When is a ‘moo’ not a ‘moo’? August 25, 2006
Posted by gesta in Academia.add a comment
We are about to go away on holiday and in the silly season frame of mind, this report caught both our eyes during the week: ‘Cows have regional accents‘. There is a similar article here. As bird song differs according to environment, I see no reason why cows, especially if they are well cared for, should not have a distinctive accent.
For some nice pictures of cows go here. Enjoy!
Psalms in a bog! August 17, 2006
Posted by gesta in Books, Medieval.5 comments
This recent archaeological discovery caught my eye. In a land better known for its bog bodies, a psalter has recently been found in a bog in Ireland. This is an incredibly rare find and the people at the National Museum of Ireland are understandably very excited. The psalter’s discovery has not been widely reported in the British media; I could only find this brief report in the Guardian.
Do we need scientists? August 16, 2006
Posted by reivers in Academia.4 comments
Tomorrow is A-level results day. For those not in the UK, that means that thousands of 18 year olds will find out if their exams were good enough to let them go to the university of their choice to do the course of their choice. As I’ve said before, the traditional howls of “exams are getting easier” are appearing everywhere. But this year there is more: apparently the main problem is that there aren’t enough scientists. As usual, the Tories have a plan…
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When were the middle ages? Or why do we have them in the first place? August 6, 2006
Posted by gesta in Academia, Boundaries, Medieval.2 comments
In a comment on my post about the library, Courgettelawn brought up the subject of periodisation in history. Periodisation, that is to say the division of chronological time into separate periods-classical, medieval, early modern and so on-is a handy way of dividing history into discrete sections often separated by significant events or movements, for example the sack of Rome or the renaissance
Or is it? (more…)
