011&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FEvolution&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Giant corporations behaving like nation states, the creation of life, social immobility, flying like a bird and the tyranny of the algorithm - TED Global 2011 had something smart to say on all these subjects&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Could a chair evolve? Are cities biology? And who is the sultan of Facebookistan? Yes, it can only be the start of this year&#039;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2011/&quot;&gt;TED Global conference&lt;/a&gt; in Edinburgh, the annual mindfest that brings together some of the world&#039;s smartest scientists, biggest thinkers, and most innovative do-ers to share their &quot;ideas worth spreading&quot;.     &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#039;s an undeniably exclusively affair - tickets cost nearly &pound;4,000 and prime ministers and Hollywood actresses tend to drop by - but what TED does best is nerds. Forget Glastonbury, this is Nerdstock, where for a week, neuroscientists and quantum physicists get to act like rock stars (think standing ovations, mass adulation, and the tantalising possibility of groupie sex). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But then, TED is nothing if not ambitious: this year&#039;s theme? It&#039;s just the small matter of &quot;The stuff of life&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Is Facebook a new kind of nation state? &lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rconversation.blogs.com/&quot;&gt;Rebecca Mackinnon&lt;/a&gt; of the international bloggers&#039; network Global Voices Online claims it&#039;s starting to act like one. Private companies, she argues, are exerting the kind of control and power that previously only governments had. They&#039;re applying censorship (like Apple did in Israel where it banned a Palestinian app), or responding to requests from regimes (as Apple again did in China where it pulled a Dalai Lama app) and creating what she calls &quot;a new layer of private sovereignty&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the old days, there were nation states; in the new world order there are supra-national corporations that are exercising power without restraint. Just as the American Declaration of Independence inaugurated the concept of the &quot;consent of the governed&quot;, she says, we need to insist upon a &quot;consent of the networked&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Is matter evolvable? &lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is the minimal unit of matter that can undergo Darwinian evolution? The answer, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/&quot;&gt;Lee Cronin&lt;/a&gt;, professor of chemistry at Glasgow University, is a single cell, and this raises a whole host of questions. Questions such as, what is life? Is biology special? Is matter &#039;evolvable&#039;? And if we can make stuff that mimics life, can we then make life? Cronin thinks so. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is the likelihood that somewhere in the universe there is non-carbon-based life? Just about 100%, he says. In his laboratory, he&#039;s trying to create inorganic life using a whole host of different reactive formats. &quot;We&#039;re coming very close to understanding the key steps that make dead stuff come alive,&quot; he says. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He sounds a warning, though. There are biohazards to consider: &quot;If your pen could replicate, that could be a bit of a problem.&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Are algorithms nature? &lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Algorithms are no longer just a set of instructions that tell a computer what to do. They&#039;ve become a force in their own right, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://about.me/slavin&quot;&gt;Kevin Slavin&lt;/a&gt;, the co-founder of games company Area/Code. The world has now become a place where algorithms battle each other for supremacy. The financial markets now consist of one set of algorithms trying to outsmart another set, and nobody can be exactly sure any more of what it exactly is that we&#039;re doing. &quot;We&#039;ve lost the sense of what&#039;s actually happening in this world that we&#039;ve made.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He cites the example of the &quot;Flash Crash&quot;, when at 2.42pm on 6 May last year, 9% of the Dow Jones index simply disappeared &quot;and nobody knew where it went&quot;. No person was in control; it was simply a bunch of computer algorithms battling it out against each other. This, he says, is not information: it&#039;s culture.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;What&#039;s it like to be a bird? &lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It is fun!&quot; according &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jetman.com/?page_id=24&quot;&gt;Yves Rossy&lt;/a&gt;, a Swiss airline pilot who regularly straps on a pair of wings, leaps out of an aircraft and turns his body into a fuselage. The wings have their own jet pack but no steering or brakes: to gain altitude he arches his back, and when he wants to go into a dive, he pushes his shoulders down. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;With this little harness and these little wings, I have the feeling to be almost a bird!&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Watch him here in action flying over the Grand Canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&quot;If Americans want to live the American dream, they should go to Denmark&quot;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Or possibly Japan. Because if it&#039;s social mobility you&#039;re after, the USA (followed closely by the UK) is the worst place to live on Earth, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_G._Wilkinson&quot;&gt;Richard Wilkinson&lt;/a&gt;, professor emeritus of social epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His research has shown that the more unequal a country - ie, the greater the gap between rich and poor - the less people trust each other, the more heart disease they suffer, the greater number of murders there are, and the higher level of mental illness they suffer. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Status anxiety, according to Wilkinson, isn&#039;t some sort of existential malaise: it affects all people in all walks of life and entire nation states. If you really want to tackle diabetes or teenage pregnancy, or infant mortality, or depression, he argues, then you need to restrain City bonuses and raise taxes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&bull; This article was amended on 13 July 2011. The original linked to the web page of the wrong Richard Wilkinson at the University of Nottingham. This has been corrected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/evolution&quot;&gt;Evolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/biology&quot;&gt;Biology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/mathematics&quot;&gt;Mathematics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/ted&quot;&gt;TED&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/internet&quot;&gt;Internet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/socialmobility&quot;&gt;Social mobility&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/carolecadwalladr&quot;&gt;Carole Cadwalladr&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:23+02:00', 'Evolution', 'ted global 2011 forget glastonbury nerdstock ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1840, 'Notes and queries: Is it a good idea to try to contact aliens? Why do so many people live in the south of England? Why are overheard mobile conversations so annoying?', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/jul/05/good-idea-to-contact-aliens', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/84141?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Notes+and+queries%3A+Is+it+a+good+idea+to+try+to+contact+aliens%3F+Why+do+so%3AArticle%3A1602918&amp;ch=From+the+Guardian&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Alien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CSeti+%28Search+for+Extraterrestrial+Intelligence%29%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CScience&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=&amp;c7=11-Jul-06&amp;c8=1602918&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Letter%2CFeature&amp;c11=From+the+Guardian&amp;c13=Notes+and+queries+%28series%29&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FFrom+the+Guardian%2FAlien+life&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Is it a good idea to try to contact aliens? Why do so many people live in the south of England? Why are overheard mobile conversations so annoying?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I read that Russian scientists are beaming  radio signals into space in search of aliens.  Is this wise?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As long as they use the wavelengths of BBC3 or BBC4 I am sure they will only attract the right sort of alien.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;John Whitehead, London EC2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn&#039;t worry too much. We&#039;ve been notifying the aliens out there of our presence since Marconi started out, though the signals have got stronger. However, if they receive too many episodes of Mrs Dale&#039;s Diary, All My Children and Dynasty, they may well want to avoid us like the plague.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chris Dutta, Portsmouth&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless another civilisation has worked out a means of overcoming the cosmic speed limit, ie the speed of light, even if someone does receive and interpret the signals, we are hardly likely to have any visitors during our lifetimes. At the maximum speed our current space vehicles are able to achieve it would take, from an observer&#039;s point-of-view, thousands of years for a spaceship to reach even our nearest star, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.universetoday.com/59336/proxima-centauri/&quot; title=&quot;As the nearest star from our Solar System, Proxima Centauri is a prime candidate for future interstellar travel and space colonization missions.&quot;&gt;Proxima Centauri&lt;/a&gt;. It would take 10 years even at the maximum theoretical speed. Everything points to we humans being stuck with our planet and the little green men being stuck with theirs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Terence Hollingworth, Blagnac, France&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What&#039;s the worst that could happen?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ned Potter, York&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why do so many people live in the south of England when it is, frankly, not as good as almost every other region of the world?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that the fact Dan Ware writes from Stockport might have something to do with his suggestion that the south is &quot;not as good as almost every other region of the world&quot;. While there are many beautiful areas (the New Forest, South Downs, Chilterns etc) and historic sites, which enjoy a pleasant, temperate climate, I too would put it a fair way down my list of places to live if it wasn&#039;t for one thing: the fact that so many other people, both now and in the past, have chosen to live here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In London, we have one of the cultural and historical (to say nothing of economic and financial) capitals of the world. I love travelling, but there are few other places that can provide anything like the sheer variety of museums, galleries, theatres, cinemas, music venues and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#039;s also pretty handy for the rest of Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Simon Dennis, London W5&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The answer is in the question(er) &ndash; because it is less grim than the north of England. More enlightened northerners realise this and move south, which is why it is so crowded here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Steve Vanstone, Purley, Surrey&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having visited most parts of the UK I cannot share the view that they are &quot;better&quot; than south-east England. Sure, scenically it can&#039;t compare to, say, the Lake District, West Highlands or Welsh Marches, but many parts are attractive. The North Downs are lovely and there are many gems scattered around. The much maligned Essex has a longer coastline than Cornwall, and much of it remains unspoilt. Epping Forest is a grand woodland and the Chilterns remain outstanding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But it&#039;s not only about scenery. Public transport in south-east England is generally better. I don&#039;t need a car to get around, so living in the Smoke is actually more ecological than deepest Sticksville. When it comes to jobs there is no comparison. The south-east has a better range of accessible jobs, mostly paying better. True, it has horrendous unemployment areas, but so do other parts of the UK, including Stockport.