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Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4 If not Latin, then what? Please see the links at...

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #3

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #3 Plants and the moon. For thousands of years, people...

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #2

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #2 An i for an i ? Not nymphs: women! There are...

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #1

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #1 Tom, Dick and Harry explain a statistical method. ...

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Patrick LockerbyRSS Feed of this column.

Retired engineer, 73 years young. Computer builder and programmer. Linguist specialising in language acquisition and computational linguistics. Interested in every human endeavour except the scrooge... Read More »

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The Oldest Arctic Ice

The Oldest Arctic Ice

Apr 24 2011 | comment(s)

The Oldest Arctic Ice


The oldest non-glacial ice in the northern hemisphere is a small remnant of the former Ellesmere Ice Shelf which began  forming about 5500 years ago.  That remnant is breaking up.  Where the ice shelf has vanished the fjords are free of perennial ice for the first time in 3000 to 5500 years.  It seems likely that very soon the oldest non-glacial ice will be a mere 5 years old, or less.
Arctic Ice April 2011

Arctic Ice April 2011

Apr 14 2011 | comment(s)

Arctic Ice April 2011


The Nares ice bridge is still blocking the strait.  My forecast of breakup on April 07 ± 3 days was wrong.  A forecast is only as good as the assumptions it is based on.  My forecast was based on valid assumptions, but I missed something vital: the 'plug' in the ice bridge isn't just consolidated ice: it is homogenous ice.  It is likely also that it is less salty than ordinary first year sea ice.  That would mean that the ice bridge is much stronger than average.
A Brief History Of Climate Science

A Brief History Of Climate Science

Apr 11 2011 | comment(s)

A Brief History Of Climate Science

"One of the lesser-known branches of climatology is historical climatology, the study of past climates from historical records of instrumental observations and weather descriptions, ..."
Vicky Slonosky
Sahara Dust In European Skies

Sahara Dust In European Skies

Apr 09 2011 | comment(s)

Sahara Dust In European Skies

The skies over southern England were hazy on Friday April 08 2011.  In the evening the usual colors of sunset were absent.  A muddy grey-brown haze could be seen along the horizon.  That haze was caused by dust from the Sahara.


Dust from Sahara over Biscay, the English Channel and Ireland


Dust cloud from Sahara off the coast of Portugal
C.S.I. Gloucestershire County

C.S.I. Gloucestershire County

Apr 06 2011 | comment(s)

C.S.I. Gloucestershire County

In today's thrilling episode, our intrepid police officers detect a serious crime and respond with eight officers and a helicopter.  Yes, friends.  Gloucestershire County Police are doing their bit to keep this world free of those lefty pinko tree-hugging planet-loving garbage-recycling weirdos.


A scrap of consumerism history
Nares Ice Bridge Breakup

Nares Ice Bridge Breakup

Apr 02 2011 | comment(s)

Nares Ice Bridge Breakup

The ice bridge in Nares Strait at the Kane Basin outlet to Baffin Bay has begun to break up.

There was a plug of consolidated ice solidly wedged across the channel.  Consolidated ice is very strong in compression, but weak in tension, as I have noted in other articles, such as Bridges That Build Themselves.  From that article: