Susan Lipscombe-Ridley has spent the last 11 months building an exact replica of a Mk 2 Spitfire in her garage. She hopes it can eventually be used as an interactive museum exhibit to raise money for charity.
Thanks to Ian J for the link.
Technorati tag: Spitfire
A very modern Madchester Passion Play is to be performed this Easter. Featuring Bez as a disciple and versions of songs by Joy Division, the Buzzcocks and M People, it will take the form of a parade through Manchester from Canal Street to Albert Square culminating with an “as yet undisclosed song from the top of Manchester’s town hall”.
Canon Robin Gamble, canon evangelist at Manchester Cathedral, has been tasked with encouraging churchgoers to attend the event.
“I wouldn’t know a Buzzcock from a ballcock so I couldn’t really comment on the music. All I can say is that they are not doing a Christian service, it is a piece of contemporary theatre and that is going to get people to think about the story in modern terms,” he said.
“It is going to come from the streets, with the sounds of traffic and people bustling around and it will make people think about this story in a new way. It is going to be challenging and shocking and is going to get things rumbling – it’s going to be brilliant.”
Technorati tag: Manchester, Easter
In a poll of Britons carried out for a Horizon programme over 40% of respondents said they believed that creationism and/ or intelligent design should be taught in science classes. I want to scream.
If anyone starts touting this idiocy in Manchester I’ll be running a campaign of ridicule to stop them.
Technorati tag: Creationism, Intelligent Design, Evolution
The trend of spreading the ashes of loved ones on top of mountains is upsetting the ecological balance of hilltops.
“These areas are acidic, they are impoverished and they have very small amounts of minerals such as calcium. They are also very wet, and in an environment such as that the ash is providing you are getting luxuriant growth.
“I realise this is a very sensitive and private matter and I would never tell people not to do this, but it is going to have a lasting impact on a wild mountain landscape.
“Perhaps people would think about scattering ashes lower down a mountain on grass, around a tree, or into a corrie where it will have less visual impact.”
Technorati tag: Space
The Guardian on the wonder of heat pumps.
With fossil fuels becoming alarmingly expensive, this environmentally friendly and low-cost alternative to gas central heating is finally coming into its own in the UK. It is incrediblyeffective, capable of achieving 400% efficiency – giving out more energy (typically 3 to 4 kilowatts) than the householder puts in to run it (typically 1KW). By comparison, an average gas boiler works at 90% efficiency at best.
Technorati tag: Heat Pump
The Nomadic, built a year before the Titanic, was a luxury ferry that transported first class passengers to the doomed liner. It’s up for auction and there’s a campaign to take it back to Belfast.
Nomadic saw service in both world wars and was later used as a restaurant on the Seine in Paris.
More recently, it has been languishing semi-derelict in the port of Le Havre.
A feasibility study by Belfast City Council estimated the cost of buying the ship and bringing it back to the city would be around £750,000.
It would then need about £7m to restore the ship to its former glory.
Researchesr at Penn State university are using highly ordered arrays of titanium nanotubes to increase the efficiency of photolysis- the breaking down of water to hydrogen and oxygen by sunlight.
“Basically we are talking about taking sunlight and putting water on top of this material, and the sunlight turns the water into hydrogen and oxygen. With the highly-ordered titanium nanotube arrays, under UV illumination you have a photoconversion efficiency of 13.1%. Which means, in a nutshell, you get a lot of hydrogen out of the system per photon you put in. If we could successfully shift its bandgap into the visible spectrum we would have a commercially practical means of generating hydrogen by solar energy. It beats fighting wars over middle-eastern oil.”
via Warren Ellis
Technorati tag: Photolysis, Solar Power, Hydrogen
Apologies for the lack of postings, but I’ve been ill for the last couple of days. Like a fool I forced myself in to work when I should just have stayed in bed on Tuesday and slept it off.
I’m back now, let the updating commence.
Technorati tag: Spinneyhead
Hippyshopper has a short post on one way to recycle mobile phones. I’ve got at least two hanging around that I haven’t wanted to get rid of because they’d just end up in landfill. I think they’ll be going in a bag marked FREEPOST GREEN GAMBIA instead.
Technorati tag: Recycle, Mobile phone
The Carbon Trust thinks that up to a fifth of the UK’s power could be generated by tidal and wave power.
Technorati tag: Tidal Power
It seems to be a vote on whether to make St. George’s Day a public holiday in England. Probably no-one in any power is going to take any notice of it though.
Today is the most depressing day of the year, apparently. I wasn’t miserable enough, so I decided to start my tax return. Every year I say that next time I won’t leave it to the last minute and, so far, every year I lie.
Of course, I wasn’t earning any money from self employment in 04-05, and I’ve gone and lost an important P60 as well.
Le sigh.
Technorati tag: Tax
I came across this link the other day, which im sure you will agree looks quite painful, its of Gee Atherton again, but this time he isnt racing a car. http://www.winterandsummer.com/gee.mov
Ideas, and practical applications, for very small railway layouts, including several in shoe boxes and one in a child’s pencil case. This puts Spinney Street to shame.
via Go Model Trains
Technorati tag: Model Railway
The registration certificates for the three stars of the original Italian Job are to be auctioned.
Technorati tag: Italian Job
Gallery here. I picked up a few flyers and business cards. Those with links on included-
www.little-cars.com– 1:43rd racing car kits.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, IPMS, Bolton