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crime? Yes, it exists across the south-east, but not overall as bad as other British conurbations. And my chances of being shot are actually higher in the country than they are  in London.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The wonder is why TV programmes such as Escape to the Country aren&#039;t replaced by Return to Civilisation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Roger Backhouse, Ilford&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As my Kent mother-in-law says:  &quot;It would be more popular if it wasn&#039;t so crowded here.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Jo Gibson, Liverpool&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Where, exactly, is this north-south divide located?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;James O&#039;Keeffe, London&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why does overhearing one half of a mobile phone conversation irritate, whereas overhearing both sides of  the same conversation in the flesh wouldn&#039;t?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many of the most irritating conversations overheard on mobile phones are completely unnecessary if the other person is there in the flesh because: they would know you were on a train as they would be there too; they would know which station you&#039;ve just passed through; they would realise you were now 15 minutes from home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gary Heiden, Buckhurst Hill, Essex&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Any answers? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How come jeans go with anything, when ordinary trousers of the same colour don&#039;t?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;William Francis,  St Andre de l&#039;Epine, France&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does anybody else suffer from Empty Car Park Syndrome, whereby the time taken to park increases in relation to the number of spaces available?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pete Whittle, Canterbury, Kent&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why does my rabbit like eating firelighters?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Maisie Tucker, Bristol&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Post your questions and answers below or email nq@guardian.co.uk (including name, address and phone number).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/seti-search-extraterrestrial-intelligence&quot;&gt;Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:23+02:00', 'Alien life', 'notes queries good idea try contact aliens people live south england overheard mobile conversations annoying is good idea try contact aliens people live south england overheard mobile conversations read russian scientists beaming radio signals space search aliens long use wavelengths bbc3 bbc4 i sure attract right sort whitehead london ec2i wouldnt worry weve notifying aliens presence marconi started signals got stronger receive episodes mrs dales diary children dynasty want avoid like dutta civilisation worked means overcoming cosmic speed limit speed light does receive interpret signals hardly likely visitors lifetimes maximum speed current space vehicles able achieve observers point view thousands years spaceship reach nearest star proxima centauri 10 years maximum theoretical speed points humans stuck planet little green men stuck hollingworth blagnac worst potter people live south england frankly good region suspect fact dan ware writes stockport suggestion south good region world beautiful areas new forest south downs chilterns historic sites enjoy pleasant temperate climate i fair way list places live wasnt thing fact people past chosen live herein london cultural historical say economic financial capitals world i love travelling places provide like sheer variety museums galleries theatres cinemas music venues likeits pretty handy rest dennis london w5the answer questioner – grim north england enlightened northerners realise south crowded vanstone purley visited parts uk i share view better south east england sure scenically compare say lake district west highlands welsh marches parts attractive north downs lovely gems scattered maligned essex longer coastline cornwall remains unspoilt epping forest grand woodland chilterns remain scenery public transport south east england generally better i need living smoke actually ecological deepest sticksville comes jobs comparison south east better range accessible jobs paying better true horrendous unemployment areas parts uk including yes exists south east overall bad british conurbations chances shot actually higher country londonthe wonder tv programmes escape country arent replaced return backhouse kent mother law says popular wasnt crowded herejo gibson exactly north south divide okeeffe does overhearing half mobile phone conversation irritate overhearing sides conversation flesh irritating conversations overheard mobile phones completely unnecessary person flesh know train know station youve just passed realise 15 minutes homegary heiden buckhurst hill answers ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1841, 'Alien encounters &#039;within twenty years&#039;', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jun/27/alien-encounters-twenty-years-russian-astronomer', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/40884?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Alien+encounters+%27within+twenty+years%27%3AArticle%3A1599412&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Alien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CAstronomy+%28Science%29%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CRussia+%28News%29%2CWorld+news&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Reuters&amp;c7=11-Jun-28&amp;c8=1599412&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FAlien+life&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;A top Russian astronomer say he expects humans to encounter extraterrestrial civilisations within the next two decades&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Russian scientists expect humanity to encounter alien civilisations within the next two decades, a top Russian astronomer said on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;The genesis of life is as inevitable as the formation of atoms ... Life exists on other planets and we will find it within 20 years,&quot; said Andrei Finkelstein, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences&#039; Applied Astronomy Institute, according to the Interfax news agency.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Speaking at an international forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, Finkelstein said 10% of the known planets circling suns in the galaxy resemble Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If water can be found there, then so can life, he said, adding that aliens would most likely resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;They may have different colour skin, but even we have that,&quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Finkelstein&#039;s institute runs a programme launched in the 1960s at the height of the cold war space race to watch for and beam out radio signals to outer space.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;The whole time we have been searching for extraterrestrial civilisations, we have mainly been waiting for messages from space and not the other way,&quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In March &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/mar/06/nasa-scientist-evidence-extraterrestrial-life&quot;&gt;a Nasa scientist caused controversy&lt;/a&gt; after claiming to have found tiny fossils of alien bugs inside meteorites that landed on Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Richard Hoover, an astrobiologist at the US space agency&#039;s Marshall space flight centre in Alabama, said filaments and other structures in rare meteorites appear to be microscopic fossils of extraterrestrial beings that resemble algae known as cyanobacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html&quot;&gt;Writing in the Journal of Cosmology&lt;/a&gt;, Hoover claimed that the lack of nitrogen in the samples, which is essential for life on Earth, indicated they are &quot;the remains of extraterrestrial life forms that grew on the parent bodies of the meteorites when liquid water was present, long before the meteorites entered the Earth&#039;s atmosphere.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/astronomy&quot;&gt;Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia&quot;&gt;Russia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:24+02:00', 'Alien life', 'alien encounters years a russian astronomer say expects humans encounter extraterrestrial civilisations scientists expect humanity encounter alien civilisations decades russian astronomer said mondaythe genesis life inevitable formation atoms life exists planets 20 years said andrei finkelstein director russian academy sciences applied astronomy institute according interfax news international forum dedicated search extraterrestrial life finkelstein said 10 known planets circling suns galaxy resemble earthif water life said adding aliens likely resemble humans arms legs headthey different colour skin institute runs programme launched 1960s height cold space race watch beam radio signals outer spacethe time searching extraterrestrial civilisations mainly waiting messages space way saidin march a nasa scientist caused controversy claiming tiny fossils alien bugs inside meteorites landed earthrichard hoover astrobiologist space agencys marshall space flight centre alabama said filaments structures rare meteorites appear microscopic fossils extraterrestrial beings resemble algae known journal cosmology hoover claimed lack nitrogen samples essential life earth indicated remains extraterrestrial life forms grew parent bodies meteorites liquid water present long meteorites entered earths atmospherealien life');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1842, 'Are we alone in the universe? | GrrlScientist', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/may/25/1', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/37245?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Are+we+are+alone+in+the+universe%3F%3AArticle%3A1562947&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Alien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CAstronomy+%28Science%29%2CPhysics+%28Science%29%2CScience&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=GrrlScientist&amp;c7=11-May-25&amp;c8=1562947&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Punctuated+Equilibrium+by+GrrlScientist&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2Fblog%2FGrrlScientist&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Neil deGrasse Tyson: &quot;We learned in the last fifty years that ... not only do we exist in the universe, but it is the universe itself that exists within us&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was a postdoc at the same institution, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amnh.org/&quot;&gt;the American Museum of Natural History&lt;/a&gt; in New York City, where astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is director of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/index.php&quot;&gt;Hayden Planetarium&lt;/a&gt;. As a result of my proximity, I often got to watch him in action. His kindness and passion combined with his truly impressive oratory about science, were inspirational. I thought I&#039;d share just one insight from Dr Tyson, an insight that ties in nicely with the &quot;elements of the periodic table&quot; series that I share on this blog every Friday morning. In this video clip, Dr Tyson explains one of his &quot;disturbing thoughts&quot; that might keep his audience awake at night: are we alone in the universe?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Would you like to watch the entire presentation? (If you wish to go directly to Dr Tyson&#039;s talk, skip ahead to 15:30): &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Would you like to learn more about Dr Tyson? Visit his &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/&quot;&gt;official website&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;br /&gt;You can follow Dr Tyson on twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/neiltyson&quot;&gt;neiltyson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;email: &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:grrlscientist@gmail.com&quot;&gt;grrlscientist@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;twitter: @&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/#!/GrrlScientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/astronomy&quot;&gt;Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/physics&quot;&gt;Physics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/grrlscientist&quot;&gt;GrrlScientist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:25+02:00', 'Alien life', 'universe | grrlscientist ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1843, 'Notes and queries: Some uses for 14,000 video cassettes; The man who invented mauve; How we might miss the aliens by a few billion years', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/may/25/uses-for-video-cassettes', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/96237?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Notes+and+queries%3A+Some+uses+for+14%2C000+video+cassettes%3B+The+man+who+inv%3AArticle%3A1562822&amp;ch=From+the+Guardian&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Life+and+style%2CAlien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=&amp;c7=11-May-25&amp;c8=1562822&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Letter%2CFeature&amp;c11=From+the+Guardian&amp;c13=Notes+and+queries+%28series%29&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FFrom+the+Guardian%2FAlien+life&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Some uses for 14,000 video cassettes; The man who invented mauve; How we might miss the aliens by a few billion years&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any use for old VHS cassettes? My pal has 14,000 of them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use them like Lego blocks and build a small shed to store the  DVD collection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mike Whitley, Long Sutton, Lincs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can still watch Erich von Stroheim&#039;s Greed on one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tony Edwards, West Wratting, Cambridge&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Landfill.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Richard Hickman, Church Stretton, Shropshire&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I asked at my local recycling centre and was directed to the &quot;Articles that cannot be recycled&quot; bin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Nick Wilde, Bedford&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;VHS cassettes and other recording tapes can be recycled, despite the widespread belief that they can&#039;t be. One company that does this is the Recycling People in Ross-on-Wye.  They make a modest charge for any material where a tape has to be extracted. However, they recycle DVDs and floppy disks for nothing. A tip: if you have to post, do not use the Post Office&#039;s extortionate service.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tom Headland, Brighton&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes. Artist Lorenzo Durantini  uses them in his sculptures and performance &lt;a href=&quot;http://lorenzodurantini.com/ph05.htm&quot; title=&quot;Tower no. 4   The only film to have ever provoked genuine fear in me was Kubrick&#039;s 2001 A Space Odyssey.   2010  digital c-type   130 x 100 cm &quot;&gt;pieces&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;John MacLean, London Sw17&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the very least, this represents 30,000 solid hours of telly-watching. What was your pal&#039;s estimate of his remaining lifespan?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Alan Brown, Wolverhampton&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Would it be possible to invent or discover a new colour?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A chemistry student called William Perkin did just that by accident in 1856. I quote from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2000/sep/21/fiction.simongarfield&quot; title=&quot;Mauve with the times Since its accidental creation in the 1850s, the colour has aroused strong emotions. Simon Garfield chronicles a vivid history&quot;&gt;the Guardian of 21 September 2000&lt;/a&gt;: &quot;Mauve was the first artificial colour to be produced on a grand scale.  It was made from coal tar and came about by accident when Perkin was trying to make artificial quinine to save British troops dying from malaria. He got the molecule wrong, but found that the sludge produced dyed his shirt a brilliant purple.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Perkin originally called his new colour Tyrian purple but the French called it mauve, the word used to describe the stems of their mallow plant. The new colour became extremely popular. Mauve was everywhere &ndash; streaming on hair ribbons, waving on carriages, and in a pantomime a policeman told people to &quot;get  a mauve on&quot;. It also became the Victorian colour for half-mourning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sylvia Henderson, Reading&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nicola Tanner (N&amp;Q, 18 May) might be interested to know that the &quot;muddy brown&quot; she created by mixing all her colours together does, in fact, have a name. It was called &quot;smudge&quot; by some of the old railway companies that tipped any leftovers from painting their engines or coaches into a big tub, mixed them together and painted their goods wagons with it. This waste-not, want-not product was an imprecise colour, but was always some species of brown.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Stephen Hannington, Rochester, Kent&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We are told that all life on Earth originates from a single microbe event, proven by DNA. So what are  the odds on life existing elsewhere?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The reason why we may never enter into meaningful contact with intelligent life elsewhere is as much  a consequence of time as distance.  The universe is 13.75bn years old,  and life on Earth originated some  3.5bn years ago. Yet human civilisation is perhaps 10,000 years old, and man has had the means to transmit and receive communications across space only for the last few decades &ndash; a blink of the eye in cosmic terms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Terence Hollingworth noted (N&amp;Q, 18 May), given the likely number of solar systems in the universe with potentially habitable planets, life may well exist elsewhere. But there is no reason why life should have started at the same time wherever it came into existence, or that intelligent life should have evolved at the same place. On Earth, given the dynamics of evolution and the vagaries of mass extinctions and other disruptive events, it is only by chance that intelligent life has occurred at this precise moment in the universe&#039;s existence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If we ever do develop the technology to detect life elsewhere in the vast reaches of space, it is unlikely to have evolved in the same way or at the same pace as us. Any civilisation we encounter may be much more advanced, much more primitive, or it may have evolved in a completely different way, with completely different approaches to communication, language, thought, and social relationships. Yet we assume that if we encounter other beings they will in fact be rather like us, and communicate in ways we find intelligible about ideas that we have in common. That is very unlikely to be the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Richard Williams, Kingston, Surrey&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Any answers?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Booker judge Carmen Callil called Philip Roth the &quot;emperor&#039;s clothes&quot; choice. What would be the emperor&#039;s choice in the arts, architecture etc?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;AW Simpson, East Hoathly, East Sussex &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the hierarchy of French supermarkets? I&#039;ve always considered Carrefour to be best and Super U worst.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lloyd Evans, Brighton&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do nest-building birds get the first few twigs to balance?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Isobel Lane, London SW16&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Send questions and answers to nq@guardian.co.uk. Please include name, address and phone number.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:25+02:00', 'Life and style', 'notes queries uses 14000 video cassettes invented mauve miss aliens billion years ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1844, 'Scientists plan to sail robot boat on methane lake of Saturn&#039;s moon Titan', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/15/saturn-titan-robot-boat-sea', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/65623?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Scientists+plan+to+sail+robot+boat+on+methane+lake+of+Saturn%27s+moon+Tita%3AArticle%3A1558361&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Obs&amp;c4=Saturn+%28Science%29%2CAlien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2COpen+University%2CWorld+news&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CHigher+Education&amp;c6=Robin+McKie&amp;c7=11-May-15&amp;c8=1558361&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FSaturn&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Open University team led by Professor John Zarnecki hopes Nasa will back project to explore chances of life beneath Titan&#039;s surface&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2011/05/14/gu_Titan.pdf&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt; See a PDF of the mission profile&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Space engineers are planning to build the first extraterrestrial boat. They want to launch the craft towards Titan &ndash; Saturn&#039;s largest moon &ndash; and parachute it on to the Ligeia Mare, a sea of methane and ethane on its surface.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The robot ship would sail around this extraterrestrial sea for several months, exploring its coastline and measuring the winds and waves that sweep its surface. &quot;Waves on Titan&#039;s seas will be far larger, but much slower, than on earthly oceans, according to our calculations,&quot; said Professor John Zarnecki, of the Open University. &quot;That suggests Titan is the best spot in the solar system for surfing.  The only trouble is that the temperature there is -180C (-290F). Either way you look at it, it is clear the place is pretty cool.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The mission to Titan &ndash; the only moon in the solar system with a thick atmosphere, of nitrogen and methane &ndash; would be the first exploration of a sea beyond Earth and could provide evidence about the possible existence of complex organic chemicals, the precursors of life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Methane is a gas on Earth, but because Titan is so cold it acts as a liquid there,&quot; added Zarnecki, who is working with US scientists on the construction of the Titan boat probe. &quot;It exists as a liquid, a gas and a solid, just like water on Earth, depending on conditions in a particular area. Methane also cycles between Titan&#039;s surface and its atmosphere, just as water does on Earth. It drives the weather there.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ultraviolet radiation from the Sun reacts with this methane, causing it to form complex hydrocarbons that slowly fall back to the surface. In short, it rains petrochemicals on Titan. Rivers of the stuff wash down valleys and form lakes and seas. Over the past seven years, these petrochemical seas have been mapped by US robot spaceship Cassini. In addition, Cassini deployed a smaller probe, called Huygens &ndash; built by the European Space Agency &ndash; which landed on Titan in 2005. Many of the instruments for that craft were built by Zarnecki and his Open University team. This experience led to a request for them to join the Titan Mare Explorer, or TiME, project that is being funded by Nasa and led by Ellen Stofan, a researcher with the science organisation Proxemy Research.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to her plans, the TiME probe would be fired at Titan on a billion-mile journey across the solar system. Once it enters the moon&#039;s thick atmosphere the craft would parachute down towards the surface and then drop into the 300-mile-wide Ligeia Mare. It would then spend several months afloat on an oily sea taking measurements of waves, chemicals and other variables.