Mark Cantrell's Blog, page 35

Sport: Star players need their eyes checked

Did you see that? Academics studying how vision affects sporting prowess were surprised to learn that many top performing sports players can see little better than rest of us, writes Mark Cantrell. It left them wondering whether an eye test might help them up their game ELITE sports players may be at the top of […]

Technology: Robots are toughening up for the future

Rise of the ‘extremobots’ Robots must be made of sterner stuff if they’re to cope with the kinds of extreme environments they’ll face in the future, writes Mark Cantrell. That’s why robotics experts in the UK are teaming up to design tougher breeds of machine IN biology, organisms that can tough it out in the […]

Blog: The Last Post

Calling time

THIS is the end. I'm going now. Goodbye. Well, not quite.

Actually rumours of my departure are somewhat exaggerated; I'm just nipping down the road, as it were. So this is the last item I'll be posting here. But if you’ve enjoyed my writings, then I hope you’ll check out my new site.

After six years, it’s time to move on to a fresh platform. Webs has served me well enough since 2012, but I feel the time has come to step up a level, by building a presence on Word...

Comment: Forest Plan Offers Ready Made Symbol For North-South Divide

Can't see the North for the trees...

Forests are great – especially ones that are allowed to grow naturally with all the wild wonder and chaos that entails – but is the forestation of a huge swathe of northern England really what the region needs?

By Mark Cantrell

THE Government has backed the creation of a huge forest that will stretch coast-to-coast across the north of England, a gesture that invites a rather tempting satirical interpretation.

In the spirit of such mischief, we m...

Comment: Can’t see the North for the trees

Forest plan offers ready made symbol for England’s North-South divide  Forests are great – especially ones that are allowed to grow naturally with all the wild wonder and chaos that entails – but is the forestation of a huge swathe of northern England really what the region needs? By Mark Cantrell THE Government has backed […]

Books: Young Authors Give Fairy Tales A Techno Makeover

Does the White Rabbit dream of fitbits?

Young authors taking part in a writing competition for charity have given traditional fairy stories a techno makeover for the 21st Century

By Mark Cantrell

THERE are times when it feels like the tech industry is just flogging us fairy stories with its fancy gadgets and software ‘baubles’ but in December a software company decided to do exactly that – all in aid of charity.

The company, called Advanced, published a collection of fairy t...

Books: Does the White Rabbit dream of fitbits?

Young authors give classic fairy tales a techno makeover Young authors taking part in a writing competition for charity have given traditional fairy stories a techno makeover for the 21st Century By Mark Cantrell THERE are times when it feels like the tech industry is just flogging us fairy stories with its fancy gadgets and […]

News: Mexican Quarry Manager Saves Ancient British Oak

Old oak is saved from a power trim

Wickwar oak tree is over 800 years old, but faced the ‘chop’ to clear some space for overhead power lines, writes Mark Cantrell – that is until a local quarry manager stepped in to save it for his granddaughter…

IT sounds unlikely, put like that, but a Gloucestershire quarry manager working for a Mexican company has stepped in to save one of Britain’s oldest oak trees from a potentially fatal ‘pruning’.

The tree has...

News: Mexican quarry manager saves ancient British oak

Old oak is saved from a power trim Wickwar oak tree is over 800 years old, but faced the ‘chop’ to clear some space for overhead power lines, writes Mark Cantrell – that is until a local quarry manager stepped in to save it for his granddaughter… IT sounds unlikely, put like that, but a […]

Blog: Like A UB40 With Added Attitude

The times, they are a’changing

Despite its frightening contemporary resonance, back when Citizen Zero was born there was barely even an Internet, let alone smartphones or social media, writes Mark Cantrell – so, it was time for an upgrade, courtesy of Inspired Quill…

A lot has changed since I first began to write Citizen Zero.

After the 2008 financial crash, the novel really started to come into its era. Then from 2010 onwards, the Coalition Government upped the ante with it...