When Anglesey sailed away

Great documentary from the BBC about the day in 1982 when the Isle of Anglesey floated away.

Listen here

(photo by Eric Jones)

Nick Griffin to appear on 'Who Do You Think You Are?'

The popular racist and BNP spokesperson, Nick Griffin, is one of a number of celebrities to appear on BBC's genealogical documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? The announcement has caused controversy with Griffin's followers and regular viewers, ahead of the latest series of the show.

Griffin was approached late last year to appear on the show. The BBC have issued a statement defending the move, saying "It's important to feature a range of people on the show from all walks of life." It was later added that, "the views of a guest on the show are not important, what is of interest to our viewers is their ancestry."

However, it is Griffin's ancestry that has caused the outcry. Following one branch of his family tree back two generations, Griffin is directly related to the illegitimate child of a Polish Muslim. The BNP have issued a statement on behalf of Griffin, who has refused to comment, calling the findings "unfounded allegations" and "attempts to slur and antagonise" the group.

It is understood that the BBC is considering not airing the episode of the show, however no party has confirmed or denied this.

'n' to be standardised

Scientists and mathematicians have announced that the commonly used algebraic symbol 'n' is to be standardised in an effort to make science more easily accessible.

An international group of scientists and mathematicians, meeting at the annual Future of Science conference in Brussels, confirmed that the long-discussed standardisation of 'n' was now necessary to renew flagging interest in science, maths and related professions like engineering worldwide.

Speaking to the press about the proposal, the Chair of the Future of Science Foundation, Prof. Sara Brigitte said, "This isn't a move that will effect most of us in the profession but it is an essential move for the scientific community to make if we want to bridge the gap between us and ordinary people."

The new value of 'n' is still a complex matter. It is expressible as equal to x + 1 where x is the cube root of 125. In most situations, making it 6.

"It is our hope that children, in particular, will now be able to get a better insight into science and be inspired to ask the big questions that this generation haven't begun to ask," said Brigitte.

5 interesting facts

Five things you may not have known about the world.

• The blues guitarist Robert Johnson's real name was John Robertson.
• Mice have both male and female reproductive organs when they're born, their gender is decided after a few days as one set shrivels and eventually disappears. This is one of the features which makes them useful in scientific experiments as their DNA has traces of both gender and so negates a lot of gender-bias.
  
• Chlorine is only posionous when mixed with air. When pure it can be breathed without harm, although oxygen is still needed to prevent asphyxiation.
• The largest paid of shoes ever made was made had metre high 'shoelifts'. The diminuitive owner of the shoe factory in which they were made insisted were modelled exactly on his own brogues and forget to remove the 'lifts' when giving them to the designer.
• Since the arrival of the Saxons, the word 'England' has appeared on maps spelt with an A, E, I, O and U as the initial letter.

Where does Amy Winehouse come from?

Fans of the popular, and infamous, English jazz singer Amy Winehouse may be intrigued to hear where her name originates.

Following in a musical tradition that includes stars such as Bob Dylan, Elton John and at least one Beatle, Amy adopted a pseudonym early in her career. Her choice reflects her deep interest in the world of jazz and its history.

In the genre’s early days in Europe it was often associated with criminal doings and, as a result, was banned from most of the ‘more reputable’ music venues. In response, rich jazz fans would hold debauched weekends of music and revelry at their country retreats. As these were principally vineyard estates, the events became known as ‘parties de maisons vins’.

The notoriety of these events grew in the jazz world and the singers invited to sing were well known and awarded with the accolade of ‘ami de maison vin’ or, in English, ‘friend of the winehouse’. When Amy started out, she just combined the English and French to get her stage name ‘Amy Winehouse’.

The curious case of the Hawaiian bus stops

Whilst the US is as broad culturally as it is geographically, Hawaiian culture is noticeably different, in even the most general aspects, to that of the mainland. One numerological example is the Hawaii doesn’t subscribe to the European Christian beliefs that 7 is lucky, 13 unlucky and so on.

On the ‘big island’ 8 is considered to be the luckiest number. 1-7 are fairly neutral, whilst the higher a number gets past 8, the more unlucky it is.

Much as many hotels don’t have a 13th floor, this superstition is the reason for there being only 8 bus stops on the entire island of Hawaii. Originally there were 5 but the network expanded with the increase in tourism.

The cap at 8 has held firm despite demand and is responsible for many a red-faced tourist giving in and booking a cab to town, the drivers of which still consider the number to be very lucky.

'Pearly' Queens?

The origin of the so-called 'Pearly Kings and Queens', an iconic London tradition is heartily debated. Some maintain that the donning of shimmering, button-adorned clothing, started when a shipment of buttons mistakenly arrived at a London dock.

However, the actual history is somewhat more obvious, albeit hidden by a historical misnomer.

The practice is an old Pagan tradition which died out in many towns but persevered in the Purley area, just outside London. Priests of old would adorn themselves with shiny trinkets on festivals to reflect and magnify the devotion of followers.

In time the religious symbolism was lost and the 'Kings and Queens of Purley', as they came to be known, survived as the 'Pearly Kings and Queens' that can still be seen today.