CaaC (John)

I can just imagine you later on

Aye, just watched all the episodes, pissed my self laughing with the bit I put in the spoiler

Ghosts, episode 4, @Danny mentioned this series and it's bloody funny, even the wife is having a good laugh.

Congratulations all you lot, if you are anything like our son at the moment he has a raging hang-over but with a big smile on his face, he said to me "I won't be driving my Taxi for the next 2 days pops until I get all this booze out of my system"

I think I would rather stick with pet rat's than one of these, they look fucking evil. Potentially dangerous’ raccoon dogs recaptured after escape Two “potentially dangerous” raccoon dogs who escaped from their enclosure have been recaptured, police have said. The male and female pair went missing after digging their way out from a property on Big Lane, Clarborough, Nottinghamshire, on Tuesday. Nottinghamshire Police issued a warning to local residents to be “vigilant” about the animals, describing them as “potentially dangerous if approached as they are not domesticated”. An update from the force on Saturday said: “There had since been a number of sightings, and late last night, they were located and recaptured in the local area. “The owners have since secured their enclosure, to which they will be returned.” According to the RSPCA, raccoon dogs, also known as a tanuki or Japanese raccoon dogs, are native to the forests of eastern Siberia, northern China, North Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. The species has become widespread in some European countries as a result of accidental release or escapes, the charity says. Raccoon dogs are omnivores who eat insects, rodents, amphibians, birds, fish, molluscs and carrion, as well as fruits, nuts and berries. The RSPCA says the animals are “not suited to life as a pet in a domestic environment” and it would “strongly discourage” anyone buying or keeping one. There are also strict legal restrictions on keeping, selling, rehoming and breeding raccoon dogs. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/potentially-dangerous-raccoon-dogs-recaptured-after-escape/ar-AACf3aK?ocid=chromentp

Watch the first solar eclipse ever captured on film! Doyle Rice The first film of a total solar eclipse has been "re-discovered," astronomers announced Thursday. The eclipse, which occurred on May 28, 1900, in North Carolina, was filmed by British magician turned pioneering filmmaker Nevil Maskelyne. Mike Cruise, president of the Royal Astronomical Society, said in a statement Thursday that "it's wonderful to see events from our scientific past brought back to life. Astronomers are always keen to embrace new technology, and our forerunners a century ago were no exception." The original film fragment, which belongs to the astronomical society, was "painstakingly scanned and restored" by conservation experts at the British Film Institute. "These scenes of a total solar eclipse – one of the most spectacular sights in astronomy – are a captivating glimpse of Victorian science in action," Cruise said. The total solar eclipse of May 28, 1900, was visible from Louisiana to Virginia. According to the astronomical society, it was not an easy feat to film. Maskelyne had to make a special telescopic adapter for his camera to capture the event. This is the only film by Maskelyne that's known to have survived. "This is a wonderful archival discovery: perhaps the oldest surviving astronomical film, it is a really striking record of both early cinema and late Victorian eclipse observing," said Joshua Nall, the chair of the Royal Astronomical Society's astronomical heritage committee. Folks antsy to see another total eclipse don't have long to wait, though you'll have to hop on a plane to South America to catch it: A total eclipse of the sun is coming to Chile and Argentina on July 2. Specifically, the sun will disappear along a narrow track that stretches from Chile’s coast to just south of Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital and largest city https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/watch-the-first-solar-eclipse-ever-captured-on-film/ar-AACeMB0

UK satellite 'sets sail' for return to Earth A British satellite in space has just "set sail" to return to Earth. TechDemoSat-1 was launched in 2014 to trial a number of new in-orbit technologies but has now reached the end of its operational life. To bring it out of the sky faster than would ordinarily be the case, it has deployed a "drag sail". This large membrane will catch residual air molecules at its altitude of 635km and pull TDS-1 quickly into Earth's atmosphere where it will burn up. There is a lot of interest currently in "clean space" technologies. The orbital highways above the planet are set to become congested with thousands of spacecraft in the coming years, and serious efforts need to be made to tidy away redundant hardware and other space junk if collisions are to be avoided. Space harpoon skewers 'orbital debris' Old satellites will need 'rapid disposal' US firm picks UK for weather satellites TechDemoSat was built by SSTL of Guildford, and its 6.7-sqm Kapton drag sail, called Icarus-1, was developed by Cranfield University. "It is fantastic to see an image of TechDemoSat's deployed drag sail captured by the onboard inspection camera," said SSTL's managing director, Sarah Parker. "This in-orbit image of a deployed drag sail on one of our satellites is a first for us and is a fitting culmination of mission operations for this highly innovative small satellite." Already, the Icarus design is starting to appear on other satellites as well. TechDemoSat was part-funded by Innovate UK and was jointly operated by SSTL and by the Satellite Applications Catapult in Harwell. It had eight payloads, including one that was developed by students to measure high-energy particles in space. One of TechDemoSat's really big successes, however, was its Sea State experiment. This used a GPS receiver, rather like a radar, to monitor how signals from the Global Positioning System were reflected off the ocean surface. This gave scientists a powerful tool to assess the roughness of the sea surface, and from that to gauge the strength of the winds. The lessons learned with this reflectometry experiment on TDS-1 were incorporated into the instruments that were later flown on the US space agency's CYGNSS (Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System) mission. CYGNSS was put up specifically to peer through hurricanes to help forecast the strength of the winds when the storms make landfall. The Innovate UK agency, along with the Harwell Catapult, have continued the concept of in-orbit demonstration (IOD) satellites. They have just supported the launch of a small spacecraft that will test a compact microwave radiometer. US-based Orbital Micro Systems expects to use a network of these instruments to make rapid weather forecasting updates. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48473698

The king behind Machu Picchu built his legacy in stone Eleanor Cummins Popular Science’s new series, The Builders, takes you behind the construction tape to reveal the individuals responsible for history’s greatest architectural works. Glance at an Incan brick, and you’ll notice there’s very little that’s conventionally bricklike about it. There are no right angles, with no proper corners. And it’s not a rectangle at all, but a trapezoid: one side wider and squatter than the other. Look at another. Then another. Then another. No two are exactly the same, each a polygonal version of the unique rock it started as. Carefully stacked together like a 15th-century game of Tetris, these seemingly haphazard blocks have withstood 500 years of disasters, both natural and human. The signature style of the pre-Columbian empire, these stones marked the Inca expansion some 2,500 miles down the backbone of South America. The sprawl took just a few decades, propelled by the strength of a man named Pachacuti, the ninth Sapa Inca (the indigenous Quechua term for “king”). His most impressive building project was Machu Picchu, a 200-building, a mountain-hugging summer resort for the ruler and his extended family. But this wonder of the world is just one place where Pachacuti carefully recorded his legacy—and building concepts that continue to help us create more-resilient cities—stone by stone. Born in 1438 as Cusi Yupanqui, Pachacuti didn’t plan his rise to power. When the Chankas, an enemy ethnic group invaded, his father, then king, and his brother, the future ruler, retreated. Cusi Yupanqui had to defend the Inca’s fertile Peruvian valley alone. The puma-shaped crown city of Cusco occupied a sacred spot in between two forking rivers, and the Chankas wanted to call the prestigious place their own. As the Chankas made their way toward the gold-plated Temple of the Sun, part fortress and part temple, Cusi Yupanqui led his men into a battle so ferocious that the stones beneath the warriors’ feet rose up to fight alongside them—or so the story goes. In the aftermath, the victorious Inca rechristened their leader Pachacuti, or “Earth-Shaker.” After his brother’s eventual murder and his father’s death, Pachacuti ascended the throne as the sole king of Cusco. Unsatisfied with this one little valley, he set about conquering swaths of the Andes, knitting together lands in the vast quilt of the expanding Inca Empire, which at its zenith stretched from Quito, Ecuador, in the north, down a long coastal strip to Talca, Chile in the south. The Inca laid roads and raised cities among diverse natural ecosystems, from the Atacama—the only desert drier than the poles—to the rainforests of Cusco to the flood zones of Machu Picchu. Everything they built, they built to last, with the aid of Pachacuti’s soldiers, engineers, and stones. In colonizing the land outside Cusco, Pachacuti used architecture to “mark their presence on the landscape,” says Stella Nair, an art historian at the University of California at, Los Angeles, and an expert in indigenous art and architecture in the Americas. Absent a written language, he used construction to put his stamp on every conquered village, reminding potential enemies of his power. “The [Inca] are a really small population, and within 100 years, they conquer the western rim of South America,” Nair says. “You have to convey the idea that you’re there.”

Researchers accidentally discover nearly 200-year-old shipwreck while testing new equipment N'dea Yancey-Bragg Ocean researchers made an “unexpected and exciting” discovery while testing new remotely operated vehicle equipment earlier this month. Four days into a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sea-trial expedition, sonar equipment on the ROV named Deep Discoverer detected something in the shape of a shipwreck. The mission team investigated and discovered what researchers believe to be a mid-19th-century wooden sailing vessel at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. "Typically when we find/explore shipwrecks, we have some basic information that allows us to search for a target,” Emily Crum, a spokeswoman for the NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research, told the Charlotte Observer.“In this instance, there was no information to suggest the wreck was there. The team just stumbled upon it." The discovery required a “swift change in operations” and the ship’s Commanding Officer and mission team extended the dive by three hours to examine the ship. “After a flurry of phone calls and emails to marine archaeologists around the country, experts tuned in to live video from the seafloor, lending their expertise as they virtually joined the dive,” according to a press release from NOAA. The new ROVs recorded high definition video of the wreck which marine archaeologists believe is a schooner or brig, measuring roughly 124 feet long with copper sheathing covering the bottom of its hull which is relatively intact up to the water line. Experts were able to infer the time period the vessel was built based on the construction features, but its rig, trade, nationality and crew remain unidentified. A number of copper and iron artefacts were observed at the site, but researchers noted a lack of personal possessions. All structure above the water line is missing as well, and some of the timbers appeared charred which may indicate the vessel caught fire before sinking. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/researchers-accidentally-discover-nearly-200-year-old-shipwreck-while-testing-new-equipment/ar-AACbgE0

Rosalind Franklin: Mars rover control centre opens The control centre that will run day-to-day operations during the Rosalind Franklin rover's exploration of Mars in 2021 has been inaugurated in Turin. The Italian facility will be where engineers sit and communicate with the robot vehicle via a satellite that is already in orbit around the Red Planet. Rosalind Franklin is a joint venture between the European and Russian space agencies (Esa and Roscosmos). Its mission is to drill into Mars to see if life has ever been present. Esa's director-general, Jan Wörner, said of the new Rover Operations Control Center (ROCC): "This is the crucial place on Earth from where we will listen to the rover's instruments, see what [Rosalind Franklin] sees and send commands to direct the search for evidence of life on and under the surface." The ROOC is located on the premises of Altec, an engineering and logistics services company set up by the Italian Space Agency and Thales Alenia Space (TAS). TAS is the industrial prime contractor engaged by Esa to develop the rover and all its systems. Assembly of the vehicle itself has been subcontracted to another of Europe's major aerospace companies, Airbus. Final integration of the six-wheeled scientific machine is nearing completion in a cleanroom in Stevenage, UK. Three rovers are actually being constructed as part of the mission. The first, called the "Structural Thermal Model" (STM), was used to prove the design. This STM went through a tough testing regime to check that the robot that does eventually launch to Mars - the "Flight Model" now in Stevenage - will be able to cope with the stresses of working on another planet. The third model, also not quite finished, is called the "Rover Ground Test Module". This is essentially the copy of Rosalind Franklin that will be kept on Earth at the ROOC to troubleshoot any problems. If engineers need to re-write a piece of software to overcome some glitch on the Flight Model, the patch can be trialled first in the Turin Test Module before being sent up to the Red Planet. Some problems may be more physical in nature, such as an obstacle like a sand trap or large boulder. Again, the ROOC's engineers will be able to practise avoidance and escape manoeuvres with a dummy rover model in a large sandpit before asking the real robot on Mars to follow the same movements. Rosalind Franklin is due to launch to the Red Planet in July/August next year and land in March 2021. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48465050

