Latest news with #GeoffreyChaucer
Toronto Star
24-07-2025
- Toronto Star
On the path of Chaucer's pilgrims, wending a way through English history
'The Canterbury Tales,' the collection that every student of English literature has to read, is the ultimate travel story. Winter's over, spring has sprung, 'thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages' — as Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in Middle English in the 14th century. What a trip! People are still tramping the same general path from points around London, eastward toward the spired vision that is Canterbury Cathedral and sometimes beyond, along the Pilgrims' Way.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Time to be redefined as scientists design most accurate clock ever
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Possibly originating with the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer's "time and tide wait for no man," the idea that time waits for no man has been around for a long time. But time, or at least the latest best measurement of it, has waited 20 years for the latest "most accurate" clock ever made - an ion or atomic "quantum logic" timepiece that measures to the 19th decimal place, making the priciest wristwatch seem like a sundial in comparison. In work published in the journal Physical Review, developers based at the US National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) said the device uses quantum computing techniques to "pair an electrically charged aluminium atom (ion) with a magnesium ion." NIST claimed the new clock to have accuracy "41% greater than the previous record" and to show "a threefold reduction in instability" compared to the previous best atomic clocks. The previous record-holder, developed by NIST and the University of Colorado Boulder, could "detect the effects of gravity predicted by the theory of general relativity at the microscopic scale," NIST said in 2024. The record-busting new clock has been "under continuous development for 20 years," according to NIST, which said the work would help define the second more accurately, a development it believes could herald "new scientific and technological advances." The new clock's ticks are more stable than those of caesium, the provider of the current scientific definition of the second, according to NIST's David Hume. Hume's colleague Mason Marshall believes that fine-tuning the measurement of time "can push the field of physics and our understanding of the world around us." Listed since 1960 as "an international standard unit of measurement for time," the second was at first defined or measured by the rotation of the Earth relative to the cosmos. But because that rotation can slow down and speed up depending on factors such as the pull of the Moon - posing "a challenge for accurate timekeeping," according to NIST - the definition was changed in 1967 to one based on energy levels in atoms. Another redefinition is likely over the coming decade, NIST said in 2023.
Telegraph
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
A 900-year-old typo may solve Chaucer mystery
A mystery surrounding a lost poem or story referenced by Geoffrey Chaucer may have been solved after scientists corrected a 900-year-old typo. The Tale of Wade, referred to by the 'Father of English Poetry' in two of his works, was popular in the medieval period but has been almost entirely lost. Chaucer inserted references from the Wade story into tales of romance in his own work, including passages of Troilus and Cressida and The Canterbury Tales, but nobody knew why. The one surviving fragment of the tale was discovered by scholars in 1896, but this only added to the confusion with the story seemingly dealing with the subject of 'elves'. But now Cambridge experts claim to have solved the mystery by correcting a typo made by a medieval scribe. It has been revealed the word 'elves' in the Wade fragment was an error, and should have read 'wolves'. The alteration has changed the scholarly view of the Wade story, which now appears to have been a straightforward romantic tale, and therefore more fitting for Chaucer to have referenced in his own work. The breakthrough, detailed today in The Review of English Studies, was made by Dr James Wade and Dr Seb Falk at the University of Cambridge 's Girton College. Dr Falk said: 'Changing elves to wolves makes a massive difference. It shifts this legend away from monsters and giants into the human battles of chivalric rivals.' Dr Wade added: 'It wasn't clear why Chaucer mentioned Wade in the context of courtly intrigue. Our discovery makes much more sense of this.' The breakthrough was made by looking again at the fragment found in a Cambridge library in the 19th century. This scrap of material, which dates back to the the 12th century, was a sermon that appeared to quote a line from the tale, saying: 'Some are elves and some are adders; some are sprites that dwell by waters: there is no man, but Hildebrand only.' Dr Wade and Dr Falk found that certain letters were poorly written by a medieval scribe, who confused a runic letter that was still found in Middle English, and pronounced 'w' with the letter 'y'. That, they said, turned 'wlves' into 'ylves.' By correcting the medieval spelling, they arrived at a new version, which read: 'Some are wolves and some are adders; some are sea-snakes that dwell by the water. There is no man at all but Hildebrand.' The tale appears to be a more down-to-earth medieval romance about human characters rather than supernatural ones. Its inclusion in a sermon may also have been intended to reach as wide an audience as possible. Dr Falk added: 'Here we have a late-12th-century sermon deploying a meme from the hit romantic story of the day. 'This is very early evidence of a preacher weaving pop culture into a sermon to keep his audience hooked.'
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A 900-Year-Old Typo May Unravel a Chaucer Mystery
In the 14th century, you would have known exactly what he meant. Geoffrey Chaucer, often regarded as the first great poet in English, drops references at two points in his works to an older poem or story, the Tale of Wade, that seems to have needed no explanation in his own time but has since all but disappeared. The one surviving fragment — a few lines of verse quoted in a 12th-century sermon and rediscovered in the 1890s — only left scholars more puzzled. Now, two Cambridge University academics, James Wade (whose family name is coincidentally shared with the tale) and Seb Falk, believe they may have unlocked the riddle by correcting a mishap that remains familiar to publishers almost a millennium later. Call it a medieval typo. The fragment seemed to refer to a man alone among elves and other eerie creatures — something from the story of a mythological giant, or of a heroic character like Beowulf who battled supernatural monsters. That would make it a surprising tale for a romantic go-between to read to a maiden, as happens in Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde,' or to appear as an allusion in one of his 'Canterbury Tales' about a wealthy man marrying a younger woman. The new research, published on Wednesday in Britain in 'The Review of English Studies,' suggests that the 'elves' sprang from a linguistic error by a scribe, who miscopied a word that should have meant 'wolves,' and that Wade in fact belonged to a chivalric world of knights and courtly love — much more relevant to Chaucerian verse. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Wales Online
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Wales Online
Europe's biggest campsite in 'busiest day' warning as 'time and tide wait for no man'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Europe's biggest campsite has issued a warning ahead of what's expected to be one of busiest weekends on the roads this year. Shell Island remains one of the most popular holiday spots in the region thanks to its perfect beachside location. In addition to this the weekend is forecast to be the hottest of the year so far and the 300 acre site's beaches have just been named the best in the country. It's no surprise then that despite their large capacity - 800 pitches - that they are fully booked for the weekend. The region in general is also expected to be heaving this weekend and the Friday rush on the A55 tipped to be extremely busy. This has seen the site warn about late arrivals amid concern campers could get stuck in the traffic. It isn't done for pedantic reasons but the fact the site is accessed by a causeway that is forced to close on certain days of the month at high tide. One of those days is today with the tide shutting the causeway at 8.32pm this evening. By the time the tide ebbs hard working staff will have departed. (Image: Sarah Foster) The site posted: "Please be advised the tidal causeway will shut at 20:32 (8:32pm) this Friday night, July 11th. "No one, even if you have booked online for camping, will be admitted onto the site after the tide goes down due to the lateness. Reception Carpark will be closed off till 7am on Saturday as well. "We urge you to set off early tomorrow (Friday)to avoid the traffic heading into Wales, expect delays in your journey at normal choke points across the road networks on what will possibly be the busiest day for traffic into Wales this year with the weather forecast promised." Most campers accepted the reason given the circumstances very much out of the site's control. But one person said: "Not admitted due to lateness. Are you a campsite or a secondary school?" To which another responded: "Time and tide wait for no man" - a line widely attributed to English poet and writer Geoffrey Chaucer. Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone
