Newsletter Volume 32 Issue 11, Nov 2021
From The Editor
Home Entertainment
Yes, collectors are still revisiting, and sharing, some of their favourite old films Here are some links to films, from golden oldies to more recent. Some of them are only available for a short time, so get in quick to your favourite category:
FAMILY
CHRISTMAS
Romantic Drama
Sound Of Christmas – Romance (2016)
“Lizzie, a young piano teacher, helps Brad’s teenage daughter learn music. As she begins to break through to the girl, sparks begin to fly with Brad, but she is shocked to find out that he may want to buy the school’s property.
Stars: Lindy Booth, Robin Dunne, Micah Kalisch
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6260218/”
Crazy For Christmas (2005) | Full Christmas Family Movie
“On Christmas Eve, Shannon McManus (Andrea Roth) is stuck driving around a wealthy and eccentric client (Howard Hesseman) who is giving away large sums of money with the secret hope of reuniting with his long lost daughter.
—Anonymous
Stars: Andrea Roth, Howard Hesseman, Jason Spevack
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479152/”
Miracle On 34th Street 1973 – Uploaded on 40th Anniversary of Original Air Date: December 14, 1973
“A department store Santa tries to convince a little girl who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus that he is Santa Claus, and winds up going on trial to prove who he is.
Stars: Sebastian Cabot, Jane Alexander, David Hartman, Suzanne Davidson, Jim Backus, Roddy McDowall
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070395/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm”
1986 – Christmas Eve starring Loretta Young, Arthur Hill, Ron Leibman, Trevor Howard
“Initial broadcast: December 22, 1986
Although Amanda Kingsley (Loretta Young) is now extremely wealthy, she remembers her hardscrabble upbringing and tries to help the less fortunate around her. Conversely, her business-minded son, Andrew (Arthur Hill), has never wanted for anything, and has become hardhearted. Upon receiving bad medical news, Amanda engages down-at-heel private investigator Morris Huffner (Ron Leibman) to track down Andrew’s three estranged children before Christmas Eve for one final family holiday.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qafMPg_RGKU
A Dream for Christmas (1973)
“A Southern minister is assigned to a poor church in California where the congregation is drifting away and the church itself is scheduled for demolition.
Stars: Hari Rhodes, Beah Richards, Lynn Hamilton
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070004/”
ROMANCE
The Toy Tiger (1956) Comedy – Jeff Chandler
“Advertising executive Gwen Taylor sends her art director Rick Todd on a mission to bring an artist back to the commercial fold. Meanwhile, Gwen’s fatherless son Timmie, at a remote boys’ school, is riding for a fall by manufacturing evidence of his “explorer father.” By an amazing coincidence, Rick steps off the bus at just the right moment for Timmie to recruit him as “father” without his knowledge. With no intention of collaborating, the befuddled Rick is carried along by the sweep of events. Who can predict the outcome?
—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Stars: Jeff Chandler, Laraine Day, Tim Hovey
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049873/”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI7h8MF6g_4
A Frosty Affair | 2015 Romantic Comedy | Jewel Staite
“A Frosty Affair – A rom-com about the adventures of a small town teacher, Kate Carter, going back to the city for her wedding. After a blizzard strikes, she is forced to travel with a stranger named Redford who leaves her questioning her future plans. Stars Jewel Staite, Shawn Roberts, Chris Craddock, Shaun Johnston”
Prudence and the Pill (1968)
“The conflicting and comical attempts by a wealthy London banker and his mistress, together with four other couples, to avoid pregnancy by using contraceptive pills
Stars: Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Robert Coote
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063467/”
Half-Angel (1951)
“This marvelous bit of fluff stars Loretta Young as a prim, repressed nurse who unleashes her wild side when sleepwalking. Joseph Cotten is the hotshot lawyer who warmly receives her advances, if with some confusion.
Also features Cecil Kellaway, John Ridgely, Irene Ryan, and Basil Ruysdael.”
