I am very interested in the work being done by scientists and particle physicists to try and unravel the secrets of the universe although I thought that had been covered in "The Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy"and the answer is 42, see this web site for more information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/.

Being interested and understanding a subject are however not the same thing. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cern project -you know the place where the internet was invented. http://public.web.cern.ch/public/
http://hepwww.rl.ac.uk/pub/bigbang/file8.html

Well today on the BBC 4 radio program "Material world" which focused on Gamma Ray Bursts they included a discussion of some of Cern's work. You can listen again to the program at the Material World web site at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/thematerialworld.shtml

Some people may not be aware but the BBC has a very good service where you can listen again to programs you may have missed-go on, have a look at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml this service is all covered by the UK listeners and viewers licence fee-I believe that makes it even better value for money, but you may disagree.

However from the subline to the ridiculous. I am currently trying to convince the local District Council that their valient efforts in the Britain in Bloom competition will soon be over shadowed by the amount of weed growth in the towns gutters and pavements - Blooming silly I call it - I have now joined the ranks of the complaining classes.

50 Years Today

Fifty years ago today saw the establishment of Cern. As I understand it this project aims to answer the question of how the universe was created and the basic make up of matter.
Visit their web site at http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html
I went for a walk today with the dog and pondered the difference between the weak and strong forces of nature and how the view across the valley towards Exmoor could have all fitted into a single point or singularity (along with the rest of the universe) prior to the big bang.

Well here I am again, still trying to find out what is expected of a "blogger" (hope thats the right term?)
I have been directed to a site that could prove useful and is a mine of information on all sorts of topics. Try this link and see what you think? http://rogerdarlington.co.uk/nighthawk/

It seems I will really have to develop some strong oppinions on a wide range of subjects and I suppose that could be the potential benefit of this weblog trial what with Autumn fast enveloping us with darker evenings. Politics and Religion could be a minefield and whats left is not without risk.

I am trying to develop an interest in local history or rather the preservation of local information for historians by means of a web based virtual museum. The idea would be to supplement any local museums not compete. It could also be a focus for any local individual environmental projects.

All this is at a very early stage and I would welcome any thoughts on this subject.

My first posting

Well I can now enter my thoughts on the WWW.
That immediately creates two problems:
1. What DO I think.
2. Who if anybody will read them?.
Well here is my first question:
Given that the Earth is held in orbit around the sun by gravity what would happen if the sun instantaneously ceased to exist.
Would the earth immediately fly off at a tanget to its orbit or would there be a delay of about 8.5 minutes before this happened proving the the effects of gravity operate at the speed of light?