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;The probe&#039;s main instrument will be a mass spectrometer, which will tell us exactly what the lake is made of. However, we also want to do things like depth-sounding,&quot; said Stofan. The instruments would be powered by a small nuclear generator, because Titan is so distant from the Sun that solar panels cannot be used to provide power for detectors or transmitters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Titan is also thought to have an ocean of water deep underground. Complex organic chemicals, created on its surface, could be seeping down through fissures so that primitive lifeforms could have evolved in relatively warm waters beneath the moon&#039;s surface. Hence scientists&#039; interest in studying Titan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The TiME probe was originally selected as one of 28 missions that Nasa was considering as future projects. Twenty-five of these candidate missions have now been rejected, and the Titan mission now has only two other competitors for the &pound;300m funding that will be needed for its development and launch. The other two are a seismic monitoring station for Mars and a comet-hopping probe. Detailed plans for all three are now being worked out by scientists, and the winner will be chosen after a review in 2012. In the case of TiME, launch would be in 2016, with the ship arriving seven years later.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;When the proposal for the TiME mission went in, it had a one-in-28 chance of success,&quot; said Zarnecki. &quot;Now Nasa have shortlisted it, it has a one-in-three chance &ndash; that&#039;s getting serious. I didn&#039;t think I had a chance of returning to Titan in my career. Now that&#039;s all changed.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/saturn&quot;&gt;Saturn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/openuniversity&quot;&gt;Open University&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/robinmckie&quot;&gt;Robin McKie&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:26+02:00', 'Saturn', 'scientists plan sail robot boat methane lake saturns moon titan ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1845, 'Why Lee from Blue is loving the alien', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2011/apr/07/lee-ryan-loving-the-alien', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/63855?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Why+Lee+from+Blue+is+loving+the+alien%3AArticle%3A1542976&amp;ch=Life+and+style&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Celebrity%2CLife+and+style%2CBlue+%28the+band%29%2CMusic%2CAlien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CScience%2CHeat+magazine%2CMedia&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly&amp;c6=Alexis+Petridis&amp;c7=11-Apr-08&amp;c8=1542976&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Feature%2CBlogpost&amp;c11=Life+and+style&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Lost+in+showbiz+blog&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FLife+and+style%2Fblog%2FLost+in+showbiz+blog&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;The earth is ruled by 7ft-tall reptilian aliens. It must be true, because Lee Ryan from Eurovision hopefuls Blue says so&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lost in Showbiz loves the world of the celebrity gossip magazine. It sees it as a glimpse into an alternate, better world, a world packed full of vital information (&quot;Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was rumoured to have married a Rastafarian on a Harwich to Hamburg ferry in 2000&quot;),  a world where they confront problems head-on with incredible lateral thinking. Last week, faced with the lot of Jack Tweed, still coming to terms with the loss of his wife Jade Goody on the second anniversary of her death, it adduced that the most dignified course of action was to get him to pose for a photograph by a mirror, from which, via the miracle of Photoshop, his late wife appeared to look on, smiling. This week, OK! has deemed the correct way to address the eating disorder that has caused model Nicola McLean to lose 7st since the birth of her child is a series of &quot;sexy&quot; topless photographs that deliberately conceal her anorexia: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ok.co.uk/posts/view/34058/Nicola-McLean-exclusive-as-she-reveals-the-disturbing-truth-&quot; title=&quot;These posed shots of Nicola&quot;&gt;These posed shots of Nicola&lt;/a&gt; &ndash; in full makeup, with her hair extensions perfectly styled &ndash; go some way to disguising the illness.&quot; Don&#039;t worry about the eating disorder that&#039;s caused your body weight to halve in  18 months &ndash; you look great!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And yet it can&#039;t help but feel it&#039;s a world with something of a spiritual void lurking at its centre. There&#039;s obviously Lost in Showbiz&#039;s old chums, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2011/mar/24/speakmans-celebrities-kerry-katona&quot; title=&quot;Inspirational Life Coaches Nik and Eva Speakman&quot;&gt;Inspirational Life Coaches Nik and Eva Speakman&lt;/a&gt;, to whom we learn McLean has turned for treatment. And it&#039;s true that &quot;crazy games&quot;, &quot;mad music&quot;, dressing up like Father Christmas and encouraging you to make a Wow List before you go to bed at night very much have the edge over, say, a combined course of medical nutritional therapy and cognitive remediation when it comes to treating anorexia, particularly when the Inspirational Life Coaches in question share the same management company as you. But there&#039;s only so much one couple can take on their shoulders, even with the help of their pet skeleton Mr Bones. Where else to look for spiritual guidance in the world of celebrity?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Happily, LiS has the answer: quest no longer, seekers of a greater truth, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leeryanmusic.co.uk/news?page=2&quot; title=&quot;Lee Ryan from Blue&quot;&gt;Lee Ryan from Blue&lt;/a&gt; is back, using the platform afforded him by noted philosophical journal Heat magazine to spread his message of enlightenment. &quot;I think there&#039;s going to be a revelation of spirit,&quot; he said, alas neglecting to mention whether this would coincide with Blue&#039;s appearance representing Britain in the forthcoming Eurovision song contest. &quot;I think people and their minds are going to change. I don&#039;t think the end of the world is the end  of the world. I think there&#039;s a spiritual evolution coming. You can feel it.&quot; He went on to clarify that said ideas have been subject to the rigorous intellectual scrutiny of Duncan from Blue &ndash; &quot;we talk about this stuff all the time&quot; &ndash; before admonishing the public for failing to notice his profundity: &quot;I don&#039;t think people expect us to have any insight into this kind of thing.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;LiS rolls its eyes in sympathy.  Hasn&#039;t the public noticed the deep mindfulness and mysticism in his &lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/leeryanmusic&quot; title=&quot;pronouncements on Twitter&quot;&gt;pronouncements on Twitter&lt;/a&gt;, every  one a 140-character homily designed  to heal, uplift and transform: &quot;Fuck off pigface!&quot;, &quot;bro honestly you look like Shrek with that nose! You can&#039;t say shit with that face!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For too long, we have been denied his unique brand of sagacity. The  only news LiS had was that Ryan had  named his first child Rayn Lee Ryan (&quot;it&#039;s an anagram of Ryan,&quot; he helpfully attested, having presumably ditched the idea of anagrammatising his first name as well and calling his son Eel), and a brief interview during which he favoured the world with the news that there were four types of aliens: &quot;the greys&quot;, &quot;the ones that are about 8ft tall&quot;, &quot;the ones that are kind of like, you know, Asian looking&quot; and &quot;the reptiles that are about 7ft tall and really aggressive&quot; and who, furthermore, rule the earth. &quot;If you look you can see a reptile sign in things that are part of our culture. I&#039;m not going to say what. You have to look for yourself,&quot; he  said, before striking a note of caution. &quot;You&#039;re not allowed to talk about this stuff. You get into trouble. From the government? Yeah.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since then, silence, broken only  by the occasional thought-provoking Tweet (&quot;Bazman? More like Spazman&quot;). LiS longed for the halcyonic days of 2005, when Ryan&#039;s thoughts on the origins of life were regularly sought and generously given (&quot;the Egyptian thing &ndash; I swear it&#039;s to do with aliens  and shit and that&#039;s where we come from&quot;). We were promised not merely  a nine-minute song about Jesus, but  a book of poetry, the excitement around the latter heightened by the appearance of a four-verse work about Princess Diana: &quot;we never took an interest in what you used to do&quot;, it offered, which is a slightly odd thing  to say about the most famous and photographed woman in the world, but that&#039;s a wildly original and brilliant mind at work for you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And now, mercifully, it seems those days are back. The seer is once more among us! Lost in Showbiz awaits further pearls, while busily making preparations for the forthcoming revelation of spirit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/celebrity&quot;&gt;Celebrity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/blue&quot;&gt;Blue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/heat&quot;&gt;Heat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alexispetridis&quot;&gt;Alexis Petridis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:26+02:00', 'Celebrity', 'lee blue loving alien ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1846, 'Nasa scientist claims evidence of extraterrestrial life', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/mar/06/nasa-scientist-evidence-extraterrestrial-life', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/71249?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Nasa+scientist+claims+evidence+of+extraterrestrial+life%3AArticle%3A1528249&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=Alien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CNasa%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CBiology%2CScience%2CUS+news%2CWorld+news&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Ian+Sample&amp;c7=11-Mar-07&amp;c8=1528249&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FAlien+life&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Fossils of algae-like beings in meteorites reported by astrobiologist Richard Hoover in Journal of Cosmology&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A Nasa scientist has stirred up fresh debate over life elsewhere in the cosmos after claiming to have found tiny fossils of alien bugs inside meteorites that landed on Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Richard Hoover, an astrobiologist at the US space agency&#039;s Marshall space flight centre in Alabama, said filaments and other structures in rare meteorites appear to be microscopic fossils of extraterrestrial beings that resemble algae known as cyanobacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of the features look similar to a giant bacterium called Titanospirillum velox, which has been collected from the Ebro delta waterway in Spain, according to a report on the findings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Laboratory tests on the rocky filaments found no evidence to suggest they were remnants of Earth-based organisms that contaminated the meteorites after they landed, Hoover said. He discovered the features after inspecting the freshly cleaved surfaces of three meteorites that are believed to be among the oldest in the solar system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hoover, an expert on life in extreme environments, has reported similar structures in meteorites several times before. So far, none has been confirmed as the ancient remains of alien life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But &lt;a href=&quot;http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;writing in the Journal of Cosmology&lt;/a&gt;, Hoover claims that the lack of nitrogen in the samples, which is essential for life on Earth, indicates they are &quot;the remains of extraterrestrial life forms that grew on the parent bodies of the meteorites when liquid water was present, long before the meteorites entered the Earth&#039;s atmosphere.