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For this week's bonus episode, Eleanor presents the final Dying Arts episode of the series, which is a timely one all about the critically endangered traditional crafts of Clock, Watch and Orrery Making!We start by chatting through what Orrery's are, and before long we're elbow-deep in discussions of how ancient civilizations like the Greeks and Mayans set about trying to understand the universe, the movements of planetary bodies, and how those concepts manifested themselves in early calendars and shadow clocks. This takes us through some curious concepts like Flat Earth theories, geocentrism, and significant historical figures like Copernicus, Galileo, and good ol' Tycho Brahe.Then though, we're into clocks and watches, chewing through everything from candle clocks and hourglasses to amazing devices like the Antikythera Mechanism, the Ancient Chinese 'Cosmic Engine,' and the kinds of water clocks used in the Middle Ages to portion the day up for various prayers. Via verge escapements, pendulums, and the race of the Longitude Prize, we soon find ourselves at the advent of electrified 'Railway Time' and mass production.Featuring bits of clock and watch folklore, a quick nod to Doctor Faustus, and appearances by the likes of Robert Hooke and our old pal Sosigenes of Alexandria, it's a slightly mind-bending ride. So, what are you waiting for - there isn't a moment to waste!(As for how long a moment is, well, we'll let you decide...)The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common, uncomfortable, and embarrassing. They can also be deadly. These infections of the kidneys, bladder, or urethra affect about 1 in 10 men in their lifetimes and more than half of women. Untreated UTIs can cause a body-wide infection known as sepsis. An estimated 236,000 people globally die every year from UTIs. Most UTIs are fairly easy to treat with antibiotics. However, a quarter to a third of urinary tract infections (UTIs) are caused by drug-resistant bacteria. That makes them much more difficult to treat. There's no easy test to tell medical professionals whether an infection will be easy to treat with readily available antibiotics, so they often have to make their best guess. Using the wrong antibiotic to treat any infection can delay recovery and help germs evolve drug resistance. Sweden-based Sysmex Astrego developed a test that works in 45 minutes to help determine what type of germ is causing a UTI and which antibiotic should be used to treat it. Challenge Works, which awards prizes to encourage solutions to hard problems in global health, climate, technology, and other areas, has awarded Sysmex Astrego the Longitude Prize to help the company develop and commercialize the test. “The winning test will be transformational for infection diagnosis and treatment, providing accurate antibiotic susceptibility results in 45 minutes – compared to the 2-3 day wait patients currently face,” Challenge Works says. In this episode of One World, One Health, Jasmin Major of Challenge Works explains why diagnostic innovations like this are so important. Read more about the One Health Trust's work on antimicrobial resistance here.
The memorable and noticeable events in First Turnings particularly include * Infrastruture * Exploration * Seeking out corruption, in whatever form it's expected to exist. Rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica falls under the first category, especially when it's being rebuilt for the first time in over 1000 years. Americans learn of the founding of Jamestown as part of their country's history, as the first successful English colony in the New World and the precursor to the Thirteen Colonies that would eventually rebel against the British. It can also be looked at as the start of the British Empire, and as embodying a spirit of exploration in the aftermath of the victory over Spain. All of which make it an appropriate instance of a First Turning landmark. In 1714, the British Parliament approved The Longitude Prize, which offered monetary rewards to anyone who could make it possible for ships to effectively determine their longitude. The smallest prize was £10,000 - the equivalent of millions of dollars today. The Kingdom of Great Britain was created by The Acts of Union in 1707. Before then, one would properly refer to the English Parliament, and after to the British Parliament. This epsode crosses over that point in time between the start and the end, so the incorrect adjective may have slipped in once or twice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707 The Global Positioning System (GPS) might be considered a comparable sort of infrastructure, but it was created over a long enough period that associating it with a specific Turning is difficult. It also required infrastructure (namely rockets that could put satellites in orbit), and was implemented in short order once those were available. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System In 1804, Lewis and Clark's "Corps of Discovery" heads north and west from where the Missouri and Mississippi rivers meet, attempting to find a way to the Pacific Ocean. The First Turning encourages Exploration, which continues to use the governmental infrastructure set up during the previous Fourth Turning, but avoids the complications of a open warfare.... Expanding infrastructure is one of the key indicators of the First Turning, and the transcontinental railroad was an infrastructure priority for the United States in the 19th Century. The organizational strengths and focus that enable infrastructure and exploration are not always aimed at such noble pursuits. Sometimes they find internal enemies, or at least try to seek them out. The fear of Communists infilitrating the entertainment industry led the U.S. Government to pursue a group that became known as The Hollywood Ten. As this hits the edge of the map for the First Turning, we continue on with a short description of our final historical period, the Third Turning, and how we'll be choosing our landmarks there.
