International
OFMDFM: “We welcome our friendship with the Peoples Republic of China…”
In the Irish Times, David Adams takes issue with the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers’ “kowtowing last week to a visiting delegation from China”. On Slugger, Patrick focused on some of the propaganda aspects of the visit, and the OFMDFM press releases during the visit should probably be noted at that point. From the Irish Times article [...] more »
Discovery’s Final Final Flight
Having completed its final mission last February, yesterday the Space Shuttle Discovery took off from the Kenedy Space Centre for the last time on the way to its final destination – the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. During the flight, piggy-backing on a modified Boeing 747 (Shuttle Carrier Aircraft NASA 905), [...] more »
“Such arrangements are commonplace in cross-border rail operations across Europe.”
As the BBC reports, Belfast-based freelance journalist Michael Fisher has taken exception to the terms and conditions of an Iarnród Éireann competition “to win an amazing trip for two with a difference to see Ireland’s three group games in Euro 2012 this June”. Well, one condition in particular – “Applicants must be 18 years of age or [...] more »
ICC World Twenty20 Final to expand to 16 teams
Not that Ireland’s cricketers struggled to qualify for this year’s final tournament in Sri Lanka, but the path to the 2014 World Twenty20 finals in Bangladesh has been eased by the ICC Board’s confirmation that “from 2014 onwards, the number of teams participating in the ICC World T20 from 12 to 16 men’s teams.” From the [...] more »
Euro crisis: “Barroso absolutely confident that Spain can meet its economic challenges.”
With Spain probably in recession, again, and the cost of its government borrowing topping 6%, again, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso is being ridiculed for his optimistic futuring. As the Guardian’s Eurozone crisis live-blog notes European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has just been quizzed about the eurozone crisis, at a summit on sustainable [...] more »
Riding the Boosters
Stunning images, and enhanced sound, in this video from Nasa of the view from the space shuttle’s solid rocket boosters as they push the shuttle up into orbit, and then fall back down to Earth. Enjoy! As the Guardian’s GrrlScientist says The number in the upper right hand corner is airspeed. The glint of light against the backdrop [...] more »
“Whether that’s a hardened, remorseless soldier with a weakness for ginger cats, remains to be seen.”
Having praised the viral nature of the marketing campaign for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, the Guardian’s film bloggers got caught out by an April Fool’s ‘rumour’. But they’re back on track following a more traditional promotional event – a Q&A with the cast after a preview of 5 minutes of new footage. Still. Can’t. Wait. Here’s [...] more »
Titanic: “We do not tolerate the plundering of cultural sites on land…”
According to the BBC report notes, once the centenary of its sinking has passed on April 15, the wreck of the Titanic will be protected under Unesco’s 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. From the BBC report The convention aims to prevent unscientific or unethical exploration. Irina Bokova, director-general of Unesco, said the [...] more »
LHC: “2012 looks set to be a vintage year for particle physics”
As the BBC reports, the Large Hadron Collider [LHC] at Cern is back with stable beams of protons after its winter break, and at a new record collision energy of 8 trillion electron volts. From the BBC report Running the LHC at higher energies makes it more likely that Higgs particles, if they exist, will show [...] more »
Billabong XXL 2012 Big Wave Awards
Here are some scary fun videos… As the Irish Times reports, two of the five nominations for the Billabong XXL 2012 Biggest Wave award were surfed at Mullaghmore Head, County Sligo, on March 8th. The category carries a $15,000 prize. Here are the nominees. As the Irish Times adds The other nominees in the category are [...] more »
“A billion stars revealed”
A stunning image was unveiled last week at the UK-Germany National Astronomy Meeting NAM2012 in Manchester. [All images courtesy of Mike Read (WFAU), UKIDSS/GPS and VVV] The BBC’s Spaceman, Jonathan Amos, helpfully provides this combination image, with a partial zoom-in on the Galactic center. But to really appreciate the scale and detail of the image you [...] more »
“This is part of the culture of Ireland”
