35 years in science communication
I have run a lot of websites over the years. First one was December 1995. I built up various topic hubs under specific names. However, things change, people move on. I am now selling some of the old domains associated with those hubs:
You can contact me directly, if you’d like to purchase any of them or simply visit the domain to get sale details. A direct sale could save us both money, however.
As I’ve mentioned before. The Cottenham Theatre Workshop’s (CTW) longstanding Musical Director, the inimitable Barbara D, recruited me as guitarist for the pit band back in 2013. I actually played bass guitar that first year as regular cellist, David A, was treading the boards for the first time. David A was back in the pit for Cinderella and so I switched to six-string guitar and played that for every show thereafter.
2013 – A Christmas Carol
2014 – Cinderella
2015 – Puss in Boots (No band, MD was the late Debbie C)
2016 – The Wizard of Oz
2017 – Aladdin
2018 – Worzel Gummidge
2019 – Sleeping Beauty
2020 – No Panto (covid)
2021 – Treasure Island
2022 – The Nutcracker
2023 – Peter Panto
We usually had Rob W on clarinet except in 2023. Georgia D on flute for my first couple of shows, and also Michael K on saxophone. Matthew P on drums for the first couple, whom I replaced with Adam S (from C5 the band) John K understudied a couple of performances for Adam. Christian on cello, Tanara on clarinet and oboe.
From my privileged position in the pit, looking up at the stage, I’ve usually taken a few photos of the cast during rehearsals for CTW publicity, although I don’t seem to have started doing that until Oz in 2016. 2023 was a record-breaking year in terms of ticket sales, outstripping the previous record in 2022.
While I didn’t join in with CTW until 2013, I had been asked when we first moved to Cottenham in 1998 by Clive B to tread the boards, but didn’t have the confidence. I seem to remember talking to Barbara about her joining the pit band around about the turn of the millennium though and she was definitely onboard from around that time…
It will be all change musically in 2024…watch this space.
Word on the birding street is that this winter is going to be bright for lovers of one of our winter visitors – the Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus. This bird is more formally known as the Bohemian Waxwing as opposed to the American bird, the Cedar Waxwing, B. cedrorum. There were quite a few sightings early on in Scotland as these birds that spend the summer much further north than that began to head south.
Sightings in England have been on the rise as of late November, early December 2023. The nearest relatively large flock for me is in Norwich. Too far for me to make that trip just for the birds. However, word went out that a solitary bird was in trees next to the recreation ground in a village just up the road, Stretham. Usually, the flocks tend to congregate in places with large plantings of berry-laden trees, like rowans, such as supermarket car parks, transport hubs and service stations, as I’ve mentioned before.
It wasn’t such a long twitch to head to Stretham from here to have a look for the bird. I scanned every tree in the vicinity, took a long walk around the village scouting out rowans and cherry trees to no avail.
I didn’t see the Waxwing. I dipped out, as birders say (check out my tongue-in-beak birding glossary for definitions of such terms).
However, I had the Merlin app running on my phone all the while for audio birding, you might say. There was the off-chance that it would pick up the Waxwing calling and I might be able to find it. But, unfortunately, I didn’t. I heard various birds as did the app: Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Pheasant, Common Starling, Eurasian Blue Tit, Eurasian Jackdaw, Eurasian Skylark, European Greenfinch, European Robin, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Meadow Pipit, Redwing, Rook. All of these birds are quite likely in the area.
The app, however, also claimed to have heard a Hooded Crow, but they are rather rare this far south and I haven’t seen one mentioned in Cambridgeshire for several years. So, I suspect it was a misidentified Carrion Crow call.
Collagen is a protein that plays a crucial role in maintaining the structure, firmness, and elasticity of the skin. As we age, several changes occur in the collagen of our skin, contributing to the visible signs of ageing, such as the appearance of wrinkles.
Here are some key aspects of how collagen changes with age:
Decreased Production: The synthesis of collagen decreases with age, leading to a reduction in the overall amount of collagen in the skin. This reduced production is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, such as sun exposure and lifestyle choices, like smoking and alcohol consumption. a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals, can have a positive impact on collagen production.