Hubble’s Messier Catalog Charles Messier (1730–1817) was a French astronomer best known for his "Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters." An avid comet-hunter, Messier compiled a catalogue of deep-sky objects in order to help prevent other comet enthusiasts from wasting their time studying objects that were not comets. Credits: R. Stoyan et al., Atlas of the Messier Objects: Highlights of the Deep Sky (Cambridge University Press, 2008) The brilliant stars seen in this ground-based image are members of the open star cluster M45, also known as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters. The shapes overlaid on the image represent the fields of view of Hubble’s cameras and other science instruments and provide a scale to Hubble’s very narrow view on the heavens. Credits: NASA, ESA and AURA/Caltech The Hubble Space Telescope is equipped to take images in various wavelengths of light in order to provide more insight into its targets. The famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula (also known as M16: the 16th object in Charles Messier’s catalogue) were imaged using both visible (left) and infrared (right) filters. Using infrared light, Hubble is able to probe past the dense gas and dust of the nebula to reveal stars that are hidden in visible wavelengths. Credits: NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team Although there are as many as one hundred billion comets in the outer regions of the solar system, prior to 1995, only around 900 had ever been discovered. This is because most comets are too dim to be detected without the proper astronomical equipment. Occasionally, however, a comet will sweep past the Sun that is bright enough to be seen during the daytime with the naked eye. One such instance occurred in 1744. Comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux, discovered by three amateur astronomers in late 1743, grew steadily brighter as it approached the Sun. By the end of February 1744, the comet had reached its peak brightness at an apparent magnitude of –7, making it the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun and Moon. The comet’s brilliance captured the interest of professional and amateur astronomers alike, including a young Charles Messier. Born in 1730 in Badonviller, France, Messier had to give up formal education at age 11 when his father died. Soon after, he witnessed the spectacular Comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux, which ignited his passion for astronomy. At the age of 21, Messier was hired as a draftsman for the French navy. He learned to use astronomical tools and became a skilled observer. For his efforts, Messier was eventually promoted to the chief astronomer of the Marine Observatory in Paris, where he pursued his interest in comets. He discovered over a dozen comets, earning him the nickname “Comet Ferret” from King Louis XV. In 1758, Messier was in the process of observing one such comet when he was distracted by a cloudy object in the constellation Taurus. Upon further observation, he realized that the object could not be a comet because it was not moving across the sky. In an effort to prevent other astronomers from mistaking the object for a comet, Messier took note of it and began to catalogue other comet-like “objects to avoid.” This comet-like object that Messier observed was NGC 1952. Commonly known today as M1 (Messier 1) or the Crab Nebula, it is the first object in Messier’s Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters. By the time of his death in 1817, Messier had compiled a list of 103 objects in the night sky using his own observations with various telescopes and the discoveries of other astronomers. The catalogue was revised in the 20th century and now contains 110 objects. The Messier catalogue includes some of the most fascinating astronomical objects that can be observed from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. Among them are deep-sky objects that can be viewed in stunning detail using larger telescopes but are also bright enough to be seen through a small telescope. This characteristic makes Messier objects extremely popular targets for amateur astronomers possessing all levels of experience and equipment. They are so popular, in fact, that they have inspired a special award from the Astronomical League (an organization for amateur astronomers) given to observers who are able to spot each of these objects. Those who succeed receive a certificate and are given the distinction of being in the Messier Club. While the Hubble Space Telescope has not produced images of every object in the Messier catalogue, it has observed 96 of them as of June 2018. Some of Hubble's photographs offer views of a given object in its entirety, but many focus on specific areas of interest. While Hubble is able to magnify objects very effectively, it has a relatively small field of view. This means that, in some cases, Hubble would need to take many exposures to capture an entire object. Although this is not always an efficient use of its time, as is the case for the widely spaced “open” star clusters in the Messier catalogue, many exposures are taken when the scientific value justifies the time spent. One of these objects is the Andromeda galaxy (designated M31 in Messier’s catalogue). In order to create a mosaic image that depicts almost half of Andromeda, Hubble has taken nearly 7,400 exposures of the galaxy. Unlike a digital camera that takes a single photograph in red, green and blue light to create a single full-colour image, Hubble takes monochrome images at specific wavelengths of light. These specific wavelengths can reveal characteristics of an object that are of scientific interest, such as the presence of a particular chemical element. Multiple observations at different wavelengths can be combined to form a single image that reveals all of these characteristics at once but doesn’t necessarily contain the full spectrum of visible light. In those cases, colours are assigned to each wavelength to highlight the different characteristics, offering a deeper understanding of the object’s properties. Additionally, Hubble is equipped to take infrared and ultraviolet images, which can reveal information that cannot be obtained using only visible light. Because infrared and ultraviolet light are not visible to human eyes, these images need to be processed in such a way that makes them meaningful to observers. This is done by assigning colours that humans can perceive to the wavelengths that they cannot. Whether their tool of choice is a sophisticated ground-based telescope, a decent pair of binoculars, or simply their naked eyes, observers hunting for Messier objects can use the data gathered from Hubble’s spectacular images to deepen their understanding of these 110 highlights of the night sky as they carry on the tradition of amateur astronomy. The following pages contain some of the best images from Hubble’s Messier catalogue taken thus far. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-messier-catalog

