Flight of fancy: How to make a star: Musical note: Mars Mountain: Polly vs. Kiddlies: and where not to leave your motor.

Usual atmospheric conditions at the Castle this morn-wet, cold, calm and crappy,  the garden is in need of more than a smidge of fettling, I am thinking of putting outriggers on the Honda and his Maj is still bringing me frogs.

 

Dahn ‘ere in ‘Ampshire

And just a couple of imperial units up the road aviation enthusiasts have launched a campaign to erect a statue in memory of the first person to make a powered flight in Britain.

Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) (which used to be the Royal Aircraft Establishment before “someone” sold it orf) hopes to unveil the memorial to Samuel Cody in Farnborough, Hampshire, where his historic flight took place.

Cody died 99 years ago when the aircraft he was flying broke in half.

FAST plans to unveil a £100,000 statue on the centenary of his death next year and are fundraising to pay for it.

The group have already secured £10,000 from Hampshire County Council and Rushmoor Borough Council. 

Really pleased to see that my bleedin Council Tax is going towards such a good cause.

If you want to know more about the place where I was an apprentice way back in 1967 click HERE.

Recipe for a star

1. Take a hollow, spherical plastic capsule about two millimetres in diameter (about the size of a small pea.)

 2. Fill it with 150 micrograms (less than one-millionth of a pound) of a mixture of deuterium and tritium, the two heavy isotopes of hydrogen.

 3. Take a laser that for about 20 billionths of a second can generate 500 trillion watts – the equivalent of five million, million watts. 

4. Focus all that laser power onto the surface of the capsule.

 5. Wait ten billionths of a second.


Result: one miniature star.

Luckily this technology is available at the National Ignition Facility more than a lot over to the left in Livermore California where Leccy is a lot cheaper than here in Blighty.

East oodles of do-dahs to the land which has never been irradiated

The Otamatone DX, a new electronic instrument from Japan, is becoming quite a hit on the Internet. Shaped like a musical note, it can be played easily by anybody.

It’s as simple as this: Just slide your finger up and down the stem and squeeze its cheek to produce your own music!

I can do the same thing with my arse.....

Millions and millions of space units away

And billions and billions of dollars later NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity has beamed back an image of its surroundings, showing a clear view of the enormous mountain that it will clamber up in the next few years.

Mount Sharp is a giant Martian peak that rises 3 miles (5 kilometres) from the centre of Gale Crater. The mountain's many geological layers are particularly intriguing to mission scientists, as they could hold a record of how the Red Planet has changed over time.

In the newly released image, Mount Sharp is clearly visible in the background.

  

Worth every penny....

According to scientists

African grey parrots are smarter than your average two-year-old; apparently researchers claim to have found that human children only do as well as the parrots from about the age of three.

No other animals apart from great apes match the birds' ability to understand noise-related causal connections.

Researchers tested six African greys housed in a parrot rescue centre in Vienna, Austria.

During a series of experiments, the birds were asked to choose between two closed boxes, one of which held a piece of walnut and rattled when shaken. The other, empty container could be shaken without making a noise.

The parrots showed they knew how to detect hidden food rattling in a shaken box.

But much more impressively they also worked out - almost instantly - that if a box was shaken and made no noise, the food must be in the other container.

Choices were made by a parrot walking over to a box and turning it over with its beak.

In similar tests, most animals - and even small children - get confused about the way shaking and noise relate to the presence or absence of a hidden reward.

I know some seventeen year olds that are still not as smart as a Parrot....

And finally:

Where to park you motor if you don’t want it back

That’s it: I’m orf to give the sheep text messaging

And today’s thought:

Unemployable get free tickets-Olympics.

Angus

Taking an Olympic break: C-U next Tuesday: I want one: Parrots: Carrots: and The Candwich.

Super spiffing at the Castle this morn, sunny, warm and calm with the threat of big temperatures later, perfect, the strawberries are just about ready to pick as I lay on the sun lounger, the Talk Talk internet connection is still crap and the kitchen is overflowing with defunct adding machines.

So it looks as if I will be taking a couple of hours orf later this Wednesday.

Unlike those “hard working” MPs who will allegedly avoid the transport delays facing the rest of London's commuters during next year's Olympics by taking their earliest summer break for more than 30 years.

Parliament will rise on 13 July, a week earlier than usual, avoiding the restrictions put in place for the Games.

The extra leave gives MPs about 17 days more time off in the summer than an ordinary worker is entitled to in a year.

Lazy bastards, nice to see that “we are all in this together” is still working (unlike the MPs).

Dahn in Sarfampton there is trouble afoot

A strike by council traffic wardens could lead to drivers enjoying a week’s free parking in Southampton.

The wardens, known as civil enforcement officers, are to walk out on Tuesday in a dispute over pay.

Southampton is one of more than 270 local authorities which has control over parking and keeps the cash raised from fines; permits and money pumped into meters or pay and display machines.

It is estimated that the strike will cost Southampton £100,000 in lost parking revenue.

A spokesman for Southampton council said that managers would step in for the 33 enforcement officers who are expected to take industrial action.

It means that some parking tickets will be issued, especially in council car parks which will be more closely monitored.

A Southampton spokesman said that the council hoped that motorists would be honest and pay for their parking.

I do like an optimist.

Over in the ex colonies

Police in an east Georgia town say they’re investigating how someone could have stolen thousands of dollars in diesel fuel from a local truck stop over the past several months.

The Statesboro Herald reports that Metter police discovered the thefts — which total at least $50,000 — this week at Jay’s Truck Stop along Interstate 16.

Metter police investigator Justin Wells said the same type of thefts might be occurring in neighboring counties as well.

Wells said the suspects are believed to have some type of device to manipulate the readings on gas pumps.

Wells said the thefts date back at least a year, and the total loss could be far higher than $50,000.

I want one! I really want one! Get me one NOW!!!!

Fiz and Buzz on the piste

A Loughborough woman is so devoted to her pet parrots she takes them shopping, cycling, walking - and even on her skiing holidays.

Mother-of-three Jane Hartley, 52, rarely leaves home without black headed caique parrots Fiz and Buzz on her arm.

The brightly-coloured birds accompany her each morning on the school run, help her take the dogs for a walk and sit on her arm while she does the weekly shop.

The pampered parrots are even invited on her annual skiing holiday in the Alps and sit in her pocket while she zooms down the black runs.

Mrs Hartley said: "I know that if I kept them in a cage all the time they would have a miserable existence, so I take them out and about with me.

"I do get a lot of people stopping and staring, but most seem to find it quite amusing. They are only small birds so they are easy to carry around."

Makes you wonder who is “piste”.

Dahn Unda and right a bit

Jail inmates are being offered carrot sticks to help them kick the smoking habit as New Zealand's prison prepare to go smoke-free, The Southland Times reported Tuesday.

Citing an internal memo, the newspaper reported there had been a national directive issued to supply two carrot sticks a day to each prisoner as part of a smoking cessation policy, with the document detailing that one jumbo carrot provided 16 sticks.

Beven Hanlon, a spokesman for the union representing prison staff, said at first he thought the directive was a joke, and he would be surprised if it lasted.

"I don't think it is one of [the Department of Corrections'] best ideas but it is worth a try," he said.

Last week was the final week that prisoners could buy tobacco products, with the items to be formally classified as contraband within New Zealand's 20 jails from July 1.

Oh yeah, that is really going to help, unless they give them a dip to go with them that is.

And finally:

Bread in a can

The Candwich, which has a shelf life of a year, has just gone on sale in the US and online, selling for £7 for a four-pack or £44 for 24.

Twelve flavours are planned, including US-style peanut butter and grape jelly, BBQ chicken and pepperoni pizza.

The peanut butter version requires diners to spread sachets of the filling on to the bread but the rest have the fillings baked inside, like a pasty.

Creator Mark Kirkland, from Markonefoods, said: ‘My original idea was to stack cookies in a soft drink can to sell in soft drink vending machines.

'I started looking for a technology for shelf stable sandwiches, which I wanted because it was a healthy and convenient meal.’

The Candwich’s long shelf life is achieved by controlling water, pH and oxygen levels in the packaging.

Just what we need, a one year old sandwich, mind you British Rail……..

That’s it: I’m orf to check out Graphene.

And today’s thought: 'A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.' -Dan Quayle

Angus ,