Degradation: Collagen fibres can undergo degradation due to various factors, including exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, pollution, and other environmental stressors. Enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a role in breaking down collagen. This is heightened by exposure to sunlight and pollution. Antioxidants from our diet can help combat the effects of environmental stressors on collagen degradation.
Cross-linking: Collagen fibres undergo a process called cross-linking, where they become more rigid and less flexible. This can result in the loss of skin elasticity and the formation of wrinkles and fine lines. Excessive cross-linking is often caused by factors like prolonged sun exposure.
Changes in Collagen Types: The composition of collagen in the skin changes with age. In particular, there is a shift from Type III collagen, more prevalent in younger skin, to Type I collagen. That said Type III might be considered to be less flexible providing greater support when we are young.
Thinning of the Dermis: Collagen is a major component of the dermis, the deeper layer of the skin. As collagen decreases, the dermis can thin, leading to a loss of structural support for the outer layer of the skin (epidermis). Other factors, such as a reduction in the number of fibroblasts (cells responsible for collagen production) and changes in the extracellular matrix, also contribute to dermal thinning. This also gives rise to a more translucent appearance of the skin and allows underlying blood vessels to be seen in the skin more clearly.
Loss of Hydration: Collagen is also involved in maintaining skin hydration. As collagen decreases, the skin may become drier, contributing to the development of wrinkles and a less plump appearance. That said, while collagen is involved in maintaining skin hydration, the primary role in this regard is played by another protein called hyaluronic acid. Collagen indirectly influences hydration by supporting the structure of the skin.
These changes in collagen contribute to common signs of ageing, such as wrinkles, sagging skin, and a loss of skin firmness. While ageing is a natural process, certain lifestyle choices, such as protecting the skin from sun exposure, staying hydrated, and adopting a healthy skincare routine, can help support collagen health and minimize premature ageing effects.
Benzimidazole opioids, also commonly known as nitazenes, were first synthesised by CIBA Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s as putative alternatives to morphine and heroin for use as strong painkillers. They have never made it into use in clinical medicine because the risk of addiction, respiratory depression, and death in use is too high.
The compounds are classified as opioid New Psychoactive Substances (opioid NPS). Their mode of action is to bind to the brain’s mu-opioid receptors, but their unique structure means that some examples are several hundred times more potent than morphine and stronger even than fentanyl.
The changing heroin market led to the emergence of nitazenes as drugs of abuse in the early 2020s if not earlier. They pose a major new problem for public health and law enforcement.
Nitazenes were first in the UK news in 2021, when an 18-year-old patient was treated for overdose. Since then, there has been a rise in nitazene abuse with more than fifty overdose deaths and perhaps many more that remain inconclusive. Several nitazenes are, as of this week, defined as Class A drugs in the UK.
On a point of chemical semantics, opiates are chemicals derived from opium or poppy straw. They are alkaloid compounds naturally found in the opium poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. The archetypal opiate is the compound morphine. The analgesic pro-drug codeine is converted in the body to morphine. Heroin (diamorphine) is extracted from the dried latex of the poppy and has a very similar chemical structure to morphine.
The term opioid is used to designate any substance, natural or synthetic, that binds to the opioid receptors in the brain. So, this includes morphine and heroin, but also compounds that are not chemically related to the opiates such as fentanyl, which is a piperidine, and the nitazenes, which are benzimidazoles. There are many different benzimidazoles used safely in pharmaceuticals for treating high blood pressure, fungal infections, parasitic worms etc.
The antivax brigade has a lot to answer for, not least the rise and rise of measles, which can be lethal, but is so easily staved off with vaccination. Even if it is not lethal for many, it can be a very problematic disease not least because in some ways it makes your immune system lose its memory of how to protect you from other diseases. While this effect may only be temporary in most cases, temporary can be long enough for another potentially lethal pathogen to take hold while you are vulnerable.
I’ve seen mention on social media of the notion that measles can delete your immune system’s memory of other diseases, and so its ability to fight infection. It’s not quite that simple, but the bottom line is that you are better off being vaccinated against it than not, as are your children.
