Thoughts on the utility of history

If it be true that the only thing history teaches us is that it teaches us nothing, and if it is also true that the more things change the more they stay the same, then why on earth would we bother the next generation with truckloads of useless information?

05.2025 | Peter Dearlove

Going Solo

The widening horizons of flight and personal flying. For Pete’s sake, do yourself a favour and learn to fly the old-fashioned way before it is too late.

10.2024 | Peter Dearlove

Earthbound horizons

It is a mistake to think that because the poles, the Moon and Mount Everest have been conquered, the excitement and adventure that was once the hallmark of human exploration at home on Earth is over.

07.2024 | Peter Dearlove

Now that we know trees talk to each other and that maybe we can talk to them, what on earth should we talk about?

Scientists are said to be on the brink of unlocking the secret ways in which trees keep in touch with each other. In this reality check, we take a quirky look at the idea and think about a useful agenda.

03.2024 | Peter Dearlove

Animals will be animals

Intro: Camera close-ups of nature and animal life tell us more than we may have expected, but now that we are hooked, we may learn as much good as there seems to be bad.

10.2023 | Peter Dearlove

Hackers and Hacking

Why is something so apparently mindless and nasty now rampant? Are hackers just thieves looking for an open window? What is to be done to solve the biggest threat to our sophisticated existence?

04.2023 | Peter Dearlove

They laughed when I sat down at the piano, but when I started to play!

The rise of social media is only the latest Golden Gun for advertisers, and already they are looking for a new one.

03.2022 | Peter Dearlove

Opinion Polling

Why do people want to know what the future holds before it happens?

In the first place of course, there is a lot of money in it, betting and investing only on certainties, for example, is a sure-fire path to riches.

01.2022 | Peter Dearlove

I’m so lonesome I could cry.

When Hank Williams turned those few words into his first really big hit in 1949 he was making capital of a sad truth - that loneliness can reduce grown people to tears.

09.2021 | Peter Dearlove

Bought for pennies

This may come as a shock to many young men and women today who keep their fingers busy only on a keypad, but the fact is that people used to write letters to their friends.

03.2021 | Peter Dearlove

Nicknames

They may be badges of honour, scars of shame, compliments or insults – and they can only become stamps when seasoned by time.

06.2018 | Peter Dearlove

But like, you know, how did it take over the language?

We all use them… even though we are not specifically aware of doing so.

06.2018 | Peter Dearlove