The Funeral Guest (2015) | Full Movie | Julianna Robinson | Nick Eyde | Sugar Lyn Beard
“A lonely young woman who crashes funerals pretends to be the long-?estranged sister of a dead woman.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC_ZmSZw9Ug
Cinderella (Cenerentola) | Full Drama Romance | Part 1
“Once upon a time in post-war Rome: 13-year old Aurora, a gifted pianist, is the daughter of Valerio, a brilliant conductor. After Aurora’s mother died, Valerio hired Irene, a single mother of two girls, to run the household. To Aurora’s regret he decides to marry Irene. One day, Aurora happens to meet the boys next door, Freddy and Sebastian, the sons of a wealthy Italo-Austrian family. Freddy is an easy-going chap, though sometimes a little bit arrogant. His brother Sebastian is kind and shy, with a great ability to listen to and understand people, which makes him win Aurora’s heart. However, Aurora’s life is shattered when her father suddenly dies. Irene, the unloved stepmother, lays hands on the family’s assets and turns her late husband’s villa into a hotel. Aurora is unable to claim her right to inheritance until her 21st birthday. Irene makes her give up schooling and piano playing. Instead, she has to work as a maid in the hotel. Irene’s own daughters, Lucia and Teresina, never miss out on an opportunity to tantalize the poor girl. Years later, Aurora has become a young woman. She secretly plays the piano on an improvised keyboard on the windowsill. The employees of the hotel keep her company and became her surrogate family.
—Anonymous
Stars: Frank Crudele, Ilaria Spada, Mariella Valentini
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781790/”
Cinderella (Cenerentola) | Full Drama Romance | Part 2
Beauty and The Beast | Drama Romance Movie | Part 1
“A beautiful detective falls in love with an ex-soldier who goes into hiding from the secret government organization that turned him into a mechanically charged beast.
Stars: Kristin Kreuk, Jay Ryan, Nina Lisandrello
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2193041/”
Beauty and The Beast | Drama Romance Movie | Part 2
KIDS
Jane and the Dragon (TV series)
Jane and The Dragon – A Dragon’s Tail
Jane and the Dragon (Episodes in Order)
The Little Princess (1939) Full Movie In Full Technicolor
“A little girl is left by her father in an exclusive seminary for girls, when her father fights in the Second Boer War. Later, when he is presumed dead she is forced to become a servant.
Stars: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter, Cesar Romero, Arthur Treacher, Mary Nash
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031580/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm”
The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton (1974)
“A boy inventor, his sister and his buddy catch a crooked city treasurer and his cronies with science.
Stars: Eric Shea, Clay O’Brien, Kim Richards
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088397/”
1969 Secrets of the Pirates Inn Full.mp4
“Three young children help an old sea-man look for buried treasure at the Pirates Inn. But they’re not the only one’s interested in finding it.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064954/”
The famous five – Season 1, Episode 1 – Five Go to Kirrin Island [1978] [HD] [Full movie] (Original transmission: 3 July 1978 & 10 July 1978)
“Julian, Dick and Anne arrive at Kirrin cottage for the holidays. George is not very happy with their arrival and her father is doing secret experiments on her island. However, George has a secret of her own too. Julian, Dick and Anne discover a tunnel that leads under the sea. They finally become friends and the next day the whole family goes to Kirrin island to bring supplies to Professor Kirrin. The children become suspicious when a stranger asks questions about the professor.
Written by Enid Blyton
Producers: Don Leaver, Sidney Hayers”
Schoolgirls’ Picture Library 009 – The Fourth Grey Ghost
1940s UK Girls Chrystal
Schoolgirls’ Picture Library 009 – The Fourth Grey Ghost
(QESP Editor’s Note: This is a 68 page Comic Book which is read by scrolling down page by page. Interestingly, it still has a following. A Sep 15, 2019 reader comment notes “Stirring stuff – though we must assume that Geraldine had quite a manly voice to go unidentified for so long and a smell not far removed from linseed oil.”
Another reader replied “I had the opposite theory…I speculated that though the boys are drawn like older teens, they are actually younger than they look and their voices haven’t changed yet.”
Why would a quaint UK work of art from the 1940s still have a following in our vastly different world of 2020? Readers comments are welcome. Send them to me at tedsmillie@yahoo.com. I will review and share with Girls Chrystal)
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=74284
The Kid Who Loved Christmas (1990)
“A family is torn apart at Christmas when the wife of a couple, trying to adopt a son, is killed in a car accident and the husband, a musician, is deemed unfit to raise a child.
