Soup

 

We recently bought a Tefal soup maker and as kitchen gadgets go it is pretty good. If you like soup of course. Chuck in some veg and stock, switch it on and in under 30 minutes you have your soup. It cooks the ingredients then blends them to either a creamy or a chunky soup although we've only tried creamy so far. 

Worth a thought if you like soup because when Boris has finished with the economy you won't have to visit the soup kitchen. With your vaccination passport. 

Easter music

Not quite what we would usually class as music, but it is remarkably pleasant to sit back and enjoy the current bout of inflamed incoherence from race hustlers.

The authors of a government-backed report on racial disparity have hit back at the widespread backlash of its findings, claiming that disagreement with the review has been "tipped into misrepresentation"...

The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities - which was appointed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in response to last summer's Black Lives Matter protests - published its 258-page report on inequality in Britain on Wednesday.

The authors have defended the review after accusations that it put a "positive spin" on slavery, claiming in a statement that any suggestion it had done so was "as absurd as it is offensive".

Er - wasn't it always obvious?

 

Whether frightening the public was a deliberate – or honest – tactic has become the subject of intense debate, and dozens of psychologists have now accused ministers of using “covert psychological strategies” to manipulate the public’s behaviour.

They believe the Government, acting on the advice of behavioural experts, has emphasised the threat from Covid without putting the risks in sufficient context, leaving the country in “a state of heightened anxiety”.

It's what governments do - it's not even new.

Drive carefully - experts at work

Smart motorways: Roads without a hard shoulder linked to more accidents and fatalities

A report found where all lanes were open there was a 216% increased chance of being involved in a live lane breakdown.

Smart motorways without a hard shoulder are associated with higher rates of fatalities and serious injuries, an independent report has found.

The report, commissioned by lawyers for Claire Mercer whose husband Jason Mercer was killed in accident on a stretch of the M1 without a hard shoulder, found that where all lanes were open to traffic there was a 216% increased chance of being involved in a live lane breakdown.

We may assume that this was anticipated, costed and shrugged through because even an expert must have foreseen at least a temporary rise in accidents caused by the lack of a hard shoulder. 

Temporary because this may be officially viewed as a transitional problem. Government may be comfortable with a situation where private car drivers begin to avoid motorways because they are less safe. Fewer long journeys by car, reduced car mileage, more public transport, lower levels of car ownership. It feels like one more aspect of the carbon neutral fantasy.   

Beam me up Doc

 

UK Space Agency launches multi-million pound drive to design hospital of the future

The government has invited the UK’s world-leading innovators to help design a new ‘space age’ hospital

The hospital could use technologies and techniques pioneered on missions to Mars or the International Space Station to help treat patients and make life easier for hard-working NHS staff. 

Whatever next? Pandemic isolation suites on Mars? Has the feel of a Matt Hancock idea to me -

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

This trailblazing collaboration – bringing together exceptional scientists from the UK Space Agency and Hampshire Together – will help us apply space age innovations to building hospitals of the future.

The UK is unashamedly pro-tech and these government-backed medical advancements will give our amazing NHS access to some of the most innovative technologies.

Sustainable cash introduced

In an exciting move, the UK government has announced the introduction of sustainable bank notes beginning with the £10 note. A number of banknote printers have developed a new process whereby banknotes can be both secure against counterfeiting and fully sustainable.

The structure of the banknote material has been subtly modified to allow oxygen in the air to degrade it even if the note is kept in a wallet. In future, when old notes have been removed from circulation, notes which do not degrade are certain to be counterfeit.

Sustainable notes exposed to the air degrade into a kind of harmless confetti which may be safely flushed down the toilet.

Smile for AI

 

An interesting AI development relates to the Dunning-Kruger effect. 

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability.

A deep learning AI system has uncovered a relationship between the human face and Dunning-Kruger. Of particular interest was that by far the most significant correlation was one where people are smiling. The correlation turned out to be particularly strong when the research was restricted to a limited number of familiar public figures who often smile in public situations.

This new research indicates that for some people in some situations, a smile does indeed suggest that the person behind the smile grossly overestimates their own ability. I’m not sure how reliable it is, but the findings are certainly interesting.