Chapter 1 What's the Book Longitude aboutThe book "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" is a non-fiction work written by Dava Sobel. Published in 1995, it tells the captivating story of John Harrison, an English clockmaker who invented a chronometer capable of accurately determining longitude at sea. During the 18th century, sailors faced great challenges in navigating the open oceans since they had no reliable method to measure their longitudinal position. As a result, ships often got lost or encountered disasters due to inaccurate calculations. The problem of finding longitude was so significant that the British government established the Longitude Prize, a substantial reward for anyone who could devise a practical solution. Sobel's book explores the life and struggles of John Harrison, who dedicated several decades to perfecting his timekeeping devices, known as marine chronometers. He overcame numerous obstacles, including skepticism from the scientific community and repeated attempts to undermine his achievements. Finally, Harrison succeeded, creating a highly accurate marine timepiece that revolutionized navigation and provided a precise method for determining longitude. "Longitude" not only delves into the technical aspects of Harrison's invention but also paints a vivid historical context, showcasing the political, social, and economic implications of accurate navigation. Sobel skillfully brings to life the characters involved in this pursuit and highlights the impact of Harrison's breakthrough on the maritime world. Overall, "Longitude" is a fascinating account of human ingenuity, perseverance, and the triumph of technological advancement. It presents a compelling narrative that combines history, science, and biography, making it an enjoyable read for those interested in the intersection of exploration, invention, and the quest for knowledge.Chapter 2 Is Longitude A Good Book"Longitude" by Dava Sobel is generally regarded as a highly acclaimed book. It tells the fascinating story of John Harrison's quest to solve the problem of accurately determining longitude at sea, which had significant implications for navigation and maritime exploration. Many readers appreciate the book for its engaging narrative style, historical insights, and its exploration of the intersection between science, technology, and human ambition. Ultimately, whether you find it to be a good book will depend on your interests and preferences.Chapter 3 Summary of Longitude In this article, we delve into the fascinating world of longitude and the monumental journey towards achieving precise navigation at sea. Inspired by Dava Sobel's renowned book "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time," we explore the historical context, key figures, and the captivating tale behind the breakthrough in timekeeping that forever changed maritime exploration. Join us as we unravel the story of how accurate longitude measurement revolutionized seafaring and shaped the course of human history.Chapter 4 Longitude the AuthorDava Sobel is an American author known for her popular science books. She was born on June 15, 1947, in the Bronx, New York City. Sobel initially worked as a science journalist before transitioning to writing books. One of Sobel's most famous works is "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" (1995). This...
Kate Lee, the chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, describes herself as a good Yorkshire girl, “What you see is what you get”. I last interviewed her in the dark days of December 2020 as people living with dementia in care homes became virtual prisoners, their relatives only allowed to see them through windows.Most of those with dementia, who account for over 70pc of care home residents, had no idea what was happening, why their loved ones no longer came to see them, they felt abandoned, alone, frightened. No one was more aware of this at the time than Kate, whose mum Barbara was diagnosed with vascular dementia 18 years ago and now lives in a care home. In this week's episode, Kate and I talk about her mum and how the long months of lockdowns impacted on her and her dad, who still “flirts terribly” with her mum after 60 years of marriage. We also discuss the terrible toll of Covid on care homes, their residents and staff – and the Alzheimer's Society's call for better pay reward and recognition within the care system to ensure that it is seen as a respected profession with proper career progression. Kate describes how the society is partnering with others to introduce innovations such as the Longitude Prize to drive the creation of personalised, technical solutions co-created with people living with early stage dementia to help them live more independent, fulfilling lives. She tells me about their new Help and Hope strategy to ensure their services reach communities who have traditionally not had access to dementia support, and about the need for volunteers to enter clinical trials during the early stages of their symptoms. Kate bemoans the prevarication and delay confounding progress in the largest healthcare crisis of our time. We need leadership and action, she says, not “existential dementia faff”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In 1714, the British Parliament approved The Longitude Prize, which offered monetary rewards to anyone who could make it possible for ships to effectively determine their longitude. The smallest prize was £10,000 - the equivalent of millions of dollars today. The Kingdom of Great Britain was created by The Acts of Union in 1707. Before then, one would properly refer to the English Parliament, and after to the British Parliament. This epsode crosses over that point in time between the start and the end, so the incorrect adjective may have slipped in once or twice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707 The Global Positioning System (GPS) might be considered a comparable sort of infrastructure, but it was created over a long enough period that associating it with a specific Turning is difficult. It also required infrastructure (namely rockets that could put satellites in orbit), and was implemented in short order once those were available. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
