Life, medicine and stuff

Hadn't really appreciated that this was happening, but of course it makes perfect sense. In the digital world, instead of giving away a few freebies to attract paying customers, it makes much more sense to make your service free to the majority, and charge a small number of dedicated users for professional or specialist services.…

The most famous library of all time. Established by the Greeks in their new city in Egypt, an attempt to put them on the map, and pull influence away from the homeland. In the same way as Alexander wanted to rule the whole world, the library sought to contain all knowledge. It contained millions of…

Paolo Pellegrin, Magnum photojournalist: "There is a whole gallery of pictures I couldnx92t bring myself to take. I work in a landscape of human suffering; there is an Italian word x91pudorex92 which means modesty in front of the suffering of others. I need to be comfortable with what I do and, of course, I am…

There are now 2.5 million less sheep in Scotland than 20 years ago. A third of the flock in the Highlands and islands has gone. Part of the reason is declining subsidies, part of the reason is that people eat less lamb. The rate of decline accelerates as services such as transport and feed become…

From Unclutterer http://unclutterer.com/2009/02/26/could-your-productivity-benefit-from-a-professional-nagger/ As someone who is chronically disorganized and has a tendency to procrastinate on the dull but necessary, I could probably benefit from professional nagging services.

What do Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Mingus and Louis Armstrong all have in common? Scottish surnames, that's what! Scottish slave owners gave their names to generations of black Americans. Similarly, Scottish migrants may have influenced American blues music with their own traditions of acapella singing. Now it has been suggested that rap music may link in…

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I like guidelines. They make life simple. In the sense that you can probably save yourself some time by not having to think too much, maybe squeeze in a coffee. But also in the sense that they can demystify – protect from increasingly spurious meddling. But Iona Heath in the BMJ reminds us of Karl…

Intriguing article in the BMJ by John Burn, a professor of genetics. When does life begin? At fertilization? At conception? When the embryo implants in the uterus? He points out that the early zygote is a clump of cells, which actually are not the embryo but give rise to an inner mass that then becomes…

So in September last year, Somali pirates hijacked a Ukrainian ship, the Faina, and demanded a ransom from its owners. Turns out the ship was secretly carrying 33 tanks and an assortment of weapons, apparently heading for Sudan (not Kenya as supposed) in defiance of the UN embargo. The pirates made for the Pirate port…