vivweb01blog

  I first published this blog in February 2022, just before Putin's invasion of Ukraine.  A    report   last year of  the possibility of life existing on another planet in another solar system also presented a good opportunity for a fresh look at the question. This seems even more relevant now, given the increasingly fragile state of our planet's ecosystem and our own continuing descent into resource-driven conflict. Present idications suggest that our present society may not have long left, and all in all,  perhaps it's a fitting time to consider whether there might be a possibility of alternative accommodation for humans elsewhere in the universe.... The combination of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), CO2 and methane in the atmosphere of  exoplanet K2-18b in significant quantities is seen as a possible 'biomarker' for life there - although it does not by any means confirm the presence of life , it is certainly intriguing. At a distance of 124 light year...

  A couple of years ago I attempted to answer the question ' Are we alone in the universe '.  At risk of appearing to be a 'glutton for punishment',  I thought it would be useful to follow this up by looking at an even weightier and perhaps even more topical question - 'How did the universe start and how will it end ?'. There is a lot of argument about this currently, with the principal 'Big Bang' theory, until recently taken as gospel by cosmologists, now being challenged in the light of new evidence from the JWST. More evidence suggesting the presence of 'bio-signature' gases in the atmosphere of a 'nearby' (relatively speaking!) exoplanet has also caught the media's attention and promoted discussion about our place in the universe recently, thus re-igniting the debate. Read on for a short 'journey into cosmology' to whet your appetite for the arguments to come... Introduction The Big Bang theory still remains the favoured...

  And our esteemed Foreign Secretary answered it par excellence with – you guessed it - another lammy – and one of his best so far.... No sooner had the e-ink dried on my last blog when he came up with his real masterstroke. Still obviously smarting from his boss’s attempt to out-lammy him by thinking up the idea of compulsory sight tests for 5.6M drivers over 70, he cunningly used his ‘outing’ this week with US Vice President JD Vance to engineer his coup, by exploiting said gentleman's love of fishing, To ‘forget’ to buy a fishing licence with which to entertain US 'Royalty’ at his own grace and favour lakeside at Chevening was a superb ploy…but to then actually report himself for it was …simply divine. I suspect we’ll not see the comedic like for some time.... His celebrated 'inner voice' should indeed now be telling him "...Well done David.....Once again you’ve managed to raise the nation’s morale another notch at a time when 'all around them ...

  Devotees of the BBC’s Radio 4 ‘Dead Ringers’ Friday Night comedy offering will already be familiar with the phrase “Oh what a lammy”.... The DR team’s most recent series has treated us to hilarious weekly lampoons of our unfortunately rather ‘gaffe-prone’ foreign secretary, thereby doing much to lift the country’s morale at a time of much turbulence and uncertainty on the international and home fronts. If there’s one thing the dear old Beeb has done right in recent months, it’s commission another series of this radio ‘gem’, for which they should rightly accept the credit that’s due… on the other hand, failure to renew or cancellation (heaven forbid!) of this series is simply not an option if they wish to retain the licence fee beyond 2027. Programme planners be warned.... The series is A must for any comedy fan - if you haven’t already sampled the delights, it's available on BBC Sounds now…..just follow the link. But I digress....here's the serious bit.... The ter...