Space Descent VR, Gogottes, Airlander, DUP and Brexit.

NHM Gogotte

I caught the train from Cambridge North Station to London Kings Cross for the first time today. Arriving just under two hours early for a meeting, I wandered into the Science Museum for a meal. I was a bit irritated by the mercenary desks blocking the entrance that looked like ticket desks but were actually points to ask for a 'voluntary dontation'. There is subtle and then there is all out blatant posing as something you are not to squeeze money out of you. I declined to volunteer, they were going to get my money on the overpriced meal (London prices for a drink, side salad and BLT sandwiches).

With some spare time, I wandered upstairs to the top floor and tried out the 12 minute 'Space Descent VR with Tim Peake'. It was an enlightening and enjoyable experience, using the oculus glasses and getting a 3D feel for space, the space station and descent with the Soyuz capsule. As someone familiar with optics, I was aware of the relatively low image resolution (half a Samsung smartphone screen) and irritated by the chromatic aberration around the periphery of the image. You don't have to put up with crap optics in this day and age.

Then off to the Quekett Committee meeting, followed by a members meeting on polarised light and subjects. These included two different Victorian samples from Cleopatras's Needle, plant epidermis and moss scales.

As usual, we had to trek a meandering route through the NHM late in the evening to get ot an exit. We stopped at a new exhibit, a massive gogotte or concretion, natural works of art, 23 to 33 million years old, that are extremely sought after and valuable. The almost voluptuous fused tubes and discs could almost be Anish Kapoor works. This type of gogotte was formed by calcium carbonate rich water seeping into very fine silicaceous sand deposits. As the water dried off, the fine sand and calcium carbonate fused to form shapes that were harder than the surrounding sand. When the latter was eroded away, the gogotte would be revealed.

The last delight of the day was seeing the Hybrid Air Vehicle HAV 304 Airlander 10 in the evening skies on the train home. I really hope that this project becomes a success.

Prime Minister Theresa May and her team were still in discussions with DUP Leader Arlene Foster, much to the discomfort of  many in the Conservative Party. A deal was imminent but not yet signed. Later this evening, Theresa visited French President Emmanuel Macron. In a joint press interview, Prime Minister May reiterated the direction of the UK towards Brexit - which she wants to continue at the current timetable of meetings starting on the 19th. President Macron wielded both an iron fist in a velvet glove and an olive branch. On the one hand, the UK should be under no illusion that it will be negotiating with the EU negotiators, and not individual leaders, whilst on the other hand, a return to the EU was possible at any stage up to and until the Brexit happened. Meanwhile there are signs that the UK economy is slowing down, it is already difficult to find EU nurses for the NHS (applications down by more than 90%), and inflation reaches a new high at 2.9%. The pound recovered slightly to almost Euro 1.14 but is still v. low.

Across the pond, Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave no ground (or information) at his hearing before the Senate intelligence committee, leaving the Democrats frustrated and presumable President Trump and the Republicans satisfied.