Stars: Cicely Tyson, Michael Warren, Sammy Davis Jr.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099930/”
CRIME
Farewell My Lovely 1975 Robert Mitchum*Film Noir
“Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by paroled convict Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend Velma, a former dancer at a seedy nightclub.
Stars: Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072973/”
DEADLINE – U.S.A. (1952) Widerscreen + Full length Humphrey Bogart
“With his newspaper about to be sold, crusading editor Ed Hutcheson tries to complete an exposé on gangster Rienzi.
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044533/”
Hayley Mills | Tiger Bay (1959) Classic Crime Drama Full Movie | 1960 BAFTA-Winning Film
“A young Polish seaman walks eagerly through Tiger Bay to visit Anya, the woman he wishes to marry.
Rough-and-tumble street urchin Gillie (Hayley Mills) witnesses the brutal killing of a young woman at the hands of visiting Polish sailor Korchinsky (Horst Buchholz). Instead of reporting the crime to the authorities, Gillie merely pockets a prize for herself — Korchinsky’s shiny black revolver — and flees the scene. When Welsh Detective Graham (John Mills) discovers that Gillie has the murder weapon, the fiery young girl weaves a web of lies to throw him off course.”
The Young Savages (1961) Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters
“A D.A. investigates 3 white teenagers accused of murdering a blind Puerto Rican kid.
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Dina Merrill, Edward Andrews
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055633/”
Stark FULL Movie (1985)
“Wichita policeman, Evan Stark, goes to Las Vegas in search of his missing sister, Laura. Her roommate, Ashley Winters, a casino dealer, helps him unravel the mystery of her disappearance.
Stars: Marilu Henner, Nicolas Surovy, Pat Corley
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090067/ “
Little Murders [1971 (Alan Arkin)]
“Pitch black comedy about a young nihilistic New Yorker coping with pervasive urban violence, obscene phone calls, rusty water pipes, electrical blackouts, paranoia and ethnic-racial conflict during a typical summer of the 1970s.
Director: Alan Arkin
Writers: Jules Feiffer, Jules Feiffer (based on the play by: “Little Murders”)
Stars: Elliott Gould, Marcia Rodd, Vincent Gardenia |”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067350/”
Crackerjack [1938]
“Jack Drake,a man with a hundred faces and in reality a modern-day Robin Hood known only as Crackerjack, thrills all England with his exploits of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. As a guest at a society party “Crackerjack” steals some valuable pearls, and the next day learns there has also been a hold-up at the party and a man killed. and Scotland Yard considers Crackerjack to be the leader of the killer-gang, and he realizes that someone is using his name to cover their own crimes. And sets out to prove it without having to disclose who he really is.
—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030021/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl”
WAR
The Fourth Protocol (1987) – Michael Caine
“John Preston is a British Agent with the task of preventing the Russians detonating a nuclear explosion next to an American base in the UK. The Russians are hoping this will shatter the “special relationship” between the two countries.
Stars: Michael Caine, Pierce Brosnan, Ned Beatty
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093044/”
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1999)
“When her doctor recommends that a widow pursue her unfulfilled life ambitions, he doesn’t realize that she has always wanted to be a spy…
Stars: Angela Lansbury, Thomas Ian Griffith, Ed Bishop
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202045/”
WESTERN
1968 – Once Upon a Time in the West – Henry Fonda; Claudia Cardinale; Jack Elam; Charles Bronson; Jason Robards; Woody Strode
“Epic story of a mysterious stranger with a harmonica who joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.”
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2c770m
“HIGH LONESOME (1950) full movie | WILD WEST | WESTERN movies | When a sudden spurt of murders occurs in Texas Big Bend country, suspicion immediately falls on a young drifter who just moved to the area.
Stars: John Drew Barrymore, Chill Wills, John Archer, Lois Butler, Kristine Miller
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042552/”
War Of The Wildcats 1943 HD (Romance Western)
“Starring John Wayne, Martha Scott, Albert Dekker, George Gabby Hayes
In 1906 , On Oklahoma Indian lands a cowboy fights for oil lease rights against a greedy oilman while a pretty schoolteacher steals both men’s heart’s …
Did You Know?
This was Rhonda Flemings film debut.
This was Mary Jane Croft’s film debut.
