United Kingdom government does U-turn on forest sell-off

by Sean McLachlan on

Back on January 27 we reported that the government of the United Kingdom was planning on selling all of England’s publicly owned forests. Well, the English love their heritage (at least those English outside the government) and there was a huge public outcry. Half a million people signed a petition in opposition to the plan. Now the Guardian reports the government has backed down.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman stood up before Parliament and apologized for her “wrong” decision. The forests will not be sold and new laws allowing them to be will be struck from the books. The previous law allowed for 15 percent of forests to be sold, and Ms. Spelman wasn’t clear what would happen to the forests recently put on the auction block. Apparently this isn’t a complete victory for sanity.

The sale would have affected all forests owned by the Forestry Commission in England but not the rest of the UK. The Commission owns 18 percent of all forests in England. Now the Environment Secretary will have to find another way to slash her department spending by a third, the goal she set for herself.

[Photo courtesy user tomhab via Wikimedia Commons]

Miniature Manchester Airport — in real life

by Grant Martin on

Tilt-shift is a technology that’s been around for the last few years, but it’s just now being applied to the video world, and the results are pretty wild. The below video was shot overlooking Manchester Airport in England, and using the blurred effects of tilt-shift it looks like everyone working at the airport is a small doll moving around a series of toy planes.

If you’re interested in trying out the technology on your own time, Gadling has a few suggestions to save you some time.

Solar flare brings Northern Lights for the next few nights

by Chris Owen on

The strongest solar flare in four years is disrupting communications in China but brings spectacular views of the Northern Lights for the next few nights.

“X-class flares are the most powerful of all solar events that can trigger radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms,” disturbing telecommunications, GPS systems and electric grids, NASA said Wednesday.

Called “Sunspot 1158” it is the strongest solar flare of the year so far.

Solar flares cause electrically charged particles to travel at extremely high speeds. Northern Lights are caused by collisions between those electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere.

The Northern Lights, to be visible for the next few nights, are otherwise known as Aurora Borealis and are most likely to be visible in the far north.

NASA photo


Archaeology reveals the best way to drink: from a human skull

by Sean McLachlan on


Archaeologists in England have discovered three prehistoric skulls that were used as cups, the BBC reports.

The skulls were carefully worked into the shape of bowls. They were found in Gough’s Cave, Somerset, and are 14,700 years old. These make them the oldest skull cups discovered. Investigators found other human remains in the cave that suggest people split the bones to get at the marrow. As any dedicated carnivore knows, the marrow is one of the richest and most nutritious parts of any animal, humans included.

Skull cups were used by many cultures for many reasons. Some were involved in rituals to remind one of death, like this carved Chinese example photographed by user Shizhao and posted to Wikimedia Commons. Other cultures, like the Vikings and Scythians, drank from the skulls of their enemies to brag about their victory or get the power of the slain warrior for themselves. The archaeologists studying the Somerset skulls have published an interesting article about skull cups. The BBC also interviewed one of the researchers and their video of the skull cups is below.

So next time you’re in a museum, keep a sharp eye out for skull cups. The Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena has one, as does the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. London’s Natural History Museum sponsored the research and is making a reconstructed skull cup that will go on display in March.

Have you seen skull cups in other museums? Tell us about it in the comments section!

Video of The Day: Edinburgh and getting a feel for the city in 2 days

by Elizabeth Seward on

Dave Pinke is a traveler based out of New York City. I’ve featured some of his videos here on Gadling recently. Check out his music-accompanied, fast-paced, and colorful video on San Francisco (where I happen to be stationed this rainy morning) and his envy-worthy video on Reykjavik. Today’s choice video is a compilation of shots from his trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. He had less than 2 days in the city and still managed to find his way around pretty well.

Edinburgh from Dave Pinke on Vimeo.