It’s World Heritage Day on the 18th of April. So, let’s shine a light on some of the UK’s most well-known heritage sites.
Stonehenge is perhaps one of the most iconic sites in Britain. Located in Wiltshire, the prehistoric stone circle is estimated to date back to 3100 BCE and was most probably built as a monument site for worship. Today, the site receives an estimated 1 million visitors each year.
Dating back to 122 CE, Hadrian’s Wall was built as a Roman defence against the ‘barbarians’ in the north of Britannia. It stretches from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east of northern England to Bowness-on-Solway in the west. The wall was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
Located in Warwickshire, Kenilworth Castle is famous as the home of Robert Dudley, the (supposed) lover of Queen Elizabeth I. However, the castle predates Dudley, who only occupied it from 1563, by a few hundred years. The original castle was founded in the 1120s.
Overlooking The Channel, Dover Castle in Kent is one of the largest castles in England. As well as attracting many visitors each year, this castle has also been used as a location for a number of film and TV productions including Doctor Who, Into The Woods, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The Giant’s Causeway is an area of volcanic rock columns found on the coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The rock formations are said to be between 50 and 60 million years old and, according to Gaelic legend, the area is the remains of a road built by the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill so that he could cross the North Channel to meet Scottish giant Benandonner for a fight.
Also known as Holy Island, Lindisfarne is a tidal island (when the tide goes out it can be reached by land) off the coast of Northumberland that has been an important Christian site since the 6th century. Lindisfarne is perhaps most famous as the site of the first Viking raid on Britain in 793 CE – an event which kickstarted a long series of Viking invasions in Britain.
Also known as the Palace of Westminster, the grade 1 listed Gothic building serves as the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is thought that the site of the Palace, along the bank of the River Thames in London, has been used as a meeting place and residence for England’s rulers since the 11th century.
Built between 1705 and 1722, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire is most well-known as the birthplace of Winston Churchill. Despite being open to the public, and receiving around 950,000 visitors last year, the palace remains the home of the current Duke of Marlborough.
This is the site of one of the most famous battles in England’s history – the battle during which King Harold of England was defeated by the invading French leader, William, Duke of Normandy. William is now perhaps more widely known as William the Conqueror. After the battle, William had the Abbey built at the place of Harold’s death.
Located off the coast of North Cornwall, Tintagel Castle has long been associated with the legends of King Arthur. It is likely that the area surrounding the castle, the Tintagel Peninsula, had been occupied since the 1st century, but the ruined castle that stands there now upon a rocky islet wasn’t built until 1233. If you visit, you will see that the castle is very much a dramatic sight to behold.
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When the phrase “the God Particle” began circulating in the media a few decades ago it brought the world’s attention to the CERN laboratory in Switzerland and its research into particle physics, (the study of fundamental sub-atomic particles that make up matter and radiation). No matter whether you were an atheist, agnostic, or of some religious persuasion, this seemingly portentous sub-atomic particle had to pique your interest.
So, what is the God Particle? Well, it’s an everyday, media-friendly reference to the Higgs-Boson, a fundamental particle in particle physics. The nickname originated from the title of the book “The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?” by physicist Leon Lederman.
The Higgs-Boson plays a crucial role in the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes the fundamental particles and forces of nature. It is associated with the Higgs field, a field that permeates the universe and gives particles mass through interactions. The discovery of the Higgs-Boson was announced in 2012 by scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) after years of experimental searches.
This frustrating lengthy search for the Higgs-Boson was part of the reason for it gained the God Particle reference. Loen Lederman initially wanted to call it the “Goddamn Particle” because of its elusive nature, but the publishers wouldn’t allow it! He settled on the God Particle due to parallels between this confusing scientific journey and a parable in the Book of Genesis.
In the decades before the discovery of the Higgs-Boson scientists were always left dumbfounded as to why some electrons, protons, bosons, and quarks have mass. They found this all stemmed from the Higgs-Boson, which is the fundamental force-carrying particle of the similarly named Higgs Field, which is responsible for granting electrons, quarks, and of course Boson’s mass. Particles that interact with the Higgs Field more strongly have greater mass.
Although Protons have mass, this is not thought to have been granted by the Higgs-Boson, which only grants it to fundamental particles such as electrons and quarks. Protons (which are made up of quarks), get much of their mass from the binding energy that holds their constituents together.
