At this time of year in La Palma, you might hear rather unnerving Howie-howie-SKRAWK! noises in the night, something between a furious tom cat and a duck. You’re particularly likely to hear it near the sea. The first time I heard it, I wasn’t exactly scared, but I was rather glad that I was inside a solid house and the whatever-it-was clearly outside. I’m sure I’d have felt decidedly uncomfortable…
In the 17th century, landowners in La Palma got rich on sugar cane. These rich families used to leave the heat of Santa Cruz de la Palma and spend the summer on their country estates, particularly in Breña Baja and Breña Alta. The houses are still private, but in some cases the gateway is clearly visible from the road. It’s a social symbol of wealth and power. These old families…
After reading what Conservapedia had to say about E=mc2, I got curious as to what they’d say about general relativity The theory of relativity has been repeatedly contradicted by experiments [snip] It is unlikely tenure or a Ph.D would be awarded to any critic of the theory. Well the second sentence is true, at least for physics departments. But according to Wikipedia, The predictions of general relativity have been confirmed in all observations and experiments…
Click on the picture to go to the NASA website, where you can explore a million-pixel photo of Mars. You can zoom in anywhere!
Have you heard of Conservapedia? It’s like Wikipedia for US right-wingers, guaranteed to be their version of politically correct. The article on Einsein’s famous formula, E=mc2, is interesting. It says, In fact, no theory has successfully unified the laws governing mass (i.e., gravity) with the laws governing light (i.e., electromagnetism), and numerous attempts to derive E=mc² in general from first principles have failed. Political pressure,[2] however, has since made it…
The feast of San Juan (St. John the Baptist) is June 24th. Many people light bonfires on St John’s Eve. In the days before municipal rubbish collection, it was a practical way of having a clear out. But in Puntallana, there is a long-held folk belief that the bonfires keep away witches. Jumping over the fire is supposed to protect you from disease and the Evil Eye. It’s also a…