Book Review: The Long Earth

A merging of one of my favourite authors with a respected science writer? I've got to like this - and I do. This is a fantastic book that really explores the consequences of the world and situation we find ourselves in whilst following loosely a bit of a plot just to keep some point to it. But its this exploring of the concept that really makes it for me. Many times I found myself wondering about what various aspects would mean or what they would result in, and for things that would have no bearing on the main story, and almost immediately the next chapter would diverge from the plot to tell a side story that would explain it and flesh out this universe. There are many ideas that are touched upon but not explored, but it just leaves that as a tantalising cliffhanger for a sequel to explore and get its teeth into. As usual from Pratchett, we have a fantastic collection of interesting characters and ideas.

Score: 6/7

BOOK REVIEW: Quantum Man

One of the greatest scientists since Newton for me, this book follows Richard Feynman’s rock ‘n’ roll-like life. The story of a man for whom knowledge was his ultimate goal, finding things out for himself, and having such a huge impact on the way we do do physics today. Fame was irrelevant, often willing to attribute his findings to other people. His work on QED and his path over sum approach re-defining the way physics is done. Completing work overnight that other people had already been working on for two years. Lawrence Krauss tells his story through his discoveries and how he came about them in such a way that, like Feynman’s ability to make clear the complicated world of Quantum Mechanics, it is also easy to understand to anyone with interest in the field. In this way, not only is it a fascinating insight into Feynman’s life, but also a great science book too. If this man would have been more interested in contributing to existing fields and complimenting other’s work rather then just wanting to find things out for himself, who knows what he could have achieved.

Score: 6/7

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 5: Breakable

Chapter 5 - Breakable

Cast
Narration: Angel Robinson
Jesus: Gavin Drury
Masseuse: Gavin Drury

TJC - Chapter 5 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 4: Cracking Good Times

Chapter 4 - Cracking Good Times


Cast
Narration: Angel Robinson
Jesus: Gavin Drury
Waitress: Terry Drosdak

TJC - Chapter 4 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 3: Massage In A Bottle

Chapter 3 - Massage In A Bottle

TJC - Chapter 3 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 2: The Conversation

Chapter 2 - The Conversation

TJC - Chapter 2 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - It Always Rains On Sunday

TJC Episode 1 (.mp3 download)

Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 6.04: The Many Deaths Of Jo Grant

Jo Grant & Third Doctor

Cast:


Jo Grant - Katy Manning
Rowe - Nicholas Asbury

Writer: Cavan Scott & Mark Wright
Director: Lisa Bowerman
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: October 2011

Synopsis:


""I wasn’t going to let this happen. After all we’d been through, the Doctor wasn’t going to die like this, on his knees, in the mud."

When Jo Grant was very young, her grandmother told her that there was a time for everything. A time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to live and a time to die.

Since meeting the Doctor, Jo has laughed till she thought she might burst. She has also shed a few tears along the way, but has lived more than she ever thought possible.


But now, as a strange spaceship materialises over UNIT HQ and a heavily injured Doctor returns to Earth, it is Jo's time to die. Again, and again, and again…

Review:


I like how this starts, very quickly gets into the action leading to a great scene where Jo Grant dies, and as the title implies, the first of many deaths. This first death however, the musical arrangement and sound effects added to the emotional impact of it. It was beautifully done. The subsequent deaths, whether it's because the impact of her death has lessened but to her repeadedly dying or just not quite as good stories, I'm not too sure, but they were entertaining enough. The revelations and reasons behind the deaths were also handled well, but to bre honest, I was expecting something more from Cavan Scott and Mark Wright. Sure, I enjoyed it and it was entertaining, but I expected more of an emotional impact from them considering the title. Still, worth a listen.


Score:

0/7 - Non-existent
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

English Gav Explains... The Higgs Boson

A proton-proton collision event in the CMS experiment producing two high-energy photons (red towers). This is what we would expect to see from the decay of a Higgs boson but it is also consistent with background Standard Model physics processes. © CERN 2012

Not quite ignorance this one, but you could put it in the weird category. Earlier today, at a CERN press conference, they announced the discovery of a new particle, which may very well be the Higgs Boson I'm sure you've all heard about. Here, I attempt to explain simply what exactly the Higgs Boson is.


Download mp3 here

If you want to know more about particle physics and the standard model, I can recommend this website which does a very good j-b of explaining things pretty simply. The Particle Adventure.


Transcript:

All we know of how the universe w--ks if underpinned by what we call the Standard Model of particle physics consisting of the fundamental particles and forces that make up everything we know, fundamental being the smallest particle everything else can be divided into. An atom will divide into electrons, neutrons, and protons. Protons and neutrons will divide into quarks, of which there are six varieties. Up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm. There's the four forces too, strong nuclear force, nuclear weak force, electromagnetic, and the weakest of the four - gravity. There are other particles than those I've mentioned too. Unfortunately, this by itself indicates that everything will fly around at the speed of light and not interact with each other. It was theorised that a field exists throughout all the universe, what we call the higgs field, that slows them all down and creates mass. The way it works is like a pool of water, larger objects experience more resistance when moving through, which slows them down. In the same way, different particles experience more resistance than others moving through the higgs field, this resistance determining the particle's mass. In accordance with the conservation of energy, as the particles experience resistance, energy is converted and a higgs boson is released from the higgs field which immediately decays into other particles. The detectors at CERN are looking for these telltale decays, which is what they've found. A new particle that appears to behave as the Higgs particle is expected to. Further experiments are required to verify if it actually is a Higgs boson or something similar

What are you doing this 31st June?

I've recieved this email twice this week from different family members. Does nobody check Snopes? Or even a calendar? 31 Days in June? Once every 823 years? It happens all the god damn time.... apart from 31 days in June. That never happens.

Jesus Christ people, what are you doing?

I think I'm going to have to start emailing everyone back when I get emails like these in the future instead of ignoring them.

But 31 days in June and blindly clicking reply all? And that's not even getting into the whole 'luck' thing. aarrrgghhh!!!

That is all.