Welcome to our last 2020 episode, listeners! For this occasion, we were thrilled to interview the last of our associate senior lecturers, Dr. Lindon Moodie. His path through the field of organic chemistry has brought him to AMR recently and in this conversation we learn how he is approaching the task of finding new antibiotics. In the news section, we close the year with a recent publication by one of our PhD students, whom worked to identify the behavioural motivations behind the use of diagnostics in a hospital in India. We also bring you the report "AMR Voices" by the Longitude Prize, a publication shining light onto the experiences of patients suffering from AMR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Check relevant links and materials at www.uac.uu.se/the-amr-studio/episode24/. Follow our updates on twitter on www.twitter.com/uac_uu with #theAMRstudio hashtag! Theme music by Henrik Niss: www.tinyurl.com/henriknissspotify.
A discussion on how far scientists have gone to discover things that are going on around us and how some gave their lives up to help humanity.
Learn whether smiling can actually make you feel happier and why it took John Harrison, a working-class clockmaker, to figure out longitude. It Took a Working-Class Clockmaker to Figure Out Longitude by Ashley Hamer Dr Helen Klus. (2017, October 26). Latitude and Longitude. The Star Garden. http://www.thestargarden.co.uk/Longitude.html Longitude found - the story of Harrison’s Clocks. (2015, October 7). Royal Museums Greenwich. https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/longitude-found-john-harrison Roberts, A. (2014, May 17). A true sea shanty: the story behind the Longitude prize. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/18/true-sea-shanty-story-behind-longitude-prize-john-harrison Can smiling really make you happier? By Grant Currin O’Grady, C. (2019, September 5). Can Smiling Really Make You Happier? FiveThirtyEight; FiveThirtyEight. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/can-smiling-really-make-you-happier/ Woodell, A. (2020). Leaning into the replication crisis: Why you should consider conducting replication research. Https://Www.APA.org. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2020/03/replication-crisis Strack, F., Martin, L. L., & Stepper, S. (1988). Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: A nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 768–777. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.768 Wagenmakers, E.-J., Beek, T., Dijkhoff, L., Gronau, Q. F., Acosta, A., Adams, R. B., Albohn, D. N., Allard, E. S., Benning, S. D., Blouin-Hudon, E.-M., Bulnes, L. C., Caldwell, T. L., Calin-Jageman, R. J., Capaldi, C. A., Carfagno, N. S., Chasten, K. T., Cleeremans, A., Connell, L., DeCicco, J. M., … Zwaan, R. A. (2016). Registered Replication Report. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(6), 917–928. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616674458 Coles, N. A., March, D. S., Marmolejo-Ramos, F., Arinze, N. C., Ndukaihe, I. L. G., Özdoğru, A. A., … Liuzza, M. (2019, February 4). A Multi-Lab Test of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis by The Many Smiles Collaboration. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/cvpuw Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Natalia Reagan and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
We examine the works of two great inventors. Sir Hiram Maxim (1840 - 1916) was an American who became a British Citizen and patented over 100 inventions and designs. John Harrison (1693 - 1776) was the English master clockmaker who dedicated his life to winning the first great crowdsourced competition, the Longitude Prize.
Joshua Ryan-Saha works at the University of Edinburgh where he leads on the application of data-driven innovation for the tourism, travel and festival sectors as part of the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal. He previously worked at The Data Lab where he was responsible for programmes to improve data science skills across Scotland. He joined from Nesta where he established the £10m Longitude Prize, featured on BBC Horizon's 50th Anniversary Episode. Joshua has also worked as in Bosnia and Herzegovina working with international organizations such as The Public International Law and Policy Group to design projects related to constitutional reform, tourism and reconciliation. Joshua started his career in local government as a participant in the sector's National Graduate Development Programme, working at the London Borough of Newham transformation projects across a range of service areas including education, social care, housing, and crime reduction. Joshua will lead a session to explore how Scotland's tourism sector can get started in using data technologies and methods to address the sectors most pressing current challenges.
