DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS
When the Duck-billed platypus was first encountered by Europeans in 1798, a pelt and sketch were sent back to Great Britain by Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South …
CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES
I reported on the Confucius Institutes some time ago but, given their potential, and most-likely planned, influence and propaganda directives from the Chinese Communist Party, …
MALAMA
The roots of malama run deep. Hawaii is the most isolated archipelago on Earth, a volcanic cluster of eight main islands, marooned 2,390 miles south-west of …
THE BALTIC STATES
We, in the United States, have little understanding, and even less real knowledge, of the constant, nagging fear that Russian aggression imposes of virtually all …
CUSTARD POWDER
Custard powder makes a delicious dessert but also has a rather less savoury potential – in certain conditions, it can be a powerful explosive. …
ELEPHANTS HATE BEES
Did you know that elephants hate bees? Around the world, spreading farmland is increasingly overlapping with elephant habitats, often resulting in dangerous interactions, as …
TULIPS
Few images are as indelible as the sight of new tulips bursting through the dark winter ground. In the Netherlands – the world’s largest exporter …
60 Minutes
The “60 minutes” program on CBS TV channel has been an icon of news reporting for over 40 years. It consistently has superior ratings, and …
BREATH OF FRESH AIR
Earlier this week my partner and I had a “breath of fresh air” experience of the type that seems to come along very rarely these …
ANCIENT GREEK SUPERCOMPUTER
An ancient Greek supercomputer sounds a little unlikely to put it mildly, but a discovery in a 2000-year-old shipwreck off the island of Antikythera in …