Do glasses make you look more intelligent

Rose collected her new glasses today. She has had glasses for five years but rarely wears them. Her new glasses are not just a viewing aid but a fashion statement with the added advantage of making her feel as though she looks more intelligent. Do glasses make people look more intelligent? What do you think? BBC viewers and CBBC viewers have their say.

Chris wins Nobel Peace Prize

Chris is delighted that Al Gore and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) have been recognised by the Nobel Prize Committee for their work on climate change. Since the prize is to be shared by Al Gore and the 'over 2000' scientists that have contributed to the work of the IPCC, Chris reckons his contribution is about 0.002%. The $1.5 million prize money is going to the IPCC and will enable more research and education on climate change.

Chris' most high profile contribution to the climate change debate was published in Nature in January 2004. He is currently working at the University of York on climate change, conservation and butterfly ecology.

Visit to York College

Rose and Alice are in their final year at Selby High School. It doesn't seem any time at all since we were choosing High Schools and now we (or should I say they) have to decide where to study their A levels. Thursday night was the York College open evening. The College is now housed in one brand new building with four wings on four floors round a very impressive central atrium. Chris and I were most impressed by the small size of the new classrooms. None of them would comfortably fit more than 25. Listening to staff we realised that the A level sets are almost always less than 20. At the moment Alice is planning to do Maths, Chemistry and Geography A level plus a BTEC Award (I A level equivalent) in Performing Arts (Musical Theatre). Rose also wants to do Maths and Chemistry but with Philosophy and Psychology. We are going to visit Selby College open evening on Tuesday to see what they have to offer. If they want to do A levels that aren't offered at Selby College they will get subsidised travel (£300 a year) to York College.

On the way home Alice was worrying that she wouldn't get into the Musical Theatre class because there are only 20 places and students have to audition!

Image from York College web site

Raising the flag in Selby

At lunch time today Alice and a friend from Selby High School were invited to raise the Union flag outside the Civic Centre in Selby. One of the first things Gordon Brown did when he became Prime Minister was to scrap the strange rule that flags could only be flown for 18 days a year. Nigel Adams, the prospective conservative parliamentary candidate for Selby and Ainsty had lobbied Selby District Council to get them to arrange for a flag to be flown outside the Civic Centre. Alice and her friend had been nominated by their Head teacher. The publicity was distinctly low key with the photographer from the Selby Times as the sole representative from the press. Presumably there would have been a bigger crowd if Gordon Brown had called an election at the weekend. It would have been a nice photo opportunity for the launch of a parliamentary election campaign.

Press coverage

80 days around the world

The Logik Centre lifestyle group have started on a very long trek ( approximately 25,000 miles) around the world. We aim to enlist as many colleagues from the University of Leeds, plus friends and family as possible, in order to cover the same mileage as Phinneas Fogg in 80 days. Phinneas set off on his journey on 2nd October 1872. We had to set off on the 1st because we don't want to complete our journey on a Saturday. Follow the progress of the travellers at the 80days blog. You can find instructions about joining the project there.

Doctors in the Death Zone

Horizon was family viewing last night. It was the first of a two part programme on an expedition to Everest by a group of UK doctors. It was nice to see that the 'medic madness' that you see among medic undergraduates at University does persist. It's just the shirt and tie and doctorly 'on duty' demeanor that makes you wonder how student medics change into family GPs, consultants, house officers etc. These doctors were sampling their own blood after exercising on an exercise bike at different altitudes as they climbed Everest.


The family interest was mainly due to the fact that my nephew, Ben Dempsey, was the assistant producer and we had followed the progress of the production via the Horizon on Everest blog.

Image from stock.xchng

Can I walk 13 miles?

The short answer is yes. I walked from Bingley to Skipton today along the canal towpath. Its flat (except for the 5 locks and 3 locks rises) and an easy surface to walk on. Even so 13 miles is a long way for someone as inactive as me. Fortunately I had some equally inactive friends to walk with (and some active ones too). The walk was organised by the Logik Centre Lifestyle group at the University of Leeds. The University is very keen on staff wellbeing and this is one of their projects. I joined over the summer because I need to get in shape for my trip to the Galapagos in January. I have to admit I am a bit sore today!