May 24, 2019 Hubble Spies Curious Galaxy Moving a Little Closer This Hubble image stars Messier 90, a beautiful spiral galaxy located roughly 60 million light-years from the Milky Way in the constellation of Virgo (the Virgin). The galaxy is part of the Virgo Cluster, a gathering of galaxies that is over 1,200 strong. This image combines infrared, ultraviolet and visible light gathered by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This camera was operational between 1994 and 2010, producing images with an unusual staircase-like shape as seen here. This is because the camera was made up of four light detectors with overlapping fields of view, one of which gave a higher magnification than the other three. When the four images are combined together in one picture, the high-magnification image needs to be reduced in size in order for the image to align properly. This produces an image with a layout that looks like steps. Messier 90 is remarkable; it is one of the few galaxies seen to be travelling toward the Milky Way, not away from it. The galaxy’s light reveals this incoming motion in a phenomenon known as blueshift. In simple terms, the galaxy is compressing the wavelength of its light as it moves towards us, like a slinky being squashed when you push on one end. This increases the frequency of the light and shifts it towards the blue end of the spectrum. As our universe is expanding, almost all of the galaxies we see in the universe are moving away from us, and we, therefore, see their light more towards the red end of the spectrum, known as redshift. Messier 90, however, appears to be a rare exception. Astronomers think that this blueshift is likely caused by the cluster’s colossal mass accelerating its members to high velocities on bizarre and peculiar orbits, sending them whirling around on odd paths that take them both towards and away from us over time. While the cluster itself is moving away from us, some of its constituent galaxies, such as Messier 90, are moving faster than the cluster as a whole, making it so that, from Earth, we see the galaxy heading towards us. However, some are also moving in the opposite direction within the cluster, and thus seem to be streaking away from us at very high velocity. Messier 90 is featured in Hubble’s Messier catalogue, which includes some of the most fascinating objects that can be observed from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. See the NASA-processed image and other Messier objects at https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-messier-catalog. Text credit: ESA (European Space Agency) Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Sargent et al. Last Updated: May 24, 2019 Editor: Rob Garner