So, the God Particle is the Higgs-Boson, and it refers to the fundamental force-carrying particle that permeates the universe and grants mass to any fundamental particles it interacts with. Without it, all fundamental particles would fly around the universe at the speed of light! That would make life, the Universe and everything very chaotic indeed, to say the least…
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I grew up believing that there was one dominant learning style, which was what I experienced throughout school, university, and the early years of my career—auditory learning. In traditional educational settings, this typically involved teacher or tutor-led lectures, discussion groups, and corporate seminars or workshops in the workplace. However, as I delved into corporate training during my time as an HR professional, I learned about the theory of four distinct learning styles: Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic (VARK).
1. Visual (V): Visual learners prefer to process information through visual aids such as diagrams, charts, graphs, videos, and other visual representations.
2. Auditory (A): Auditory learners prefer to process information through listening and speaking.
3. Reading/Writing (R): Reading/Writing learners prefer to process information through written text.
4. Kinesthetic (K): Kinesthetic learners prefer to process information through hands-on experiences and physical activities.
I have to admit, I haven’t questioned this theory, and research suggests that educators haven’t either, with 9 out of 10 of them believing that students learn better in their preferred style.
I was surprised to read that many neuroscientists consider the VARK theory to be a myth.
There is no proof of the value of learning styles as educational tools, and psychologists and neuroscientists are puzzled as to why this preoccupation with learning styles exists. This can probably be explained by the fact that even though scientists have failed to find evidence for VARK, they haven’t conclusively proved it invalid. The Null Hypothesis approach of rigorous scientific process, e.g. every theory is invalid until proven correct, doesn’t carry quite as much traction in the real world, evidently.
In the absence of scientific confirmation that VARK is failing students, it is understandable that educators continue to provide students with the choice of learning style they feel most comfortable with. While not evidence-based, the VARK model enables us to understand our learning preferences better and shape our lessons accordingly, making learning more enjoyable and subsequently more effective. However, it’s crucial to remain flexible in our approach and be willing to adapt to less ideal learning situations in pursuit of our educational goals.
Passover is coming up at the end of the month. But what exactly is it and how is it celebrated?
Also known as Pesach in Hebrew, Passover is a Jewish festival that marks the moment when Moses led the Jewish people to freedom after hundreds of years of enslavement under the Egyptians. The festival of Passover, which typically lasts eight days (or seven for those who live in Israel), has been celebrated since around 1300 BC and always begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, though this date is subject to change each year within the Gregorian calendar. This year, Passover will begin on Monday the 22nd April and end on the 30th.
There are many traditional elements to the celebration which are typically observed during Passover. One of the most important of these is Seder. Seder is a ceremonial meal (pictured, when fully set out) which is usually held on the first two nights of Passover. The meal typically includes a reading of the Haggadah, a text which recounts the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, along with prayers and blessings and questions from children about Passover. A number of symbolic foods are included during the meal, the elements of which make up the Seder Plate. This includes Maror: bitter herbs which represent the harshness of slavery; Charoset: a sweet mixture which represents the bricks and mortar that the Jews would have used to build the pyramids; Karpas: vegetables, often dipped in salt water, which represents the hard work of the enslaved Jews; Zeroah: a roasted lamb bone to represent the sacrificial lamb offered in the Temple of Jerusalem; and Beitzah: a hard-boiled egg which was a typical offering brought to the Temple. All of this is accompanied by matzah (a cracker-like form of unleavened bread). Matzah is a significant element throughout Passover as many Jews refrain from eating typical bread products which contain grains that have come into contact with water and been allowed to ferment and rise. These products are also known as chametz and the removal of chametz forms another traditional part of Passover, with many households undertaking a thorough cleaning of their home to remove any traces of chametz. In ancient times, Passover also involved the sacrificing of a lamb which was then eaten as part of the Seder meal. These sacrifices don’t occur today, but the sacrificial lamb remains an important symbol of Passover.
To observe Passover, some households will refrain from work during the first two and final two days of the festival, and some of the more dedicated observers may avoid driving, using electricity and spending money. The seven or eight days of Passover are a time for celebration and, in addition to the Seder meal, it is a time where Jewish people come together with family and friends to eat, drink, share stories and enjoy music. Passover presents a key opportunity for families to talk about Judaism with their children, helping to ignite and maintain interest in Jewish culture and faith whilst ensuring that the history of the Jewish people is not forgotten.
For more information about Passover, visit Chabad.org: What Is Passover (Pesach)?
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With my recommendation of George Orwell’s 1984 last month, it seems only fair to continue with the theme of thought-provoking literature to get your mind going. But instead of looking toward the future, this time it’s a book that looks upon the past. This month, the recommendation is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman (pictured). There’s no Superman or Captain America in sight here though, this is a story without heroes and a tale that would arguably make a great addition to the school curriculum.
The first and only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, Maus is a brutally moving work of art about a Holocaust survivor and the son who survives him. Part memoir and part comic book, this isn’t like any cartoon you’ve seen before. Maus takes the medium to tackle a very dark topic: the holocaust.
This is the “Complete” edition of “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale”, collecting both parts: “My Father Bleeds History” and “And Here My Troubles Began”.
The back cover of the book reads: “The complete story of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife, living and surviving in Hitler’s Europe. By addressing the horror of the Holocaust through cartoons, the author captures the everyday reality of fear and is able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary sensation of survival – and how the children of survivors are in their own way affected by the trials of their parents. It is a contemporary classic of immeasurable significance.”
The story of the Jewish Vladek, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story, Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. It uses familiarity against the reader and the assumption that good always wins over evil, casting the generally harmless household animals of cats as Nazis and mice as Jews.
This is a story that’s on many ‘must-read’ lists, is the only Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel and has a whole host of outlets and authors singing its praises for just how well-written, thought-provoking and generally incredible it is. Here are just a few;
‘One of the cliches about the holocaust is that you can’t imagine it… Spiegelman disproves that theory’ –The Independent
‘The first masterpiece in comic book history’ –The New Yorker
‘Like all great stories, it tells us more about ourselves than we could ever suspect’ –Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials series
Maus is honest, real and heartbreakingly written. It’s simple in its storytelling and its ink pen drawings are just as minimal, which is exactly what it needs to be when the subject matter is where the focus should be. It’s a story about a family set against a hugely terrible moment in human history, and one that is absolutely worth your time. Indeed, even a second read is warranted in order to fully appreciate it. The Complete Maus is probably the most engaging history lesson you’ll ever get.
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Three blockbuster movies have addressed these questions in recent times: Deep Impact with Robert Duvall, Armageddon with Bruce Willis, and Don’t Look Up with Leonardo DiCaprio. These films fantasise that in the event of a planet-killing asteroid heading our way, NASA or some United Nations-coordinated space force could blow it up and save the planet. But what’s the reality?
Faced with such a situation, would we be sitting ducks, or could anything be done to prevent it just like in a movie (And in only one of those mentioned were we entirely successful)? Well, this would be a two-step process. The first step would be successfully deploying a nuclear warhead into an asteroid, and the second step would be to generate an explosion big enough to obliterate it.
We know step one is possible because NASA has successfully demonstrated proof of concept by launching and smashing a spacecraft into the asteroid Didymos as part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). They were not attempting to blow it up, however. In fact, they ignored the nuclear explosion option altogether and elected to try the kamikaze approach to try and push it off course. DART seeks to develop a method to protect Earth in the case of an asteroid threat, which in this case involves shifting an asteroid’s orbit through kinetic impact, which they did successfully.
So, we know it’s possible to deploy a nuke into an asteroid belt, but would it generate an explosion big enough to obliterate it? Experts suggest that we could generate a nuclear explosion big enough to destroy a small asteroid, but not really one sure to pose an existential threat. It is asteroids larger than 6.2 miles across that are a concern, as they are considered extinction class and would destroy all life on Earth in the event of a collision. The issue here is that we don’t have nuclear bombs big enough to wipe out these mega-asteroids. A NASA report suggests that a nuke would most likely cause an asteroid of this size to fragment into several large pieces, which could still cause significant damage to our planet.
This brings us back to DART. While nuclear bombs could conceivably be used to destroy smaller asteroids, it’s likely that planetary defence strategists would look to deflect the course of planet-killing asteroids away using kinetic impact, as in the DART example. In any scenario, the goal would be course deflection.