This movie was nominated for 2 Oscars in 1944.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXR3V32DueY
POLITICAL
Contagious (1997) | Lindsay Wagner Full Thriller
“When some shrimp from Colombia, tainted with cholera, is served to some people on a plane bound for L.A., an outbreak ensues. And a doctor sets out to find the source and contain it before it turns into a epidemic. And if things weren’t bad enough, a drug smuggler who was carrying some drugs on him contaminates the drugs and are sold on the street. And to top things off, the doctor’s husband who is on a camping trip with their two children is sick but did not show any symptoms until they were isolated from the rest of the world. Can she get to them in time?
—Anonymous
Stars: Lindsay Wagner, Elizabeth Peña, Ken Pogue
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118885/”
Paper Tiger | Full Movie | Flick Vault
“A somewhat prim and proper Englishman is hired as the tutor to the son of the Japanese ambassador. His life changes when he and the boy are kidnapped by terrorists for political purposes.
Stars: David Niven, Toshirô Mifune, Hardy Krüger
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073511/”
Storm in A Teacup – [1937] – Vivien Leigh, Rex Harrison
“A local politician in Scotland tries to break the reporter who wrote a negative story about him, and who is also in love with his daughter.”
INSPIRATIONAL
A Cry from the Streets ( 1958 ) British Film
“A welfare worker becomes emotionally involved with her charges, a group of adorable, homeless orphans. Music by Larry Adler. (1959; B&W)
Stars: Max Bygraves, Barbara Murray, Colin Petersen
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051502/”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWxevM5J_O0
A hatful of rain (1957) full movie
“A Korean War veteran’s morphine addiction wreaks havoc upon his family.
Stars: Eva Marie Saint, Don Murray, Anthony Franciosa, Lloyd Nolan, Henry Silva
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050487/”
Our Father’s Keeper (2020) | Full Movie | Kyler Steven Fisher | Shayla McCaffrey | Craig Lindquist
“A man with early onset Alzheimer’s and gets lost the day before Thanksgiving and is “rescued” by a fatherless, 13-year-old girl and together they forge a unique friendship.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6PFO1eVD8
Undercover Angel (1999) Comedy, Drama, very good ratings
“A writer with no focus in his work, becomes the unwilling babysitter of a precocious little girl who turns his life around.
Stars: Yasmine Bleeth, Dean Winters, Emily Mae Young
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169347/”
The Rogue Stallion (1990 TV Movie)
“After her father’s death, Anna Peterson and her family move from Australia to her father’s ancestral home in New Zealand. Horses have been an important part of Anna’s life and she hopes to keep one at their new ranch. Upon arrival however, the local people are unfriendly and their new home is in need of much repair. Through all this, Anna is fascinated by a wild stallion which roams the countryside and is being hunted by Garrett, a neighbouring rancher.
—Brian D. Switzer <bswitzer@uoguelph.ca>
Stars: Beth Buchanan, Brian Rooney, Michele Fawdon
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100509/”
Smoke (1970)
“As a teenager has difficulty coping with his mother’s remarriage, he finds and nurses back to health a German Shepherd, but keeps him a secret for fear that his stepfather would return him to his original owner.
Stars: Earl Holliman, Ron Howard, Jacqueline Scott |
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066387/”
Requiem for a Heavyweight
“An over-the-hill heavyweight boxing champion who suffers from the ravages of years of head trauma is exploited by his manager, despite the efforts of a compassionate young woman who tries to help him recover his self-respect.
Stars: Jack Palance, Keenan Wynn, Kim Hunter
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049669/”
Hope Ranch | Full Drama Movie
““**This film is under license from Vision Films Inc. All rights reserved**
Hope Ranch – A former marine and former cop named J.T. Hope, owner of a ranch called the “Circle Hope Ranch” starts a program for juvenile delinquents to help rehabilitate them.
2002 Stars: Bruce Boxleitner, Lorenzo Lamas, Barry Corbin
? Awesome Movies
Welcome to the Movie Central. Subscribe and watch more Awesome Movies.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGBz…
** All the content on this channel is under license from various copyright holders. We ask you to please contact us if you believe there are any copyright issues via – you_tube@valleyarm.com **”
– (QESP Editor’s Note: If anyone has a favourite old film to share, send the link to me at tedsmillie@yahoo.com . Thanks, Ted )
HUMOUR
Cheers TV show Why drinking beer is good for brain cells
Irrefutable Logic: Cliff Clavin on Why Beer Makes You Smarter
Top 5 FUNNIEST Reasons KIDS Called 911 (Funny & Adorable 911 Calls)
19,482,482 views • Apr 10, 2017
“Today we will be looking at the funniest reasons kids called 911. These are some extremely funny and cute 911 calls that you won’t want to miss!”
