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Anne Robinson: In mathematics, how is one-half expressed as a decimal?
Female contestant: Can you repeat the question please?
Anne Robinson: In mathematics, how is one-half expressed as a decimal?
Female contestant: A quarter?
Later in the same round:
Anne Robinson: The rock group The Manic Street Preachers come from which country in the United Kingdom?
Male contestant: Liverpool?
Now there is a surprise: a statue of Padre Pio has reputedly started doing something truly miraculous; that's one more step on the path to sainthood for Padre Pio, then.
I had never heard of Padre Pio until I went for a holiday to Sardinia in 1998, when the TV news was full of the poor fellow. Although I hadn't a clue what they were talking about (I have forgotten most of my Latin, and my Italian is non-existent), it was quite clear even to me that this chap was being groomed for sainthood.
What is it about the Roman Catholic church? In the words of my good friend, Julian Date, How [do they] sort out the wheat from the chaff? How do [they] decide that a moving statue in Ireland is a miracle, but that a talking chicken in Canada isn't?
Still, Padre Pio is to be congratulated in one respect at least: until now, anything vaguely miraculous involving a invariably associated with Jesus; now, I suppose, they're going to have to think twice.
In hospital for a minor operation. A nurse asks me to fill in a questionnaire, detailing any medical conditions I might have. I say that I am allergic to cats. On learning this, the nurse writes the word CATS on a large, red label and attaches it to my wrist. This, she explains, is to warn the anaesthetist of my allergy.
I imagine the scene as the anaesthetist looks down at my comatose body, spots the warning label, sighs, and regretfully instructs his assistant to remove Fluffy from the operating theatre.
I wonder if that's why hospitals are so often after funding for cat scanners.
John Thaw's
No more, s(o)
dot-dash-dot, dot-dot,
dot-dash-dash-dot,
Inspector Morse.
Anne Robinson: "Which W is the capital of Poland?"
Unrecognised US Celebrity: "Worcestershire."
As if we didn't have enough of the evil, obnoxious creatures already; now they're cloning the bastards! (I'm not a cat person.)
Reuters: People Who Sleep Less Live Longer, Study Finds
[T]he study shows that longer sleep is a risk factor for cancer as well as heart disease and stroke
But correlation does not show causation: perhaps, for example, people who are unwell are more likely to sleep longer.
Today is Charles Darwin's 193rd birthday. Happy Darwin Day!
I've just sent a letter to New Scientist about sex, which they published:
Sir, Douglas Fox marvels at what he describes as one of the great mysteries of the human condition: why do humans spend so much time having sex without resultant pregnancy ("Gentle Persuasion", 9th February, 2002). The answer, it seems, is that it allows the woman's immune system to become accustomed to the man's proteins, thereby decreasing the chances of rejection of her foetus's proteins, when she eventually becomes pregnant.
If such reasoning is correct, it still fails to explain the great mystery of why this strategy is only adopted by humans (and a few other animals). If there really was such a clear-cut evolutionary advantage in frequent sex, wouldn't all animals be at it like rabbits (and, indeed, humans)?
Surely there is a far simpler reason why we humans have so much sex: because it's so enjoyable.
Richard Carter
BBC: Princess Margaret dies
Speaking from Sierra Leone, [UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair] said: "I know the whole country will be deeply saddened by Princess Margaret's death."
I think the Observer captured the mood of the nation far more accurately:
The death of the 71-year-old Princess Margaret Rose, Countess of Snowdon, one-time second in line to the throne, who grew old disgracefully and spent her last years in miserable ill-health, was yesterday being mourned by family and friends - but not, necessarily, by Britain. We did not grieve.