CaaC (John)

Stunning 'reverse waterfall' filmed near Sydney - BBC News

Nice one, if I was young and fit again and was there I would like to climb that.

Our daughter's pet rat Charmander giving the wife a wee kiss when she saw her yesterday around our daughters, she (Charmander) is very possessive towards her and will knock the other (4) female rats away from the wife, the daughter has to separate Charmander away so the other rats can greet her.

Another lovely summer day visit to Portabello Beach here in Leith yesterday with wee Connor, daughter & friends.

Where was that taken, I can see some lovely snowy mountains in the background.

The Call (2013) - 8.5/10 Not bad and I quite enjoyed it, a nice thriller starring Halle Berry & Michael Eclund.

Metal detector user uncovers ‘significant’ Bronze Age artefacts less than 2ft underground ‘I was shaking with happiness,’ says treasure hunter after discovering pre-Christian items A metal detectorist has discovered a rare hoard of Bronze Age artefacts, which experts describe as “nationally significant”, in the Scottish Borders. Mariusz Stepien was searching a field near Peebles with friends when he found a bronze object buried half a metre (1ft 8in) underground. Archaeologists spent 22 days investigating, building a shelter to protect the find from the elements. Mr Stepien and his friends camped out there. They uncovered a complete horse harness, preserved by the soil, and a sword dated to 1,000 to 900 BC. The Bronze Age in Britain ran from about 2,000BC to about 650BC. Mr Stepien said: “I thought ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before’ and felt from the very beginning that this might be something spectacular, and I’ve just discovered a big part of Scottish history. “I was over the moon, actually shaking with happiness. “We wanted to be a part of the excavation from the beginning to the end. “I will never forget those 22 days spent in the field. Every day there were new objects coming out which changed the context of the find, every day we learned something new. “I’m so pleased that the earth revealed to me something that was hidden for 3,000 years. I still can’t believe it happened.” All newly discovered ancient objects in Scotland belong to the Crown and must be reported to the Treasure Trove Unit, which Mr Stepien did. The archaeologists also found decorated straps, buckles, rings, ornaments and chariot wheel axle caps. Evidence of a decorative “rattle pendant” from the harness was also discovered — the first one to be found in Scotland and only the third in the UK. Some of the pre-Christian objects found (PA) The hoard has been taken to the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh. Emily Freeman, head of the Treasure Trove Unit, said: “This is a nationally significant find — so few Bronze Age hoards have been excavated in Scotland. “It was an amazing opportunity for us to not only recover bronze artefacts but organic material as well. “There is still a lot of work to be done to assess the artefacts and understand why they were deposited.” In 1990, a hoard of late Bronze Age items was found at St Andrews in Scotland. As well as at least 200 tools, it included weapons, ornaments, and specimens of plant fibre textiles. In 2015 a major excavation in Cambridgeshire revealed the remains of a remarkably intact Bronze Age settlement, made up of timber roundhouses raised on stilts above the marshy ground. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/metal-detector-bronze-age-find-scotland-peebles-treasure-trove-a9661871.html

Now THAT'S what you call a first kit for the wee man, love it.

Congrats Dad, have a pint on me.

LOL, that looks cool as fuck, I would like to have a go at that, Imagine Spike & Devil Dick Willie doing battle against each other

Had to Google that, never heard of it, is it an Aussie thing or what?