The threat of antibiotic resistance is large and looming. Drugs that once worked miracles are now failing to work at all as bacteria become resistant to them. This could mean a future where a simple operation, a minor infection, or even a scratch could kill. In this month's podcast, we bring you a recording from a panel event at New Scientist Live. The discussion is fantastic primer on the issue of antibacterial resistance, why it’s so important that we act now, and what we can all do to prevent it. Panellists: Laura Bowater – senior lecturer at Norwich Medical School Caroline Barker – clinician at University of East Anglia Anthony McDonnell – head of economic research for the Prime Minister’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance Tamar Ghosh – lead on the Longitude Prize to solve antibiotic resistance The event was organised by the Microbiology Society and the Biochemical Society.
Longitude Prize 2014 is a challenge with a £10 million prize fund to help solve the problem of global antibiotic resistance. It is being run by Nesta and supported by Innovate UK. The challenge has just launched and is now open to anyone to take part in. During the lead up to the launch of Longitude Prize 2014, Science Practice was lead research partner, working closely with Nesta and a group of over 100 scientists in diverse fields such as aeronautics, robotics, water processing, agriculture and medicine. James King, director of Science Practice will discuss how the team went about this task of shaping the challenge - what the goal should be and the criteria for winning - using design processes to help ask the right questions.
Longitude Prize 2014 Winning Challenge Antibiotics resistance has been selected as the focus for the £10m prize. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a "post-antibiotic era" where key drugs no longer work and people die from previously treatable infections. The next step in the challenge is to tackle this resistance, by developing a simple, cheap, quick test that allows you to tell whether an infection is bacterial or not. This will conserve the 50% of antibiotics that are currently given in situations where they have no effect. Solar Cells A popular form of photovoltaic, or solar, cells is made using a harmful and expensive chemical called cadmium chloride. Now a team has found a new, cheaper, safer way of making solar cells by replacing the toxic element in the process with a material found in bath salts, magnesium chloride, and these are just as efficient. Professor Ken Durose from Liverpool University explains how it could reduce the cost of solar energy. New Species How easy is it to find a new species for science? Whilst in the Bornean jungle, Dr Tim Cockerill discovered that it was relatively easy - one fell in his cup of tea! It was a tiny parasitic wasp. Another new species, of the same type of parasitic wasp, was recently discovered in a school playground in the UK. So new insects seem to be quite easy to find, but what about a new mammal or bird? Tim reveals that finding the creature is just the start of a lot of work needed to get his finding published and accepted. Fijian Fisherwomen More and more conservationists are turning to local knowledge to work out the best way to save ecosystems. A great illustration of this grass-roots approach is underway in Fiji. They use a traditional system where villages will close an area of fishing grounds for a few months for fish stocks to recover. Conservationists are now learning about this system, known as 'tambu', to see if it can be used on a longer-term basis to help give fish stocks, that have become seriously depleted in the last few decades, a chance to recover. Physics questions University College London cosmologist, Andrew Pontzen answers questions sent in by listeners about why, given the immense heat at the Big Bang, is there so much hydrogen in the universe, and not more of the larger atoms, which are forged under conditions of great heat? And are black holes responsible for the missing matter in the universe? Producer: Fiona Roberts.
Antarctic Invasion Antarctica is the most pristine place on Earth, having only been visited by humans in the last 200 years, and being tens of thousands of miles from the nearest land. But these days, around 40,000 tourists and hundreds of scientists visit the Antarctic every year, and with them come stowaways in the form of bugs, beetles and plants. As a result, the ice -free areas of the Antarctic are at severe risk of invasion. Is it too late to do anything about it? Longitude Prize: Water How can we ensure everyone can have access to safe and clean water? Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. 44 per cent of the world's population and 28 per cent of the world's agriculture are in regions where water is scarce. The challenge is to alleviate the growing pressure on the planet's fresh water by creating a cheap, environmentally sustainable desalination technology. London's Becton desalination plant is expensive to run, and so used for emergencies only. Marnie Chesterton meets some Danish chemists using membranes from nature which could help make salt water drinkable, without the energy requirement of current technology. Patents in science European Inventor Award winner Christofer Toumazou explains his invention - a USB microchip that reads a patient's DNA. He tells Adam Rutherford how the patent system has protected his ideas. Longitude Prize: Antibiotics Dame Sally Davies explains why, in an era of growing antibiotic resistance, it's important to have a cheap, easy-to-use test to identify bacteria. Muna Anjum from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency is working on identifying those resistance genes in certain bacteria. Paul Freemont's team at Imperial College is using synthetic biology to build a device that can detect specific bacteria - precisely the sort of work that might answer the Longitude Prize's challenge. Producer: Fiona Roberts.
