Mark H

On a stroll back to the Premier League :) - Eivind

"How to Make Your Own Ebola Remedy. What you need: 1. A face mask and gloves 2. Two bottles (50 ml up to 500 ml glass or plastic bottles) with caps 3. Clean water (mineral or tap water) 4. An Ebola sample: some spit or other disease product, such as blood, from a person infected with Ebola, or who is suspected sick with it. Any small quantity will do, even a pinhead. 5. An alcoholic liquid, such as whisky, brandy, rum, etc. 6. Half an hour of your time." - Mark H

Up to 30,000 in need of Ebola drugs by now, analysis shows - No approved drugs exist though several are under development and the World Health Organisation last week gave the green light for experimental medicines to be used to fight the deadly disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news... - Halil

:) - Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart

"ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has climbed to a new orbit following its daring aerobraking experiment, and will now resume observations of this fascinating planet for at least a few more months. The orbit-raising followed a month of aerobraking that saw the spacecraft surf in and out of the atmosphere at altitudes typically between 131 km and 135 km for a couple of minutes on each of its closest approaches to the planet. Before, normal operations involved an elliptical orbit every 24 hours that took Venus Express from 66 000 km over the south pole down to around 250 km at the north pole, just above the top of the atmosphere. But, after eight years and with propellant running low, the Venus Express team began a daring aerobraking campaign, dipping the craft progressively lower into the atmosphere on its closest approaches." - Mark H

"This orbit will slowly decay again under gravity, but with only a few kilograms of fuel at most now remaining further altitude-raising manoeuvres may not be possible. If no further corrections are made, Venus Express will probably reenter the atmosphere again in December, but this time for good, ending the mission.In the meantime, having survived not only the aerobraking experiment but also the most recent orbit-raising manoeuvres, all of the science experiments will be reactivated, continuing their detailed study of Venus for at least a few more months." - Mark H

"Clay lost to Polk by only 30,000 votes, which suggests that there was limited support for annexation (in fact it was primarily rooted in the south). Yet President Tyler interpreted Polk's victory as a mandate for expansion, which prompted him to push through annexation as one of his final acts, with help from expansionists in Congress. If Clay had won the election, Tyler would not have annexed Texas, and the United States would not have entered into war with Mexico – at least not in 1845. Had Clay won, we might assume that the nation would have avoided annexation, and by extension war with Mexico." - Mark H

Texas may have become part of the US even without the Mexican-American war. - John (bird whisperer)

:) - Eivind

"Back in the 1980s, Richard Dawkins was a respected Oxford University Professor, and one of the world’s leading voices on evolutionary biology. After crafting several brilliant tomes that explained the origins of life to lay people, he became well known in the wider world too. The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype and The Blind Watchmaker transformed the public’s understanding of science and taught them a lot in the process. Dawkins was on his way to being a national treasure, in the same way that David Attenborough is today." - Mark H

"Meanwhile, over in Northern Ireland Gerry Adams was a hugely divisive and infamous figure. In 1983 he became the President of Sinn Fein, and a thorn in the British government’s side. He was also alleged to have had links to the IRA, and has even been alleged to have been involved in one of the group’s murders. In short, he was viewed by the British establishment as one of the most dangerous men in Britain. So dangerous was he that the British government took the draconian step of banning his voice from British airwaves, as they were so concerned about what he would say. (In the event, broadcasters simply responded by broadcasting his words read by an actor)." - Mark H

"Almost every day, there’s a new Dawkins-related furore, where he has said something controversial and the masses of Twitter have reacted. Today, for example, he has been offering his opinions on rape." - Mark H

"So what about Gerry Adams? Surely such a renowned firebrand would be taking to Twitter with all sorts of inflammatory rhetoric? It turns out he really likes rubber ducks." - Mark H

"In 1970s comic books and newspapers one could usually find advertisements offering posters, iron-on transfers, sew-on patches and T-shirts arranged by theme or subject matter: movie and TV stars, cartoon characters, pop stars, infant felons, etc. Inspirational or motivational posters were also very popular, particularly among people who had few thoughts of their own and believed that pithy phrases containing as few syllables as possible furnished them with something akin to a personality." - Mark H

"Scarfolk Council monitored the content of all posters to ensure that only quotes with moral integrity found their way onto the walls of citizens. To this end, the council turned to the tried-and-tested morality of spiritual and religious texts such as the Bible. " - Mark H

"The conflict in the Mideast has intensified in the last month with turbulent fighting in Gaza strip. Over 800 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,000 injured, according to Palestinan health officials. World leaders have been working on a truce between Hamas and Israel to end the bloodshed." - Mark H

:) - Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart

"Completing a three-day journey from Earth, an Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus spacecraft reached the International Space Station this week, resupplying the outpost with critical provisions, experiments and other needed cargo. The 16.8-foot-long, 10-foot diameter Cygnus supply ship was grappled by the space station's robotic arm at 1036 GMT (6:36 a.m. EDT) Wednesday at the end of a laser-guided final approach from underneath the 450-ton research complex. It delivered more than 3,000 pounds of cargo to the space station." - Mark H

"HAVE a look at a 1977 grade school science textbook. Each page features distinctly seventies children in distinctly seventies environments. A beautiful thing to behold. Today’s textbook illustrations are much more professional, polished and detailed than they used to be. Many of you may remember that most 70s textbooks were low on informative illustrations and graphics, but chock full of pictures featuring a melting pot of children doing God-knows-what. Today’s science schoolbooks are brimming with amazing pictures and lush illustrations; whereas, my old science book had pictures of kids blowing bubbles or watering plants." - Mark H

Just shown during half time on the BBC. - Mark H

"A girl's quest into the depths of Tinder dating. The good, the bad, the pictures of men holding fish." - Mark H