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rudy Schild, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics and editor of the journal, said: &quot;The implications are that life is everywhere, and that life on Earth may have come from other planets.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a note posted alongside the paper, Schild said he had invited 100 scientists to comment on the research. Their responses will be published on the journal&#039;s website from Monday. &quot;In this way, the paper will have received a thorough vetting, and all points of view can be presented,&quot; Schild wrote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Proof that alien microbes hitched across the cosmos inside meteors, or by clinging to their surfaces, would bolster a theory known as panspermia, in which life is spread from planet to planet by hurtling space rocks. To many scientists, Hoover&#039;s work recalls the adage that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hoover is not the only researcher to claim a discovery of alien life inside meteorites. In 1996, David McKay, another Nasa researcher, said he had found what appeared to be traces of Martian life inside a meteorite recovered from Allan Hills in Antarctica in 1984.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nasa&quot;&gt;Nasa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/biology&quot;&gt;Biology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa&quot;&gt;United States&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/iansample&quot;&gt;Ian Sample&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:27+02:00', 'Alien life', 'nasa scientist claims evidence extraterrestrial life ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1847, 'Apollo 18 is totally eclipsed by aliens on the moon', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/feb/23/apollo-18-trailer-flick-teaser', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/96928?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Apollo+18+is+totally+eclipsed+by+aliens+on+the+moon%3AArticle%3A1523279&amp;ch=Film&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Film%2CCulture%2CScience+fiction+and+fantasy+%28Film+genre%29%2CMoon%2CApollo+11%2CAlien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CNasa%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CScience&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviews&amp;c6=Stuart+Heritage&amp;c7=11-Mar-30&amp;c8=1523279&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Film&amp;c13=Flick+teaser+%28series%29&amp;c25=Film+blog&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FFilm%2FScience+fiction+and+fantasy&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;We&#039;ve found the trailer footage but it looks strangely familiar. Has another instalment of Paranormal Activity just landed?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Paranormal Activity may have been cleverly paced, expertly marketed and wildly profitable, but it was by no means a perfect film. For instance, it wasn&#039;t set on the moon. And there weren&#039;t any aliens in it. And nobody ever confused it with a distant, imaginary sequel to a Tom Hanks film from 1995.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Happily, though, Apollo 18 is ready to swoop in and correct all of these flaws. If you liked Paranormal Activity then you&#039;re going to love Apollo 18, mainly because it basically looks like the exact same film but set on the moon. Let&#039;s pick through the film&#039;s brand new trailer to see just how great it&#039;ll be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1) &lt;/strong&gt;The trailer opens with archived footage of a real-life Saturn V rocket. This is because Apollo 18 is about Nasa&#039;s discontinued moon-landing programme. The premise is this: why did Nasa never return to the moon after Apollo 17? Is it because of exorbitant operational costs, dwindling public interest and a new focus on developing reusable space exploration technologies like you thought? Or is it because, you know, the moon&#039;s full of aliens and stuff? It&#039;s the first one, obviously, but try to pretend that it isn&#039;t for the next couple of minutes or so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2)&lt;/strong&gt; This bit&#039;s important. The following footage has not been altered or enhanced. This either means that what follows is an important historical document of an event that really happened, or that it&#039;s a load of old guff that hasn&#039;t been altered by good directorial decision-making skills or enhanced by a story that we haven&#039;t already seen a million times before.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3)&lt;/strong&gt; Here&#039;s where the Paranormal Activity comparisons start coming in. As you can see, the events of Apollo 18 come from the perspective of a character who obsessively films everything on a little camera. The difference being, of course, is that this guy is an astronaut and therefore has presumably been selected for his job because of his strong work ethic and relentlessly analytical mind, so he should probably be above titting about with a camcorder like this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4)&lt;/strong&gt; And just like Paranormal Activity, things slowly start going wrong. For instance, what&#039;s that shadow in the corner of the screen? Is it simply a shadow, or could it be something more sinister &ndash; like an alien? What&#039;s that? It&#039;s an alien? Because that&#039;s the entire point of this film. Oh, fine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5)&lt;/strong&gt; The dread continues to build as the astronauts find footprints that don&#039;t match their own. Could this mean that they&#039;re not alone? Actually, yes, that&#039;s exactly what it does mean. There are aliens there too. I thought I&#039;d already made that clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6) &lt;/strong&gt;Now they&#039;ve found a smashed astronaut helmet as well. This doesn&#039;t look good at all. What could possibly have caused ... oh, that&#039;s right, it was an alien. Never mind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7)&lt;/strong&gt; Now things have really gone wrong. One of the astronauts has been infected with some kind of awful-looking alien parasite. Will he be able to return to Earth for treatment in time, or will it cause him to go mad and bring about the deaths of all his colleagues because that&#039;s how all of these found-footage films end, so what&#039;s the point of even watching it? It&#039;s the latter, obviously, but hold on for the big finish &ndash; the astronauts are about to make a shocking discovery.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8)&lt;/strong&gt; That&#039;s right, it&#039;s the corpse of the only man in history who thought that making Paranormal Activity in Space was a good idea. As you can imagine, he probably died of stupidity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sciencefictionandfantasy&quot;&gt;Science fiction and fantasy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/moon&quot;&gt;The moon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/apollo-11-moon-landing&quot;&gt;Apollo 11&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nasa&quot;&gt;Nasa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/stuart-heritage&quot;&gt;Stuart Heritage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:28+02:00', 'Film', 'apollo 18 totally eclipsed aliens moon ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1848, 'Planet Hollywood: is the universe full of little green men like Paul?', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/feb/18/little-green-men-paul', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/27523?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Planet+Hollywood%3A+is+the+universe+full+of+little+green+men+like+Paul%3F%3AArticle%3A1521390&amp;ch=Film&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Science+fiction+and+fantasy+%28Film+genre%29%2CComedy+%28Film+genre%29%2CFilm%2CSimon+Pegg%2CNick+Frost%2CCulture%2CEvolution+%28Science%29%2CAlien+life+-+extraterrestrial+%28Science%29%2CComedy+%28culture%29&amp;c5=Environment+Conservation%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CComedy%2CFilm+Reviews&amp;c6=David+Cox&amp;c7=11-Feb-18&amp;c8=1521390&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Film&amp;c13=Between+the+lines+%28film+series%29&amp;c25=Film+blog&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FFilm%2FScience+fiction+and+fantasy&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;We expect extraterrestrials to look the same as each other yet alien from ourselves. Where on Earth did that idea come from?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Paul in Paul is a little green man. As an archetypal extraterrestrial, he would be, wouldn&#039;t he? But where did we get the idea that beings from outer space would most likely be dwarfish, verdant hominids?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Paul himself offers an explanation. He claims his race deliberately drenched our culture with images of themselves to ensure that when they eventually made contact, we wouldn&#039;t have &quot;a spaz attack&quot;. On the face of it, this makes sense. Our comics, pulp books and screen fare were indeed awash with small, green, humanoid aliens &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ask.com/wiki/Little_green_men&quot; title=&quot;from the 1890s&quot;&gt;from the 1890s&lt;/a&gt; until relatively recently.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All the same, only a fool would take at face value the word of an extraterrestrial, especially one fashioned by CGI. Paul fancies himself as a bit of a wag, and he may just be joking. Or he could be trying to impress us by exaggerating the capabilities of his own tribe&#039;s spin doctors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless, it has to be acknowledged that perhaps the best documented of all known alien visitations did indeed feature three-foot-high, thin-limbed humanoids. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_adkR8XTZJok/TL-bIBa6iVI/AAAAAAAANqg/qnhl8kjJZsA/s400/kellyaliens.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http://crapfromspaceandtime.blogspot.com/2010/10/kelly-hopkinsville-encounter-of-1955.html&amp;usg=__aSrJ-Vx6q5seOMYkhg3RoJwWofc=&amp;h=244&amp;w=396&amp;sz=25&amp;hl=en&amp;start=30&amp;sig2=3UT-3o9trNbIyniRNPxhhQ&amp;zoom=1&amp;tbnid=1MoNBF37bXboQM:&amp;tbnh=121&amp;tbnw=197&amp;ei=TSpbTZbCK4q-4gaW0YWdDA&amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3DKelly/Hopkinsville%2Bencounter%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1C1AVSU_enGB355GB356%26biw%3D1008%26bih%3D625%26tbs%3Disch:10,1000&amp;um=1&amp;itbs=1&amp;iact=hc&amp;vpx=681&amp;vpy=299&amp;dur=1879&amp;hovh=176&amp;hovw=286&amp;tx=172&amp;ty=107&amp;oei=MypbTbmWFs25hAfYiOXbDA&amp;page=3&amp;ndsp=15&amp;ved=1t:429,r:9,s:30&amp;biw=1008&amp;bih=625&quot; title=&quot;goblins&quot;&gt;&quot;goblins&quot;&lt;/a&gt; of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nicap.org/kelly-hendry.htm&quot; title=&quot;Kelly/Hopkinsville encounter&quot;&gt;Kelly/Hopkinsville encounter&lt;/a&gt; in 1955 were described as looking metallic, rather than pastel-hued; perhaps, though, they were wearing protective suits. Such a precaution would have been only prudent: the visitants&#039; earthly welcome included a &lt;a href=&quot;http://levelbeyond.com/2008/10/15/the-alien-siege-at-kelly-kentucky/&quot; title=&quot;fusillade from gun-toting Kentucky farmers&quot;&gt;fusillade from gun-toting Kentucky farmers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Paul will doubtless have been annoyed to notice, however, that since the 50s, belief in little green men has suffered a downturn. Now, people deride anyone who expects alien visitants to take this form. Since the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.valeriecollective.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/mj-et.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http://www.valeriecollective.com/2009/06/tell-me-a-story/&amp;usg=__lqZ8HcvGwr7KB6HMRgwAqAb_hb0=&amp;h=1024&amp;w=884&amp;sz=732&amp;hl=en&amp;start=26&amp;sig2=DD04gsyV4pWXIOjFhAFWSQ&amp;zoom=1&amp;tbnid=yJ5L62VEEdD24M:&amp;tbnh=147&amp;tbnw=136&amp;ei=XytbTaSSB5Pq4gany6X2Cw&amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3Det%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1C1AVSU_enGB355GB356%26biw%3D1008%26bih%3D625%26tbs%3Disch:10,1188&amp;um=1&amp;itbs=1&amp;iact=hc&amp;vpx=132&amp;vpy=242&amp;dur=650&amp;hovh=242&amp;hovw=209&amp;tx=103&amp;ty=144&amp;oei=TCtbTciEH4uwhQfX2c3hDA&amp;page=3&amp;ndsp=14&amp;ved=1t:429,r:9,s:26&amp;biw=1008&amp;bih=625&quot; title=&quot;glory days of ET&quot;&gt;glory days of ET&lt;/a&gt;, even the movies have come to treat the humanoid extraterrestrial as either a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC5O9NFWZCs&quot; title=&quot;figure of fun&quot;&gt;figure of fun&lt;/a&gt; or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHOoTyU7Zgk&quot; title=&quot;childish plaything&quot;&gt;childish plaything&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It became fashionable to expect aliens to be entirely, well, alien. On the big screen, those taking human form often now do so only as a cunning &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/media/rm223712000/tt0114508&quot; title=&quot;means of disguising their actual fantasticality&quot;&gt;means of disguising their actual fantasticality&lt;/a&gt;. Behind this change in attitude lies the emergence of the belief that to anthropomorphise extraterrestrial life is a foolish error.