All Articles
Do Eskimos Really have 80 Words for Snow ?
This is one of those urban myths that refuse to die … “Do Eskimos Really have 80 Words for Snow ?” So in this article we hope to answer it once and for all.
Are Humans and Parrots the only Living Organisms which have the Power of Speech?
For centuries man has been discussing important issues with parrots, under the common misconception that these are the only other animals that can communicate as we do. But are they ?
How to make a living ‘Guernsey Style’ – The Age of Guernsey Privateering
For nearly 150 years making a living, quite a good living actually, in Guernsey took a pecular turn. It was possible to become very rich via the dubiously ‘legal’ practices of Privateering and the less than legal smuggling trade.
The Moon Really IS Made of Cheese
When we say ‘the Moon’ we don’t mean OUR moon but another in our solar system. Researchers in the U.S. have got a close look at what they’re calling ‘the weirdest moon in the solar system’
Play it Again Sam – What is Déjà Vu ?
Déjà vu is French for ‘already seen’ and describes the sensation many of us experience from time to time when we are sure a certain situation has happened before. But is there any explanation as to why we should experience this ?
How to Smug a Guy – An old Guy Fawkes Tradition
The British are a nation with a long and proud history steeped in ritual and tradition. None more so when it comes to the rather odd celebration of ‘Guy Fawkes Night’ where we gleefully celebrate the burning of a Catholic traitor caught trying to blow up the houses of parliament. However there is one rather odd tradition surrounding this event that we would suggest is best not revived – ‘Smugging a Guy’.
Why are mathematicians so interested in prime numbers?
Why are mathematicians so interested in prime numbers? Well it turns out that Prime numbers are the building blocks of all numbers greater than 1. That is, every number is either itself a prime, such as 2,17,53 or 673, or is the product of primes …
The Day King John Commited Murder and the Channel Islands lost a potential Duke
History can often turn on the actions of a single individual. April the 3rd 1203 was such a day when King John committed murder. If he hadn’t committed this heinous crime then the whole history of Guernsey and the Channels Island could have been radically different.
The Humble Vacuum Cleaner – Who Invented it ?
The vacuum cleaner is perhaps the only invention whose history begins with a handkerchief stuffed in a man’s mouth. The mouth belonged to British engineer Hubert Booth.
Sniffing out Trouble – Analysing the composition of almost any surface
Scientists in Zurich, Switzerland have up with a sensitive new way to analyse the composition of almost any surface, including human skin by blowing a stream of nitrogen across the surface under analysis and collect the gas together with any debris that it dislodges. The material is then fed into a mass spectrometer that can pick apart the chemical composition of anything present on the surface.
Dynamite
Nothing seems quite so paradoxical as the inventor of dynamite being the sponsor of the World’s most renowned peace award – The Nobel Prize. That being the case the invention of Dynamite, please note NOT gunpowder, was a pretty seminal moment in the history of technology.
1066 and all that … the day the Channel Islands became part of England
On Sunday the 14th October 1066 ‘William the Bastard’, Duke of Normandy (andthe Channel Islands), invaded and defeated the Anglo Saxon king of England, so that henceforth the Bastard was to be forever known as William the Conqueror. In this article we look how at how he won at Hastings.
Who Invented the Vending Machine ?
The Vending Machine is a lot older than you might think. It was actually invented by Greek inventor ‘Hero of Alexandria’ who came up with the first known vending machine design around AD 60.
Will deforestation eventually cause us to run out of oxygen?
Environmentalists are fond of calling the world’s forests in general, and the Amazon in particular, “the lungs of our planet”, the implication being that unless we stop deforestation, we’re all going to be gasping for breath. But is this true?