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The Earth’s atmosphere is a complex and dynamic system in which a multitude of chemical, thermodynamic and fluid dynamic effects take place. It has undergone three major evolutionary changes since the formation of our planet: the early atmosphere, ocean formation and biological era. Without it, life would not exist, so it is imperative that we protect it to safeguard our future.
When the Earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago, there was no atmosphere. Volcanic activity formed the very first protective layer around our planet, through the release of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen and water vapour. As the planet began to cool 700 million years later, the water vapour condensed to form our oceans which in turn soaked up large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. We finally entered the biological era of our atmosphere through the action of photosynthesis from bacteria and algae. This caused much of the atmospheric carbon dioxide to be converted into oxygen, creating the ozone layer and a supportive environment for life on Earth.
The chemical composition of our modern day atmosphere is vastly different to how it began. It is currently composed of 78% Nitrogen (the most abundant but inert gas), 21% oxygen (the part we need to breathe), 0.9% Argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide and 0.06% other gases. Ozone in the atmosphere helps to protect us by absorbing harmful UV rays while greenhouse gases help insulate the planet to keep it warm and able to sustain life. Human activity in the last 200 years through industrialisation, however, has had a profound effect on the atmosphere. With the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and release of carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, we have seen an increase in global warming.
Our atmosphere is broken down into five main layers. The lowest layer is known as the troposphere and is the layer we all live directly beneath. It contains most of our weather patterns and water vapour and extends around 10km high. Higher up lies the stratosphere, which contains most of the ozone that protects us from UV rays. Unlike the troposphere, the temperature rises in the stratosphere as the altitude increases; this reflects the increase of unabsorbed UV rays. The mesosphere is considered part of the middle atmosphere and contains gases that are still thick enough to slow down meteors heading towards earth. The thermosphere absorbs large amounts of solar radiation, causing ionisation of molecules and also plays an important part in radio wave reflection around the globe. The outer layer is called the exosphere and contains gases that are so sparse they rarely come into contact with each other.
Our atmosphere is vital to our planet and its delicate balance of gases enable the right conditions for life to thrive. It plays an important part in regulating the earth’s temperature, protects us from UV rays and facilitates global weather patterns and the water cycle. In the modern age of industrialisation, our atmosphere is now under threat and increased efforts are needed to move towards renewable energy sources and sustainable practices. Hopefully this article will have demonstrated further evidence and reason as to why the fight against climate change is so important. It is factual, undeniable, and if we are not more direct in our response, its break down is entirely inevitable.
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When you look at the vast, arid landscape of the Sahara desert, you may find it hard to believe that this was once a lush, green space full of grasses, trees and lakes. Yet this is likely the case. It has been called the North African Humid Period, and occurred around 12,000 years ago during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geological epochs.
There is good paleoclimatological evidence to suggest that over the last 3,000,000 years, there have been 230 of these North African Humid Periods (NAHPs), indicating that the Sahara region alternates between arid phases (as present) and humid phases, which are full of rivers, vegetation and lakes. According to an article in Nature Magazine online, these NAHPs are governed by a phenomenon known as the Procession Cycle, which is when a wobble occurs in the orientation of the Earth’s axis of rotation. Thereafter, you might imagine the planet as a slightly off-centre spinning top. This off-centre rotation continues for a period of around 25,000 years. Procession is an additional form of planetary motion to the more well-known daily rotation and annual revolution cycle of the Earth. It is caused by the gravitational tidal force of the Sun and Moon acting on our planet’s equatorial bulge. There is a good visual of this rotational phenomenon here on Wikipedia.
The wobble itself is known as an Axial Procession, and it makes seasonal contrasts more extreme in one hemisphere and less extreme in the other. Not only does the procession cycle govern the seasonal contrasts, it determines temperature and precipitation variance between seasons. During the periods of increased Boreal Summer Insolation (when solar radiation hits the Earth’s northern hemisphere between March and September), the African Monsoon systems are intensified. It is these precipitation-rich phases of the procession cycle that underpin the North African Humid Periods.