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2599115/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Time&#039;s Arrow and Evolution&lt;/a&gt;, published in 1951, Princeton biology professor &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eoht.info/page/Harold+Blum&quot; title=&quot;Harold Blum&quot;&gt;Harold Blum&lt;/a&gt; persuaded many of his peers that any form of life discovered elsewhere in the cosmos would be wildly different from any to be found on Earth. After all, he argued, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allaboutscience.org/second-law-of-thermodynamics.htm&quot; title=&quot;second law of thermodynamics&quot;&gt;second law of thermodynamics&lt;/a&gt; implies that the universe has been growing more and more disorganised since its inception.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of Blum&#039;s &quot;divergenist&quot; supporters suggested that evidence for his surmise can be seen all around us. If our one small planet has managed to spawn at least &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.currentresults.com/Environment-Facts/Plants-Animals/estimate-of-worlds-total-number-of-species.php&quot; title=&quot;seven million species&quot;&gt;seven million species&lt;/a&gt;, ranging from bacteria to tigers, imagine the variation that would be likely to occur across an entire universe. The unpredictability of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/evolution?INTCMP=SRCH&quot; title=&quot;evolution&quot;&gt;evolution&lt;/a&gt;, they insisted, fosters novelty, not repetition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This all sounds like bad news for Paul. But stay. Fashions change, in thought as in so much else. Since the heyday of divergenism, a rival &quot;convergionist&quot; school has been gaining ground. Convergionists point out that evolution yields similarity as well as diversity. &lt;a href=&quot;http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_25&quot; title=&quot;Natural selection&quot;&gt;Natural selection&lt;/a&gt; obeys universal laws. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/4/l_014_01.html&quot; title=&quot;same tropes are bound to recur&quot;&gt;same tropes are bound to recur&lt;/a&gt;, subtly modified, as similar problems bring forth similar solutions. Fish and mammals developed eyes independently, since eyes are a good idea. Why shouldn&#039;t the same kind of process occur in other galaxies?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So far, we know of only one creature capable even of imagining intergalactic travel. It&#039;s us. A being that could realise this notion would have to be a whole lot smarter than we are. Yet it&#039;s not unreasonable to suppose that it might arrive at its exalted state along a path that&#039;s not too different from the one we&#039;ve taken. Its brain might have to evolve far beyond our own. Yet why should its body? Perhaps this would just shrink a bit, as the contents of its owner&#039;s head became ever more important.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even evolution deniers might arrive at a similar conclusion, if by a different route. A Creator practising &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/jun/01/schools.uk1&quot; title=&quot;intelligent design&quot;&gt;intelligent design&lt;/a&gt; would hardly waste a blueprint which had worked. That wouldn&#039;t be very intelligent, would it?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So maybe Paul was indeed just having us on about that alien brainwashing programme. At some unthinking level, perhaps we worked out for ourselves what kind of visitors we should expect from outer space. And we may even have got the answer right.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sciencefictionandfantasy&quot;&gt;Science fiction and fantasy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/comedy&quot;&gt;Comedy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/simonpegg&quot;&gt;Simon Pegg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/nick-frost&quot;&gt;Nick Frost&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/evolution&quot;&gt;Evolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alien-life&quot;&gt;Alien life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/comedy&quot;&gt;Comedy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/davidcox&quot;&gt;David Cox&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:28+02:00', 'Science fiction and fantasy', 'planet hollywood universe little green men like paul we expect extraterrestrials look alien earth did idea come fromthe paul paul little green archetypal extraterrestrial wouldnt did idea beings outer space likely dwarfish verdant offers explanation claims race deliberately drenched culture images ensure eventually contact wouldnt spaz attack face makes sense comics pulp books screen fare awash small green humanoid aliens from 1890s relatively fool face value word extraterrestrial especially fashioned cgi paul fancies bit wag just joking trying impress exaggerating capabilities tribes spin acknowledged best documented known alien visitations did feature foot high limbed humanoids ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1849, 'In praise of &hellip; the accelerating universe | Editorial', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/05/in-praise-of-accelerating-universe', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/87327?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=In+praise+of*+the+accelerating+universe%3AArticle%3A1643623&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=World+news%2CAstronomy+%28Science%29%2CPhysics+%28Science%29%2CNobel+prizes+%28Science%29%2CScience+prizes%2CScience&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Editorial&amp;c7=11-Oct-06&amp;c8=1643623&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Editorial&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=In+praise+of+...+%28editorial+series%29&amp;c25=Comment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FAstronomy&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;The universe &ndash; far from disappearing &ndash; is accelerating, according to three scientists who have been awarded a prize by the Nobel Foundation&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does it matter to us whether the universe will ultimately be squeezed to death, like a car in a scrapyard compactor, or whether it will end by shooting off in all directions, like a merry-go-round disintegrating? It matters to the Nobel Foundation, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/04/nobel-prize-physics-universe-accelerating&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;which yesterday awarded its prize for physics&lt;/a&gt; to three scientists who have found powerful evidence that the expansion of the universe, far from decelerating, as previously thought, is in fact accelerating. It matters to those scientists around the world who have been squabbling over the rival theories for many years, leading one wit to comment that the strongest force in the universe is not gravity but jealousy. It matters, one supposes, to matter, which will either entirely disappear or become so far flung as to entirely lose touch with itself. Or it would, if matter has thoughts &ndash; which is another thing we don&#039;t know. The extraordinary aspect of modern advances in physics and astronomy is that as our knowledge increases so does our ignorance. Words and numbers can scarcely bear the weight of such discoveries, while metaphor is powerless to express their meaning. The cosmology of our ancestors was also a system of thought which framed a mystery rather than solved it, yet it seems in retrospect much more comprehensible. At such moments there is balm in recalling Robert Frost&#039;s famous &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fire-and-ice/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;poem&lt;/a&gt; on whether the world would end in fire or ice. Frost knew enough, he wrote, &quot;To say that for destruction ice / Is also great / And would suffice.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/astronomy&quot;&gt;Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/physics&quot;&gt;Physics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nobelprizes&quot;&gt;Nobel prizes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceprizes&quot;&gt;Science prizes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:30+02:00', 'World news', 'praise … accelerating universe | editorial ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1850, 'Nobel prize in physics 2011 announced - video', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2011/oct/05/nobel-prize-physics-2011-video', '&lt;p&gt;Saul Perlmutter, Brian P Schmidt and Adam G Riess recognised for the &#039;astounding&#039; discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:31+02:00', 'Nobel prizes', 'nobel prize physics 2011 announced video saul perlmutter brian p schmidt adam g riess recognised astounding discovery accelerating expansion universe');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1851, 'Nobel Prize in Physics &ndash; live blog', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/oct/04/nobel-prize-physics', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/41028?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Nobel+Prize+in+Physics+*+live+blog%3AArticle%3A1642442&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Nobel+prizes+%28Science%29%2CScience+prizes%2CAstronomy+%28Science%29%2CPhysics+%28Science%29%2CScience%2CWorld+news%2CUK+news&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Ian+Sample&amp;c7=11-Oct-05&amp;c8=1642442&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost%2CMinute+by+minute&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Science+blog+Notes+%26+Theories+%28reporters%27+blog%29&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FNobel+prizes&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 has been awarded to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P Schmidt and Adam G Riess for discovering the accelerating expansion of the universe&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 1 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.22am:&lt;/span&gt; And so to day two of Nobel prize week and the pundits have been busy with their predictions as to who will be honoured with today&#039;s award for contributions to physics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Nobel Assembly is due to announce the winner, or winners, some time after 10.45am BST. We will follow events live here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, three scientists won the Nobel prize in medicine for groundbreaking work on the immune system. The award was overshadowed with the sad news that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/03/nobel-prize-awarded-dead-scientist?newsfeed=true&quot;&gt;one of the recipients, Ralph Steinman at Rockefeller University in New York, passed away&lt;/a&gt; a few days ago. The Nobel assembly was unaware of this when the award was announced and has ruled that the prize will stand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The prize earns the winner or winners 10 million Swedish kronor, or &pound;934,000.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So who are the hot favourites for today&#039;s prize in physics?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to the news agency Associated Press, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9877650&quot;&gt;physicists working on quantum entanglement&lt;/a&gt; &ndash; which underpins hopes for superfast quantum computing &ndash; are strong contenders for this year&#039;s prize.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Those predictions draw on &lt;a href=&quot;http://science.thomsonreuters.com/nobel/2011predictions/#physics&quot;&gt;names put forward by the citation company, Thomson Reuters&lt;/a&gt;, which failed to predict the winners of yesterday&#039;s prize.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last year, the Nobel prize in physics was won by two Russian-born scientists, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/oct/05/nobel-prize-physics&quot;&gt;Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at Manchester University&lt;/a&gt;, for their experiments with graphene, the strongest and thinnest material known. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before becoming a Nobel prizewinner, &lt;a href=&quot;http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/43939&quot;&gt;Geim made headlines for levitating frogs&lt;/a&gt;, an achievement that earned him an Ig Nobel prize &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.improbable.com/2010/10/05/geim-becomes-first-nobel-ig-nobel-winner/&quot;&gt;from the irreverent sister awards&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The potential of graphene-based products prompted the UK government to announce a &pound;50m Global Research and Technology Hub to commercialise graphene products.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A live stream of the Nobel awards will appear here as soon as the video is available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 2 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.35am:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1621&quot;&gt;Watch a video of the Nobel prize announcement here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 3 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.37am:&lt;/span&gt; There have been some regrettable Nobel awards in the past. Perhaps the most worrying was the award in 1949 to Dr Egas Moniz of Portugal for discovering the therapeutic value of lobotomy. The New England Journal of Medicine hailed the procedure as the birth of a &quot;new psychiatry&quot;. The prize led to a rise in lobotomies, which were therapeutically worthless.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 4 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.40am:&lt;/span&gt; As @simonfrantz points out on twitter, the last female Laureate in physics was &lt;a href=&quot; http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1963/index.html&quot;&gt;Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 5 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.44am:&lt;/span&gt; From @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Facts: 188 individuals have received the #NobelPrize in #Physics since 1901, among them, 2 are women.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 6 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.45am:&lt;/span&gt; More Nobel prize trivia from @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 7 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.45am:&lt;/span&gt; The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 goes to &lt;a href=&quot;http://t.co/mXcPaQRK &quot;&gt;Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, Adam G. Riess&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 8 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.49am:&lt;/span&gt; From the Nobel Assembly:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year&#039;s Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 9 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.50am:&lt;/span&gt; The prize is for discovering the accelerating expansion of the universe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 10 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.51am:&lt;/span&gt; This explanation from the Nobel Assembly:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial role.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The research teams raced to map the Universe by locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the 1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as the Sun but as small as the Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected - this was a sign that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had reached the same astonishing conclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For almost a century, the Universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in ice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma - perhaps the greatest in physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 11 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.53am:&lt;/span&gt; One half of the prize goes to Saul Perlmutter at the Supernova Cosmology Project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other half goes jointly to Brian Schmidt of the High-z Supernova Search Team at the Australian National University and Adam G. Riess at The High-z Supernova Search Team at Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 12 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.54am:&lt;/span&gt; All three are relative youngsters for the Nobel prize. Perlmutter was born in 1959, Schmidt in 1967 and Riess in 1969.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 13 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;10.57am:&lt;/span&gt; More from the Nobel Assembly&#039;s material:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;The growing rate of the expansion implies that the Universe is being pushed apart by an unknown form of energy embedded in the fabric of space. This dark energy makes up a large part of the Universe, more than 70 %, and it is an enigma, perhaps the greatest in physics today. No wonder, then, that cosmology was shaken at its foundations when two different research groups presented similar results in 1998.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 14 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;11.02am:&lt;/span&gt; Nobel prizewinner Brian Schmidt answering questions: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It feels like when my children were born &hellip; &quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 15 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;11.04am:&lt;/span&gt; Brian Schmidt:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It seemed too crazy to be right so we were a little scared.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;I always look to Einstein because he got a lot right. Einstein&#039;s idea that space itself has an energy is the simplest reason that the universe could be speeding up.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 16 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;11.23am:&lt;/span&gt; There are some wonderful videos of today&#039;s Nobel prizewinners discussing their work on the expansion of the universe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Above is Brian Schmidt at the Australian National University speaking in 2009.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 17 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;11.30am:&lt;/span&gt; Here, among others, is Saul Perlmutter speaking on the hidden universe in 2009.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 18 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;11.31am:&lt;/span&gt; Here is Adam Riess discussing his work at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 19 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;11.44am:&lt;/span&gt; Some of my requests for thoughts on today&#039;s Nobel prize in physics have begun to arrive. Here is what &lt;a href=&quot;http://www-astro.physics.ox.ac.uk/~pgf/Pedro_Ferreira/About.html&quot;&gt;Professor Pedro Ferreira&lt;/a&gt;, a cosmologist at Oxford University, has to say:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;I think this is wonderful news! You have to put this into perspective. Only few decades ago, cosmology was exciting, but quite esoteric. People could make stuff up and get away with it. Now, because of endeavours such as the supernovae observations, we can make hard, accurate statements about the Cosmos, we can really say precise things about the state of the Universe. And it is only going to get better. It is a truly great time to be working in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 20 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;11.59am:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/p.knight&quot;&gt;Professor Sir Peter Knight&lt;/a&gt;, president of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iop.org/&quot;&gt;Institute of Physics&lt;/a&gt;, said: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;The recipients of today&#039;s award are at the frontier of modern astrophysics and have triggered an enormous amount of research on dark energy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These researchers have opened our eyes to the true nature of our universe. They are very well-deserved recipients.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 21 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;12.10pm:&lt;/span&gt; More reaction is coming in from scientists in the field. Dr Mark Sullivan, another Oxford physicist, adds:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;I think this is fantastic news, and thoroughly well-deserved. Their direct discovery of the accelerating universe in the late 1990s, using distant cosmic explosions known as supernovae, has rewritten textbooks, and was one of the landmark breakthroughs of 20th Century physics. The nature of the dark energy that propels this accelerating universe remains a mystery, preoccupying physicists ever since, and is at the forefront of modern astrophysical research - it&#039;s the motivation for many ongoing, and future, ground and space-based experiments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 22 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;12.22pm:&lt;/span&gt; David Pendlebury from Thomson Reuters, &lt;a href=&quot;http://science.thomsonreuters.com/nobel/&quot;&gt;who predict the winners every year&lt;/a&gt;, has been in touch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He says we may like to know that: &quot;Regarding yesterday&#039;s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Beutler and Hoffman were selected as Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates in 2008, and Steinman was chosen in 2010.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And on today&#039;s Nobel prize in Physics, he says all three winners were selected as Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates in 2010.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 23 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;12.43pm:&lt;/span&gt; Some thoughts from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Rees,_Baron_Rees_of_Ludlow&quot;&gt;Lord Martin Rees&lt;/a&gt;, Astronomer Royal and emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;This award recognises an important and surprising discovery. Even empty space contains energy and exerts a kind of &#039;antigravity&#039; which causes cosmic expansion to accelerate. It will be a long time before theorists understand this force -- it is part of the bedrock nature of space and time. This discovery has been subsequently strengthened and corroborated by other advances: the evidence from the cosmic microwave background (especially the Boomerang and WMAP experiments) that the geometry of the universe is &#039;flat&#039;, and an accumulation of evidence from observations with large telescopes that atoms and &#039;dark matter&#039; amount to no more than 30 percent of density needed to make it so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I think, however, that this is one of the increasingly frequent instances when the Nobel Committee is damagingly constrained by its tradition that a prize can&#039;t be shared between more than three individuals. The key papers recognised by this award were authored by two groups, each containing a dozen or so scientists. It would have been fairer, and would send a less distorted message about how this kind of science is actually done, if the award had been made collectively to all members of the two groups.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 24 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;3.10pm:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://astro.ic.ac.uk/~mrr/&quot;&gt;Michael Rowan-Robinson&lt;/a&gt;, professor of astrophysics at Imperial College London, has summed up the discovery&#039;s significance:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have a particular interest as I was part of a group that looked for other reasons to explain how the universe can appear to be expanding at an ever-faster rate. We were unable to undermine the findings of the two teams and it&#039;s now momentous to see the research which indicated the existence of dark energy being rewarded so prestigiously.