How a 'forgotten' 600-year-old tsunami changed history Megan Gannon On Dec. 26, 2004, roiling tides as high as 100 feet rushed onto the shores of Aceh, the Indonesian province on the northwest tip of Sumatra. An undersea earthquake had struck just off the coast and triggered a destructive tsunami, which hit shorelines all along the Indian Ocean as far away as Somalia. More than 160,000 people were killed in Aceh alone, and even more, were displaced. A similar tsunami appears to have wiped out coastal villages in Aceh more than 600 years ago, and the resulting devastation may have played a role in the rise of the powerful Aceh Sultanate, according to new evidence, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2006, archaeologist Patrick Daly was working with Acehnese authorities to preserve cultural and religious sites damaged by the 2004 tsunami when he saw beautifully carved historic Muslim gravestones toppled over and eroding away along the coastline Historic grave markers revealed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami prompted researchers to look for evidence of earlier tsunamis. "To see them thrown up and tossed aside, that was quite heartbreaking," he says. Daly started wondering how often these tsunamis had happened in the past, and if so, how they affected the people living in Aceh. The northwest tip of Sumatra, where Aceh's capital Banda Aceh is now, was either the first or last port of call for ships crossing the Bay of Bengal, and the Aceh Sultanate that arose there in the 16th century became one of the few Southeast Asian powers to successfully resist colonialism for centuries. Archaeologists, however, didn't have much hard evidence for settlements in the area before the 17th century. Tsunamis101 Daly, who works at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, and his colleagues at Syiah Kuala University in Aceh began systematically studying the coast, fanning out to about 40 coastal villages to sit down with elders and map any traces of historic human presence, such as gravestones, ceramic fragments, and old mosque foundations. "The very first map I got back told most of the story," Daly says. "It was stunning. We can see all these very discrete concretions of material along the coast. Ten settlements came up really distinctly." Based on the age of the ceramic scatters in these settlements, the researchers found something even more striking. The coastal villages all seem to pop up around the 11th and 12th centuries, but then all nine low-lying settlements along a 25-mile section of coast seem to have been abandoned around 1400. Recently discovered geologic evidence suggested that a tsunami had struck the region in 1394, but, Daly says, ""We had no idea of the extent of it—how big, how powerful, how destructive was it." The new archaeological evidence suggests the tsunami, possibly par with the 2004 event, destroyed all the low-lying villages in the region. The one Acehnese settlement that seemed to survive the 1394 tsunami was a hilltop site out of reach of the tides. Daly and his colleagues have identified the settlement as Lamri, a trading site known from historical records on the medieval maritime Silk Road. At Lamri, the researchers found high-end ceramics from all different parts of China and even as far away as Syria that they didn't see in the low-lying villages. Lamri, however, went into rapid decline around the beginning 16th century. Just a few decades earlier, people had started rebuilding in the villages that had been destroyed by the tsunami. Trade was getting rerouted to those low-lying areas, as evidenced by the uptick in higher quality ceramics and gravestones with names of elites from other parts of the Straits of Malacca, which separates Sumatra from the Malay Peninsula. Daly and his colleagues don't think the low-lying coastal areas were resettled by local survivors moving back home. Rather, they believe the tsunami destruction offered prime, vacated real estate for Muslim traders who were being displaced elsewhere as Europeans started vying for influence in the region. (The Portuguese conquered the nearby state of Malacca in 1511.) These newcomers may have formed the core of what became the Aceh Sultanate, a powerful Islamic kingdom. "You can have a tsunami event followed by a period of absolute renaissance and construction," says Beverly Goodman, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Haifa in Israel, who also studies past tsunamis. (Goodman was not part of the study.) Geologists and archaeologists hope that reconstructing past tsunamis can help us better understand modern risks. "If we rely only on the record that we're aware of, we end up significantly underestimating how often and how big the impact of tsunamis is around the world," says Goodman. She noted that because of the 2004 event, Aceh was shown to be very vulnerable. But the same methods of this new study, which Goodman wasn't involved in, could help recognize vulnerability in places that haven't had a recently recorded event. "This type of research is really important for getting those older records together to better understand what the risk factors are," Goodman says. "Using sediment records and archaeological records is really critical for filling in those gaps." The greater challenge is perhaps figuring out how to appropriately adapt to very rare events. "If you tell people that some time in the next couple of centuries there could be another tsunami, but we can't tell you when, and it will wipe the whole area out, a lot of people are willing to live with that risk," Daly says. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/how-a-forgotten-600-year-old-tsunami-changed-history/ar-AAC4XcD?ocid=chromentp