SpaceX Crew Dragon astronauts believe the spacecraft is ‘ready to go’ The pair landed in the ocean on Sunday after a 19-hour journey from the International Space Station. The pair landed in the ocean, off the coast of Florida, at around 19:48 BST time on Sunday, after a 19-hour journey from the International Space Station. Speaking at a press conference in Houston on Tuesday, Behnken and Hurley told how the experience was “more” than they had expected, and their “surprise” at how quickly the events unfolded. Mr Behnken said: “Once we descended a little bit into the atmosphere Dragon really came alive, it started to fire thrusters and keep us pointed in the appropriate direction. “The atmosphere starts to make noise, you can hear that rumble outside the vehicle and as the vehicle tries to control you feel a little bit of that shimmy in your body.” He went on to say that the vehicle sounded “like an animal” as it entered the atmosphere and how the jolting felt like being “hit in the back of a chair with a baseball bat”. Hurley also told of how the vehicle was “rock solid”, performing “exactly how it was supposed to”. The pair made history on 30 May becoming the first people to launch into low-Earth orbit on a commercial spacecraft, built by SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk. The mission control said just after splashdown: “On behalf of the SpaceX and NASA teams, welcome back to Planet Earth. Thanks for flying SpaceX.” The reentry of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule © PA Graphics Mr Hurley said: “Personally it’s significant because I was the last shuttle pilot and the first commander of Dragon and so that’s neat to think about now, I’ll certainly, maybe a year from now, will think a lot more about it. “But what I think is more important to me is the historical aspect for NASA and certainly for SpaceX. “For a company that’s only been around for a decade or a little more than that, to build a spaceship that takes the crew into orbit and returns them safely, that part of it, the historical aspect, for me is probably most significant. “And to be part of that, for me, is also by far the most important and one of the most incredible highlights that I’ll have for a professional career. “To just share in that journey, that odyssey, that endeavour – as we named our ship — was just one of the true honours of my entire life.” The pair also believe the spacecraft is “ready” to go on further missions. Mr Behnken said: “From a crew perspective, I think it’s definitely ready to go. “There are things that can be improved, just like even with the final flight of the space shuttle, I know Doug will tell you there are things that could have been improved.” Behnken went on to say that he and Hurley would give suggestions on how to make the vehicle more “comfortable and efficient”. He added: “From a crew perspective I think we’re perfectly comfortable saying that Crew One is ready when they finish the engineering and analysis.” Science Focus

Bloody unreal that, it looked like a nuclear mini explosion with even a mushroom cloud appearing, I wonder how many more chemicals being stored out there just waiting to go off.

Australia names new species after Deadpool, Thor, and other Marvel favourites The superhero Deadpool and the Humorolethalis sergius fly. (CNN) - As it turns out, Australian scientists are Marvel fans too. Scientists at the federal government agency CSIRO gave scientific names to 165 new species this year -- and picked five flies to name after the world's favourite superheroes and villains within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's the Thor fly in tribute of the God of Thunder, played in Marvel by Chris Hemsworth. Its scientific name is "Daptolestes bronteflavus," which is derived from Latin like most scientific names -- and translates to "blond thunder." The Thor fly has flecks of gold and light brown on its body, antennae, and face, calling to mind Thor's blond hair and the gold features on his outfits. There's the Loki fly, in honour of the tortured God of Mischief, whose scientific name is "Daptolestes illusiolautus," meaning elegant deception. Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, fakes his own death at one point, betrays other characters, and uses visual illusions. Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff, also has her own fly -- "Daptolestes feminategus," meaning woman wearing leather, in reference to Scarlett Johansson's iconic leather suit worn in the movies. Deadpool also has his own fly, coloured orange-red and black, the same as Deadpool's suit -- and it shares similar markings as Deadpool's mask. "We chose the name Humorolethalis sergius (for Deadpool). It sounds like lethal humour and is derived from the Latin words humorous, meaning wet or moist, and lethalis meaning dead," said CSIRO entomologist Dr Bryan Lessard in a statement on Wednesday. The Deadpool fly is a species of Robber fly, which are "assassins of the insect world" -- fitting for the mercenary antihero. Finally, there's a Stan Lee fly, in honour of the late Marvel Comics visionary. Lee is known as the founding force behind the modern Marvel behemoth and co-created Spider-Man and many other popular characters. The fly, named "Daptolestes leei," has markings on its face reminiscent of Lee's characteristic sunglasses and a white moustache. Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee and the Daptolestes leei fly. Naming newly discovered species is an "important superpower in solving many of the world's challenges," said the CSIRO statement. The scientists also named 151 new insects, eight new plants, two new fish, one new mite, three new subspecies of bird, and 25 marine invertebrates, some of which were discovered several decades ago and remained unnamed, while others were a more recent find. The names for these aren't quite as whimsical, but some do pay tribute to other things -- for instance, they named two species after "Investigator," the research ship that discovered them. Naming species allows scientists to have a little fun, but the meticulous process is also vital for researchers, conservationists, and other types of experts. Being able to identify and differentiate between species allows experts to learn more about them and to "help save their lives and our own," said the statement. Only about a quarter of Australian insects are known to science, said Lessard in the study. The statement added, "the more species are named, the better we can understand their superpowers." https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/29/australia/australia-marvel-flies-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html

