Probably like many, I vaguely remember the launch of the Rosetta mission some ten years ago with its goal to land a probe on a comet. Certainly I was interested at the time, but I must admit that in the intervening decade I've really not thought about it very much at all. But suddenly the eyes of (more...)

In the last couple of years at the cinema, I've seen remakes of Total Recall, Godzilla, Carrie and The Day The Earth Stood Still, not to mention reboots of Spiderman and Superman - all of which I'd argue were totally unnecessary. Now they've brought the remake syndrome to (more...)

The bright sparks at Google have coined a phrase for their particular brand of innovation: they call it Ten-X thinking. In essence, it involves looking at a problem, disregarding all current avenues to coming up with a solution, and doing something completely different; or it involves looking at a (more...)

Staying away from home for a couple of days this week, first overnight in a hotel and then a stopover with friends to break up the drive home, I had two of the worst nights' sleep I can ever remember. I should have realised something was amiss in the hotel when I sat on the bed and it scrunched (more...)

What is the one thing we do better probably than any other country in the world? I suppose building cars would be up there. And our pharmaceuticals and high tech industries are pretty good, too. When I look at some of the activities in plastics and new materials such as graphene, I can see the UK (more...)

For Valentine's day, I offered my good lady wife a free choice of romantic movies at the Cinema, fully expecting to be dragged off to see The Invisible Woman, or Endless Love, or About Last Night, or Winter's Tale. In the event, the redoubtable Mrs Simms opted for the remake of Robocop. I (more...)

Does anyone else remember the 1970s science fiction TV series Space 1999? It told the tale of Moonbase Alpha and how, after a nuclear explosion, the moon was flung out of orbit, with the Alphans sent careening off through the solar system and beyond. Whilst I of course had much sympathy for those (more...)

I've just booked a Christmas ride for the kids aboard the Santa Special at our local steam railway. It's become something of a December tradition, even though the oldest daughter is fully up to speed with the realities of seasonal giving. It's not easy to comfort a twelve year old who's crying her (more...)

To my surprise, I've become a bit of a fan of the US Sherlock Holmes drama 'Elementary'. It took a little while to get used to the idea of it being set in modern day New York rather than old London Town, and that sidekick John Watson was now Joan Watson, but with its intelligent storylines, sharp (more...)

Work to exploit tidal and wave power as part of the renewable energy mix is gathering momentum, with the UK rapidly becoming a knowledge hub. Partly that is because we have the best natural resources - it is estimated that the UK_has around 50% of Europe's tidal energy resource, and our wave (more...)