This article in the Geographical explains how the most recent incarnation of the dry version of the Sahara came about. Around 12,000 years ago, the end of the ice age led to a wetter climate in the region, possibly due to low-pressure areas forming over collapsing ice-sheets in the north. But, once these ice sheets melted, the Northern Sahara region dried out. However, monsoon conditions in the South meant that the Southern Sahara region was wetter. But, eventually this monsoon retreated south (as part of the procession cycle) and the entire Sahara region become desert. This is the incarnation of the Sahara you see today.
When will this cycle end, then? Well, not for a while. Experts predict that the Sahara will revert back to that lush green alternative state in about 10,000 years.
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Mars, with its cold and barren landscape, may seem inhospitable to life as we know it, but it might once have been teeming with life. I mean, the Sahara desert wasn’t always a desert. Just 2,500 years ago, during the African Humid Period, it was lush green and covered in grass, trees, and lakes. Is it so hard to believe that 2,000,000 years ago the desert-like Mars might have also been teaming with life?
Astrobiologists, those involved in the study of the origin and evolution of off-world life, have in recent years attempted to answer this question with the help of technological and off-world scientific rovers that traverse and study the geological makeup of Mars. One of the key pieces of evidence supporting the idea of past life on Mars is the presence of huge craters — called bench-and-nose formations — which are thought to have once been habitable rivers. These were discovered by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and the scientists who analysed its data, using numerical models that simulated thousands of years of erosion.
In 2020, the continuing search for signs of past life on Mars led to the deployment of advanced robotic missions like NASA’s Perseverance rover (The image above is a photo of the surface taken by the rover. Its helicopter component can also be spotted in flight on the right of the shot). With its cutting-edge instruments, the goal of Perseverance is to explore and examine the ancient lake-bed of Jezero Crater, where scientists believe that the then-warm and wet conditions may have been conducive to life billions of years ago.
One of Perseverance’s primary objectives is to collect rock samples that may preserve traces of ancient microbial life. These samples will be stored and eventually returned to Earth, where the extraterrestrial rocks can be analysed in laboratories equipped with sophisticated instruments capable of detecting any such fossilised biomolecules.
In addition to these physical searches overground, in 2021 scientists (writing in the peer-reviewed journal Astro Biology), studied Martian meteorites and revealed that rocks below the planet’s surface could produce the same kinds of chemical energy that allow for subterranean life on Earth. Again, this was a fascinating but tentative conclusion, drawn from circumstantial evidence just like previous rover studies. So, while we can’t say definitively that there was once life on Mars, the case for it is getting much more compelling.
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On 31st March, in 1855, Charlotte Brontë, of the famous literary family, died. She was only 39 years old. The eldest of the Brontë sisters (there was Emily and Anne, as well as brother Branwell), even despite her own relatively young age, she had outlived her siblings. Charlotte was most well-known for her novel ‘Jane Eyre’, a classic of English literature which is loved and adored by readers the world over.
Back in the 19th Century, life was tough – and many people didn’t live into old age due to poor health and miserable living conditions. For the Brontës, though, they were relatively fortunate and lived at Haworth Parsonage, on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors in the north of England. Here, the four siblings invented imaginary worlds and had quite an idyllic childhood. They would also have had two other siblings, but sadly they died young. The four, who all wrote in later life, spent their days creating worlds that were quite different to their reality.
The siblings called their collected imaginary world ‘Glass Town’ – Charlotte Brontë was only 11 when this came to be and she also referred to it as her ‘world below’. Branwell was obsessed with battles and politics; Charlotte preferred grand, romantic settings, with passionate relationships; and younger sisters Emily and Anne had a desire to write about more homely, cosy themes. All in all, the siblings created a world which was an amalgamation of all of their ideas. They even published their own homemade magazine which included some of Charlotte’s poems (she wrote more than 200 in her lifetime and many of these featured in this family publication).
If you study English Literature at A-Level, you may well be asked to read ‘Jane Eyre’. It is, for many, a favourite novel – the Gothic setting and the madwoman in the attic are famous for good reason. But even if you are not a fan of such classic literature, you can’t help but be interested in the wonderful world of the Brontës and how they lived their lives. I, personally, find it fascinating that all four siblings were successful writers, to varying degrees.
So, on 31st March this year, if you are looking for your next good read, why don’t you pick up ‘Jane Eyre’. Maybe the writing of Charlotte Brontë will help you create your own imaginary world!
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