O.C. Heaton's Blog, page 12
March 25, 2011
What would you rather have: a penny or £1 million?
If you had to choose, would you prefer a million pounds or a penny that doubles in value every day for 30 days?
It's a no-brainer, right? Of course everyone would choose a million pounds!
Well, not so fast. Stop for one second and do the maths. The results might surprise you.
I have drawn up a table to help you choose:
Incredible, isn't it? That is compound interest for you. Little happens for three weeks, and then the pennies begin to grow rapidly. After one week, the total is...
March 23, 2011
Why are we here & where do we come from?
So begins Stardust, Brian Cox's second instalment of the wonderful Wonders of the Universe on BBC One. I highly recommend it and if you have missed it, all three episodes are still available on iPlayer.
The premise of Stardust is that we are all born from the destruction of stars, which sounds far-fetched. But it's not at all. Brian Cox's starting point in Wonders of the Universe is also that of Uma Jakobsdóttir in The Human Race: that every atom in our bodies was once part of ...
March 18, 2011
Are writers all "liars and thieves"?
Are we? Well, according to Nicholas Hardiment, the serial philanderer and highly successful author in the film Tamara Drewe, we are. After watching the film on Saturday night, I immediately dismissed the incendiary statement. What self-respecting writer wouldn't? But alas, the words seem to have stuck with me and after five days I have made a U-turn.
In fact, not only am I a liar, I hope that I'm a great liar. I've always made stuff up, ever since I was very young. In...
March 15, 2011
Teleportation must be real – 24% of us think so
Is the line between fact and fiction beginning to blur? According to a recent survey, nearly a third of people in the UK believe their lives could soon be made much easier thanks to the gift of time travel, and almost a quarter believe that teleportation is real.
The survey of 3,000 people, commissioned by Birmingham Science City to mark this year's National Science and Engineering Week (11 – 20 March), has revealed that 30% of adults across the UK believe that time travel is p...
March 12, 2011
Why I love technology
As readers of The Human Race will know, I love technology. Yes, I'm a real gadget man. Mankind's capacity for invention and ingenuity fascinates me. The idea that someone, somewhere in the world sat down and had the intelligence, perseverance and creativity to invent something that hopefully solved a problem for someone else is partly romantic, often exciting and sometimes terrifying. There have been a few wobbles along the way, but technology has helped us to evolve and...
March 8, 2011
The Kirkby Lonsdale wind farm: to be or not to be?
I spent last week in one of my favourite places: the Lake District. Aside from having a wonderful time scaling the Fells and breathing fresh air into my lungs, I noticed something not quite so pleasant: a number of villages in the area are fighting schemes against wind farms. One in particular is Kirkby Lonsdale.
This surprised me, what with the current fuss over rising energy prices, so I decided to dig a little deeper, soon discovering a proposed scheme by E.ON near Kirkby...
March 4, 2011
Electric cars: cutting or increasing emissions?
This big push towards electric cars has long puzzled me. On the face of it, the move looks like a great way to reduce emissions by replacing the internal combustion engine with batteries. However, what everyone seems to be forgetting is that in most countries electricity is generated by coal, one of the dirtiest fossil fuels around.
According to the World Coal Association, coal accounts for 41% of global electricity production. However, what is really worrying is that in some o...
March 1, 2011
Do words count? And if they do, should I be counting them?
Over the years I have become obsessed with what I have termed my 'writing statistics.' I religiously record the amount of words I write and the number of pages that these words equate to.
When I see the figures in front of me, sometimes I celebrate, or at least I do when I manage to beat my monthly target! Yet inevitably, sometimes I fail to reach that golden target number and the sulking begins.
Take a look at my writing stats from the last 18 months. They present equally...
February 24, 2011
Alternative energy: are rising oil prices the catalyst we need?
I wondered when the oil debate was going to raise its ugly head again. What with the recent price hikes and growing unrest in the Gulf States, it was only a matter of time before the black stuff was back in the headlines.
And sure enough, as the cost approaches $100 a barrel and a democratic fervour sweeps the Arab world, oil is back on the radar. And I've got a feeling it could be here for a while.
For many, this will mean painful times ahead, as prices continue to rise and...
February 21, 2011
Selinlpg is ivrarlenet
I've seen tihs ietm a few tmies on the Intneret and it awylas aazmes me. Our bnrais alitbiy. Thye can umsncarlbe any wrod so lnog as the frist and the lsat lteetr are in the smae pacle. The rset of the ltteres can be ctpmoleley jlmuebd up and it mkaes no diceernffe. Anarpletpy the roesan is bsaucee the biarn deos not raed ecah iidvuidanl lteter but the einrte wrod ilsetf. Taht is why you can raed waht I hvae just tpyed. Ueaelinbvble.
As always it got me thinking:
1. We...