Moving Mountains Removing the tops off mountains was common practice in the eastern United States to strip mine for coal. Critics have previously called for it to be banned because of the health risks. But in China, the same thing is now happening but on a much larger scale, all to create new land for people to live on. In a comment piece in this week's Nature journal, Chinese scientists call this unprecedented geo-engineering "folly", and liken the practice to "performing major surgery on Earth's crust". Dr Adam Rutherford talks to Dr Emily Bernhardt from Duke University in the US about the potential risks of the Chinese mountain moving. Alien Invader Species Inside Science bug man, Tim Cockerill, responds to headlines that alien killer snakes, capable of killing dogs, cats and even children, are on the loose in Britain. He goes to look for the supposedly terrifying reptiles, and finds out instead, about a colony of aesculapian snakes, whose biggest meal might be a rat. In search of more danger, he goes on to Sheerness in Kent, to hunt for the "alien" yellow-tailed scorpion. These arachnids don't prove much of a threat either, he discovers. As long as you keep your trousers tucked in your socks. Longitude Prize: Zero Carbon Flight If our use of air travel continues to rise at the current rate, by 2050, it'll make up 15 per cent of global warming from human activities. If the Longitude Prize topic chosen is flight, the challenge will be to design and build a zero or close-to-zero-carbon aeroplane that is capable of flying from London to Edinburgh, at comparable speed to today's aircraft. Marnie Chesterton speaks to physicist Helen Czerski and Professor Callum Thomas, from Manchester Metropolitan's Centre for Aviation, Transport and the Environment, about the possible options. Football Stickers "Got, Got, Got, Need!". With the football World Cup upon us, footy-mad kids barter to fill their world cup sticker books. Adam talks to mathematician Professor Yvan Velenik from the University of Geneva, about the myth that some stickers are rarer than others, and shares his statistical analysis about how many stickers you would need to buy, to fill the book. Producer: Fiona Hill.
Green clean ups: how can nature's recyclers - bacteria and fungi - help us remedy man-made environmental problems, from oil spills to mining slag heaps? Plus, Brazilian dengue-threat could see football reach fever pitch, how beneficial bugs get into newborn babies, a new way to treat diabetes, and the Longitude Prize, reborn...
Longitude Prize 2014 The Longitude Prize offers a £10 million prize pot to help find the solution to one of the greatest issues of our age. Votes from the British public will decide what that issue will be. This week, the six shortlisted challenges have been unveiled. They cover flight, food, antibiotics, paralysis, water and dementia. Alice Roberts talks to Adam about why we need an X-factor for science. Over the next month, Inside Science will profile each of these challenges and explain how you can cast your vote. Matter from Light In 12 months' time, researchers say they will be able to make matter from light. Three physicists were sitting in a tiny office at Imperial College London and while drinking coffee they found what they call a fairly simple way to prove a theory first suggested by scientists 80 years ago: to convert photons - i.e. particles of light - into electrons (particles of matter) and positrons (antimatter). Adam discusses the work with theoretical physicist Professor Steven Rose from Imperial College London and science writer Philip Ball. Longitude challenge - Dementia How can we help people with dementia to live independently for longer? Dr Kevin Fong is the champion for this Longitude Challenge, arguing that we all use technology to support our lifestyles but that people with dementia need extra tech. Marnie Chesterton visits Designability, a Bath-based design charity that works with people with dementia to develop new technologies. Their Day Clock shows that a simple design can produce radical results. Coastal deposition The destructive winter storms that hit the UK caused were flooded by the worst tidal surge on the east coast in 60 years. Sand dunes play an important defensive role on our coastline but little is known about their resilience or recovery rate. So after the December 5th storm, scientists sprang into action in Lincolnshire with a new project that officially began in February. The aim is to help future coastal management by researching the effects of storm surges on sand dunes. Producer: Fiona Roberts.