Toddler gives her mother advice after hearing parents fight
2,829,163 views •Jun 26, 2018
“This little girl would make an excellent marriage counselor! She comforted her mother after hearing her parents fight.”
Sign on toilet lid in an English train
Sign on toilet lid in an English train
POLITICS
‘Extremely Aggressive’ Internet Censorship Spreads in the World’s Democracies
University of Michigan News November 17, 2020
“University of Michigan (U-M) researchers used an automated censorship tracking system to demonstrate that online censorship is proliferating in even the freest countries. The U-M team’s Censored Planet tool collected more than 21 billion measurements over 20 months from 221 nations, and found Internet censorship growing in 10 countries, including unexpected places like Norway, Japan, Italy, India, Israel, and Poland. U-M’s Ram Sundara Raman said in many cases, legislation compelling Internet service providers to block clearly objectionable material, like child pornography, sets the groundwork for more aggressive policies—and this means censorship measurement is essential. The U-M team said these findings highlight the effectiveness of Censored Planet’s approach, which converts public Internet servers into automated sentries that track and report when access to websites is being inhibited.”
https://orange.hosting.lsoft.com/trk/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_6-28148x32681fx097972&
Twitter hires hacker Mudge to take on cyber security
By Lilia Guan | November 17, 2020
“Former DARPA project manager and world reknowned hacker joins social media platform.
Twitter has hired a renowned hacker as its new security chief, after a devastating security breach earlier this year.
According to a number of media sources, the social media platform has hired Peiter Zatko, a famous hacker. Reuters stated Zatko will take over the position in 45 to 60 days, after a security review has been completed.
Zatko told Reuters “he will examine information security, site integrity, physical security, platform integrity — which starts to touch on abuse and manipulation of the platform — and engineering.”
ART
‘One of the most important Australian artists of the late 20th century’: Gordon Bennett’s Unfinished Business
November 16, 2020, Susan Best, Professor of Art Theory and Fine Art, Griffith University
Disclosure statement
Susan Best receives funding from the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australian Research Council .
https://theconversation.cmail20.com/t/r-l-juirkhkt-ihihuyyuhh-v/
How many of us love a moon rise!
“A video from the Byron Bay Lighthouse at the northern tip of New South Wales, Australia. Because of its
unique geographical, it can be seen and photographed only locally. Enjoy the moon rise to the music of Leonard
Cohen’s Hallelujah.”
https://tolleystopics.com/2020/10/26/beautiful-and-well-worth-the-few-minutes-to-watch/
SCIENCE
2020 Eureka Prizes go to a ‘milkshake for malaria’, ABC’s Coronacast and an energy-making sewerage system
November 24, 2020, Noor Gillani, Deputy Editor, Science and Technology
https://theconversation.cmail20.com/t/r-l-juihtjil-ihihuyyuhh-x/
Saying more with less: 4 ways grammatical metaphor improves academic writing
“Grammatical metaphor is different to what we understand to be “metaphor”. It’s a way of converting words and shortening clauses, so more information can be packed into fewer characters.”
November 24, 2020 Vinh To, Lecturer in English Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Tasmania
Disclosure statement
Vinh To does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
https://theconversation.cmail20.com/t/r-l-juihtjil-ihihuyyuhh-q/
Your Brain Is Not for Thinking
In stressful times, this surprising lesson from neuroscience may help to lessen your anxieties.
By Lisa Feldman Barrett
Dr. Barrett is a psychologist and neuroscientist.
After more than a decade, ChIP-seq may be quantitative after all
Date: 23 November 2020
Source: Van Andel Research Institute
Summary: For more than a decade, scientists studying epigenetics have used a powerful method called ChIP-seq to map changes in proteins and other critical regulatory factors across the genome. While ChIP-seq provides invaluable insights into the underpinnings of health and disease, it also faces a frustrating challenge: its results are often viewed as qualitative rather than quantitative, making interpretation difficult. But, it turns out, ChIP-seq may have been quantitative all along.