Even though a group of 4 gold torcs were discovered near Stirling in 2009, they’re not that common. According to the BBC report, Dr Greer Ramsey from Armagh County Museum told Belfast coroner, John Leckey, that “10 torcs have been discovered in Ireland and 38 in Britain”. ANYhoo… the coroner has ruled that a [IIRC] 47 37 inch long flange-twisted gold [...] more »
“Working with collections and individuals all over the UK…”
As the BBC notes, 1,600 oil paintings from National Museums Northern Ireland have been digitally photographed and added to the online project to create a complete catalogue of all oil paintings in the UK national collection. From the BBC report Paintings by artists such as Bacon, Gainsborough, Gertler, Lavery, Lessore, Lorenzo Lippi, Lowry and Turner are [...] more »
“awe, curiosity, wonder, joy, amazement”
After a brief scientific explanation of the phenomena, this video from LittleSDOHMI delivers some wondrous recent views (March 3, 4 and 10) of the Aurora Australis from the International Space Station. With music! [Video credit: NASA ISS/JSC/ Science@NASA] And here are those stunning clips by themselves. [All videos courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, [...] more »
ICC World Twenty20 2012 Qualifier Final
Both Ireland and Afghanistan have qualified for Sri Lanka, and Ireland have already played one match today, but hopefully the final will be a close game. Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat. Live text ball-by-ball commentary here. Adds Or, thanks to John below, watch it live here. Afghanistan 152 for 7 from 20 overs. Update Afghanistan made 152 [...] more »
ICC World Twenty20 2012 Qualifier Tournament
After defeating the Netherlands by seven wickets in Dubai, Ireland’s cricketers are just one win away from a final showdown with Afghanistan in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament. Getting to the final would also secure a place in the World Twenty20 2012 in Sri Lanka in September. To get there, though, they need to beat Namibia, who [...] more »
“…and marvel at the solar system in motion”
Here’s a date to mark in your diary [really? - Ed]. On the 5/6 June this year one of the rarest predictable astronomical events will occur – a transit of Venus. [Can't wait... - Ed] Since the invention of the greatest human innovation, the telescope, at the beginning of the 17th century, not by Galileo, [...] more »
The Serpent Dust Devil of Mars
[We're not in Kansas anymore! - Ed] Indeed. Here’s a great little video from JPLNews on the 800m-tall dust devil they spotted on Mars in this wondrous image acquired, on Feb 16 2012, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona] more »
Euro crisis: “The worst, I fear, still lies ahead.”
In a recent column in the FT, Wolfgang Münchau asked an interesting question [free reg req] The markets have concluded that the eurozone crisis has ended. Several politicians said that they, too, believed that the worst was over. Complacency is back. I recall similar utterances in the past. Whenever there is some technical progress – [...] more »
“Love Will Set You Free is actually quite a savvy song choice…”
Having decided to to send a relative newcomer to the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku this year – the 75 year old Arnold George Dorsey, better known as Engelbert Humperdinck - the BBC have now unveiled the song he will be singing. Apparently, Engelbert is “very proud of the song”. Well, it’s not a turkey… From the Eurovision channel [...] more »
Advertise
-
Books
-
Hearing the Other Voice from the Grave: Why Should we Listen to David Ervine’s Stories?
Ed Moloney’s Voices from the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland has received considerable attention in the press and in the public realm since its publication earlier this year. Although the book relates the experiences of the Provisional IRA’s Brendan Hughes and the PUP/UVF’s David Ervine, much of the discussion has focused on Hughes’ stories [...] read our review » -
A New Vision for the Catholic Church – Book Review
The oft-quoted verse from the book of Proverbs, ‘where there is no vision, the people perish,’ (chapter 29, verse 18) opens a new book by Gerry O’Hanlon, A New Vision for the Catholic Church: A View from Ireland (Columba Press, 2011). That verse could be considered an apt summary of the current state of the [...] read our review »
-
Of the Old North and other Vanished Kingdoms..
I’m currently trawling through Norman Davies’s fabulous new tome – “Vanished Kingdoms” – Five stars in the (London) Telegraph’s review from Ben Wilson: All the nations that have ever lived have left their footsteps in the sand,” writes Norman Davies. “The traces fade with every tide, the echoes grow faint, the images are fractured, the human [...] read our review »
-
