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“ENGLAND OR DROWN!” proclaimed the New York Daily News on its frontpages. It was August 6, 1926, the day that an American, Gertrude Ederle, was poised to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. · Only five men had ever swum the waterway before. The challenges included quickly changing tides, six-foot waves, frigid temperatures and lots of jellyfish. That day, Ederle not only made it across, she beat all of the previous men’s…

Climate Change Opinions · I have written many articles about Climate Change and the more I research the effects of climate change the more I am convinced that a majority of the opinions written about climate change should be headed up as “Climate Craziness” not climate changes. · The first thing that I see in almost every debate around climate change is the effects of our carbon emissions into the atmosphere and how we need to go back to…

Several New Zealand athletes competed – and won medals – as part of ‘Australasian’ teams at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics. This country’s first official team competed at Antwerp in 1920. The first Games to be held after the First World War, the event was awarded to Belgium to honour that country’s enormous suffering during the war. The Games began with a requiem mass in Antwerp Cathedral, and for the first time at the Olympics doves were released…

Lithium is a finite resource, and the more we lock inside rechargeable batteries, the less we have to use. A new speedy method to free the element from such sources could be a game changer in terms of the material's availability. · Thanks to our modern day way of purchasing rechargeable everything – including cars – the demand for the lithium-ion batteries that power much of our consumer technology has been skyrocketing. Currently valued at…

Star Catcher Industries has secured US$12.25 million in seed funding for its ambitious plan to build the world’s first “space-based energy grid.” A network of satellites would gather energy from the Sun and beam it at higher concentrations to other satellites in orbit. · Collecting energy from sunlight makes even more sense in space – you get a constant stream of energy 24/7, without being at the mercy of the weather or taking up valuable land.…

For the first time, the fully mechanical heart made by BiVACOR, which uses the same technology as high-speed rail lines, has been implanted inside a human being. The feat marks a major step in keeping people alive as they wait for heart transplants. · The total artificial heart (TAH) was implanted as part of an early feasibility study overseen by the US Food and Drug Administration. According to a statement from the Texas Heart Institute where…

The American Democratic party has not ever been and certainly is not now truly democratic. The process by which President Biden’s apparent disability has been concealed and the method party leaders are using to replace him is more reminiscent of Plato’s lying guardians than it is of Aristotle’s democrats. · The ancient Greeks gave the world the first democracy. Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of antiquity and the man who summed up the…

Most people don’t have a problem with some of the Ten Commandments. There are atheists, for example, who will admit that one should not kill, steal, or lie. Thus, posting those specific Commandments in public classrooms or buildings would pose no problem. · The problems begin with the First and most important Commandment, which deals with the honor and worship of God. The Commandment commands: “I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange…

The official definition of a “planet” could be set to change again soon. Last time that happened, Pluto was kicked out of the club, but the new proposed definition is designed to be more inclusive. · Exactly what a planet is has been remarkably murky for centuries – what we now call planets, moons and even asteroids have all been lumped under that one umbrella at different times. But the real push for an official definition began in the 1990s,…

Parents have been worried about their kids’ sleep since time immemorial. · And for valid reasons — good sleep is an essential part of a healthy childhood. · Sleep is critical for physical growth, but also for many other aspects of brain development, learning and the development of important social skills. · Children observe, experience or are taught things during the day, but they really only ‘learn’ overnight while they’re asleep. · In an…