Van Andel Research Institute. “After more than a decade, ChIP-seq may be quantitative after all.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 November 2020.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201120150717.htm
Scientists defy nature to make insta-bling at room temperature
Date: November 18, 2020
Source: Australian National University
Summary: An international team of scientists has defied nature to make diamonds in minutes in a laboratory at room temperature – a process that normally requires billions of years, huge amounts of pressure and super-hot temperatures.
Australian National University. “Scientists defy nature to make insta-bling at room temperature.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 November 2020. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201118141855.htm
How to choose the right Christmas gift: tips from psychological research
“Choosing the wrong gift can damage a relationship. Here is some advice, based on decades of research, on how to side-step the pitfalls.”
November 18, 2020 Adrian R. Camilleri, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of Technology Sydney
Disclosure statement
Adrian R. Camilleri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
https://theconversation.cmail20.com/t/r-l-juijddit-ihihuyyuhh-yd/
Genetic code evolution and Darwin’s evolution theory should consider DNA an ‘energy code’
‘Survival of the fittest’ phenomenon is only part of the evolution equation
Date: November 16, 2020
Source: Rutgers University
Summary: Darwin’s theory of evolution should be expanded to include consideration of a DNA stability ‘energy code’ — so-called ‘molecular Darwinism’ — to further account for the long-term survival of species’ characteristics on Earth, according to scientists.
Rutgers University. “Genetic code evolution and Darwin’s evolution theory should consider DNA an ‘energy code’: ‘Survival of the fittest’ phenomenon is only part of the evolution equation.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 November 2020. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201116075719.htm
How a Queensland sea sponge is helping scientists unravel a 700-million-year-old mystery of evolution
November 16, 2020 Emily S Wong, Head of Regulatory Systems, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and Senior research fellow, UNSW
Disclosure statement
Emily S Wong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
https://theconversation.cmail19.com/t/r-l-juirbtd-ihihuyyuhh-c/
COVID-19
VIDEO: Two experts on the race for a COVID-19 vaccine and preparing Australia and New Zealand for the next pandemic
November 12, 2020
“Liz Minchin, The Conversation; Molly Glassey, The Conversation
Watch two of Australia and New Zealand’s top vaccine and virus experts answering questions about COVID-19. This was filmed at a Conversation reader event with Avid Reader bookshop.”
https://theconversation.cmail19.com/t/r-l-juilljhd-ihihuyyuhh-c/
A sulfur molecule to block the coronavirus
Date: November 20, 2020
Source: Université de Genève
Summary:Some viruses can get inside cells via a mechanism that involves sulfur organic molecules. Chemists have discovered effective inhibitors and blocked the uptake of SARS-CoV-2.
Université de Genève. “A sulfur molecule to block the coronavirus.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 November 2020. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201120113836.htm
Proving viability of injection-free microneedle for single-administration of vaccines
Date: 23 November 2020
Source: University of Connecticut
Summary: A single-use, self-administered microneedle technology to provide immunization against infectious diseases has recently been validated by preclinical research trials.
University of Connecticut. “Proving viability of injection-free microneedle for single-administration of vaccines.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 November 2020. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201123134429.htm
Viral vaccines preserved without refrigeration
Date: November 11, 2020
Source: Michigan Technological University
Summary: Half of vaccines are wasted annually because they aren’t kept cold. Chemical engineers have now discovered a way to stabilize viruses in vaccines with proteins instead of temperature.
Michigan Technological University. “Viral vaccines preserved without refrigeration.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 November 2020. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201111180637.htm
As Victoria’s COVID-free streak continues, it’s probably time to consider changing the rules around masks
November 12, 2020
Lara Herrero, Research Leader in Virology and Infectious Disease, Griffith University
Eugene Madzokere, PhD Candidate in Virology, Griffith University
Disclosure statement
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
“What does a mask do anyway?
A highly contagious virus called SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19. We believe the virus most commonly spreads when we breathe in tiny contaminated droplets which a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 has released into the air when coughing, sneezing, or talking.
The virus may also spread when we touch our eyes, nose or mouth after coming into contact with surfaces viral droplets have settled onto.
Face masks primarily target that first route of transmission, appreciating many people with COVID-19 won’t display symptoms. By preventing both inward and outward flow of virus-carrying droplets, masks can protect both the wearer and other people.
https://theconversation.cmail20.com/t/r-l-jutuphl-ihihuyyuhh-u/
QESP Blog
Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was far ahead of his time and is still relevant today (more so than ever.)
By Ted Smillie
26 November 2020
The shy, stammering Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) is best known as the author of the Alice in Wonderland stories but as a mathematician his ideas on electoral systems and on women’s rights are particularly relevant today.
“His pamphlets and related letters from 1872 to 1876 reflect his attempts to find the best method of voting on these matters to ensure the selection of the best candidate or proposal, a method determined by reason and fairness.”
This quote is from Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and Contemporary Politics by George P. Landow, Professor of English and the History of Art, published in The Victorian Web, literature, history & culture in the age of Victoria.
Professor Landow quotes from Francine F. Abeles’s edition of Charles Dodgson’s political pamphlets and letters to various newspapers and magazines:
“In A Method of Taking Votes, Dodgson recommended an approach to choosing a winner that permitted voters to change their votes when cycles were present in order to produce a consensus ranking based on inversion. This approach matured into the coalition strategies he advocated for allotting seats to candidates in an ordered list in The Principles of Parliamentary Representation (item 30), which Duncan Black (1908-1991), the Scottish economist and political theorist, described as “the most interesting contribution to Political Science that has ever been made” (1). Charles Dodgson himself notes in the PREFACE:
“THROUGH all the dust and din of the present controversy, four things, at least, are surely clear to all thinking men:—
First, that it would be an unmitigated evil to have a General Election with the new Franchise, but without a new Distribution of Seats;
Secondly, that there would be no difficulty in avoiding all risk of such a catastrophe, PROVIDED THAT a clause were added to the Franchise-Bill, enacting that it “shall not be put into operation until a Redistribution-Bill has also been passed”;
Thirdly, that there would be no difficulty in both parties agreeing to such a clause, PROVIDED THAT each felt secure against the other party obtaining an unfair advantage in the Redistribution;
Fourthly, that there would be no difficulty in making this secure, PROVIDED THAT some general principles, making it impossible for either side to obtain any such advantage, could be discovered and accepted by both parties.
It is in the profound conviction that such principles exist, and that they can be as clearly formulated, and as fully proved, as the principles of any other Science, that I venture to address these pages to all interested in the matter.
- L. D.
Ch. Ch., Oxford,
?Nov. 5, 1884.”
Professor Landow notes:
“In a letter he wrote to The Spectator in 1875, he (Charles Dodgson) characteristically warned that a purely secular education inculcated students with attitudes that led them to tolerate oppression and terrible injustice:
The enslavement of his weaker brethren — “the labour of those who do not enjoy, for the enjoyment of those who do not labour” — the degradation of women — the torture of the animal world — these are the steps of the ladder by which man is ascending to his higher civilization. Selfishness is the keynote of all purely secular education;”
Professor Landow also notes “Francis Abeline is to be congratulated for her fine scholarship that reveals this virtually unknown side of Lewis Carroll, who turns out not only to have created fantastic representations of a young child’s experience of the social world in the Alice books but also to have protested against abuse of animals, the existence of slavery, mistreatment of factory workers, and degradation of women.”
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/politics1.html
For some reason Charles Dodgson’s PREFACE reminded me of one of Jack Handey’s Deep Thoughts:
“The big, huge meteor headed toward the Earth. Could nothing stop it Maybe Bob could. He was suddenly on top of the meteor through some kind of space warp or something. ‘Go, Bob, go’ yelled one of the generals. ‘Give me that’ said the big guy general as he took the microphone away. ‘Listen, Bob,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to steer that meteor away from Earth.’ ‘Yes, but how’ thought Bob. Then he got an idea. Right next to him there was a steering wheel sticking out of the meteor”
Events
ACOSM 2020: Responsible Business Conduct
ACOSM 2020 has been postponed due to COVID-19. A new date will be advised when the restrictions have been lifted.
Quotes
Quote of the Day
Every day, you have the power to choose our better history — by opening your hearts and minds, by speaking up for what you know is right. – Michelle Obama
Quote from Yesteryear
If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern which shines only on the waves behind. –
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Ted Smillie
QESP Chair