Humans started walking on two feet because of LIGHTNING, bizarre study claims Lightning triggered by spectacular cosmic blasts millions of years ago holds the key to why humans walk on two feet, according to new research. The bombardment of electric storms forced our ancestors out of the trees by razing forests to the ground - making them forge a future down below. It is what led to homo sapiens having hands free to build cathedrals, design rockets and snap iPhone selfies, say, astronomers. Lead author Professor Adrian Melott, of the University of Kansas, explained: "It is thought there was already some tendency for hominins to walk on two legs, even before this event. "But they were mainly adapted for climbing around in trees. After this conversion to savanna, they would much more often have to walk from one tree to another across the grassland, and so they become better at walking upright. "They could see over the tops of grass and watch for predators. It is thought this conversion to savanna contributed to bipedalism as it became more and more dominant in human ancestors." Exactly why and when our ancestors stood upright and started moving around on two feet is still shrouded in mystery. The reason early humans, or hominins, abandoned a life on all fours has been debated by evolutionary experts decades. It is one of the defining traits of our species. There is fossil evidence the iconic stance, not found in any other ape, began at least six million years ago. Now, a cutting-edge study published in the Journal of Geology suggests for the first time that it was triggered by lightning-fuelled wildfires. Prof Melott's team say ancient exploding stars, or supernovae, gave 'proto-humans' no choice. They began blitzing Earth with energy up to eight million years ago - peaking around 5.4 million years later. It initiated an avalanche of electrons in the lower atmosphere - setting off a chain of events culminating in homo habilis. © Provided by Trinity Mirror Shared Services Limited The study suggests that bipedalism arose when ancient supernovae caused lightning that burned Earth's forests Dubbed 'handyman', this is believed to be the earliest human species to leave tools - and leave Africa. In Frankenstein, the monster is sparked into life after Mary Shelley's fictional scientists hones the power of lightning. Now Prof Melott and colleagues say our own mobility can be traced back to the extraordinary physical phenomenon - indirectly, at least. Based on a "telltale" type of metal which lines the world's sea beds, it is known huge stars exploded 163 light years away between five and 2.5 million years ago. The deposits of iron-60 were caused by supernovae in our near neighbourhood. This was during the transition from the warmer Pliocene Epoch to the beginning of the Ice Age. Prof Melott said: "We calculated the ionisation of the atmosphere from cosmic rays which would come from a supernova about as far away as the iron-60 deposits indicate. "It appears this was the closest one in a much longer series. We contend it would increase the ionisation of the lower atmosphere by 50-fold. "Usually, you don't get lower-atmosphere ionization because cosmic rays don't penetrate that far. "But the more energetic ones from supernovae come right down to the surface, so there would be a lot of electrons being knocked out of the atmosphere." This meant an abundance of electrons would form more pathways for lightning strikes, say Prof Melott and co-author prof Brian Thomas, of Washburn University, Kansas. Prof Melott said: "The bottom mile or so of the atmosphere gets affected in ways it normally never does. "When high-energy cosmic rays hit atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they knock electrons out of them - so these electrons are running around loose instead of bound to atoms. "Ordinarily, in the lightning process, there is a buildup of voltage between clouds or the clouds and the ground but current can't flow because not enough electrons are around to carry it. "So, it has to build up high voltage before electrons start moving. Once they are moving, electrons knock more electrons out of more atoms, and it builds to a lightning bolt. "But with this ionisation, that process can get started a lot more easily, so there would be a lot more lightning bolts." This spike set off wildfires around the world. The theory is supported by the discovery of carbon deposits found in soils that correspond with the timing. Prof Melott said: "The observation is there is a lot more charcoal and soot in the world starting a few million years ago. "It is all over the place, and nobody has any explanation for why it would have happened all over the world in different climate zones. This could be an explanation. "That increase in fires is thought to have stimulated the transition from woodland to savanna in a lot of places - where you had forests, now you had mostly open grassland with shrubby things here and there. "That is thought to be related to human evolution in northeast Africa. Specifically, in the Great Rift Valley where you get all these hominin fossils." No such event is likely to occur again anytime soon. The nearest star capable of exploding into a supernova in the next million years is Betelgeuse, some 652 light years from Earth. Added Prof Melott: "Betelgeuse is too far away to have effects anywhere near this strong. So, don't worry about this. Worry about solar proton events. That is the danger for us with our technology - a solar flare that knocks out electrical power. Just imagine months without electricity." https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/humans-started-walking-on-two-feet-because-of-lightning-bizarre-study-claims/ar-AAC1XYd