I asked an immunologist contact to verify the following, which she did:
Measles infection itself does not delete your immune system memory, but it can have significant effects on the immune system that may indirectly impact immune memory. Measles is a highly contagious viral infection caused by the measles virus. The virus primarily targets and infects immune cells, particularly those involved in the adaptive immune response, such as memory B cells and T cells.
The immune system relies on memory cells to “remember” previous encounters with pathogens and mount a faster and more effective response upon re-exposure. In the case of measles, the virus can infect and destroy memory B cells, which are responsible for producing antibodies against specific pathogens. This can lead to a temporary weakening of the immune response and an increased susceptibility to other infections.
Additionally, measles can suppress the overall function of the immune system, leaving the individual more vulnerable to opportunistic infections. The severity of these effects can depend on various factors, including the individual’s overall health, nutritional status, and the presence of any underlying medical conditions.
It is important to note that while measles can have a negative impact on the immune system, the immune system is generally resilient, and in many cases, it can recover over time. Vaccination against measles is a highly effective preventive measure, not only protecting against measles itself but also helping to maintain overall immune system health. The measles vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce a protective response without causing the disease, and it does not have the same detrimental effects on immune memory as natural measles infection.
Where is the best place to catch sight of one of the most beautiful of winter visitors, when it comes to birds? The Bohemian Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus.
You might imagine it would be some delightful hill or vale, a nature reserve, or perhaps a remote woodland. Well, that’s not the case. This distinctive species heads south to the UK when it gets too cold for it in northern parts and when the supply of berries on which it feeds dries up. As of December 2023, it seems like we are in the middle of an irruption of these birds with relatively large numbers turning up in all sorts of places right across the UK.
Best places to see them are where there are lots of trees with lots of berries, rowans and other species. They seem to like to observe their “feeding station” from on high, so if there are other taller trees, like poplar and ash overlooking the rowans, all the better, but tall lamp posts might do just as well as a perch. So, where might those places be? Well, town planners and architects like to put these attractive trees on trading estates, retail parks, next to bus stops and bus stations, science parks, road junctions, brickyards, city parks, pub beer gardens, service stations, school playing fields, supermarket car parks and the like! If you’re very lucky and have a decent feast for them, you might even get them in your garden.
Just scanning the Birdguides page for recent sightings during this wonderful 23/24 winter irruption of Boho Wx, here are some of the sites:
Tram stop, Didsbury
Quarry, Flintshire
Churchyard, Aldermaston
Cemetery, Romsey
Car park, Garforth
Road junction, Wharfedale
Canal towpath, Aylstone
Road junction, Skipton
Cobbler’s Walk, Bushy Park, London
Car park, Rodborough
Road junction, Leuchars
Road junction, Colchester
Road junction, East Hunsbury
Community centre, Watford
Pub, Tonbridge
Pub, Chafford Hundred
Retail park, Middlesborough
Road bypass, Nescliffe Hill
High School, Earlston
Roundabout, Maresfield
Caravan park, Fife
Airbase, Brize Norton
Road junction, Waltham Cross
Historical building, Rodborough
Car showroom, Elgin
Cricket club, Long Hanborough
Shop, Hailsham
Station car park, Merstham
Roundabout, Thringstone
Nature reserve car park, Hesketh
Birds have incredible visual systems. This is especially true of the birds of prey, the raptors, which includes the hawks, falcons, eagles, buzzards, harriers, owls, and others.
Unlike many other types of birds, the raptors have binocular vision, their eyes face forward, like ours, which means they have a 3D view of the world ahead of them. This allows them to pinpoint prey incredibly well even from great distances as is the case with the Peregrine Falcon. That species, and others, also have two fovea, the most sensitive regions of the light-sensitive retinas at the back of their eyes. They use one for homing in on prey from a distance but switch to other for greater precision as they get closer to their prey. There are many other adaptations in raptor vision.
I was photographing a Red Kite recently when I noticed one such adaptation that I hadn’t seen before. The bird was perched atop a conifer and I approached slowly to get a relatively close view without disturbing it. It ignored me to begin with and I got a nice photo of it staring out of the surrounding farmland.
