"We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming." — Werner von Braun "If I could remember the names of all these particles, I'd be a botanist." — Albert Einstein "Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions." — Evan Esar, Esar's Comic Dictionary "Torture numbers, and they'll confess to anything." — Greg Easterbrook "If your result needs a statistician then you should design a better experiment." — Ernest Rutherford "When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction." — Steven Wright "Crash programs fail because they are based on theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby in a m...

In the light (or should that be dark) of peak oil and global warming, it is (or was) my stated intention to convert from petrol to bio-diesel. Clearly, I'm not afraid to smell of chips or doughnuts as I make my way around town. Trouble is, I bumped into a chap called Steve who runs Gaspower UK Ltd, a Devon-based firm who carry out LPG (liquid petroleum gas) conversions. Naturally, he warned me of the dangers of bio-diesel (proven carcinogen) and suggested I look at LPG - promoting it as the hands-down winner - environmentally and economically. Please let me know if you know better, different or can advise this confused motorist... traydio pod on LPG transition motoring group on CopperStrings

(image: fancy looking science graphic; suitably cryptic and impressive) I'm making an audio pod "What would you do if I gave you a God particle?" and have been asking people in Exeter city centre if they know what the large hadron collider is. It is of course that European scientific experiment which could have destroyed the planet yesterday (or was that just a ruse to get the attention of the world's media?). Fact is, we're still here. But did they - the scientists involved - manage to re-create the moment after the Big Bang? Was it worth the £2.5 billion investment and if I gave you a God Particle for Christmas, would you know what to do with it? Personally, I think it's a disgrace. An indefensible and immoral waste of cash, reso...

Trehalose has been around since the beginning of time and is so intricately woven into the fabric of life itself that it may yet become one of the great discoveries of our time. When you see the dry arid desert landscapes it seems that the place is bereft of life. Little do we know that when the rains fall, sometimes years later, the desert springs to life and the seemingly dead wilderness becomes a vast array for plants and flowers with the brightest of colours and shapes. The seeds of life lay dormant in the sand and rocks for years, sometimes 50 years or more, until the rains come. The mystery of how fragile seeds can last so long in the extremes of heat and cold and extreme dryness has now begun to be understood. Trehalose seems ...

I've heard it said that technology will be the downfall of humankind and I think I've begun to understand how this could be the case... It's actually very sweet and uniquely human; it's that capability we have to see the good, to think positively and I think this is especially so when pondering the benefits of technology and scientific innovation. On the one hand, it's great to think we might all live longer ("Scientists in an American university believe they have isolated the gene that causes the longevity of tortoises and donkeys, and believe they can isolate and transfer this factor into human bones within five years"), but rarely do we linger on the downside of such apparently good news (I made it up by the way!) i.e. wh...

Here be Dragons   By Michael & Lisa Lamb   Has our heritage been stolen? Our native fauna wiped to extinction until all that remains is a fantasy?   CHINESE archaeologists claim to have found fossils of reptiles which resemble the dragons of Chinese mythology. Seven hundred fossils of the 'Guizhou dragons' were confiscated from illegal fossil traders in 1995. The small reptiles had long necks, long curved tails, and five long bones in their feet. The reptiles were found around Xingyi city in Western China.   CRYPTOZOOLOGY is the scientific study of animals of legend and lore or hidden animals, including the theory that dinosaurs may not be as extinct as once thought and may be linked to the Dragons. The fact that decayi...

No doubt about it, that sage who wrote that there are two inescapable certainties: death and taxes, missed - understandably - the inevitability of human waste. Our understandable reaction has been to get rid of it; our most fabulous solution - flushing it "away". However, there is no "away" - apart from not here, not in my back yard. Unless you're Andy Hill, Portugal-based permaculturist who - in this pod - reminded me that "humanure" is the sensible and ethical solution (plenty on permaculture, peak oil and the error of many of our other ways too here). Hugely, yet actually not unpalatable, our waste it seems need not be wasted. For more, read up on Joseph Jenkins - he's full of it! Also worth a listen - Crapper's gift in full...

Yes, like YouTube, we're a free media sharing site. Unlike, YouTube and many other media sharing sites, we have a clear ethos. OK, perhaps not a clear ethos. But take a look around and we think you'll see some unifying values, sensibilities and mindsets. Don't get too hung up on the subject matter however, it's the soil from which the fruit grows that matters. This is a spiritual home for those with an original, unusual, inventive, deep and intelligent approach to making audio/radio. The Dean Parkins, Matt Harveys and Francesca Cassinis of the world. In one word: awe-dio. It's a community for those with an ear for audio, an eye for the unusual and that extra something in their souls that asks “why?”. Is that you?...