A three-year cruise sounds like a costly, sweaty nightmare. But then you start doing the maths |

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  894 words  |  Aldo Pusey

OpinionCruises This article is more than 9 months oldA three-year cruise sounds like a costly, sweaty nightmare. But then you start doing the maths …This article is more than 9 months oldEmma BrockesA cabin on the round-the-world MV Gemini costs £75,000. It could be a cost of living escape hatch for the middle classes It is a juvenile but bankable way to pass time and lift one’s spirits without too much exertion: I’m talking about identifying ways in which the lives of rich people suck, a list that is always imaginatively growing. [Read More]

All Made Up by Janice Galloway review

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1238 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Autobiography and memoirReviewA brilliant 'anti-memoir' of growing up in 1970s Scotland"All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I probably won't be the only reviewer of Janice Galloway's second volume of autobiography to fall back on Tolstoy's line from Anna Karenina, even though I'm not sure I believe it. There are almost certainly books to be written about happy, well-adjusted people just getting on with life, thriving with the help of love and support from all around them. [Read More]

Buddy Greco obituary | Jazz

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  739 words  |  Valentine Belue

Club cultureJazzObituaryBuddy Greco obituarySinger and pianist who was the consummate club and saloon performerRichard Rodgers’ and Lorenz Hart’s 1937 composition The Lady Is a Tramp has been performed by many singers, but the most widely known version is the 1960 recording by Buddy Greco, who has died aged 90. It encapsulated Greco’s jazz-inflected, finger-snapping, wisecracking, dynamic vocal style and went on to sell more than a million copies. He was born Armando Greco in Philadelphia into a musical Italian-American family. [Read More]

Drake defends his short private jet flights by saying plane was empty | Climate crisis

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  565 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Climate crisis This article is more than 1 year oldDrake defends his short private jet flights – by saying plane was emptyThis article is more than 1 year oldThe rapper’s explanation made his plane’s short hop flights even more of a climate disaster, critics pointed out Drake, the rapper, has attempted to defend his use of a large private plane for a series of flights that lasted less than 20 minutes – by revealing that the aircraft was being moved to a storage location with no passengers on board. [Read More]

Its a long-term journey were on: taking a ride towards self-driving cars

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  884 words  |  Kary Bruening

Self-driving cars This article is more than 11 months oldThis article is more than 11 months oldNissan’s ServCity project shows how far autonomous vehicles have come and difficulties they still face The journey in a self-driving Nissan across Woolwich in south-east London begins smoothly enough: fitted with cameras and sensors, the electric car confidently handles pedestrian crossings, vans cutting into its lane without warning and even scurrying jaywalkers. Then comes an unexpected obstacle: a football-sized rock, fallen from the back of a lorry on to the middle of the road. [Read More]

Japans most familiar orchid is found to have near-identical cousin | Plants

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  378 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Plants This article is more than 10 months oldJapan’s most familiar orchid is found to have near-identical cousinThis article is more than 10 months oldAll the Spiranthes on the Japanese mainland were thought to be a single species, but in fact there are two In Japan, a country with a rich and ancient history of horticulture, it is nowadays extremely rare for a new plant species to be identified. But the latest one has been growing under their noses, and it is exceptionally beautiful. [Read More]

New to nature No 65: Diania cactiformis

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  363 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

New to natureFossilsThis fossil 'walking cactus' found in China could point to the start of the arthropod lineThe fossil-rich Chengjiang deposits of Yunnan province, China, date from about 525 million years ago and are among lagerstätten that have preserved soft-bodied animals with amazing detail. Among the bizarre creatures inhabiting shallow Cambrian seas were the lobopodians, often described as legged worms. These are of evolutionary interest because of presumed, if enigmatic, relationships to velvet worms, water bears and arthropods. [Read More]

Top US smoothie company accused of deception after toxic PFAS discovered | PFAS

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  718 words  |  Kary Bruening

PFAS This article is more than 11 months oldTop US smoothie company accused of deception after toxic PFAS discoveredThis article is more than 11 months oldLawsuit alleges Bolthouse Farms deceived customers by claiming Green Goddess smoothie is made with ‘100% fruit juice’ A new class-action lawsuit alleges US beverage maker Bolthouse Farms deceived customers with claims that its Green Goodness smoothie is made of “100% fruit juice” after testing found the drink contains toxic PFAS, a synthetic chemical, at levels far above federal advisory drinking water limits. [Read More]

Video reveals full horror of Italian hostage's execution | World news

 Posted on April 28, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  681 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

World newsVideo reveals full horror of Italian hostage's executionMurder puts pressure on Berlusconi over troopsSilvio Berlusconi and his government were last night confronted with their involvement in Iraq when one of four Italian hostages was murdered in reprisal for the prime minister's refusal to withdraw troops from the country. The kidnappers, from a previously unknown group called the Green Battalion, threatened to kill the other three hostages if their demands were not met. [Read More]

A Voyage Round My Father review Rupert Everett brings soft focus to John Mortimers play

 Posted on April 27, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  511 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

TheatreReviewTheatre Royal Bath Richard Eyre’s production of the father-and-son drama has some strong performances but is too light to probe the play’s plaintive depths A fine roll call of actors have played the central parts of overbearing father and obedient son in John Mortimer’s autobiographical drama, including Alec Guinness opposite Jeremy Brett and Laurence Olivier opposite Alan Bates. In Richard Eyre’s production, Rupert Everett is the patrician parent, appraised by Jack Bardoe with love but not sentiment in this memory play and coming-of-age story in one. [Read More]