Latest news with #observation
BBC News
14-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Armagh Observatory: 230 years of unbroken weather recordings
Armagh Observatory is marking a very special meteorological milestone as the institute celebrates 230 years of continuous weather unbroken tradition of handwritten data makes it the longest sequence of continuous weather information gathered anywhere in the UK and are being held at Armagh Observatory on Monday to mark the significant most weather data is gathered only by automated weather stations, but not in Armagh, where the human touch remains. The first handwritten recording was made on the evening of 14 July 1795, when a measurement of the temperature and air pressure was recorded on a graph at the observatory that sits above the city of measurement was repeated the next day and every subsequent day for the next 230 Kelly is currently the principal meteorological observer at the observatory. Since 1999, his role involves opening what is known as the Stevenson screen which holds sensitive thermometers, before noting down his readings for the day into the handwritten hand has entered far more lines of data than any of his 17 predecessors. "You're kind of ingrained in the infrastructure almost," says Shane. "The observatory is astronomy, it is also meteorology, and after many years I feel like I'm part of the brickwork."After taking readings in Armagh for 25 years, Shane says he has noticed changes in the pattern of our weather."The seasons aren't quite as clearly cut as they used to be," he explained. "We're kind of running into one long season with two days of snow here and a few days of sun there." The 230-year span of weather data in Armagh begins at the point when the science of meteorology was in its in 1795, it predates by eight years the publication of Luke Howard's the Essay on the Modification of influential book set out the naming system for clouds which, with a few modifications, is still used the observers in Armagh have left their own mark on the development of the records contain mentions of major aurora events and some of the first recorded observations of noctilucent clouds which are such a feature of clear summer nights in the north of entry for the 6 January 1839, describes a "tremendous gale in the night".A rather understated description of a storm reported to have killed between 250 and 300 1908, when pensions were introduced for the over 70s in Ireland, memory of Oíche na Gaoithe Móire (the Night of the Big Wind), was used as a qualifying question for people without birth may also have prompted the third director of the observatory - Romney Robinson - to develop a device for accurately measuring wind speed - the four cup anemometer. Dr Rok Nežič, who is the tours and outreach officer at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, said there were ways to measure wind speed before the four cup anemometer, "but they weren't very accurate"."Robinson thought of a device that could catch wind from any direction," said Dr Nežič, who is also a trained weather observer."There have only been small changes since the invention back in 1845, but we still use it today. "From Armagh - taken around the world." The widow remembered as an 'unsung hero' The unbroken sequence of data recorded in Armagh has largely been written by men, but it was only maintained thanks to one remarkable 1917, Theresa Hardcastle arrived in Armagh from England with her husband Joseph had been appointed as the next director of the observatory and Theresa had arrived to oversee repairs to the house they were to he could travel to join her, Joseph fell ill and in Armagh, Theresa continued to make and record the daily weather Moon, from the observatory and planetarium describes Theresa as the "unsung hero" of the Armagh story."Nobody would have expected her to do that," she said. "That wasn't her role at all. She is such a key detail in this." Today, many of the weather observers that Shane Kelly has trained come from all over the the current observatory director Professor Michael Burton, the hands on gathering of weather data is an important part of the training process for PhD students based in Armagh."The process of measurement itself is the heart of science," he said."But it's not a simple process. And the process of getting hands on - of getting dirty with the data - is a key part in understanding what's out there."Measuring the weather actually teaches you a lot about science… It helps you understand your data."That important role in training the scientists and astronomers of the future means that Armagh's human connection to the weather of the past looks set to continue for many years to come.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Century-old Dr Mahathir cycles, celebrates… then checks into IJN; son Mokhzani says just tired (VIDEO)
KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN) for observation due to fatigue, his office said today. His aide, Sufi Yusoff, said the 100-year-old politician is expected to return home later this evening. 'Quick update: Dr M is currently under observation at IJN for fatigue-related issues. He is resting, but we expect him to be back home by this evening,' Sufi said in a brief press statement. Dr Mahathir was in Putrajaya this morning for a 'picnic and potluck' commemorating his 100th birthday on July 10 as well as that of his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali who turned 99 on July 12. SEMENTARA itu sekitar pemandangan sebelum kejadian ini, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad bersama Malik Mydin, mengayuh basikal di Tasik Putrajaya — Legendkiddo (@mohd_escobar) July 13, 2025 He participated in a cycling event for some eight to nine kilometres and then sat down with others in his group for breakfast. He left the party about 10am, before it ended, after experiencing mild fatigue, The New Straits Times reported. His son, Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir, said there were no serious health concerns, adding that his father was simply tired from a function the night before and had not slept well. Born on July 10, 1925, Dr Mahathir served as Malaysia's fourth and seventh prime minister, holding office from 1981 to 2003, and again from 2018 to 2020.