The good old days, when I was younger and a long-haired git, worked long hours but come Friday night, come home and get bathed or showered get a baby sitter to watch our young ones then me and the wife would head out to the pub or sit indoors when the kids were in bed and have a good bevvy, the photo below was me with my ex-army pal Bill, 2nd Para Regiment, many a good piss up with him, this was in Southend-on-Sea, Essex around 1980 odd's, I was pissed as a newt in the 2nd photo. ut.

Another Birthday prezzie from our daughter has just arrived a pair of Man United slouch pants, feeling honoured, she said there is one more thing to come so just waiting on that but she won't tell me what it is, neither will the wife.

Bloody funny weather yesterday and today which has been wet and miserable, I can tell it's cold when the wife wanted to turn the central heating on, it's 11c but there is rain heading our way as the clouds are dark coming in from the sea.

The craziest destinations you can actually visit If you have the money, the time, the constitution, and you enjoy a calculated risk, here are 25 trips to awaken the globetrotter within you. The Antarctic, the Titanic, a desert island, or the dark side of the Moon—you can visit them all if you’re willing to pay the price. Don’t forget your sunscreen and remember to water your plants before you leave. Prices are in US dollars. 1/26 SLIDES

2,000-year-old marble head of god Dionysus discovered under Rome Nick Squires Archaeologists in Rome have stumbled on a large marble head of Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, the ancient Roman god of wine, dance and fertility. The discovery was made during excavations in the heart of the city, near the remains of the ancient Roman Forum. The head would have belonged to a large statue of the god dating back to the imperial era. The archaeologists were digging around the remains of a medieval wall when they found the marble head, which they believe represents Dionysus, who the Romans knew as Bacchus. “The archaeologists were excavating a late medieval wall when they saw, hidden in the earth, a white marble head,” said a statement from the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, which encompasses the Roman Forum. Related slideshow: Amazing discoveries the year you were born (Provided by Stacker) “It was built into the wall and had been recycled as a building material, as often happened in the medieval era. Extracted from the ground, it revealed itself in all its beauty. “The face is refined and gracious, young and feminine. All of which makes us think this could be a depiction of Dionysos.” The marble head will be cleaned and eventually put on display “Rome continues to surprise us every day,” said Virginia Raggi, the mayor of the capital. The head of the statue… is in excellent condition. It’s a marvel.” The head dates to between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD, according to Claudio Parisi Presicce, director of Rome's archaeological museums. “The hollow eyes, which were probably filled with glass or precious stones, date it to the first centuries of the Roman Empire,” he said. “The surface is not completely visible because we haven't yet given it a thorough clean. We think that there could still be traces of the original colour conserved in the band around the hair." Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, the mortal daughter of the king of Thebes. He was known as the god of wine, winemaking and grape cultivation, as well as of fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy. He was worshipped by the ancient Greeks as one of the 12 Olympians before being incorporated into the Roman pantheon of gods as Bacchus. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/2000-year-old-marble-head-of-god-dionysus-discovered-under-rome/ar-AAC1AQr

Sad Last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia dies The future of the critically endangered Sumatran rhino has been struck a blow, with the death of Malaysia's last male. The rhino once roamed across much of Asia but has now almost disappeared from the wild, with fewer than one hundred animals believed to exist. The death of Tam, who lived at a wildlife reserve on the island of Borneo, was announced on Monday. A female called Iman is now the only remaining member of the species in Malaysia. After decades of deforestation and poaching, it's now thought only 30 to 100 Sumatran rhinos remain in the wild, most on the nearby island of Sumatra. Tam was aged 30 or more and had been living at a reserve in the Malaysian state of Sabah since being discovered wandering in a palm oil plantation in 2008. Efforts to breed him with two captured females proved unsuccessful. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48432302