Night Hunter (2018) A thriller and not bad and quite enjoyed it about a serial killer starring Ben Kingsley and Henry Cavill an unexpected ending too 8/10

Edit: Post deleted, wrong forum, now posted in Space: The Final Frontier thread.

Juventus are considering offering 26-year-old Italian winger Federico Bernardeschi to Manchester United as part of a deal to sign England defender Chris Smalling, 30, this summer. (Inside Futball)

I was going to put this in the Animal thread but I think @Spike and other Aussies will like it, give them a bit of recognition. Meet Forest, the tallest giraffe in the world Forest has lived at Australia Zoo since he was 2 years old. (CNN) - A male giraffe living in a zoo in Australia has been crowned the tallest of them all, hitting a giddy 5.7 meters (18 feet, 8 inches). Twelve-year-old Forest, who lives at Australia Zoo in Queensland, is so lanky that a team from Guinness World Records had to create a specially made measuring pole and rig it next to a hay dispenser in the giraffe house to record his height. It took several months to capture the measurements, via images and video footage, as it took some time for Forest to get comfortable with the new feeder. Forest, pictured here with the Irwin family, has fathered 12 calves. Forest was born at Auckland Zoo in New Zealand in 2007 and was moved to Australia Zoo -- run by the Irwin family -- at the age of two. As part of the zoo's breeding program, he has since fathered 12 calves, with another on the way. The tallest species alive in the world today, giraffes usually grow to between 15 and 18 feet. They have been listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with some subspecies considered "endangered" or "critically endangered." CNN

Could the internet become conscious? An old belief system called ‘panpsychism’ suggests that something resembling a mind or consciousness exists in all physical things. In recent years, researchers such as neuroscientist Christof Koch have tried to update these ideas, saying that if there are enough connections between elements – like synapses in the brain – then consciousness may naturally start to form. The average human brain has 86 billion neurons, with some 100 trillion connections between them – does this mean that if something else has the same number of connections, it will also become conscious? Some believe so. Like our brains, the internet is a massively connected entity, made up of computers, mobile devices and the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) – smart, networked objects including household appliances, wearable gadgets, vehicles and even entire factories. According to one estimate, the number of internet-connected devices will reach 125 billion worldwide by 2030. So the connectivity of the internet seems to be fast approaching that of our brain. But how would we know if the internet had become conscious? An internet that’s as connected as the brain might process information as quickly as we do, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to ‘wake up’ or become self-aware. There are big differences between the two systems: our sense of consciousness is created by brains that have evolved over millions of years, whereas the internet is a human-designed network that’s been around for a few decades. Ultimately, consciousness is still such a poorly understood subject that we won’t have a definitive answer to your question until we figure out how to measure consciousness in the first place. Science Focus

IN - OUT Summer Transfer Window 29 July 2021

Lol, no, I don't think my old man did either. The worse heat out there was when I worked with the Country Roads Board tarring roads in the bush areas of Bendigo & Ballarat, the temp was around 45c and I was a lead flagman stopping traffic while they were tarring the roads, I had a yellow coat on and a safety helmet and I was sweating my bollocks off and the heat was making me sleepy and I yawned and swallowed a big fucking Australian bush fly, I could feel it wriggling all the way down in my guts. That's one of the reasons why they tell you to put your hand over your mouth when you yawn, politeness and say excuse me and also stopping you from swallowing anything flying around...like a FUCKING BUSH FLY.