Malay Mail
13-07-2025
- Health
- Malay Mail
Century-old Dr Mahathir cycles, celebrates… then checks into IJN; son Mokhzani says just tired (VIDEO)
KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN) for observation due to fatigue, his office said today. His aide, Sufi Yusoff, said the 100-year-old politician is expected to return home later this evening. 'Quick update: Dr M is currently under observation at IJN for fatigue-related issues. He is resting, but we expect him to be back home by this evening,' Sufi said in a brief press statement. Dr Mahathir was in Putrajaya this morning for a 'picnic and potluck' commemorating his 100th birthday on July 10 as well as that of his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali who turned 99 on July 12. SEMENTARA itu sekitar pemandangan sebelum kejadian ini, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad bersama Malik Mydin, mengayuh basikal di Tasik Putrajaya — Legendkiddo (@mohd_escobar) July 13, 2025 He participated in a cycling event for some eight to nine kilometres and then sat down with others in his group for breakfast. He left the party about 10am, before it ended, after experiencing mild fatigue, The New Straits Times reported. His son, Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir, said there were no serious health concerns, adding that his father was simply tired from a function the night before and had not slept well. Born on July 10, 1925, Dr Mahathir served as Malaysia's fourth and seventh prime minister, holding office from 1981 to 2003, and again from 2018 to 2020.
ABC News
05-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Slow looking is your ticket to deeper insights, better writing and quieter skies
The best piece of writing advice I have ever heard is only four words long: "Look at your fish." I first discovered this in an interview the American historian David McCullough did with the Paris Review. In it, he cites renowned Harvard teacher Louis Agassiz, a 19th century naturalist, who placed a smelly, dead fish in a tin pan in front of his new students and told them to look at it. Then he would leave the room: When he came back, he would ask the student what he'd seen. Not very much, they would most often say, and Agassiz would say it again: Look at your fish. This could go on for days. The student would be encouraged to draw the fish but could use no tools for the examination, just hands and eyes. Samuel Scudder, who later became a famous entomologist and expert on grasshoppers, left us the best account of the "ordeal with the fish." After several days, he still could not see whatever it was Agassiz wanted him to see. But, he said, I see how little I saw before. Then Scudder had a brainstorm and he announced it to Agassiz the next morning: Paired organs, the same on both sides. Of course! Of course! Agassiz said, very pleased. So, Scudder naturally asked what he should do next, and Agassiz said, Look at your fish. When I was writing a lengthy biography of a much pored-over British queen, I wrote these words on a card and pinned it above my desk. I had to believe that if I went back and scrutinised the archives, held myths and stereotypes up to the light, then scrutinised the archives again, that I would see things others had missed. So, I looked at that fish for years. This is why the re-emerging idea of "slow looking" in art galleries and museums is such a wonderful one; it encourages intense observation, attention to detail, reverence for art, skepticism about what first glances reveal, appreciation of learning, respect for the subject. It can be done anywhere — and it might even sharpen our instincts to be better able to identify the hand of artificial intelligence. The slow looking movement seems to have quickened its pace in recent years — the Tate employed it for an exhibition on Bonnard (they had a lovely take on how to slow look), as did the UK National Gallery during lockdown, galleries in New York City and our National Gallery too. The Frederiksberg Museums in Denmark is encouraging slow looking as therapy for young people with poor mental health. The program, called See Listen Talk, is done in collaboration with Roskilde University and is intended to foster social connection and build empathy along with recovery. Dr Kasper Levin, associate professor of social psychology and aesthetics at Roskilde University, says: "Many mental health conditions are linked to disrupted perceptions of time and space, which affect one's sense of self. Slow looking may help participants restructure these perceptions, fostering a sense of coherence and stability." Surveys show people spend mere seconds looking at pieces of art, and often just glance. But museum educator Clare Bown says slow looking is not "simply the amount of time that you spend with something, it's the belief that all discovery originates in looking. Slow looking simply requires us to be present, patient and willing to immerse ourselves in the act of observation." Shari Tishman, author of Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation, published in 2017, argues that taking time to immerse yourself in the details of a range of objects — of anything, really — can unlock your brain, help you think and learn better, more critically, and more meaningfully. Core to this is patience. In 2013 American art historian Jennifer Roberts wrote an article titled Power of Patience about teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention. In it, she described challenging her art history students to dedicate three hours to a single work of art. She wrote: "Every external pressure, social and technological, is pushing students in the other direction, toward immediacy, rapidity, and spontaneity — and against this other kind of opportunity. I want to give them the permission and the structures to slow down." Roberts's technique for teaching is fascinating. Each of her students chooses a work of art to write an intensive research paper about. The first thing she tells them to do is "spend a painfully long time looking at that object." One example she gives is A Boy With A Flying Squirrel, painted in Boston in 1765 by John Singleton Copley. The student would need to — before doing anything else — sit in front of it in the Museum of Fine Arts for three hours, writing down what they see. She says when she did this herself: It took me nine minutes to notice that the shape of the boy's ear precisely echoes that of the ruff along the squirrel's belly — and that Copley was making some kind of connection between the animal and the human body and the sensory capacities of each. It was 21 minutes before I registered the fact that the fingers holding the chain exactly span the diameter of the water glass beneath them. It took a good 45 minutes before I realised that the seemingly random folds and wrinkles in the background curtain are actually perfect copies of the shapes of the boy's ear and eye, as if Copley had imagined those sensory organs distributing or imprinting themselves on the surface behind him. And so on. The art world has many advocates for this approach. For decades, British art critic Peter Clotheri has run one-hour meditation sessions in front of pieces of art, which he wrote about in his book Slow Looking in 2012. But now slow looking is being used in a range of disciplines and areas, colouring more public discussions about education and understanding. It's not just about looking at art, in other words, but about looking at the world. In 2000, historian James Elkins wrote a delicious book called How to Use Your Eyes. In it, he invites readers to look at — and maybe to see for the first time — the world around us, with quite astonishing outcomes. He suggests mandalas, the periodic table, an Egyptian hieroglyph, postage stamps, grass, a twig. In his book On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes, Alexander Horowitz tells us to turn fresh eyes to the paths we walk or drive down every day, and note how much more we can see. I appreciate that some reading this might say: "Oh, it's very well for a bunch of academics to sit and stare at squirrels or fish for hours a day — most of us don't have time." But we don't hesitate to spend several hours on screens. This is in an era where we are being constantly bombarded with news and information, some of it deeply disturbing, much of it skewed and false. Consuming anything slowly, paying deep careful attention, has become profoundly counter-cultural. Anything that serves as an antidote to chronic distraction, that pulls our gaze from pulsing, popping screens to quieter skies surely should be applauded. Juila Baird is an author, broadcaster, journalist and co-host of the ABC podcast, Not Stupid.
The Sun
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Only eagle-eyed people can spot the four differences in this cozy living room scene in less than 11 seconds
TEST your IQ to the max with this mind boggling brainteaser. Everyone can see the sofa, but only the most eagle eyed can spot the four differences between the two images in under 11 seconds. 2 Whether you're trying to improve your sight, or test your IQ, this puzzle will prove a challenge to many readers. Put your observation skills to the test and figure out whether you have what it takes to spot the four differences in just a few seconds. Make sure to set your stopwatch before undertaking this challenge, to make it extra hard for yourself. If you can do it in under 11 seconds, you are said to have 20/20 vision. At first glance, it looks like these two images, provided by are identical. However, hawk-eyed readers will immediately be able to spot that this is not the case. There are actually four subtle differences between the two images. Unless you're lucky enough to find the four differences immediately, we recommend analysing the image very closely to spot the answers. The visual deception of this image will have you peeling your eyes, but the payoff is worth it. If you need a hint, we recommend first focusing on the top half of the image. Everyone can see the beach but only those with a high IQ can spot five differences in 32 seconds in this brainteaser Two differences can be found between the walls of the two images. Another tricky brainteaser challenges readers to find the image of Elon Musk that is different to the rest in under 15 seconds. And if you're looking for more of a challenge, this mind boggling illusion tasks readers to locate the hidden zero among the sea of sixes. If that's not hard enough, try searching for the three tiny differences between these two images of a man fishing. How can optical illusions and brainteasers help me? Engaging in activities like solving optical illusions and brainteasers can have many cognitive benefits as it can stimulate various brain regions. Some benefits include: Cognitive stimulation: Engaging in these activities challenges the brain, promoting mental agility and flexibility. Problem-solving skills: Regular practice enhances analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Memory improvement: These challenges often require memory recall and can contribute to better memory function. Creativity: They encourage thinking outside the box, fostering creativity and innovative thought processes. Focus and attention: Working on optical illusions and brainteasers requires concentration, contributing to improved focus. Stress relief: The enjoyable nature of these puzzles can act as a form of relaxation and stress relief. Finally, only those with a high IQ will be able to spot the odd one out in under 30 seconds in this horse-themed puzzle. Coming back to our challenge, were you able to spot the four differences in under 11 seconds? For those struggling, we have marked out the answer for you. 2