I took a burst of photos and in one when the bird had turned to stare at me on the ground I could see that half of its face was in sunlight, the other half in the shadow of its beak. If you look closely at my photo, you can see that the pupil of its right eye, the one in the sunlight, is smaller, while the one in shadow is larger. The bird is adjusting pupil size independently depending on how much light is reaching the eyes. This is not something that we humans can do. If one eye is in the light and the other the dark, both pupils will still be the same size.
This is a remarkable adaptation – independent pupil control or pupil asymmetry, also known as anisocoria. It allows many birds to finely adjust the size and shape of each pupil. Anisocoria is a general term for having pupils of different size. Famously, musician David Bowie had a fully dilated left eye pupil having sustained an injury to that eye as a youth. My late mother had a viral infection when she was middle-aged that also left her with an unresponsive, and almost fully dilated pupil in one eye. Apparently, one in five people have anisocoria, but in raptors its a positive trait rather than a problem.
This independent pupil control serves various purposes. One key advantage is the regulation of light entering each eye independently, optimizing vision in different lighting conditions. The ability to control each pupil independently aids in maintaining a stable image on the retina, crucial during activities like flying or hunting, where motion is involved.
From an optics point of view, photographers know that a larger aperture on their camera, which is equivalent to the pupil being more dilated in the eye means more light can reach the sensor or film, analogously to reaching the retina. But, this comes at the cost of a shorter depth of field. So, if the camera or eye is focused on a subject, then much of what is closer or further from this focus point will be out of focus or blurred. Make the aperture smaller and there is less light entering camera or eye, but the depth of field is greater.
Another adaptation that many more bird species have is a third eyelid. This is known technically as a nictitating membrane, it lies beneath the upper and lower eyelid and can sweep across the eye independently of the outer two lids. It has usually transparenty or semi-transparent. It has various purposes, fundamentally it acts as a protective layer that closes over the eye when a bird is feeding chicks or killing prey. It can also protect the eye from glare or allow a diving bird to enter the water without being temporarily blind but without the risk of damage from the impact or, again, impact with its prey or objects hidden from view under the water.
One of my Red Kites (there were a dozen around the patch on the day) obliged with a quick view of its nictitating membranes among the burst of photos I took.
I have previously talked about the pupils of another type of bird, the Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus. In this species, the shape of the pupil seems unusually asymmetric, but this is an illusion due to the presence of a portion of pigment in the eye adjacent to the bird’s pupils.
I’ve written a short poem to use with my video montage of a few of my photos from the 2023 Cottenham Theatre Workshop production – Peter Panto!
Tickets on sale here.
Peter Panto
It’s panto season once more
Oh no it isn’t! I hear the crowd roar
We’ve tuned the ba-dum tsch, We’ve settled the score
And stitched curtain calls for the walk-down encore
The principals’ principles are sometimes ad lib
The chorus-line parts are tight like a jib
Cute kids play their part, There will be no damp squib
And the drums they may crack your spare rib
We’ve got Wendy and Peter, Hook, Mick, and Tinker
The Darlings are darlings it makes you just thinker
Tik Tok Crok, with a K? It’s a bit of a stinker
It’s all quite enough to turn you to drinker
The baddy is bad and he gets a Booooo!
The goodies are as good as goody-two-shoe
The lights are alight, There’s no dame, that one’s new
And come Saturday, once again…it’s behind you!
Written and Directed by Kerry O’Connell
Musical Director Barbara Duckworth
My annual view from the pit as guitarist with the band and as “assistant musical director” alongside our proper Musical Director Barbara Duckworth on piano. What a show it’s going to be. We’ll also have Adam out of off of C5 the band on drums, Christian on cello, and Tanara on clarinet.
Anyway, these are my photos of the grownup actors in no particular order. Cottenham Theatre Workshop (CTW) will share my photos of the youngsters in character on their website and socials.
Still some tickets available for the Saturday matinee and early evening show, but those are almost sold out. Reasonable numbers on sale for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings – buy them here.
Added a few phone snaps from the dress rehearsal
