Interesting Links for 25-04-2025

[andrewducker]

1. Offshore wind farm capable of powering half of Scotland's homes is being switched on

(tags:scotland windpower )

2. First Scottish Gaelic translation of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit

(tags:Gaelic scotland language TheHobbit )

3. Thanks to Dominic Cummings there's an £800m research agency run by the government that's allowed to hide everything it does from you.

(tags:secrecy uk government research )

4. 2/3 of people with peanut allergies cured in new trial

(tags:allergies peanuts GoodNews )

5. The Beano comic captures Musk and Trump perfectly

(tags:politics USA comics UK satire )

6. Israel has completely wiped out Rafah, turning a fifth of Gaza's territory into a giant buffer zone.

(tags:Israel gaza OhForFucksSake )

7. Male non-hormonal contraceptive implant shown to work for 24 months in trials

(tags:contraception men )

8. New British recycling tax set to drive up use of... plastic

(tags:uk recycling OhForFucksSake )

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

I love these paradoxes. Ok, the wind farm news is really impressive.
Thank you!

[channelpenguin]

Good old Beano!

[andrewducker]

You can trust British anarchy!

[kerk_hiraeth]

Personally I'm waiting for my Tribble Skin Leather Bound copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in the original Klingonaase...

kerk

[greenwoodside]

2. The Gaelic translation is hot on the heels of a Welsh Yr Hobyd (2023), which I'm reading and enjoying. Somehow going through an old childhood favourite in another language recaptures a glimmer of the wonder and pleasure it brought me then.

[andrewducker]

Ooh, that's fascinating. Allowing you to rediscover a favourite definitely sounds like a selling point for learning a new language!

[greenwoodside]

Learning a new language as an adult is something that gives and gives, in my experience. The second meeting with familiar media in a not entirely familiar form is just a small part of it. : )

[simont]

If the media is particularly familiar you might not even need much of the language. I know Hitchhiker's Guide very well indeed (I read it about once a year growing up, getting more of the jokes every time), and when I picked up the German translation a couple of years ago I found I barely even needed to remember my rusty GCSE German – I could open it at any page and already know exactly what I was looking at, because my effective A-level in Hitchhiker's filled in all the gaps!

[greenwoodside]

Yep -- and reading/watching media I know well in translation makes it a much easier step to reading new things in my second languages. :)

[calimac]

1) And an extra added bonus, it will annoy Donald Trump. Especially if it's anywhere near his golf course, though I don't think it is.

[bens_dad]

7. A very unusual mode of operation.
It blocks the sperms ducts completely, but breaks down after a set length of time. But how would I know how reliable the time limit is or whether it is still functioning ?

Most male contraceptives require a degree of trust from the woman, but this one needs a fair bit from the man
too.

[andrewducker]

That's where the testing comes in!

If it's tested repeatedly in men and nobody has kids in the first two years then that sounds pretty safe to me!

[bens_dad]

Yes, but they appear to be advertising it as reversible so I would want evidence of subsequent pregnancy. Since the return of fertility is supposed to happen without further intervention, I also want to know when it happens.

At present this gives you contraception for two years, then an unspecified time when you need an alternative to prevent conception but have no idea whether deliberate conception is possible. Not great for couples who want a family, but not yet.