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These astrophysicists&#039; research revolutionised our common perception of the universe and unveiled an array of mysteries that we are still trying to fathom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 25 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;3.18pm:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://star-www.dur.ac.uk/~csf/&quot;&gt;Professor Carlos Frenk&lt;/a&gt;, director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, said today&#039;s prize recognises &quot;one of the most unexpected and dramatic discoveries in physics in recent decades&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is dramatic because it implies that we do not inhabit a simple, elegant universe made only of matter but a universe that, in addition to matter, contains a strange substance, so bizarre that we call it &quot;dark energy&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We have no idea of what the dark energy revealed by the supernovae data is &ndash; unravelling its identity ranks as one the great scientific challenges of the 21st century.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- Block 26 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;3.33pm:&lt;/span&gt; &quot;Nobody really knows what it is that has been discovered,&quot; says &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.astro.cf.ac.uk/contactsandpeople/?page=full&amp;id=86&quot;&gt;Peter Coles&lt;/a&gt;, an astrophysicist at Cardiff University, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nature.com/news/2011/111004/full/478014a.html&quot;&gt;in Nature&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 27 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;3.45pm:&lt;/span&gt; Nobelprize.org has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1633&quot;&gt;a telephone interview with Adam Riess&lt;/a&gt;, recorded shortly after he was told he had won the Nobel Prize in Physics. He says of the moment he realised his data were showing the expansion of the universe was accelerating: &quot;I remember thinking, I&#039;ve made a terrible mistake and I have to find this mistake.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 28 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;5.26pm:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/04/nobel-prize-physics-universe-accelerating&quot;&gt;Read the Guardian&#039;s take on the story&lt;/a&gt;, with reaction from leading physicists and the prizewinners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- Block 29 --&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;timestamp&quot;&gt;6.07pm:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~rkirshner/&quot;&gt;Robert Kirshner&lt;/a&gt; from Harvard University, who supervised Schmidt and Riess when they were PhD students, &lt;a href=&quot;http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/47392&quot;&gt;quoted by Physics World&lt;/a&gt;, welcomed the decision by the Nobel committee: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;We did a lot of foundational work at Harvard and my postdocs and students made up a hefty chunk of the High-Z Team &hellip; [Riess] did a lot after the initial result to show that there was no sneaky effect due to dust absorption and that, if you look far enough into the past, you could see that the universe was slowing down before the dark energy got the upper hand, about five billion years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nobelprizes&quot;&gt;Nobel prizes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceprizes&quot;&gt;Science prizes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/astronomy&quot;&gt;Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/physics&quot;&gt;Physics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/iansample&quot;&gt;Ian Sample&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:31+02:00', 'Nobel prizes', 'nobel prize physics – live blog ');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1852, 'Alma, the world&#039;s most powerful radio telescope, launches in Chile - video', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2011/oct/04/alma-radio-telescope-chile-video', '&lt;p&gt;The world&#039;s most powerful astronomical device, the Atacama Large Millimetre/Sub-millimetre Array (Alma), has begun operating in the Chilean Andes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:32+02:00', 'Astronomy', 'alma worlds powerful radio telescope launches chile video the worlds powerful astronomical device atacama large millimetre/sub millimetre array alma begun operating chilean andes');
INSERT INTO `items1` VALUES (1853, 'Nasa chief stresses global cooperation', 'http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/04/nasa-chief-global-cooperation-space', '&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/15176?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Nasa+chief+stresses+global+cooperation%3AArticle%3A1642419&amp;ch=Science&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Nasa%2CSpace+%28Science%29%2CHubble+space+telescope%2CAstronomy+%28Science%29%2CScience%2CAfrica+%28News%29&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTechnology+Gadgets&amp;c6=David+Smith+%28Africa+correspondent%29&amp;c7=11-Oct-04&amp;c8=1642419&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=News&amp;c11=Science&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FScience%2FNasa&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;Charles Bolden admitted that no country can go it alone into space, a sign that America&#039;s era of dominance may be over&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No country can go it alone into space in today&#039;s harsh economic climate, the head of Nasa has admitted, in what may be seen as a tacit admission that America&#039;s era of dominance is over.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;[http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/bolden-cf.html&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Charles Bolden&lt;/a&gt; was speaking on the opening day of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://iac2011.com&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;62nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC)&lt;/a&gt;, the biggest annual gathering of the international space community, which has come to Africa for the first time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a further sign of global democratisation, the Nasa administrator shared a panel with the heads of the European, Indian, Japanese and Russian space agencies. The most notable absentee was China.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;International cooperation is important not just because of finances but because in this day and age you can no longer afford to leave ideas on the table,&quot; Bolden told the Guardian. &quot;We don&#039;t have the corner on the market on everything technological. I can go to any of my partners here and we could pick a topic and they will dwarf me in their knowledge of it, and so we need to be able to take the best from all of us in trying to go forward in exploration.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/final-space-shuttle-mission&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;space shuttle defunct&lt;/a&gt; , and US domestic spending under extraordinary pressure, Bolden appeared to strike a tone of humility far removed from the patriotism of the Apollo moon landings. &quot;No one nation is going to be able to do the things that we all want to do alone, so it&#039;s very important for every nation to participate. Some will be able to work with everyone and some may not.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if America feels threatened by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/29/china-space-station-launch&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;China&#039;s ambitious space programme&lt;/a&gt;, he replied: &quot;The Authorisation Act of 2010 and other acts that I am governed by as the head of Nasa prohibit me from being involved in bilateral relationships with China right now. That&#039;s where it is.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Both Bolden and his European Space Agency counterpart, &lt;a href=&quot;tp://www.esa.int/esaCP/ESA3C8OED2D_index_0.html&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;Jean-Jacques Dordain&lt;/a&gt;,  said discussions were ongoing around their joint Mars exploration programme. But the Nasa leader was hopeful that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/09/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;James Webb Space Telescope&lt;/a&gt;, scheduled for launch in 2016 to replace the ageing Hubble telescope, will escape the axe of US politicians.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It is an incredible, incredible instrument that will continue to revolutionise our understanding of our universe. I hate to say this as a Hubble hugger: it will dwarf Hubble in its ability to get data and to look deeper and deeper into our universe. It is vitally important, not just for the United States but for the whole world of astrophysics and science.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It is an international collaboration, it is a well developed programme that we&#039;ve reorganised: I&#039;ve brought responsibility into my office, so I&#039;m the one that&#039;s responsible for its success or failure, and I intend for it to be a success. We&#039;ve gone to the Congress and so far the Congress looks like they&#039;re going to support the recommendations that we&#039;ve made, but that&#039;s still to be determined.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He admitted: &quot;It&#039;s a tough uphill battle for us but we&#039;re convinced that we have a very good plan, our testing is going very well and we&#039;re really looking forward to being able to launch the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) on our timeline.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The IAC has brought more than 2,000 scientists from around the world to Cape Town. Its African debut comes at a moment the continent is reaching for the stars, notably with its bid to host the world&#039;s biggest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array. There is already talk of an &quot;African space race&quot; between South Africa and Nigeria, which recently launched two satellites built by local engineers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The event hopes to boost cooperation between African space experts and the rest of the world. Russia&#039;s space agency head, Vladimir Popovkin, said: &quot;We shall cooperate with African countries on the use of space data and technologies for the benefit of African people, be it in the field of telecommunications or data management or telecoms or navigations. We know Russia has friendly relations with most African countries and we can contribute to the development of African expertise in the field of space activities.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In another panel discussion, African space leaders admitted they had to work hard to convince citizens of the world&#039;s poorest continent that the industry has practical benefits. Harry Kaane, of Kenya&#039;s science and technology ministry, said satellite technology has made a big impact in areas such as wildlife management.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;We see a 20-year vision whereby Africa and Africans will acknowledge space as a place for human development,&quot; he told delegates. &quot;We see Africa will be able to exploit this opportunity not only for space services but to make a contribution to knowledge and infrastructure development. We are looking forward in the next 20 years that Africa should be on a par with the rest of the world, or even better.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Local conference organiser Peter Martinez said the event was symbolic in altering perceptions of the continent. &quot;We are in a very interesting time in the evolution of the African space arena,&quot; he said. &quot;We are seeing the emergencies of space agencies in a number of countries around the continent. Holding a conference now is very timely for Africa because it brings world attention and focus to Africa and also allows to showcase the recent developments.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Martinez, chairman of the South African Council for Space Affairs, added: &quot;We have to walk before we can run. I don&#039;t think human space flight is high on the agenda of African nations at this moment. Of course countries recognise the inspirational value of having astronauts, and indeed Nigeria has expressed its intention to have a Nigerian astronaut in due course, but the priority is utilising space for societal benefit.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nasa&quot;&gt;Nasa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/space&quot;&gt;Space&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/hubble-space-telescope&quot;&gt;Hubble space telescope&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/astronomy&quot;&gt;Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africa&quot;&gt;Africa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/davidsmith&quot;&gt;David Smith&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;', '2011-10-15T22:45:33+02:00', 'Nasa', 'nasa chief stresses global cooperation hubble space class=author>');
